Who's Wise Words

Important Dates

• Friday, March 17 - Parent Teacher Conferences 
• Thursday, March 30 - Spring Choral Concert 6 pm (Grades 3-6)
• Thursday, April 6 - 7pm - PTO Annual Meeting at the Norwich Inn
• Thursday, May 25th - 2pm - Mayfest Celebration on the Norwich Green

Message From the Principal

Specials Rotation for the week of March 20

Monday - A
Tuesday - B
Wednesday - C
Thursday - D
Friday - E

You may wonder why we are so prompt with Who’s Wise Words this week?  This week at parent/teacher conferences you have the opportunity to talk with teachers about your child’s progress.  For you to get the most out of your conference, I encourage you to do a thorough review of your child’s report card.  Thus the reason for receiving the newsletter a day early!  Below are the directions for how to access the parent portal, where the report card can be found.  The parent portal will open at 5pm this afternoon.  Again, I encourage you to take some time to review the report card and come to the conference with your questions and wonders written down.  Twenty minutes go past quickly!

Below are the directions for accessing the parent portal.  If you should happen to have difficulty, please email shannonhowe@sau70.org for assistance.  If you have any questions, concerns, or wonders about your child’s report card please reach out to the classroom teacher.   

1. Please go to the PowerSchool portal
2. Once logged in go to the ICON on the left-hand side and choose Student Reports.
3. Click on the report that matches the grade your student is in.
4. Your student report will then show. Feel free to print your students' report.
5. If you have any problems accessing your students report cards please email shannonhowe@sau70.org.

In other news, I am asking for your assistance with attendance.  I recently reviewed our school-wide attendance and am concerned with the number of days that MCS kids are missing.  During the pandemic we sent a lot of kids home, we even sent home kids who looked perfectly healthy!  Also, during the pandemic, families limited their travel and vacation plans to more local events.  Now that we are moving past the pandemic we are still seeing a large amount of absences. 

Frequent and extended absences not only impact the students who are out, but also those who are at school.  When students return to school after a vacation they require attention from the classroom teacher to catch them up to the group.  Often if several children in a class are absent, the teacher struggles to know how much new content should be taught.  How can you help?  Please be mindful when scheduling vacations; a week or more out of school is significant.  We have seen “mental health day” be used often for students who are absent from school.  If this is the case, I encourage you to reach out to our guidance counselor, student service coordinator, classroom teacher, or me to ask for help.  Of course, if your child is truly ill, then you should certainly keep them home to recover.  Our goal is to provide the best quality education for all students.  This is most achievable if we have students in school ready to learn.

Enjoy the weekend, 

Shawn

 

Student Services Update
 

The State of Vermont requires that each publicly funded student takes state-wide assessments that are aligned with the Common Core State Standards (for ELA and math) and the Next Generation Science Standards (for science).  Students in Grades 3-6 will take the ELA and math tests, while 5th graders will also take the Science test.

Every few years the Agency of Education evaluates the platform that administers these assessments.  This year there is a new company with a similar but different test platform.  Thus, the state wide testing is no longer called SBAC, but rather VTCAP.  Some of the changes to be expected will be:

• Shorter testing time 🙂!
• Multiple translations/accommodations to create a more accessible test.
• Science, Math, and ELA will all use the same platform.
• There will be a more diverse group of readings and authors for exam passages.

Yesterday the staff worked on scheduling when these tests will be given.  We will send out a letter with more specifics after Spring Break. 

Have a fantastic conference day!

Greg

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Counselor's Corner

Stella and I talked a lot this week about perseverance. The focus on continuing to try and using positive self-talk even when things get hard was the theme, and we played games and watched a video to practice. The video“Ormie the Pig” showcased a pig that tried many different ways to taste the cookies from the cookie jar, and many of these younger students wanted you to see the clip too, so I told them I would pass it along here. Who’s Crew is working on some pieces for a podcast and completing a video on Respect and the News Crew continues to generate fun ideas for their next issue.  I look forward to seeing many of you around school tomorrow for conferences, please feel free to pop in and say hello to Stella and me. Enjoy your weekend!

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School News and Information

 

Please mark your calendars for our Spring Choral Concert!  Students in the 3rd/4th and 5th/6th Chorus will perform for families and friends on Thursday, March 30, at 6 pm in the multi.  More details to follow soon!

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The Passport to Winter Fun program concludes at the end of this month on March 31st!

This is your reminder to cash in incentive prizes earned on days 10, 20 & 30 before the end of the month! Businesses will no longer be accepting Passports after March 31st so go enjoy the prizes before time runs out!

Once your child has completed all 30 days in the Passport, they have officially earned the title of Polar Bear Achiever and qualify for a prize! To receive the prize, please complete the Back Flap and turn it in to the school, mail it to UVTA’s Passport to Winter Fun (P.O. Box 1215, Norwich, VT 05055) or Scan QR code to complete the Back Flap online. If you submit the Back Flap before Friday, April 7th, your kiddo will also be entered into the Grand Prize Raffle and could win an AMAZING prize!

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Have you signed your kids up for summer camp yet? We can't wait to welcome you to New England School of the Arts first summer camp!!! Students 8 years and older are welcome. We are offering 2 one week sessions, July 10-14 and July 17-21.

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PTO News

Spring Grants are open! We are accepting grants until tomorrow, Friday, March 17th. The PTO finance committee will review the grants with Shawn and the grants awarded will be announced by Friday, April 7th.

Click the link to apply.

 

BINGO Night was a great success!  Thank you to all who donated prizes, to those who volunteered to help set up, clean up, and sell bingo cards, and to all of the families who came out to play! Special thanks to Katie Kitchel, our fabulous MC, and to Mara Child for coordinating the event. The PTO raised just over $450.00, which will go toward Spring Grants.

 

Bylaw Update/501c3 transition: The MCS PTO is transitioning to a non-profit organization for the 2023-2024 school year. In doing so, we are required to update our bylaws. The final draft of our updated Bylaws is posted on our website. A vote to approve the updated bylaws will take place at our annual meeting on April 6, at 7 pm at the Norwich Inn.  https://marioncrosspto.weebly.com/

 

The PTO is seeking a Secretary for next year. Our current secretary, Leah Fosco, has stepped up to take on the position of Vice-President for the 2023-2024 school year. Please email if you have any questions or are interested in volunteering as PTO Secretary. Thanks!

 

Upcoming Events:

MudStomp: April 21, 6 pm MCS Gym

Bike To School Day: Wednesday, May 3

Volunteer Appreciation Night: May 4, 7:00 pm, Norwich Inn

 

marioncrosspto@gmail.com