Cerro Villa Middle School
Principal's Message
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Principal's Message |
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Welcome to
We are now into the second
trimester of the school year! We have now completed the PSA testing and
trimester finals. I appreciate how hard our teachers, staff and students worked
in making the first trimester a success. As we enter into the second trimester,
please continue to monitor your children closely. Check their Binder Reminder
every night and look at their homework to make sure that it is completer every
day. In particular, if you receive the homework message at night, it is crucial
that you have a conversation with your child and have them complete that
missing assignment. Our lunchtime Homework Help/Study Center often has too many
students attending a because of the lack of student homework completion and
follow-through. There will be consequences including Friday Lunch Detention,
parent conferences and Behavior Contracts if students continue to fail to
complete their homework after receiving a Homework Help summons. The key for
our students is: complete your homework the first time it is assigned!!
Our Fundraiser was a huge
success. Our students raised over $30,000 for programs and activities. I am
very proud of everyone’s efforts. The Prize Scramble was held on Friday,
November 4. The Homeroom winners’ classroom parties began on November 15. Mrs.
Alvanos, Mrs. Wong and Mr. Pedersen finished first, second and third
respectively in the 7th grade and Mr. Cipolla, Mr. Babnick and Ms. Hedspeth
finished first, second and third respectively in the 8th grade. Other
final prizes will include a week of free dress for qualifying students December
12-16. Thank you so much for the assistance of PFSO and special thanks goes to
Mrs. Debo Tracewell.
Cornell Notes
All curricular areas are
practicing this widely-used note-taking format to encourage a “common language”
approach which is so important at the middle school level. Teachers comment
that students are ready to go and know how to take notes. Costa’s Levels of
Questions are utilized to extend critical thinking about the material learned. These
strategies are also useful study tools. The summary/reflection at the end of
the notes allows students to think about their learning. Ask your child to
explain Cornell notes to you using one of their pages.
Extra-Curricular
Activities
In addition to the daily
academic offerings for our students, our teachers also give of their time in
the form of extra-curricular activities. I encourage you to consider having
your children participate in one or more of these activities: After School
Sports, Fitness Club, Reading Club, CASA, Future Business Leaders of America,
Science Club, German Club, French Club, Improv Club, Mathobotix and Character
Cabinet. Announcements are made through our Daily Bulletin and we will
highlight some of these clubs in upcoming issues of the Viking News.
Please Mark Your Calendars
Band – December 13, 2011
at 7.30 p.m. in the CV Auditorium
Orchestra – December 14,
2011 at 7.30 p.m. in the CV Auditorium
Choir – December 14, 2011
at 7.30 p.m. at United
Our teachers are helping the
students prepare for Student Goals and Success Conferences scheduled for Thursday,
February 2, 2012 from 3 – 5 p.m. The students are gathering school work and beginning
to compile their Student Led notebooks.
Parental support is a key to
your student’s success in school. Please monitor their daily work.
• Ask to see their Binder Reminder daily. There should
be something written for each class.
• Check the homework to verify it has been completed. Even if there is no homework, students are required to
write what was accomplished in class for that day.
• Ask your students to inquire about the daily tutoring
classes offered on campus. These tutorial sessions are offered with your
students own dedicated teachers. These services are provided by our excellent
staff free of charge!
• Sign up and regularly use the OUSD Parent Portal. As teachers post grades, you have current feedback of
your student’s progress. If you suspect a problem or have questions, call your
child’s teacher. It’s never too late to become involved!
Beginning in September all
students began chatting with their Reading Break teacher about their Spring,
2011 California Standards Test (CSTs) in Mathematics and Language Arts, and the
last grading period of their 6th or 7th grade year. The purpose is to set goals for improved
test and grade performance by choosing specific academic areas and behaviors.
Students shared these goals with their parents on October 6 at our inaugural
Student Goals and Success Conferences. Now, the students will take the next few
months and save highlights or showcase work for their Student Led Conferences
on February 2. The focus for the Student Goals and Success process is to foster
students’ accountable for their own earning with active sup-port from their
teachers and family.
CV TECHNOLOGY UPDATES
With the funding Cerro Villa
was awarded from the $232,000 EETT-c Technology Grant in 2011, we now have a
number of positive technology changes at the school. First, by early this
month, we will have our laptop classroom in place. Forty new laptops with new
tables and chairs will serve our students in room 206. Research reports, class
projects, document-based questioning and team projects will be completed in
this new lab. In addition, 80 more new laptops will be housed in two carts that
will serve as labs on wheels to be accessed by all of our students. Our
students and teachers are very happy about this technology for student use. Our
teachers have also been receiving staff technology training. Consequently, our
great teachers have been designing their own creative Blackboard accounts.
I am very proud of our staff for their dedication to increased technology use
on campus and in serving the needs of our students. Finally, with the advent of
our new production of CVTV during our announcements, all of the
community may get their own look at our talented youngsters in 7th grade drama
class on our new CV Success TV in the Main Office. This Success TV illustrates
through pictures and video all of the things that make CV the best middle
school in the district.
This year in place of
Homework Help, we have now opened the
As of September 2 and October 7 respectively, our students were educated on our anti-bullying and anti-sexual harassment initiatives. I spoke to the students about treating each other with respect, respecting oneself and our “hands-off” policy here at CV. I also educated students on the laws involved in bullying and sexual harassment and our no tolerance approach to either activity. I also advised students the proper methods in which to report incidents of bullying and sexual harassment both on campus and to and from school. In addition, as part of our Positive Behavioral Interventions’ Initiative, we have begun the tradition of stating our mantra “CVMS” daily. “CVMS” means: C=Choose Respect, V=Value Yourself and Others, M=Make it Safe, S=Strive for Success.
With 1,050 students arriving
and leaving campus daily, along with the heavy traffic of our three schools in
close proximity, we have to be especially concerned about protecting our
students’ safety. We are concerned about the Serrano/Nichols streets as well as
• Tell your student to USE THE CROSSWALKS: Dodson,
Featherhill, Nichols and
• Remind your students who wait in front of the Main
Office to stay seated patiently on the grassy area with the pine trees
• Park, pick up or drop off near the crosswalks to
encourage students to use the crosswalks
• Slow down and proceed cautiously
• Remember the impulsivity of middle school kids
• Remind your students to wear their helmets when riding
bicycles and review bike safety.
THANKSGIVING WISHES
I wish all of our families many
blessings. We have so much to be thankful for in this great community and
country.
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