Administrator's Corner
Archived Posts
Welcome to the Administrator's Corner. Shawn Gonyaw, Principal of Marion Cross School, and Greg Bagnato, Student Services Coordinator will post their weekly messages here. The intent is to keep you updated on important topics that are happening at school.
These posts can also be found in the weekly Who's Wise Words newsletter, which we highly encourage you to read. We hope you find all this information helpful, informative and fun. We encourage you to reach out to us with questions and comments.
Regards,
Shawn and Greg
Most Recent Post:
Week of September 30 - October 4
Important Dates
Tuesday, October 8 - Coffee Talk - MCS Multi, 8:15 am
Wednesday, October 9 - Walk/Bike to School Day ***Please note the NEW date- this was previously 10/2**
Friday, October 11 - PTO Fall Grant Request closes
Friday, October 11 - PTO Tea Towels - Last day to order
Friday, October 11 - Teacher In-Service - No School for Students
Monday, October 14 - Holiday, School Closed
Friday, October 25 - Conferences - No School for Students
Monday, November 11 - Holiday, School Closed
Sunday, October 13 - PTO Spirit Wear ordering closes
Thursday, November 14 - 5:30 - 6:30 - Math Night
Wednesday, November 27 through Friday, November 29 - Holiday, School Closed
Wednesday, December 11- 5:00 - 6:00 - K-2 Holiday Concert
Thursday, December 12 - 6:00 - 7:00 - Grade 3-6 Holiday Concert
Message from the Principal
If you are a parent of a student in grades K-3 this message is especially relevant to you…please keep reading!
Last legislative session Vermont passed a law that requires all schools to administer an approved literacy screener to all students in grades K-3 and share results with families who have children significantly below the grade level expectations. MCS has been using a screening tool for a few years now. We use the DIBELS assessment with our students in grades K-3 three times a year. This assessment measures foundational literacy skills.
All students in grades K-3 have participated in screening this school year. Parents of students in these grade levels will receive an envelope today that contains the results of the screening. Unless you are fluent in teacher talk, the results might be tricky to interpret. To help you better understand, we have sent a letter that will tell you a bit more and has the next steps for your child based upon their results. Basically, your child is either on target and will continue with our universal literacy program OR the screener identified some areas of need that will be addressed through additional classroom instruction OR the screener identified areas of need that will be addressed through more focused instruction given by one of our interventionists.
Next Tuesday, October 8th at 8:15AM you are invited to attend the MCS Coffee Talk to learn more about the screening tool, ask any question you have about the results, and listen to our Literacy Interventionist, Lucy Hampton, share more about the process. This event will take place in the MCS Multi-Purpose room and I invite you to attend if able.
On Friday, October 25th we will have our first parent/teacher conferences. That would be a perfect time to connect with your child’s teacher to see how they are progressing with literacy development. We will give the DIBELS screener two more times this school year and report the progress to you. I love the spirit of this law and appreciate that it gives us the opportunity to share results with you and to put in place plans to make certain that all MCS students are getting what is needed to be literate citizens.
Have a lovely weekend,
Shawn
Student Services Update
As I thought about what to write for Who’s Wise Words, I decided to share what I am most proud of that we try to do at Marion Cross.
For the past two years part of our school-wide professional development has been to understand and incorporate Restorative Practices into our systems at MCS.
For me, Restorative Practices are things we do to help each individual at school feel that they belong and are valued in our community. We do this by:
- Intentionally creating space and time to develop trust and support relationships
- Intentionally developing activities to develop respect and trust.
- Having a meaningful role in a decision making community.
- Requiring an understanding of the harms and needs, deciding how to address them, and following through with an agreement.
Some examples that happen at school include:
- Making sure each class has a morning meeting, circle, and/or a reflection activity.
- Creating school agreements as an entire school for the common areas of the building.
- Having training in and a system for conducting restorative conversations.
- Creating specific classroom agreements that align with Who’s Wise Words.
In essence one of our guiding principles is to figure out how to do “with” others, not “to” or “for” others. While this is not always possible, there are lots of opportunities once you start looking.
Have a great weekend,
Greg
