Great news!  
The district secured extra funding from the state allowing Mountain building upgrades to commence over the summer. The district is working with the contractors to develop a suitable schedule that minimizes the impact on students and teachers next year.  Thank you Dr. Steinhaus, Mrs. Guy and their district team for their hard work in winning extra state dollars.  We look forward to our systems improvements!
Building schedule to be announced shortly.

It’s new, it’s shiny, and unlike the old one it actually works. Your PTA dollars have paid for the number one request from teachers this year (as well as being a top request last year), a new laminator! Principal Kieltyka tells me it’s already seeing use and the teachers are very happy with it.

The Science Fair Judging Team has sent us a copy of the judging sheet they will be using. This may be helpful for students who are working on their science fair boards right now:

2018 Science Fair Judging Sheet

We need your assistance to help judge at this years Elementary School and Los Alamos County Science Fairs. 

Elementary School Science Fairs start the week of November 26th.

Los Alamos County Science Fair is on January 19th.

This is a special event for the students in our community and your participation is greatly appreciated!

Please go to our Sign Up page (https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f0d49a4a728a5fa7-20182019) for the dates and times that we need volunteers.

Several types of judges are needed:

- Elementary (Grades 4-5) Division projects - displays and no interviews

- Junior (Grades 6-8) and Senior (Grades 9-12) Divisions - displays and interviews

- Specials Teams - projects that fall within specific award categories 

If you have a preference on Topics - please make a note in the comment box when you sign up and we will do our best to accommodate your request. Ideally, we will arrange at least 3-4 judges per student for each division. Final judging assignments will be made after we have the final project counts for each category. 

The Los Alamos County Science Fair follows the same categories as the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF). Please visit the website at https://student.societyforscience.org/intel-isef-categories-and-subcategories for a full description and definition of the Intel ISEF categories.

Orientation for the County Science Fair will take place on January 18th and dinner will be provided (time and location to be announced). We will provide an overview of the judging process and answer any questions you may have. Attendance at the orientation is not required, but it is encouraged, especially if you are new to judging. Useful reminders and updates will be provided. In addition, there will be an opportunity to preview (NOT JUDGE) the projects after the orientation.

If you plan on attending the orientation dinner, please send an e-mail to Eva Abeyta at e.abeyta@laschools.net by 1/17/19 to ensure enough food for all. We will be sending out copies of the judging forms and more information during the week of the science fair.

For additional questions, please contact David Coblentz (coblentz@lanl.gov) or Cathy Snelson (snelsonc@lanl.gov).

Thanks again,

David Coblentz and Cathy Snelson

Judging Committee Co-Chairs

Through Nov 2, AmazonSmile is donating 5% (ten times the usual amount) to Mountain Elementary School PTA when you shop at smile.amazon.com/ch/85-0448519. #AmazonSmile #StartWithaSmile

We have a list of the 2018 Silent Auction Items which you may bid on at the Halloween Carnival on Saturday. Check it out and see all the great things our generous sponsors have made available: 2018 Silent Auction Highlights

We’re excited about the upcoming Halloween Carnival and Fall Book Fair! We’re starting to organize the valiant crew of volunteers it takes to run these perennial student favorites. You too can be one of those brave and helpful people by going to the SignUpGenius pages below and signing up to help. Remember the early bird gets the best choices!

Click to Sign up for Fall Book Fair

The Fall Book Fair Dates are:

• Setup: October 12th

• Book Sales: October 15th-20th

Click to Sign up for the Halloween Carnival

The Halloween Carnival is going to be October 20th.

Is your house overrun with well-loved but gently used stuffies? Donate them to the Carnival Prize Barn. Give joy to another child while you declutter. Drop off stuffies at the Mountain front office or email officers@mountainpta.org

LET THEM EAT CAKE!  The Cake Walk is one of our most popular carnival attractions.  Bring in cakes to add to the fun.  Register your donation on the Halloween Carnival SignupGenius.

Our 2018 FUNd run on Wednesday, October 3rd was a rousing success! The students had fun, the teachers dressed up as superheroes, some real life superheroes from the Fire Department came out and ran with us and a good time was had by all.

