August 10, 2025
Greetings MVA Community!
WELCOME BACK TO A NEW SCHOOL YEAR!!!
Here is the Back-to-School special edition MVA newsletter. Throughout the year you will receive this newsletter every Sunday evening. Please check regularly to stay informed of upcoming events and to celebrate highlights of recent happenings and celebrations. We also have a live link on the MVA Website homepage so it is available to check at anytime.
This week features (click on the title to jump to the section):
Friday, August 15, will be Book Checkout for ALL grade levels.
Books will be checked out to students who have a completed Master Agreement with student and parent signatures.
Chromebooks will be checked out to students, if needed.
Please arrive at the indicated time below, based on your student’s last name*
Time Window Families with last names* beginning with
8 - 9 am A-C
9 - 10 am D-G
10 - 11 am H-L
11 am - 12 noon Staff Lunch Break
12 -1 pm M-O
1 – 2 pm P-S
2 – 3 pm T-Z
*If your children have different last names, please choose one time window for your family to come on campus.
If your family is unable to attend during your scheduled window, please let us know and we will work with you to make other arrangements.
CLICK HERE to review the step by step instructions for completing Registration and Book Check Out
25-26 STUDENT HOURS AND SCHEDULE HERE (for all grades, K-12)
Grades 8-12: Monday, August 18 (according to individual schedule)
Grades 2-7: Wednesday, August 20 (Compact Day 8:30-11:30am)
Grades K-1: Total Home for the entire first week
Teachers will be contacting families to make appointments for our required independent study progress conferences. Conferences may be held virtually or in person – however you and your teacher are comfortable. We prefer that any in-person conferences be limited to the student and parent(s). If you are coming on campus with young children, please closely supervise them. Parents continue to be required to check in at our office before going to a conference.
Food Services continues to offer FREE lunches for all students. Breakfast is served from 7:45-8:30 am. Students are always welcome to bring a lunch and snacks from home.
We welcome families to eat with their student. Please following these guidelines:
Breakfast: please eat with your students in the lunch table area and enjoy your time together as a family. Please refrain from interacting with other students who are not also accompanied by their parent/guardian.
Lunch: please eat with your students picnic-style on the front grass area, under the trees in front of the "Ramona Community Campus" wall sign and school marquee. Feel free to bring blankets or chairs. Refer to the Student Hours and Bell Schedule for grade level lunch times.
Our School Site Council (SSC) guides MVA’s goals and expenditures in line with our district goals and action plans of the RUSD Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). For this school year we have three parent representative positions open: two are formal voting positions and one is an alternate. Please know that our SSC typically makes decisions using consensus, and only rarely is a formal vote required. Our SSC meetings are open to anyone and we value all voices.
SSC will meet on Thursdays at 3:00pm throughout 2025-2026 on the following dates:
Sept. 25, Oct. 23, Jan. 15, Feb. 19, Mar. 19, Apr. 16, May 14
If you are interested in serving our MVA school community as an SSC parent representative, please email Mrs. Sawada (csawada@ramonausd.net) with a 1-2 sentence statement about why you would like to participate.
We are very happy to welcome volunteers to our campus.
Level One volunteers must go through a clearance process which includes: photo identification, negative tuberculosis test, the clearance process takes a few days. Pick up a volunteer packet in our main office if you are interested.
Level Two volunteers also require a physical and fingerprint clearance. Not all classrooms use parent volunteers, and some teachers prefer to wait a few weeks before introducing another adult in the classroom.
Just ask your child’s teacher how you can help if you are interested in volunteering.
Our PTSA is already planning and preparing for lots of fun and opportunities to connect with each other through a slate of monthly events:
October 10: Fall Carnival,
November 14: Tie Dye Night,
December 5: Craft Night,
January 23: Family Game Night,
February 20: Family Movie Night,
March 20: Pasta Dinner Fundraiser
Events are open to all students and their families. Your membership helps underwrite these events, assemblies and other supports to our classrooms. Parent volunteers are needed to also make the events successful.
Students of all ages (and their parents!) can benefit from some preparation for the school year for the week of summer.
Re-establish bedtime and wakeup. Elementary and middle school students need 9-12 hours of sleep. High school students do best with 8-10 hours. Keeping technology out of the bedroom can assure good sleep.
Practice the morning routine. Choosing clothes, packing lunch and snack, organizing backpacks can all contribute to a sense of control for students of all ages.
Visit campus. Students will feel more confident the first day when they know the location of their classroom. Our campus gate will be unlocked on the weekend before classes for your family to self-tour, if you wish.
Sign up for 1-2 after school activities. Extra-curricular activities can increase motivation and attention in school, and build a stronger sense of belonging to our community.
MVA is a rare and unique place for learning. Our alternative school incorporates a non-threatening, flexible environment that fosters self-motivation and responsibility for students' own learning. Parents are considered partners in their child’s education, working actively with teachers for the good of the student.
We want to make sure that all students complete each semester earning full credits and are on track for graduation and beyond. We are here to provide extra support to students needing to raise their grades.
To participate in privileges associated with the Independent Study program, students must remain in good academic standing, with no more than two Ds and/or no Fs. Students not in good academic standing, will not be permitted to leave campus early without a parent signing out the student, study hall and tutorials will be required during any free periods, cell phone use will not be permitted while on campus, and the student will not be able to participate in extracurricular activities or school-sponsored events.
Please communicate often with your teachers and advisor to ensure your student is on track.
Please take a moment to review the protocols below to ensure that we keep all students safe and maintain maximum efficiency.
It is no secret that our parking lot can be a challenge during drop off and pick up times. As we share the campus with our sister school, Ramona Community Montessori School, we have strategically timed our MVA and RCMS arrival and dismissal times in order to minimize the traffic as much as possible. Please show extra grace and courtesy during the busiest times in the parking lot and follow these protocols:
NEW THIS YEAR: we have adjusted the middle row in the parking lot to be one way (southbound) only. If you pass through the middle parking row, please exit at the south into the inside lane for flowing traffic.
The inside lane is for flowing traffic only - students may not enter or exit cars from the inside lane, only the outside lane (curbside).
The school-side curb is for IMMEDIATE loading and unloading ONLY.
If your student is not in front of the school ready and waiting for pick up, please park in an available parking space to wait for their arrival.
Please abide by all traffic laws. Do not enter the parking lot using the exit lane, and do not turn left when exiting the parking lot.
Pedestrians, please use the blue crosswalk in the parking lot to enter and exit campus. Do not walk in-between cars in the pick up line. This is not only dangerous for you and drivers, this also slows down the flow of traffic.
If a friend or family member is picking up your student, please make sure they are aware of and follow the parking lot protocols.
Please review the complete Ramona Community Campus Parking Lot Protocols HERE
We need your help to spread the word about our K-12 Independent Study Program!
Save this image and share on your socials.
Space is still available!
Share the news with friends and neighbors.
Available space at all grade levels, K-12.
Click on the application here or visit our website.
We encourage our students to be up-standers and if they "See Something, Say Something" to reduce bullying on our campus. We investigate all instances of bullying that are reported to our school site. If there are any concerns please email our counselor, Ms. Bishop or Principal, Mrs. Sawada, and/or complete the bullying reporting form: Online Bullying Reporting Form (If you are a parent assisting your child with completing the form, you must be signed in to their student email.)