Cultivating minds and hearts through the pursuit of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. | |
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The Fall Social Committee would like to give a BIG THANKS to all of the parents and faculty who attended this inaugural event on Thursday, September 28. Thank you to all the parents who supported our Fall Social with donations and raffle ticket purchases. Thank you to the teachers who dressed in Western attire at school in support of our community event.
The night was fun and filled with live music, delicious food and drinks, amazing raffle prizes, 360 photo booth pictures, and smiles in every corner of the venue.
Congratulations to the winners of the raffle drawings: Melissa Rodriguez, Laurence Garcia, Kirsten Furl, Pete Flores, Heather Etlinger and Steve Wire.
Thank you to all the hosts of our upcoming Sign & Go experiences: the Weinberger Family, the Thomas Family, Grasso Gay Architects, the Fagan Family, the Hogan Family, the Nwelue Family, the Smith Family, the Cooley Family, the Curry Family, the Daniels Family, the Perez Family, the Winston Family, Lacey Torres, and Lisa Stevens. There is definitely more fun ahead for everyone who signed up to attend these parties!
Thank you to our Premium Event Sponsors and to our In-Kind Donors listed below.
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Funds raised from this fun night will go directly to our school!
Thank you, Great Hearts Monte Vista!
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Friday, October 6th
Literary Character and Historical Figure Dress Up Day and Read-A-Thon
- Costumes must cover the same parts of the body as the school uniform, so ensure students wear short sleeves and that their costume reaches to their knees. No play weapons, masks, or face paint or makeup will be allowed as a part of a costume. Recess will continue to be held, so a costume that allows free movement is also required. Students who do not wish to wear a costume should come to school in the regular uniform. On this special day, students may bring their own books to school. Blankets and pillows for relaxed reading time are also welcome, so long as they fit within your child's backpack.
- If you would like to sign up to read to your child’s class, please sign up here. Remember that you must have a current background check on file and complete the volunteer training to participate.
We are excited about this fun day!
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Each grade will participate in one class-wide field trip this year. Each trip offers our students the opportunity to encounter something meaningful and inline with what they are learning in their grade level. Please click here to pay your $25 field trip fee for the 2023-24 school year.
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Texas Education and Legislative Updates:
· The Texas Public Charter School Association recently recapped their successes from the 88th Legislature. Because of the association’s hard work, none of the 19 anti-charter bills filed received a committee hearing. As for wins, TPCSA’s efforts resulted in the Public Education Committee passing their four priority bills.
· A large part of TPCSA’s legislative success resulted from outreach from the charter community. Prior to the 88th legislative session, lawmakers had more than 330 total engagements with the charter community. During session, they had more than 200 engagements. Great Hearts families ranked in the top three within the charter community in outreach to lawmakers.
· With the impeachment proceedings against the Texas Attorney General complete, lawmakers are expected to convene in Austin in October for a special session focused on school finance. Other topics could include teacher pay, charter school facilities funding, and assessment and accountability.
· Stay up to date on critical charter school bills and action alerts from the Texas Public Charter School Association (TPCSA). TPCSA is the statewide organization representing Texas charter schools to state leaders, lawmakers, and state agencies.
All parents can stay informed by subscribing to TPCSA’s emails and alerts. To receive TPCSA emails and alerts, please click this link.
· To learn more about charter advocacy, contact GH’s Family Advocacy Manager Bridie Chaudoir at [email protected]
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Texas mandates that students who are new to a school or in certain grade levels be screened for hearing and vision concerns. Great Heart Texas Nurses will be on campus on Monday, October 2nd, 2023, to begin hearing & vision screenings of all 3rd and 5th grade students. Students should be sure to bring their glasses and any hearing devices with them that day. Please ensure that your child’s eyeglasses are clean and that ears have been washed and cleared of excessive wax build-up.
Nurse Moore will also be conducting the state mandated Acanthosis screenings for these same grade levels on Monday, October 2nd, 2023. Acanthosis Nigricans is a skin condition that signals high insulin levels in the body. This screening can help identify students who run the risk of developing diabetes in the future. The screening is a non-evasive process and involves simply assessing only the back of the neck for potential skin markings.
If your child does not pass any of these screenings on the initial assessment, a second screening will be conducted approximately two weeks after the initial screening. Any significant findings on your child’s screening results will be sent home shortly afterward with a referral to a Specialist.
Questions or concerns about the screenings may be directed to the school nurse, Minerva Moore, LVN by phone at 210-888-9485, ext. 301605, or by email at [email protected].
