Huff's Headlines

Summer Scoop

Dear Parents,

Let me personally thank you for another great end of the year staff luncheon. Again this year, the staff dined at Outback Restaurant. There were games where some staff members won door prizes and each woman walked away with a special gift (and there were also designated gifts for our male staff members). Every staff member also walked away with a "date pack" to enjoy with their spouse or significant other. In addition to the purchase of gifts, your financial contributions also allowed staff members to enjoy their meal with no cost to them. Our Partners in Education (Kroger, Publix and O'Charley's) as well as a non-partner (Georgia Credit Union) also contributed to the luncheon. Thanks to those parents who wrapped gifts, helped me to set up the restaurant and donated gifts for door prizes. The staff has begun to really look forward to this luncheon. Thanks for helping me honor the staff of Mountain View!

In the May issue of this newsletter, I shared some new staff members coming for the 2008-2009 school year. Please read below additional staff members that have joined us since that edition:

Ashlee Kobar-First Grade

Lee Steele-Third Grade

Maureen Armstong-Art Teacher

Sarah Motzkus-Special Education

Crystal Bentley-Clerk

Amy Inglee-Clerk

Laura Johns-Paraprofessional

Elizabeth Goldman-Paraprofessional

Continue to enjoy your summer and I'll see you at Sneak-a-Peek in August.

Angela M. Huff

May Memo

Dear Parents,

As we close out the 2007-2008 school year, I would like to thank you for your continued support and time that you have freely given our school. My hat also goes off to our PTA Executive Board for all of the endless hours of work they have put in this year and lastly to our students for remaining focused and achieving great strides throughout the year.

At the end of the school year, we will lose some staff members due to moving or to pursue other personal goals. We wish them the best in their future endeavors. Listed below, to this date, please find a brief description of the newly hired staff members for the 2008-2009 school year.

Brian Devore- A former Cobb County employee, he received his B.A. in Education from the University of North Carolina. He has eighteen years of teaching experience. His most recent experience was at Shelton Elementary in Paulding County.

Jill Fiala- Jill received her Bachelor of Science degree in Education from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She has three years of experience in first grade in Gwinnet County. Her most recent experience was at Corley Elementary. She will be teaching first grade.

Meghann Bishop- Meghann received her Bachelor of Science in Education from the University of Georgia. She has also received her Master of Education from the University of Georgia. She will be teaching first grade.

Jessica Elliot- She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Auburn University. Most recently, she supplied in Mrs. Cooper's 4th grade classroom from January to May 2008. She will be teaching third grade.

I would like to end this month's entry with "The Lessons I'm Leaving Behind" by Randy Pausch (adapted from the book The Last Lecture, copyright 2008):

1.Always Have Fun

2. Dream Big

3. Ask For What You Want

4. Dare to Take a Risk

5. Look for the Best in Everybody

6. Make Time for What Matters

7. Let Kids Be Themselves

Have a great month of May with us at Mountain View and enjoy your summer with your children, family and friends.

Angela M. Huff

April Announcements

Dear Parents,

I just have to say once again how wonderful it is to be a part of the Mountain View community! The support that the Mountain View families and community provide to us is incredible!

Our PTA sponsored a great Staff Appreciation Week. They really made us all feel special with yummy treats. We had lovely gifts and special snacks each day. It was a great boost for our morale and let us all know how much the families of Mountain View really do appreciate us!

The week of March 24-27, PTA organized our Multicultural Week. There were activities planned each day. Students were able to learn a lot about other cultures. Becky Reiss and her committee worked very hard to bring our students a week filled with diversity and fun.

If you attended the Mountain View Silent Auction on March 27th, then you understand when I say it was a wonderful evening! Not only did we raise money for Technology, but we also had a great time. It was so refreshing to have a chance to chat and socialize with one another while bidding on grade level baskets and staff members. The School Council and volunteers really did a marvelous job of organizing and hosting the event. Charlotte McDonnell, Tamerine Flatt and Justin Morrison were at Mountain View weeks ago putting the plan together for the auction and their plans succeeded. I have heard so many positive comments from those who were able to attend. If you didn't make it this time, you will want to be sure not to miss next year!

The aforementioned events are just three that I had to mention. I am always encouraged and impressed by the parent involvement and commitment we have here at Mountain View Elementary.

On April 16, 2008, we will sponsor our annual Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon in the Media Center. Please give us the opportunity to show you that you are special to us and that we could not accomplish all that we do without your support.

Thank you again for all you do! We know that we are a great school in part because of YOU!

Angela M. Huff

March Memo

Dear Parents,

It’s hard to believe, but it is the time of year that our thoughts turn to class placement for next year.  The teachers and I take the placement process very seriously.  With our understanding of each child, we will plan for classes that are heterogeneous; a combination and balance of boys, girls, abilities and learning styles.

