September 2022 Parent Newsletter

The State asks that we track why students miss. If you have a minute, please take this very short survey to help us get an idea of why kiddos are sometimes out. We have only had about 30 responses. If you have not had a chance to fill this out, please do. I promise it's not long and I fixed the glitches....I believe.

https://forms.gle/vsvmrShL8mfXSisr5

September 2nd - Parent Conference Day (No School)

September 5th - Labor Day (No School)

September 12th - Picture Retake Day

16 de SEPTIEMBRE FIESTA AT THE SCHOOL

September 22nd - PTO Meeting in person at the school AND on Zoom - https://lcps.zoom.us/j/83066484275

September 23rd - End of First 9 Weeks

September 26th - October 7th FALL BREAK

Due to our limited parking, we are giving out tickets to this event. Students will need to pick them up from Mrs. Telles. They are 100% FREE, but they will be required to attend. Please have your student pick up the tickets if they plan to attend.

Mrs. Telles also still needs some donations of Mexican Candy.

This month's theme for Enriched Learning Theme is Civic Engagement. This is an opportunity to teach our students what it means to be a responsible citizen. If you know someone or

would yourself like to come be a presenter at the school to discuss civic engagement,

please let Mrs. Martos know.

I know that sometimes we would like to help, but just don't know how. Please fill out this quick form to let us know what you do and how you might want to be involved in our MVLA community:

https://forms.gle/pQgxNj4s1KzxrdBL7

This is by no means a comprehensive list of what's going on, but here's a super quick idea of what your kiddos are working on here at school.

Social Studies -

G.R.A.P.E.S. Projects - Students are researching various topics and creating poster board presentations. Little do they know, they are practicing these skills to get ready for National History Day.

Math

There are many layers and levels of math, but some of the amazing lessons have included:

• Creating and comparing ratios;

• Imaginary versus real numbers;

• Factors and monomials and divisibility rules.

Science

Ms. Mikesell has students researching and classifying organisms from Domain to Species. Their last activity allowed students to review current scientific events and complete crosswords from Science News Magazine.

Media

Mrs. Wendler is guiding students through the process of setting up their Google Drive so they can begin creating their portfolios and teaching them about how to create and edit silent movies.

ELA

Students are developing their vocabulary, falling in love with writing through freewrites and doing some linguistic studies - specifically phonemes, graphemes and digraphs.

Leadership

Not every House does the same activity at the same time. However some of the things happening in Leadership are:

• Working on House Challenges;

• Starting to look at the 7 Habits through the Leader In Me Curriculum;

• Learning how to calm the mind and body through mindfulness;

• Connecting with other students through restorative circles.

My Time

As you know, My Time varies. This round of My Times includes:

• Dance/Fitness with Mrs. Harding

• Role Play Games with Mr. Blais

• Chess with Mr. Gately

• Culinary with Mrs. Ray

• Hippie Hive with Ms. Mikesell

• Broadcast with Mrs. Wendler and

• Parkour!

There is always so much happening on our tiny campus. Other teachers and staff are constantly adding to our website. Check it out any time at:

mvla.lcps.net

Thank you to all of the wonderful parents who came to our first PTO meeting. Our next meeting will be on September 22nd at 6:00pm at the school.

Below is the schedule for the District Advisory Council Meetings.

Students are only allowed to use their cell phones before school, at lunch and after school. If you need to speak to your child or get a message to your child during the day, please call the front office at 527-6059 and we will get the message to your student.

If your child does not feel well, please tell them they need to come see the nurse and she will contact you if they need to be picked up. Students should not be calling or texting parents during the day unless it is from the office with an adult present.

Cell phones can be a huge distraction at school and we need your help to address this very real problem.

For this year's parent newsletters, my goal will be to have one go out at the beginning of each month. If I need to add information to it during the month, I will do so and send out the same newsletter with the updates.

If I ever leave anything out that you need information about, please feel free to email me at amartos@lcps.net or call me at 575-527-6059.

Happily, at MVLA, we tend to be able to help students change behaviors before there is need for "Discipline". However, I thought parents might like to see what we do to ensure the physical and emotional safety of all students.

If parents have any of the following extra items, teachers could use....

Bean bag filler

Jenga sets

Fidget items (non-noisey)

If you or someone you know is in need of community resources, basic needs, English/Spanish Classes, GED classes or are just curious as to what other resources LCPS has to offer, please call our Parent Hotline at 575-468-8279.

Mesilla Valley Leadership Academy is a 6-8 school of choice here in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Started by Dr. Toni Hull, we are a RCA inspired project-based school. We have five houses who all compete to win the coveted Title of Champions each year.

Email: amartos@lcps.net
Website: mvla.lcps.net
Location: 821 East Lohman
Phone: 575-527-6059

Please be sure to check out http://www.lcps.net/ for information about tutoring, meal services and other district initiatives available to the community.