Dear Miraloma Parents and Families,    

It is with great anticipation for the new and approaching school year that I write this letter. This time of year always brings about many feelings for me as the staff and I prepare for our scholars to flood the Miraloma hallways, classrooms and schoolyards. I feel greatly enthused due to our astounding growth and learning as a community over the last few years. I also experience moments of excitement because we have another year of teaming and collaborating with each other to even further promote the growth and learning of our children and our community. In addition, I feel temporary waves of anxiety as the new school year approaches. When once asked why he had a team of twenty-one assistants, Thomas Edison replied, “If I could solve all the problems myself, I would.” I am reminded daily that there are a great many wonderful people in the Miraloma community who work collaboratively to achieve that which is most beneficial for our students. I am also reminded of the dedicated people I am surrounded by on a regular basis. This reminiscence causes my anxiety to quickly subside and turn again into excitement and enthusiasm for the days to come.  The staff, parents, and students help me to realize that I don’t need to solve all of the problems myself because I have many amazing “assistants” working along side me each step of the way. And for that, I thank each and every one of you for being such a valuable member of the Miraloma community.

I am excited to welcome a new staff member to the team, Claire Shepley. She will be assuming the role as one of our Special Education Inclusion and Resources Specialist Teacher, which was vacated by Ms. Kesler, who should be well into enjoying her retirement by now. Ms. Shepley comes by way of Oakland Unified School District, and we feel very fortunate to have her join our team. We are also anticipating the opportunity to hire two new Paraprofessionals, in place of Mr. Elliott, who took to traveling the world, and Kelly Shomper, who is pursing a teaching career. Beyond that, I am happy to say that the only other staff change is that the previously known Ms. Mow will now be answering to Mrs. Endo, as she was married this past July. Congratulations to Mrs. Endo!

In the days and weeks to come, you can expect to receive weekly newsletter via email, which will include information on upcoming events, information about the School Site Council and the Parent Teacher Association, and an abundant amount of other valuable information, which I strongly urge you to give attention to on a regular basis. You can expect to receive the email on most Wednesday afternoons throughout the school year. Please sort through the contents of the newsletter and pay particular attention to the forms that need your input and need to be returned your teacher as soon as possible. During the first week of school, you will also receive papers that will need to be returned to your classroom teacher as soon as possible. These items include an Emergency Card for each child, a SFUSD Lunch Application for each family, a Year-Round Field Trip Permission Form to enable students to have supervised access to our immediate neighborhood, and a Miraloma School Compact, which states our school-wide expectations. I am expecting to have a 100% return rate for each of these forms, so please do your part.  

New families joining us this year can also look to receive a copy of the Miraloma Family Handbook containing information about the academic program, the special programs, the school community, the rules and procedures of the school, and other important information that will probably answer many questions you may have about school.  

I welcome each and every one of your to a great start of what I know will be another fantastic year at Miraloma. I am truly excited about the prospect the new school year will bring, and I hope for a great start to the school year for each and every one of you!  


Sincerely,

Ron Machado
Principal

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