The Mountain community rallied around and at the last minute we surpassed our fundraising goal of $14,000 by raising $15,674. Additional money was donated by our generous corporate sponsors, who are listed on the right side of the page.

This success ensures that the PTA will be able to meet our planned goals of funding educational grants, tutoring services, teacher classroom allowances, family reading and math nights, plus so much more. Our PTA will continue to pay for transportation for field trips for every grade because budget constraints have limited our field trip funding. Excitingly, this year we are also raising money to stay up to date on Mountain School’s Classroom Technology.

Thanks to everyone for your donations of time and treasure!

Check out our Facebook page where there may be pictures soon.

See the Complete Schedule for more information:

• Monday, September 24th: Jersey / Sport Day

• Tuesday, September 25th: Dress like (one of) your favorite Adults Day!

• Wednesday, September 26th: Comfy Cozy Day

• Thursday, September 27th: Disney / Marvel Day

• Friday, September 28th: Green and Gold Day

This year the classroom that brings in the best average of box tops per student will get the honor of having their teacher named Box Top Hero and get a prize (to be determined)!

Last year's winners: Mrs. Montoya's and Mrs. Zobay's classes!

Read the flyer for more information!

Parent superheroes needed!  Simply sign up to be a Class or Grade collection volunteer!  Just Contact officers@mountainpta.org for more information.

The whole family is invited to eat breakfast with your Mountain student.  Enjoy bagels, muffins, fruit, coffee & more. If you want to help set up Family Breakfast, please contact Mhairi at mhairi.mckaysmith.pta@gmail.com.
 
We recommend:

• K - 3 families eat @ 7:30am

• 4 - 6 families eat @ 7:45am

Join us when you can!

Mountain Open House will be on Monday August 27 from 5:30 to 7 pm. Come learn more about what will be going on in your kid’s classrooms this year. There will be various tables to obtain information about community partners and organizations (e.g., Girls Scouts). Your PTA Board will be there, and we'll have the PTA pop-up shop with a brand new shirt design!  Come get your Mountain gear and join the PTA!

Stop by and introduce yourself to Mrs. Kieltyka after the morning bell on Tuesday, August 21st @ 8:20 - 9am.  Grab a cup of coffee from the PTA table and meet our wonderful new principal!

First Day School Supply kits are here! If you ordered a kit it will be delivered to your child's classroom and be waiting for him or her on the first day of school.

Yearbook Photos Needed!

We need your photos in order to have an amazing yearbook! Really. We do not have enough photos for the yearbook. Please send in your photos!

email: mtnlionYB@gmail.com

G-Drive: https://goo.gl/pLviLT

Submit photos of your child from school performances, field trips, spirit days, science fair, winter ball, Halloween carnival, FUNd Run - anything that happened during the school day. 

Thank you!

Parent-Teacher Conference Meals

Mountain families provide meals for our amazing staff during Parent-Teacher Conferences to let them know how much we appreciate them! Wednesday, February 7 and Thursday, February 8th we will be lunches and Friday, February 9th will be breakfast.  

Please go to the SignUpGenius, take a look at what's on the menu, and sign up for what you are able to bring. Thank you so much for supporting the teachers and staff at Mountain!

LANL Employee Giving Campaign

November 13th to December 8th is the annual drive for the LANL employee giving campaign. Last year LANL matched donation at 40% making your gift to the PTA go even further. Employees can chose to give to Mountain Elementary PTA as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit via payroll deduction. Did you know that all the money you donate goes directly to your charity? LANS picks up the administrative fee. No money goes to United Way unless you give directly to United Way.

Do you have more that one cause you wish to support? Don’t worry you can choose donation multiple organizations.

How to Sign Up

Using the Giving Tool quick link on the far right the LANL Inside page:
  1. Search Mountain in the search box, change to any words, NM, Los Alamos
  2. Mountain Elementary PTA will pop up in the list and select (address is 2280 North Road, Los Alamos, NM 87544).
  3. Choose biweekly or one-time giving.
  4. Decide how much to give and be sure to click Save & Proceed and then Submit.
  5. Deductions will be reflection on your January 4th, 2018 paycheck.