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Vista Verde Middle School

The Paw 25777 Krameria Street Moreno Valley, CA 92551 Phone (951) 490-4690 Fax (951) 490-4695

Issue I — Volume 3 — October, 2016

Welcome Cougars! It's a new school year and

another year to improve. A couple of new things this

year are that there is a new teacher and that we now

have a STEAM Center (AKA SIRC Lab). Say goodbye to

summer and hello to fall. Say goodbye to your ice cold

lemonade and hello to your Pumpkin Spiced Latte. We

had an awesome turnout at Back to School night and

Parent Teacher Conferences. Also, PTO elections have started.

Congrats to the two STEAM roller coaster projects made it to

the MESA competition. We already had our first dance and

have other ones coming up! Get ready for another awesome

year cougars! #VVMS2016-2017

Principal’s Corner

Halloween Group Therapy Instructor: Okay class today we will be talking about our problems. It is group therapy, so feel free to say anything. We’ll go from Dracula and down.

Dracula: I suck at life. Ghost: I just don’t feel like the man I used to be.

Jack-O-Lantern: I feel hollow inside. Zombie: I haven’t felt alive in years.

Head in a Jar: I just feel disconnected. Instructor: Well, this explains a lot.

What extracurricular activities are beneficial for our students to succeed in life? If students can manage their academics with extra-

curricular activities, students will have a better chance of being suc-cessful in college and beyond. What are your main goals for the school this year? 1. Engage stu-dents in Growth Mindset 2. Create an inclusive and safe environment for all students. 3. Address students' Basic Needs through Nutrition Awareness school-wide. 4. Foster opportunities in classrooms for stu-dents to engage in Deeper Learning through WICOR and 21st Century Learning. How has our school improved, since last year? VVMS has im-proved in many areas, but specifically in culture, climate, and attend-ance. Our students are leading in English Language Art scores district-wide. How are you preparing students for college and career readi-ness? Our school has embraced Cross-Curricular Project Based Learning. Through this innovative instructional practice more than one teacher in different subjects get together and plan instructions. Stu-dents will engage in Deeper Learning. They will prepare for the rigor-ous high school courses and meet more A-G requirements.

Written by 7th Grade STEAM

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Current Events

Vista Verde has always attempted to be the at the forefront of education. Therefore, the

teachers came together to re-create the vision statement to meet the needs of our

students and develop 21st century learners who are citizens of the world. After careful

deliberation and discussion the teachers selected “Vista Verde Middle School is

committed to providing equitable access to 21st Century learning experiences for all

students. Recognizing the variety of our students’ talents and interests, we are dedicated

to creating an innovative, safe, and empowering learning environment that celebrates

the diversity of cultures found on our campus.” The teachers felt this captivated the

ideals that they are trying to instill in their students and pushes Vista towards the future.

Parent Teacher Conference

Thank you students for bringing your parents out to parent teacher conferences last Thursday. The teachers had a great time talking to your parents and getting to know them better. They are looking forward to talk to them again on our next parent teacher conferences in February. This was a huge success to the school, parents, and teachers. Mrs. Schoenfelder says that she wishes that more parents should of showed up to the parent teacher conferences. She has been teaching for 11 years now and she hopes for another year too. She also likes interacting with her students and learning from them. When parents start talking to her, at first she feels nervous but after the first 5 people, she is fine. Finally, she likes interacting with parents because she wants to hear what her students tell their parents at home.

ASB Events

Congrats to Mrs. Pramschufer for being recognized as

educator of the month by Val Verde Unified School

District. You rock!

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What is going on at Vista?

In our last competition Vista took second

place! In this project, teams of 2 to 4 have used

a multitude of materials, such as pool noodles

and PVC pipes, to create a thrilling yet safe

coaster. Although 6 teams submitted their

projects to MESA, only 2 have made it. Through-

out this year STEAM will be completing many

projects for MESA and in February they will be

hosting the annual STEAM night. Mrs. Ubrun

says, “I think that the most valuable part of

STEAM is learning that failure is just the next

step to success.”

Our Vista Palooza dance welcomed our

6th grade students to Vista Verde Middle. Was

it fun, was it exciting? Here is some words from

one of our 6th grade students. From my first 6th

grade student she's told us that her experience

was “Interesting and fun to be there and that

there was a lot activities and her favorite was

the photo booth”. Now our final student told us

that he “had a great time and he loved the mu-

sic”. We hope everyone had a great time at the

dance with our dj, Photo booth, and food .