The procedures at Mountain View are as follows:

1. Parents are welcome to put in writing their placement concerns before classes are formed for next school year.  Written notes should be ONLY about special concerns.  It is NOT necessary for EVERY parent to write.  Notes will be received beginning March 24, 2008 - April 25, 2008.  Once placement decisions are made, BELATED notes will NOT be used for placement considerations.
2. Parents may request a particular learning environment or state specific characteristics about their child that need consideration.
3. Parents may NOT request a specific teacher.  Placement or non-placement will not be based upon what may have been heard about a teacher.  Just as each child is unique, so is each teacher.  An experience that other parents may have had with their child’s teacher most likely will be totally different from what another child would have with the same teacher. 
4. A written request, or lack of such request, will have NO effect on the care given each child’s placement.  Each child will be carefully considered.
5. Consideration of all educational factors, academic and social, is the primary determinants in placement decisions.  The FINAL decision on ALL placement assignments rests with the administrative team.
6. Requests for a child not to be placed with another student, for whatever reason, should be put in writing.  We make every effort to honor these requests.  However, parents need to be aware that other considerations may prevent this.
7. All parent notes will be carefully considered, but there will be NO INDIVIDUAL RESPONSE.

Please know that our goals are to have children experience great success in school, and to offer them a variety of experiences with teachers that will help them grow and gain confidence.  As always, we appreciate all you continue to do to support Mountain View Elementary.

Angela M. Huff and Melanie Medders   

February Fare

Dear Parents:

This month, we have a lot of exciting news to share with you!

We are pleased and delighted to announce that due to the efforts of the Mountain View Foundation, we now have a certified teacher in our computer lab. Please assist us with welcoming Deborah Newhouse to our school. Mrs. Newhouse has collaborated with the teachers of the students she is currently working with in order to align her instruction to address and incorporate the learning standards for each grade level. Welcome Deborah! Increased integration of technology into instruction is the school performance goal in our school improvement plan. With the addition of computer lab instruction and our continued technology staff development with teachers on early release days, we are making great strides towards that goal. We would like to showcase the results of our technology efforts with an evening technology fair that we invite you to attend. Parents of students in Kindergarten, first and second grade may join us on February 26^th from 6:00-7:30. Third, fourth and fifth grade’s technology night will be February 28^th from 6:00-7:30. We know you will be impressed so we hope to see you then.

Mountain View's new and improved front office is now much more visible! Thanks to SPLOST funding, a window was placed on a front office wall during the winter holiday. This window will allow our wonderful office staff a much better view of our front door and our front foyer/hallway area. In addition to brightening up this area, it really improves security.

Did you know that Mountain View is one of the oldest schools in Cobb County? As a matter of fact, this spring we will be celebrating our 80th anniversary! A PTA committee is hard at work coordinating several events to acknowledge and celebrate our long history within the community.

Finally, we would like to continue encouraging you to have your student take practice CRCT tests on the Georgia Online Assessment System website. Log in information was sent home earlier this year. This site affords our first through fifth grade students the opportunity to take practice tests that are based on the skills and knowledge that will be tested this spring on the CRCT.

Thank you for your continued support,

Angela M. Huff and Melanie Medders

January Journal

Parents:

Welcome 2008! It is amazing to think that we are beginning the second half of our school year already. As I have been outside opening car doors in car pool, I feel that a review of procedures might be appropriate to start this new year off with safety in mind.

In order to expedite car pool in the safest and most efficient manner,

we ask that you review the following guidelines:

·        Please drive slowly.

·        Driving in the bus area is prohibited.

·        Stay in a single line. For safety reasons, this is a no passing zone.

·        Watch for instruction signs and pull your vehicle all the way to the beginning of the drop off area to allow as many students to enter/exit their vehicle as possible.

·        Please do not ever let students out of your vehicle until you are in the drop off area which is staffed by

Mountain View

personnel. 

·        Students must enter/exit their vehicles on the passenger side ONLY.

·        Parents, please do not get out of your cars.  If you need to come inside or assist your child, please park your car and escort your student.

·        All student materials are to be secured and organized prior to exiting the vehicle.

·        Please allow extra time during inclement weather.

Morning Drop-off

• The school doors open at 7:20 a.m.  Riders may begin unloading in the carpool area at that time.
• Should your child need additional assistance getting out of the vehicle or unloading items, please park and walk your student into the building.
• Students will be marked tardy if they are not in their classrooms when the bell rings at 7:55 a.m. If your child is tardy, please park your car and escort your child to the office to check them into school.
• The carpool lane tends to back up as the time approaches 7:45. To avoid tardies, you may want to leave earlier in the drop off window.

