We are pleased to provide our students, parents, staff and community with the latest information about our Mt. Pleasant Elementary School District community through this newsletter. Please join us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to connect with us daily!

October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and we would like to provide a friendly reminder about our district’s no tolerance policy on bullying, which includes online harassment. Bullying has many short- and long-term effects, including anxiety, low self-esteem, low attendance and depression. This not only affects their ability to perform in school, but it can also prevent them from engaging with others. On the first day of school, our students received a District Handbook which has our Bullying Prevention Plan. We encourage parents to sit with their students and review these important topics to make sure everyone on campus feels like they are heard, safe, and have a sense of belonging.  

Students have three responsibilities: Be Safe, Be Responsible, and Be Respectful. It takes the effort of the whole community in order to achieve success with these responsibilities. Our students are taught the importance of teamwork and treating others with respect. It is important to have conversations with our students about why bullying is harmful as well as letting them know to speak up if they are being bullied or see others being bullied. Students or parents can report bullying to teachers, the principal and/or any staff member in order to begin an investigation as soon as possible. Reports can also be done through our district website under the “Forms, Reports, and Helpful Information” tab or by clicking here.

 

Our teachers also receive training to help prevent bullying and cultivate acceptance with the ultimate goal of maintaining a safe environment at MPESD. Students should not share passwords, reply to people they don’t know, or send messages they would not want their parents to read. All students have a right to a safe and healthy school environment, which is only achievable through teamwork and spreading kindness to one another. 

To learn more about bullying and how to prevent these situations, please contact the Public Health Department's Violence Prevention Program at (408) 494-7844 or visit the following links:

https://www.stopbullying.gov/ 

https://www.schoolsafety.gov/bullying-and-cyberbullying 

https://www.apa.org/topics/bullying/prevent 

Libraries provide a special place for studying, learning and discovery! At lunch time, our school libraries are open for all students for arts and craft, board games, and reading. The librarians also offer read aloud sessions, especially for kindergarten and 1st grade students. Teachers can also request to have the books read to their class. The library technicians will share special books during Hispanic Heritage Month along with coloring sheets. The teachers can also request time for students to do research with their class in the library. Please find more details below. We thank our librarians for their dedicated work! 

Robert Sanders – Library open for recess and lunch 

Mt. Pleasant Ida Jew Academy – Library open for recess and lunch 

Ida Jew Academy – Library open for lunch only 

August Boeger – Library open for recess and lunch 

Reading Partners is an amazing program offered during school hours at Robert Sanders Elementary, Ida Jew Academy/Valle Vista Elementary (IJAVV), and Mt. Pleasant STEAM Elementary (MPIJA). Reading Partners provides tutoring programs led by volunteers, individualized reading intervention for identified students, literacy resources, and many more services for both students and families. 

Topics addressed in Reading Partners include: Concept of word, phonics, vocabulary, sentence/paragraph level comprehension, visual discrimination, alphabetic principle, phonemic awareness, and more! This program is a fantastic learning opportunity for students to enhance their knowledge and become excellent readers! Thank you everyone for your participation and contributions to the success of this program! 

Our facility improvement projects continue to advance district-wide! The renovation work with kindergarten classrooms at Mt. Pleasant Elementary has been completed with excellent results. The restrooms were redone, the classrooms have new cabinetry, flooring, painting, and there are new window shades. Thank you all for your support as we work to create awesome learning spaces for our students, staff members and families! 

Watch a video with the highlights of the kindergarten renovation process at Mt. Pleasant Elementary.

Our teachers and administrators are working hard to better support students during the academic year. During school hours, teachers provide small group interventions to meet students’ needs. In order to support our students’ academic success, our schools offer the following resources: Reading Partners, Resource Specialist Program (RSP), and Intervention Teachers (focusing on K-3rd grade students). To improve our efforts, we are currently looking into providing intervention for our 4th and 5th grade students as well. 

The mission of the Eastside Education Initiative (EEI) is to provide supplemental educational services in order to promote a college and career readiness culture. EEI will offer math tutoring services, taught by college students specialized in math, to identified 8th graders at both the August Boeger campus as well as the Ida Jew campus. 

After school, our MPAS Program offers tutoring for math (using Elevate Math curriculum) and literacy (using iReady intervention lessons and small group literacy strategies) to qualifying students. Tutoring is offered at all grade levels and students are assessed using teacher input as well as iReady diagnostics or CAASPP results. If you would like to learn more about student eligibility for MPAS tutoring or have any questions, please feel free to contact Lisa at (408) 223-3781 or lkattenhorn@mpesd.org. 

We would like to thank the parents and families who joined us September 19 for our very first Parent Academic Fair at August Boeger Middle School!

Our goal was to engage with parents and provide them the information and strategies to support their students' academic and personal success.

Workshops were presented on K-2 Math Strategies, Grades 3-5 Math Strategies, and College & Career Readiness. 

Topics included:   

• What you need to know in middle school 
• AVID Strategies: What they are and how they can help students 
• Mindfulness and Wellness in Education: Attendance, stress, anxiety, hunger, and fatigue in school.  

The August Boeger PTSA, the IJAVVE PTA, MPIJA PTA, and the San José Public Library hosted tables in the cafeteria. Following the workshops, families were treated to a Taco Bar dinner and a raffle! 

Our next Parent Academic Fair is Thursday, November 30, beginning at 6 PM at August Boeger Middle School.

Parents should be on the watch for flyers, email and text blasts, and social media postings to learn more about what will be offered that evening. We appreciate your participation and contributions to this Academic Fair! 

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) are core values at MPESD. We are committed to creating an anti-racist, compassionate and inclusive school culture where every individual is treated with dignity in our diverse community. DEIB lessons being shared in October are about Latinx Heritage Month, National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Filipino Heritage Month, National Italian American Heritage Month, LGBTQ History Month, World Teachers Day, Yom Kippur, Indigenous People’s Day, Diwali and Halloween. The character trait being recognized is Compassion. 

For the month of November, the lessons will focus on Native American Heritage Month, Sikh Awareness and Appreciation Month, Día de Los Muertos, LGBTQ+ Solidarity Week, Election Day, Veteran's Day, Transgender Day of Remembrance, Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Day. The character trait that we will be focused on is Integrity. 

If you are interested in learning more about DEIB, please reach out to your school to further the conversation. Thank you for supporting an inclusive school community!  

Are you or someone you know interested in becoming part of Mt. Pleasant Elementary School District? MPESD is hiring for a variety of roles. Growth opportunities are available for everyone. 

Education opportunities are available to individuals who are interested in becoming teachers, as well as opportunities for teachers to study for an additional credential. 

The district offers employees a generous welfare and benefits package and an excellent state pension plan, and there are many positions available in our school district that do not require a college degree. 



We invite you to learn more on EdJoin or contact our Personnel Office at (408) 233-3720. And find out about an Instructional Aide career at MPESD reading the flyer below! 

Our Board of Trustees will meet November 8, 2023. 

The job of the Board of Trustees includes the following: 



• Setting the vision and goals for the district  
• Adopting policies that give the district direction to set priorities and achieve its goals
• Hiring and evaluating the superintendent 
• Adopting and overseeing the annual budget 
• Managing the collective bargaining process for employees of the district 

To learn more about these sessions, please visit our website. 

You can watch the October 11, 2023 Board meeting here. 

(link pending, Alice will share)