Aug 26-Aug 30

Happy Monday! Hopefully you had a chance to attend Back to School Night, if not I encourage you to contact your teacher to learn more about the school year and ways to support your child.

I encourage all parents who are able to attend our upcoming Coffee with the Principal Wednesday, August 28th at 8:30 am in our auditorium. The meeting will focus on answering any questions you may have regarding our new McMillin App.

class-picture-day-color2Reminder Fall pictures are on Tuesday Aug 27th.

School Site Council Meeting on Tuesday Aug. 27th at 3:00 pm.

Sent on Behalf of the CVESD Instructional Services and Support:

Greetings. We want to keep you updated about opportunities to learn about how to help your child in school and/or learn more about our instructional program through the following parent workshops:

  • Monday, August 26 from 6-8 p.m. at Loma Verde Elementary School: Tools and Resources for Parents
  • Tuesday, August 27, 2013 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Education Service and Support Center (ESSC):  What is the California English Language Development Test? (CELDT)
  • Wednesday, August 28, 2013 from 6-7:30 p.m. at the Education Service and Support Center (ESSC): Introduction to Common Core Math Standards
  • Thursday, August 29, 2013 from 9-11:00 a.m. at Enrique S. Camarena Elementary School: Tools and Resources for Parents

For more information, visit us on the web at: http://www.cvesd.org/PARENTS/Pages/Workshops.aspx

School Security

school_securityDear Parents/Guardians:

I am writing to inform you about a new Visitor Management System being implemented at our school and across the District. Raptor Technologies has been selected to provide the District’s new web-based system. The system provides an easy to use platform. It screens out unwanted visitors from our campuses, and allows us to manage our volunteers at both a campus and District level. Parents/guardians who want to gain access to a school or District facility will be asked to present a valid driver’s license or identification card from any state. Certain documents from other countries may be scanned as well. This will only need to be done once. This takes about 15 seconds.

The goal is to improve campus safety and security. Our new system will be installed in two places:

1) a school secretarial terminal with the ID scanner for first-time entry

2) at a ‘Kiosk’, also known as the ‘Quick Check’ computer, which is on our school’s countertop facing the public, for returning visitors.

The web-based system ‘reads’ the information from the scanner, compares it to a sex offender database, and alerts campus administrators if a match is found. Assuming that no match was made, the system enables the printing of a visitor badge that includes a photo.

After the initial scan, visitors can use the Quick Check kiosk to sign in and print their badges. The names are still run through the database. The photo is already stored for printing onto the badge. And this, too, happens lightning fast.

We will continue to practice and refine our school safety and emergency procedures. It is very important that you keep the information on your child’s school emergency card up-to-date. Your child will not be released to persons other than those listed on the emergency card.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Estimado padre de familia o tutor legal:

La presente es para informarle sobre un nuevo sistema de manejo de visitantes que se está implementando en nuestra escuela y en todo el Distrito. La compañía Raptor Technologies fue seleccionada para proporcionar al Distrito su nuevo sistema computarizado. El sistema ofrece una plataforma fácil de usar. Impide que entren a nuestros planteles visitantes indeseables, y nos permite recibir a nuestros voluntarios, tanto en los planteles como en las instalaciones del Distrito. Se pedirá a los padres o tutores que deseen entrar a una escuela o centro del Distrito presentar una identificación válida, ya sea una licencia de conducir o una tarjeta de identificación de cualquier estado. También podrán aceptarse ciertos documentos de otros países. Este proceso sólo necesita hacerse una vez. Toma aproximadamente 15 segundos.

La meta es mejorar la seguridad y protección del plantel. Nuestro nuevo sistema estará instalado en dos lugares:

Una terminal de la secretaria de la escuela, con escáner de identificación para el visitante que aún no está en este sistema

2) en un quiosco, también conocido como la computadora de “Quick Check” (entrada rápida), que se encuentra en el mostrador de la oficina escolar de frente al público, para visitantes que ya están en el sistema.

El sistema lee la información del escáner, la compara con una base de datos de delincuentes sexuales, y alerta a los administradores del plantel si el nombre aparece en esa base de datos. Suponiendo que el nombre no aparece en esa base de datos, el sistema permite imprimir un gafete de visitante que incluye una foto.

Después de la primera vez que se escanea la identificación, los visitantes pueden utilizar el quiosco de entrada rápida para anotar su ingreso e imprimir su gafete. Los nombres continúan revisándose por medio de la base de datos. La foto ya está guardada para imprimirse en el gafete. Esto también sucede a la velocidad de la luz.

Continuaremos practicando y perfeccionando nuestros procedimientos para la seguridad escolar y para emergencias. Es muy importante que usted mantenga al día la información de la tarjeta de emergencia en la escuela de su niño. Sólo se entregará su niño a las personas que estén anotadas en la tarjeta de la emergencia.

Le agradezco de antemano su ayuda.

 

Aug 19-23

BTSNI’d like to thank all of you who were able to make it out to the Padre game, our staff had a great time and we hope you did too!!
It’s a big week at McMillin. This week we get the chance to officially meet all of you during our Back to School Nights. This is your chance to get to know your child’s teacher and to learn about what your kids will be learning this year. With our transition to Common Core Standards, there’s a lot to learn. Although these nights are not for talking to your teacher about the specifics of your child (these conversations will take place during parent-teacher conferences), you will learn about important procedures of the classroom, as well as how to support your child this year. With a school as large as ours we are forced to have BTSN on two days:
*Aug 21 4 pm Book Fair, 4:45 pm grades 4th-5th, 5:45 pm grade 6
*Aug 22 4 pm Book Fair, 4:45 pm grades TK, K, 1st, 5:45 pm grades 2nd & 3rd

Also please make sure to stop by our Book Fair in the auditorium.