NOTE:  Students are not permitted to be dropped off at the community center or in the parking lot.  All students must be accompanied by an adult to the school’s front door.  Once inside, parents are encouraged to say their “goodbyes” in the lobby area.

Afternoon Pick-Up

·        All carpool students will wait for their ride in a designated grade level area.

·        Your child should watch for their car in the carpool line. 

Mountain View

duty personnel will escort the student to your car. 

Thanks you for your cooperation with keeping everyone’s safety in mind. Here’s to a happy and prosperous year!

Angela M. Huff

December Details

Dear Parents:

In our September newsletter, we shared our two school improvement goals for the 2007-2008 school year with regards to student learning. They are:

Goal 1: Students will demonstrate proficiency in reading comprehension at or above expected grade level.

Goal 2: Students will increase proficiency in writing performance.

Mountain View also has the following school performance goal as part of our improvement plan.

Goal 1: Teachers will increase the degree to which they either support or implement the instructional use of technology in their classroom.

This goal has been supported this year by the refreshing of obsolete hardware by the county with the installation of new workstations in our computer lab, new laptops on our wireless carts and new printers throughout the building. Additionally, teachers will participate in differentiated technology staff development that includes classes such as Beyond Question, Technology Components to the New Math Adoption, Excel, PowerPoint, Use of Digital Cameras, Video Streaming and Photo Story. Teachers also update their classroom blogs at least on a monthly basis.

Knowing that technology can support your day to day parenting, we would like to share some valuable resources with you.

Our school website contains up-to-date information with regards to all of our school happenings. Please take time to explore the website and we think you will agree that it will keep you "in the know". http://www.cobbk12.org/~mtview/index.htm  You will find monthly calendars, school lunch menus, our book of the month, this monthly newsletter from administration, PTA and foundation information, Accelerated Reader lists, teacher blogs and so much more! Speaking of teacher blogs, did you know that our classroom teachers communicate a wealth of information through their classroom blogs, located under the teacher tab of our school website? They have shared schedules of upcoming events, websites to support grade level curriculum, study guides, classroom goals, announcements, and even PowerPoints supporting current units of study. You will be amazed by the amount of information at your fingertips so we encourage you to visit the blog of your child's teacher. Additionally, you can find our school nurse's blog under the administration tab.

Another website parents might be interested in is the Georgia Department of Education. They have a special section just for parents at http://www.gadoe.org/parents.aspx . From this page, you can access information about curriculum, testing, special education, gifted education and a school finder.

Finally, we recently sent home access information for Online Assessment System (formerly known as CRCT Online) at https://www.georgiaoas.org to families of first to fifth graders. The Georgia State Department of Education has developed this online assessment system containing practice tests for the CRCT that your child can take at home if he/she has access to the internet. We hope these resources will be helpful to you throughout the year.

Finally, we would like to share with you that Mountain View was one of only twenty-eight Cobb County schools named as an award winner for student achievement by the Georgia Department of Education and the Governor's Office of Student Achievement. Our school received the Bronze Award with at least 95% of students meeting and exceeding standards on the CRCT, with a minimum of 20% exceeding.

Thank you for your continued support of Mountain View Elementary School!

Angela M. Huff and Melanie Medders

November News

Dear Parents,

How amazing it is that we are now in the month of November.  As I write this entry, it is breezy and cool outside and leaves are falling.  This is such a great time of year!

Last year, I shared a section from a book that I was reading, that I would like to share again.  Since we are quickly approaching our Thanksgiving and Winter Break it would be appropriate to share this at this time.  The name of the book is:  “Positive Words, Powerful Results” written by Hal Urban.  Mr. Urban suggests throughout his book that by speaking kind words, powerful result happen.  My parents taught me this a very long time ago, and it truly works! 

Read below what Mr. Urban states in Chapter 11 entitled Affectionate Words Build Strong Families.

Strong families emphasize that good communication doesn’t necessarily happen; it usually takes time and practice.  There are ten ways that words can enrich family life:

1.     Model the language you want your children to use – One thing parents need to be aware of is that they’re teaching their children something every time they open their mouths.

2.     Read to your children

a.      It bonds the child and the parent both physically and emotionally.

b.     It introduces the child to great literature and powerful stories with a moral message.

c.     It fosters a love of reading in the child.

d.     It leads to success in school

3.     Have meaningful conversation – Parents need to make face-to-face meaningful conversation a high priority.

4.     Ask good questions

5.     Celebrate the day at the dinner table – Don’t ask “did you learn anything today?” rather ask “What was the best thing that happened to you today?”  With this question you get better results and you will probably find out what was learned.