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Security is a high priority at Great Hearts Monte Vista South, and we wanted you to be aware of some of the security measures we have set in place to ensure the safety of our scholars as we start this new school year:
- Security cameras are situated around the exterior perimeter of the building and throughout the interior of the school building. These cameras are monitored constantly.
- All doors remain locked and are routinely checked throughout the day.
- All staff is trained each summer and throughout the year on emergency procedures.
- Many staff members and all of the admin and operations team members hold a current certification in CPR/AED, First Aid, and Stop the Bleed.
- We work closely with SAPD and have 2 uniformed officers assigned to our campus each school day and during school events.
- The school engages in school wide emergency drills throughout the year for fire, shelter, lockdown, and secure.
- Security procedures are continuously evaluated and updated as needed.
As an additional safety measure, our school implements a procedure for all visitors and guests on our campus. A driver’s license, or government issued ID card, will be required for entrance beyond our front desk. A visitor ID will be printed and must be visibly worn at all times while on campus. Our staff are trained to look for these visitor IDs and will alert Admin of anyone not wearing proper identification immediately.
It is important that everyone understand that our security measures that we have in place are to protect the safety of our students and staff. We ask that you never hold the door for anyone attempting to enter our building and that you never allow anyone to hold the door for you to enter – everyone must ring the bell and be screened prior to entry. We also ask that if you ever see or hear anything concerning to please contact the school right away. If you prefer to report a concern anonymously, we do have an online form that you can use. Please reach out to our Campus Security Coordinator at [email protected] if you have any questions about school safety.
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We receive our daily State funding based on the number of students who are in their classrooms at 10:15 am. Therefore, we encourage parents to schedule appointments before or after that time, if possible, so that the student is in their seat during attendance.
For absences, please e-mail [email protected] if your student will be out for the day. When students return, please remember to bring a doctor's note if appropriate. If e-mail is not available, leave a message on the attendance line at 210-888-9485, option 1 for Lower School, then option 1 for the attendance line.
Documentation via phone, e-mail, handwritten note, or doctor's note is required for ALL days a child is absent from school.
Tardies: Students may not sign themselves in to school. If students are dropped off later than 8:05 a.m., parents must park and sign them in.
After school/end-of-day appointments: Early pick-up must occur by 3:15 p.m. on regular school days and 1:00 p.m. on early release days. After that time, students will be dismissed from Barshop as usual.
Thank you for your attention to these important matters!
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We serve breakfast and lunch on campus everyday. For more information on our school meal provider, SLA, please visit their website and view the calendar of meals HERE.
You can load money to your student’s account at linqconnect.com with your child’s meal ID or by dropping off a check at the front office. If you did not receive your student's mealtime ID, please call the receptionist at 210-888-9485 or email [email protected]. For more information, visit the Great Hearts Texas Meal Service website.
***The 2023-2024 Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) Application is now available.*** Please apply online HERE.
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Join Your Scholar for Lunch | |
Parents and guardians on the approved contact list for their child may come on campus during lunch and eat with their scholars at the visitor tables. Please eat only with your child and do not invite classmates to sit with you at the visitor tables . We recommend arriving a few minutes early for your scholar’s lunch time in order to sign in and get a visitor badge. Don’t forget to bring your government issued ID with you.
1st and 3 grades – 11:15 – 11:35
Kinder and 5th grades – 11:45 – 12:05
2nd and 4th grades – 12:15 – 12:35
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As a Texas Public School, we are required to do several drills every year. Not only are these drills required, but they also help our teachers and scholars to become familiar with the safety measures we have in place in the event of an emergency. Please encourage your children to participate and listen to teachers. Help them understand that these drills are all about keeping the whole school safe. Here are the drills we are required to do each year:
Fire Drill – 1 per month*
Lockdown Drill – 1 per semester
Secure Drill – 1 per year
Hazmat Shelter Drill – 1 per year
Storm Shelter Drill – 1 per year
*Texas requires only 4 fire drills in a school year, but our Fire Marshall requires 1 per month.
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Scholar Attends, Presents and Demos at Local Technology Conference
Eduardo Saucedo and his community robotics team were invited to attend the VARTECH 2023 Technology Conference which took place at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center September 11-12, 2023.
VARTECH is a Technology conference that connects manufacturers to businesses with
hardware and software solutions. The conference began with the robotics team (Spicy Ketchup) taking center stage and presenting their robot in action in front of 1500 attendees from over 30 countries during the keynote address. They also were given a booth on the tradeshow floor to promote STEAM and robotics. Eduardo and his fellow teammate spoke to many STEM professionals. They had such an impact that one business owner requested their assistance to start a similar program in his home country of Puerto Rico for students, teachers, and the community. Planning is in the works on visiting Puerto Rico to help start a competitive robotics program!