Another fun tradition we hope you can attend is our Donuts with Dads and Muffins with Moms. Dads will come on Thursday starting @ 7:15 am and Moms on Friday also starting @ 7:15 am. After your goodies you can stop by for a little more book shopping if you’d like.

Finally I’m excited to announce our new McMillin App. Please take a moment to download it to your smart device. This will be one of our primary means of communicating with all of you and we hope it makes life a little easier for everyone! Look for a date in the near future when you can come by the school so we can teach you how to take advantage of all of its features.

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Aug 12-16

happy-childrenWelcome to another great week! I hope all of you had a fantastic week with your kids. It was so heartwarming to learn that Hannah Anderson was found safe and will soon be reunited with her family. When these sorts of tragedies take place it always puts things in perspective and I’m reminded of how fortunate I really am.

This week our students will begin attending their FOCUS classes. For those of you who are new to McMillin, we invest in 4 part time program support teachers who will work with your students in 4 different enrichment areas. This year our students will be able to enjoy PE, Technology, Art, and for the first time a Music Chorus class (think Glee)! While the students rotate through the different FOCUS classes, the “regular classroom” teachers will be collaborating with the other teachers in their grade level, ensuring your children will receive thoughtfully planned lessons that are rigorous and aligned with our new Common Core Standards (CCSS). FOCUS will be provided for your children every other week. Please take a moment to ask your kids how they enjoy these classes and feel free to communicate back with us. We want to make sure that every moment of the day is a rewarding experience and we work hard to make sure this is the norm, rather than the exception.

Finally, I wanted to make you aware of a few other events taking place this week.

  • On Monday you will be receiving our School Site Council ballot. We ask that everyone vote for the 4 candidates that have volunteered to serve on the council and return the ballot to your teacher or school office by Friday Aug. 16th.
  • On Tuesday, our 4th and 5th graders will be lucky enough to meet students from Japan, who will be demonstrating their amazing skills in the use of the age-old abacus. It really is incredible to see how these kids can solve problems faster on their abacus, than most people can solve on a calculator!
  • On Thursday, all students will be trained on how to evacuate from a school bus. This yearly drill is conducted just to be extra safe and make sure we are all prepared in case of an emergency.
  • On Friday, parents have the opportunity to purchase an ID card from Ident-a-Kid pictures. You should have received information about this valuable service from a flyer that was sent home. If you need more information please contact the school.

Finally, this is the final week to purchase tickets for our first annual McMillin School Kick-Off at the Padre game. I hope you all can join us for what is sure to be a fun event, where you can meet some of our staff and enjoy a beautiful day at the ball park. Remember tickets are only $15 and this includes a free meal at our tailgate, which starts at 11:30 am Sunday Aug 18. See you there!
McMillin Padre Flyer
McMillin Kick Off Order Form

Aug 5-9

smart kidHappy Monday! After 8 days of school, our staff and students are focused and moving right along towards another great year. As mentioned in previous messages, this year we are focusing on a new set of standards, the Common Core State Standards. The following is information regarding the CCSS at each grade level, which may help you to better understand the expectations and ways for you to support your child.

 

Site CouncilI also want to encourage all of our parents to consider a position on our School Site Council. This year there are 4 positions open that will need to be filled by parents that are interested in helping to make important decisions regarding school programs and budget. If you are interested, please make sure to complete the nomination form sent home earlier this week. If you need another form please stop by our office and please make sure to return the form no later than August 9. Voting for our 4 openings will take place August 12-16.  Click here for the nomination form

Finally dont forget to put these important dates on your calendar:

  • Aug 16 Ident-a-Kids pictures
  • Aug 18th McMillin School Kickoff at the Padre game
  • Aug. 20th ELAC meeting & SSC meeting
  • Aug 21 Back to School night for 4th, 5th and 6th grade
  • Aug 22 Donuts with Dads
  • Aug 22 Back to School night for TK, K, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade
  • Aug 23 Muffins with Moms
  • Aug 27 Fall pictures
  • Aug 28 Coffee with the Principal

San Diego Padres

padresballGood Morning Everyone,

Typically I send out my Blog each Monday, but I wanted to make sure you didn’t miss out on the opportunity to purchase tickets for our McMillin 2013 School Year Kickoff at  the Padre game! The game is on August 18th, at 1:10 pm vs the NY Mets!

 

  • Each ticket is only $15, with a portion from each ticket going directly back to McMillin’s fundraising efforts. A free meal & beverage will be included with every purchased ticket.

  • Please join us before the game for a tailgate bar-b-que at the corner of 14th Street and Imperial Avenue between 11:30am and 12:45pm.  Meet your teachers and school support staff!

  • Win prizes at our raffle during the tailgate

  • On your order form please include the student name, teacher, classroom #, number of tickets, and amount enclosed

  • To purchase tickets, please drop off an order form and payment at the school office or your teacher, on or before August 12, 2013.

  • Tickets can be picked up from the school office any time after August 13.

  • Tickets must be purchased with cash or checks. Please make checks payable to McMillin Elementary.

McMillin Flyer revised

McMillin Kick Off Order Form