YOUR EDUCATION NEWS SOURCE
Dear Parents,

I want to begin this Flash! by saying that our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of the devastating fires in Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties.

The events hit close to home for us, since many of our staff live up North. When an event of this magnitude touches one of us, it affects us all. We are providing assistance and support to all the staff members who were personally impacted by the fires. We have had at least seven District families offer to house dislocated MVSD staff members. Also, the entire staff is here to assist and provide support.  

During times like these, children may have many questions and concerns about their own safety and the safety of their families, so we would like to provide you with resources on how to support your child. Please let your child's teacher or school administrator know if you have a particular concern or if you think your child needs some extra attention and support.

I am continually reminded throughout this crisis about what is truly most important: family, friends, and relationships. An emergency like this puts life into perspective for sure and we are indeed one large family.  

Warm regards,

Paul Johnson
Superintendent
All-School-Read Project a Success!
Mill Valley Middle School students and staff embarked on a literary adventure this past September, when they started their very first All-School-Read. For two weeks, students and staff read the New York Times best-selling book " I Will Always Write Back," a compelling non-fiction title that follows the lives of pen-pals from Pennsylvania and Zimbabwe who become lifelong friends.

The results of the project were outstanding! Every student we talked to said they enjoyed the book and many mentioned they read it in record time. Our staff shared that the book provided them with the opportunity to engage in thoughtful conversations with students of all grade levels. Also, many parents joined in the adventure, and reported that reading the book along with their children provided them with the opportunity to connect with their child in a different way.

Overall, MVMS' first All-School-Read adventure was a great success and the book has certainly provided all of us with the opportunity to develop a better understanding of our interconnected world. We are hoping to have one of the authors, Caitlin Alifirenka, visit us in November.
Strategic Plan Refresh
The District is in the process of gathering input from the community to develop our next five year strategic plan.

In order to give everyone in the community the opportunity to share their feedback and suggestions with us, we have scheduled 23 focus groups, including two town hall meetings, that will be taking place between now and February (click here to see schedule). In addition to our focus groups, we will be sending a survey to our parent community and staff in early November to collect additional input.

This is an exciting opportunity to plot the District’s course into the future. Your participation would be appreciated and we hope you can attend one of the focus groups and/or fill out our survey.
"Kinder Than Necessary" Acts
In an effort to build on our theme of Empathy-building, the District will be collecting and highlighting “Kinder Than Necessary” acts in our Flashes! 

Today, we would like to highlight two kind acts that were performed by students!

Being Kind to Our Schools
These five Tam Valley students have taken it upon themselves, without being asked, to pick up litter around the school during their recesses, to keep it a beautiful, clean place to learn. They started out using small, plastic newspaper bags that their teacher obtained for them, but now they seek out Carlos, the custodian, for bigger bags. They pick up litter almost every day and each time take in quite a haul!
They sure are happy to keep Tam Valley looking good! 

Spreading Kindness
A group of anonymous students went around Strawberry Point's campus placing "Kinder Than Necessary Pumpkin Helpers" in every classroom (see picture). These little helpers were accompanied by letters addressed to teachers and students promoting empathy, kindness and good behavior.

We are excited to see how our empathy-building theme has been embraced by students and staff.

Thank you, Secret Kindness Agents!
Mill Valley School District | 415-389-7700 | contact@mvschools.org | mvschools.org