May 2024 Edition 7
Principal Message
There are only about 3.5 weeks left in the school year, everybody! Thank you to all of our certificated staff: nurses, counselors, and teachers, whom we celebrated last week for Certificated Appreciation Week. Next up this week is Classified Appreciation Week, and I ask that all staff join us for Staff Meetings this week, at 2:00 on Tuesday at Alta & VVA and on Thursday at Murray.
We've got a lot to celebrate, beginning with Murray's Equity Walk last week, where visitors noted impressive growth and are looking to Alt Ed for help with the comprehensive sites' adoption of an advisory class in the fall. We celebrated Teen Mental Health Day on Thursday; thanks to Amy Ochoa and Beatriz Barron for planning a fun day highlighting an important cause.
We also celebrated three Alt Ed kids who were nominated as Rising Stars of the Month, then took it one step further to apply for a scholarship. Well, they won: please congratulate Alta Senior Cailey Fernandez, who won a merit scholarship of $500, and seniors from VVA and Alta, Belinda Lopez and Brandon Jaimes, who were named as Rising Stars of the Year, and gave a(nother) speech at the Civic Center when accepting their $1,500 scholarship. Congratulate these standout seniors and thanks to the teachers who nominated them so their excellence could be lifted up and celebrated.
We also had another soccer game last week at Vista High and have another one this Thursday at 3:45. Thanks, as always, to Coach Russell Gotteman for supporting an excellent opportunity for our kids to connect with school and with one another. With few parents able to attend to support these co-ed games, please know that I support certificated and classified staff at these games anytime, even if it means stepping away from work once in a while (let the office manager know); thanks to those who make it out there.
Amanda Streitenberger released a new issue of the VVA secondary newsletter: https://sites.google.com/vistausd.org/maynewsletter/home, and last but not least: Bekka Kinder gave kids an opportunity to learn an important life skill: CPR, which they enjoyed and I loved hearing about, being a Red Cross CPR instructor myself back in the day. Thanks to everyone who've made May a great month.
Our Principal at both MGM and AVHS is Dr. Joel Miller. Dr. Miller spent most of his career in Chula Vista, where he served as a chemistry teacher at a high school near the US-Mexico border. After serving as a bilingual resource teacher and an assistant principal, Dr. Miller joined MGM and AVHS in August and is honored to support students as they navigate the final chapter of their K-12 education.
To reach Dr. Miller, please call 760-631-2502 or email joelmiller@vistausd.org.
Dr. Charyn Berg (left) works primarily at Alta Vista High School, where she oversees student behavior, students with special needs, and state/local testing. Dr. Berg has served most of her career in special ed, and is a great new addition to the Alt Ed team. You can reach Dr. Berg at charynberg@vistausd.org or 760-724-3775.
Ms. Julier Ross-Ma'u (right) works primarily at Murray High School, where she oversees student behavior, school budgets, and data/instruction. Ms. Ross-Ma'u has over 15 years of continuation high school experience, previously working at Alta Vista High School as a counselor. You can reach Ms. Ross-Ma'u at julietrossmau@vistausd.org or (760) 631-2502.