6.     Catch your children doing something right.

7.     Correct gently

a.      Literally count to ten to give yourself time to think about what you’re going to say and how you’re going to say it.

b.     Keep your voice at a normal volume.

c.     Reassure the child. Example: “Jennifer, we love you very much, but what you did is wrong and we need to talk about it.”

d.     Focus on the wrongdoing, not the person who did it.

e.      Forgive the child.

8.     Use and teach the magic words – For hundreds of years the magic words “please” and “thank you,” along with a number of other terms of courtesy, were taught and modeled in virtually every home.  This began to change in the mid 1960’s for a variety of reasons.  While good manners are still stressed by many parents, it can no longer be assumed that most children are learning them in the home.

9.     Write a family mission statement about words in the home – A brief declaration of purpose that helps keep its members focused and reminds them of their responsibilities.

10. Schedule a family night – There are only four rules regarding family night,

a.      It would be at the same time and same day each week.

b.     It would be held even if a family member was absent.

c.     It would be a minimum of one hour in length.

d.     The activity had to include conversation. 

October

Parents:

As the month of October begins, we have completed 7 weeks of school and find ourselves in the midst of system-wide testing which began with the Georgia Kindergarten Assessment Program the first weeks of school and now continues with CogAT and ITBS testing. Here at Mountain View, students in grades 1, 3, and 5 just completed the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) during the last few school days in September. This test measures student performance on abilities related to success in school subjects. Between October 1^st and the 5^th, students in grades 3 and 5 will be assessed on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS). This is a norm-referenced assessment that measures student achievement in comparison to other students nationwide. Students are tested in Reading, Mathematics, Language Arts, Science, Social Studies and Sources of Information. We would like to encourage you to visit the calendar of system-wide testing scheduled for this school year in kindergarten through twelfth grade available on the web at the following link, http://www.cobbk12.org/calendars/2007-08TestingSchedule.pdf. Please note the assessments that your child will be participating in during this school year and keep the following tips in mind.

1. Be sure your child gets adequate amounts of sleep each night of the testing window.
2. It is important that your child eats a healthy breakfast the morning of the assessment. Test taking requires both physical and mental energy. Fruit, eggs and whole grain toast make for a “brain smart” breakfast.
3. Provide a calm and unhurried environment as your child gets ready for school.
4. Avoid tardies and absences. Once testing begins, students are not allowed into the classroom. Students perform best when they take tests in a familiar environment. Make-ups are completed with certified personnel other than your child’s teacher and within an environment less familiar to them.
5. Be supportive and encouraging, all the while being careful not to create undue test anxiety in the student. We all perform our best when relaxed and confident.

Also this month, teachers will begin taking differentiated technology staff development classes in support of our School Improvement Plan goal to increase the use of technology in the classroom. Our staff will surely put the new skills they gain to work as Mountain View will be receiving new computers throughout the building this month. As part of SPLOST 2, obsolete computers will be refreshed overnight! We will enjoy new computers in the classrooms, the computer labs and the wireless carts. In support of our technology SIP goal, our School Council raised the funds to purchase 10 new laptop computers for our wireless carts as well. As always, we appreciate the invaluable input and support we receive from all of our Mountain View families!

Angela M. Huff and Melanie Medders

September Scoop

Dear Parents:

It's hard to believe that this is my sixth year as Principal and Ms. Medders' fourth year as the Assistant Principal at Mountain View. This year, we will have the honor of celebrating our 80th school year this Spring. Please look forward to more details later. Staff and students are settled in their classes and all schedules have been set.

The School Improvement goals for the 2007-2008 school year continue to be:

1. Students will demonstrate proficiency at or above grade level in reading comprehension.
2. Students will increase proficiency in writing performance.

As a staff, we will collect data on these goals to determine our strengths as well as our weaknesses. This data will guide our instruction with students throughout the year.

Having had past success in improving reading and writing scores with the Thinking Maps program, Mountain View will continue with the second year of Write From the Beginning, a developmental writing program created by the Thinking Maps company, as one of its strategies to close achievement gaps in reading and language. This program is a developmental writing program that focuses on early childhood success and those skills that are necessary for successful writing achievment beyond the primary years.

Secondly, we will continue to study one book a month as a school. The book for August/September is Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee. Teachers will plan various lessons monthly that will cover each book. Please ask your children what they have learned weekly as it relates to the monthly books. As an administrative team, we will study Do You Know Enough About Me to Teach Me?, written by Stephen G. Peters. Teachers will continue to study the book What Great Teachers Do Differently, 14 Things That Matter Most. I am committed to making sure that as the leader of this school that I investigate all areas to ensure that we continue to encourage, push and challenge our students. As an administrative team, have the book studies and studying other research allows us to have knowledge of what happens in other schools around the nation as well as locally.

As always, thank you for allowing me to be your Principal. I know that you will continue to support Mountain View as we continue to reach success with our student!

Angela M. Huff and Melanie P. Medders