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Hello Monterey Highlands Students and Parents,
I am looking forward to a great new school year and want to share some important information.
The first day of school is Tuesday, August 31st and it will be a minimum day. Our school calendar on this website has been updated (through January, I will have the rest up soon).
Please keep checking our website often, as we have plans to make it much more useful and interactive. I sent out a phone and email message to parents this week about PARENT PORTAL, our new system for keeping parents informed about our school and their child's progress and attendance. Every family will have a log in ID and password to access the site. Parents will be entering Emergency Card information through the Parent Portal rather than paper cards this year. We are the first Elementary School in the Alhambra School District to begin using this system and feel it will improve the accuracy of information and communciation.
Below is the text of the email and phone message sent this week. Make sure to put email information on your Parent Portal form, so you can keep updated of school programs and activities. (We will continue to send flyers home with kids, but somehow, sometimes, occasionally or often, these don't get home to parents hands)
Monterey Highlands Parents,
Hello, this is Joe Cash, principal of Monterey Highlands. I want to let you know about Parent Portal, an online website that will allow you to stay informed about your child and their progress in school. Emergency Card information will now be collected and updated online. Before the end of the last school year, account information, including username and password for Parent Portal was given to parents in a sealed form sent home with students. For parents new to our school, or if you do not have your login information, your accounts will be available for pickup in the main office after providing valid identification. New kindergarten parents will get the information at our kindergarten orientation on August 30 at 8:30 a.m. or the first day of school. Our computer lab will be made available next Tuesday through Friday during the hours of 2-4 p.m. to access the Parent Portal. We also have one computer in the main office available during office hours. Our first day of school is Tuesday, August 31st, which is a minimum day. See you then! The website is http://family.ausd.us.
Thank you!
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Spring Musicale a Big Hit! |
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Tonight was our Monterey Highlands Spring Musicale and it was a great Success.
Mr. Hamilton our music teacher, has done a wonderful job in teaching our students and they sounded great. Thanks to all of the parents and families that came out to listen and support our students.
We would also like to thank all those who have donated to our music program. As you may know, we have been raising funds for our new music room and to support our program. Budget cuts have eliminated much funding, but thanks to you, we still have a strong and successful program. If you are interested in donating or would like to find out more about our music program, please contact our office.
And once again, thank you Mr. Hamilton! |
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Mark Keppel Scholarships from Highlands PTA |
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MONTEREY HIGHLANDS SCHOOL P.T.A. SCHOLARSHIP
FOR MONTEREY HIGHLANDS GRADUATES
Due Date: 12 noon on May 21, 2010
Monterey Highlands School PTA is offering scholarships of $250 each to be awarded to
outstanding graduating seniors from Mark Keppel High School who are graduates of Monterey
Highlands Elementary School. Students must possess a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0 and
complete an application, which is due to Ms. Monica Marquez at the Mark Keppel High School
Career Center by 12 noon on May 21, 2010. Applications available at MKHS Career Center
and Highlands office. |
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Highlander - Apr./May 2010 |
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8th Grade Writing Partners |
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An Unlikely Pen Pal Experience
By: Emma Chou
Usually, our eighth grade schedule consists of tests,studies, and homework. But thenMs. Wilson, one of our school’s faculty members, started a new program foreighth graders to have an opportunity to write to college students from CalState LA. At first, we were alpretty excited about having college pen pals to write to. Ms. Wilson assigned a college pen palfor each one of us to write to for the next couple of months All together, we wrote three letters toour pen pals and they wrote three letters back to us. It was a fun and unusual learning experience for mostof us.
Afterwe had meticulously written all the letters to our pen pals, Ms. Wilson and ourteachers wanted us to have the chance to meet our pen pals whom we’ve beenwriting to for the past few months It was an arduous obstacle for our teachers to provide buses to takeeveryone in eighth grade to have a rendezvous with our pen pals at Cal State,but our teachers somehow accomplished the task. Later, when we got to the college, a college student gave usa short presentation of Cal State LA. Then the time finally arrived for us to meet our pen pals. This was our first and last time to seeour pen pals in person, so for us, we were both anxious and eager to see ourpen pals. As it turns out, our penpals were also very nervous and excited to see us too. All of us seemed curious to know howour pen pals looked like. As wetalked to our pen pals, some of them told us some very genuine things thatwould be helpful for us later on in life. For example, my pen pal told me that “IT doesn’t matter which college oruniversity you go to. All thatmatters is yourself and how dedicated you want to be in what you do.” That was perhaps one of the mostauthentic quotes that I’ve heard.
Althoughwe only had that one time to see our buddies as an entire eighth grade body,most of us seemed pretty content. Unfortunately, there were some of my classmates who weren’t able to seetheir pen pals because the college pen pals were absent. All in all, it was a wonderfulexperience for most of us. Thefield trip that came along with this pen pal writing experience was the perfectgetaway from the stressful ambiance at school and a way into the world of acollege campus.
PENPALS
By: John Xie
A Fun Experience
Eighthgrade students of Monterey Highlands School were given an opportunity to take asneak peak at the college ways of life. As of 2010, college students from Cal State University of Los Angeles(CSULA) were generous enough to give out some time to have a directcommunication with the eighth grade students. Most students were entertained to have an open communicationas part of their school class activities, Not only did it enrich the writingportion of students’ academics, but many also felt matured as they talked toeach of their assigned buddies, named PenPals. As the program progressed, eighth grade students sharedtheir personal interests with their PenPals. Many of these interests were their favorite foods, places,and TV shows. Along with that,some students were lucky to find some talents they had in common with theirPenPals, such as playing basketball. Such coincidences extended the benefits of this program even further forthe good of the students. Overall,students were enthusiastic about writing to their PenPals who had the answersto many of their questions.
A Road Paved to Success
Originally,the main purpose of the college PenPal program was to give eighth gradestudents a feel of what it’s like to be in college. Technically, there may be times when students meet theunexpected when they step into a college such as the stress. Fellow students gained knowledge toplanning college such as the minimum requirement for the Cal State Universitiesas well as the expanded explanation of the A-G courses. Along with that, eight grade studentswere most times given a recommendation for their classes and scheduling basedon their career interest. Forexample, one of the Pen Peals suggested community college during the highschool years and then attending graduate school before applying for a greatuniversity Although thereare many different plans that can route to success, the PenPals did a good jobsketching some examples for eight graders.
No Fear
Honestly,PenPals did a great job on releasing the stress of many students who feel lostabout college. Some felt thatbeing independent might’ve been too tough while others might’ve had some otherfears such as the lack of time for finishing assignments. For the students who pulled out somequestions about what they were scared of, they probably received an answer inreturn assuring them that college was a lot like a review of high school. Despite the academics, most PenPalseven expressed their joyful feeling of being in college under a list ofadvantages. This broughtconfidence and enthusiasm to the eighth graders as expected. |
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