[Recipient Name]
May 21, 2014
Page 1

Dear MVCKS families:

First of all I want to THANK YOU for all you did this school year to contribute to a positive learning environment for students. It’s the partnership that we have with you that makes this school so successful.

As we plan for the 2014-2015 school year, there are some changes in which I would like to make you aware. Last year we did a survey to ask parents, staff, and students if they would prefer a more standardized dress code vs. the one that we have right now. As expected, the results came back split. Approximately half of those who responded preferred to go with a more simplified dress code and half preferred to stay the same with the addition of jeans. We piloted a few revisions as well as the addition of jeans. The hope was that this would remedy some of the problems that absorb much of the staff time. Unfortunately, the changes did not make it easier or less confusing, just different.

On the other hand, our Wolf Wednesdays were a great success and we received anoverwhelming amount of positive feedback from teachers, parents, and the community about how nice the students looked and how easy it was for parents on Wednesdays. To that end, the Governing Board has decided that we will go forward and pilot the other option next school year. Attached to this letter, please find the details on what the dress code will be for 2014-2015, as well as the ordering instructions for dress code appropriate shirts. We will continue to seek out additional options for purchasing dress code attire so that we can offer our families some choice. Links for purchasing will soon be found on our website-

Please understand that the goal of this dress code is to reduce the distractions and the competitive dress that often leads tobullying, to simplify the clothing attire expectations for parents and students, and to reduce the amount of time taken away from teaching in order to deal with dress code infractions. Please let your children know that we will still have plenty of “dress down” days throughout the year.

Of course, we realize that some families will not agree with this choice and we ask that you consider and respect the reasoning behind the decision and our purpose of allowing the focus to be on learning in a safe environment. I’ve attached some tips on how to talk to your kids about this change in a positive way. We know that our kids’ feelings and reactions are many times a reflection of ours. If you would like to discuss this or if you need assistance throughout the process, please feel free to contact me. My goal is to help make this as seamless as possible. Thank you for your continued support of MVCKS.

Sincerely,

Karen Sartori

Administrator