What a special honor and impressive opportunity, Eduardo. Congratulations! We are very proud of you and your work.
If you would like to submit a feature for this section, please email Jacquie Fagan with details and a photo. We'd love to hear from you!
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Parent Service Organization | |
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The Great Hearts Monte Vista Parent Service Organization (PSO) includes the parents/guardians of every student at the school. We are glad you are here and want to help you get involved in supporting our school. Contact information for PSO officers and leadership team is located at the bottom of this section.
Volunteer Opportunities — Oct 2
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**Reminder: a background check is required if you plan to volunteer on campus. Here's the form
https://ghmvpso.org/backgroundcheck. Volunteers are also required to attend a training session and submit a certificate of completion. The online course can be found on the PSO website https://ghmvpso.org/training.
Username: ghmvlions
Password: ghmvlions
Print or save the certificate and submit this to Ms. Grochowski at the front desk.
3rd and 5th grade hearing & vision screenings: Monday, October 2, 8am-1:30pm
Nurse Moore needs parent volunteers to help! If you can’t volunteer for the whole time, but still want to help, please send an email to [email protected].
Snacks for Teachers and Staff — October
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PSO stocks the Teachers’ Lounge throughout the year by assigning a Grade Level to each month during the school year. Families can help whenever they can, all month long.
This month we will have our first special teacher treat, Popcorn & Soda on Wednesday, October 18. Scholars of all grade levels can sign up to bring an item or two for this event or to bring more items for the lounge. Sign up at:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E45ADAA29A3F9C52-44616622-teacher#/
Thank you in advance for your support as we show our appreciation for our teachers!
PSO Online Store — Instructions for Picking Up Orders
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Spirit Day is the last Friday of each month. The next Spirit Day is Friday, October 27.
Orders placed by Monday, October 23 at 5:00pm will be delivered to your scholar’s classroom before Spirit Day. Please be as clear as possible in your order notes and be sure to include your student’s name and their teacher’s name.
You can browse designs and place orders on the online spirit store https://ghmvpso.org.
***Teacher & Staff spirit wear orders will be delivered to campus***
For Spirit Wear questions, please email [email protected].
Some things to know about volunteering...
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The GHMV Parent Service Organization focuses primarily on events and activities that align with our goal of service to this school. PSO offers different volunteer opportunities so all Parents have a chance to be involved at some point.
Examples of volunteer opportunities at a school-wide level…
▪ PSO Fall Social
▪ lunchroom monitors
▪ picture day
▪ hearing/vision screenings
▪ athletic/academic field days
▪ distribution of orders purchased online
▪ book fair
▪ Spring Carnival
Please watch for more information and signups in the weekly newsletters and in the PSO facebook groups.
If you would like to be contacted when opportunities arise, please fill out the volunteer form at https://ghmvpso.org/volunteer.
** A background check is required if you plan to volunteer on campus. Here's the form
https://ghmvpso.org/backgroundcheck. There is a $5.00 fee to process this application.
** Volunteers at this campus (GHMV South) are required to attend a training session and submit a certificate of completion. The online course can be found on the PSO website https://ghmvpso.org/training.
Username: ghmvlions
Password: ghmvlions
Print or save the certificate and submit this to Ms. Grochowski at the front desk.
Questions? Contact Patti Baratin at [email protected]
Used Uniform Donations
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Do you have uniforms to donate? Drop them at the school Front Desk and PSO will pick them up there. You can also do a porch drop off – just email [email protected] for the address.
Watch the weekly newsletter or the facebook groups for information about the next PSO Used Uniform sale.
Stay Connected: GHMV South PSO & Grade Level Facebook Groups
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Parents can join Facebook groups for PSO announcements and for each grade level. These are unofficial group pages and are not managed by Great Hearts Monte Vista South or School Administration. The groups are monitored for appropriate content. No buy-sell-trade posts.
Follow the page: https://www.facebook.com/GHMVPSO/
GHMV South PSO https://www.facebook.com/groups/GHMVSPSO/
Kindergarten — Class of 2036 https://www.facebook.com/groups/GHMVclassof2036/
1st Grade — Class of 2035 https://www.facebook.com/groups/GHMVclassof2035/
2nd Grade — Class of 2034 https://www.facebook.com/groups/GHMVclassof2034/
3rd Grade — Class of 2033 https://www.facebook.com/groups/GHMVclassof2033/
4th Grade — Class of 2032 https://www.facebook.com/groups/GHMVclassof2032/
5th Grade — Class of 2031 https://www.facebook.com/groups/GHMVclassof2031/
Questions about Facebook groups may be sent by PM or email to GHMV PSO.
GHMV PSO Officers and Leadership Team:
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