Mr. Martinez says, “I look forward to

my students learning a lot, and for

yearbook, doing a better yearbook then

what we did last year.” At the end of the

year, everyone will be able to see the final

product. Mr. Martinez believes that you

should join this elective because you can

see something new and learn about

photography and using computers.

Vista Verde Middle School's Jr.

Scholars program offers well-qualified

students a rigorous Pre-AP, highly struc-

tured, cross-curricular environment for the

purpose of preparing them for consideration

into the scholars programs at our

comprehensive high schools. Under the

direction of select staff, counselors and

administrators, VVMS Jr. Scholars immerse

themselves in challenging and dynamic

curricula while developing the skills needed

to succeed academically.

The Mile Club began at the beginning

of September. Mr. Starkweather is the direc-

tor of the mile club and they have had only one

competition so far at Vail Ranch Middle

School. Although they were not able to pull out

the win at their past event. Although they did

place 6th out of 17 schools and won 9 medals.

The Mile Club meets up every Tuesday and

Thursday from 2:15 to. Their next competitions

are on October 15th and November 10th. The

Mile Club lasts all year.

Another current event going on is Stomp Out Bullying day. We want to get the whole school to stop bullying and start caring! You can even get on the idea too! Just wear blue on Mondays to represent your spirit for people that have been bullied. Make sure to show your support by talking to anyone who is eating alone, be bullied, or to anyone in general. Bullying someone can also be a bad influence to younger people around you and it will continue bullying.

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Upcoming Events Clubbin’ At Vista

The Mile Club began at the beginning of September. Mr. Starkweather is the director of the mile club and they have had only one competition so far. Although they were not able to pull out the win at their past event. Although they did place 6th out of 17 schools and won 9 medals. The Mile Club meets up every Tuesday and Thursday from 2:15 to. Their next competitions are on October 15th and November 10th. The Mile Club last all year long.

If you're in GATE you are in luck for many fun activities such as leather working. If you wondering what this activity is you are able to make stuff out of leather such as a wallets, but don't worry we will take small steps to making pieces of art made out of leather. Only a certain number of people will get to do it. First come first serve. It would be loads of fun especially since it’s a hands on activity packing in loads of fun.

Art- Ms. Ptacek Art club meets the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month in room 505. In art club we draw anime and we may do a fundraiser. The Art club needs to be on the morning announcements. All students need a sketchbook and pencils. The purpose of the Art Club is to enrich art in a student’s daily and to strengthen their art abilities. There will possibly be a Sip and Paint

party that will cost the students $5.

Gate- Mrs. Lowell GATE stands for Gifted and Talented Education GATE CLUB: First Tuesday of each Month, additionally as needed. GATE Club makes decisions on how we can enrich the GATE program. GATE Club helps to decide what field trips GATE will attend. They help to determine any fundraisers and/or volun-teer work. GATE Club meets in Room 303 GATE is having a series of after school classes this fall including Edible Arrangements, Leatherworking, DJing

and Dissection.

October 3: Running Club Meet at Vail Ranch Middle School. From 7:15 AM to 2:00 PM

Computer Class (English & Spanish) at the VVMS Parent Center October 4: School Board Meeting at Val Verde High School. From 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM October 5: Latino Family Literacy- College Awareness ( Spanish ) at VVMS parent center. From 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM October 10: Columbus Day Holiday- NO SCHOOL October 12: Latino Family Literacy- College Awareness ( Spanish ) at VVMS parent center. From 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM October 13: Vision and Hearing Screening at VVMS. All Day October 17: Computer Class ( English & Spanish ) At VVMS; From 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM October 19: Latino Family Literacy - College Awareness (Spanish) at VVMS Parent Center. From 9:00 AM to 11:30 AM October 20: CA Great Shakeout Statewide; from 10:20 AM to 10:30 AM October 24: Computer Class (English & Spanish) at VVMS. From 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM October 25: ELAC Meeting at VVMS. From 8:30 AM to 9:30 AM

School Site Council at VVMS. From 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM

AAAC (African American Advisory Council) at March M.S. From 5:30 PM to 6:30 PM October 31: Halloween; Holiday ( All Day )

Computer Class (English & Spanish) at VVMS. From 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

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