Who's Wise Words

Important Dates

• Wednesday, November 23 - Friday, November 25 - Thanksgiving Recess, No School
• Thursday, December 1 7:00pm - PTO meeting via Zoom
• Sunday, December 11 - Gift Making Festival (PTO event)
• Wednesday, December 22 - Monday, January 2, 2023 - Winter Recess, No School

Message from the Principal

 

Specials Rotation for the week of November 21:

Monday - F
Tuesday - G
Wednesday - No School
Thursday - No School
Friday - No School

Thanksgiving is right around the corner!  This happens to be my favorite holiday.  Growing up on a dairy farm provided many amazing opportunities and memorable experiences, but did not provide an abundance of funds.  I can remember many years where I dreaded the day after the December break where many of my friends spoke at length about their cool holiday gifts.  My gifts were not so glamorous and included items like a lamp shade to light the haybarn, an extension cord to plug in a tank heater, or a new pair of work gloves.  Thanksgiving was an entirely different story.  Thanksgiving was not about gifts, but rather about family.  I looked forward to sharing with my friends how many members of my family gathered at my grandparent’s home to celebrate together, sometimes as many as 50 people!  My family always took time to be thankful for what we had, which typically was one another.  Next week my wife and I will be hosting nearly 20 people at our home for Thanksgiving.  We will be thankful for one another.

Upon the top of my list of thanks is the children, staff, and families that make up MCS.  Each day I am in awe at how amazing the students are at MCS.  They are respectful, kind, and care about one another.  I am thankful for the support that families give to our school.  I am supportive of the talent that our staff possesses and how much they care about children.  I am one lucky principal!

Talking about luck; In the coming weeks you will be hearing about a potential after school program that will be starting up at MCS.  The Immersion Montessori School has asked to rent space at MCS.  The Norwich School Board approved the building use at the last board meeting.  Now, Immersion Montessori will need to get approval from the State of Vermont licensing department to use the space and determine their capacity.  This program is not school sponsored, but merely taking place on our campus.  Once there is more information, I will send it to all families for consideration.  The start up could be as soon as January!  More to come later.

Finally, I wanted to clarify that school begins at 8:05AM.  Over the past few weeks, we have had a number of children being dropped off very early.  There is not adequate supervision on the playground until 7:45 AM.  Please do not drop off your child earlier than that time unless you plan to stay with them until the duty people arrive.  On the flip side, we have had more and more children arriving between 8:10 AM and 9:00AM.  While this seems like it would not cause much of a problem, it does.  Children who arrive late miss lunch count, morning meeting, and the opportunity to get settled in with friends.  Please help your child be successful at school by planning your arrival between 7:45 AM and 8:05 AM.

There will not be a newsletter next week.  For those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, I wish you a wonderful holiday.  For those of you who do not, please enjoy the extra time with your children. 

Take care,
Shawn
 

Message from Student Services

Marion Cross recently participated in the Name a Plow Program with the State of Vermont’s Agency of Transportation.  A school wide vote resulted in Snow Leopard being submitted on behalf of Marion Cross School.  Thanks to the Agency of Transportation for sharing with our students what the sign looks like on the truck.  Be on the lookout for the Snow Leopard! 

 

It was fun to see the students get to climb in plow truck and beep the horn! Have a great weekend!

Best,
Greg

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School News and Information

MCS 6th Graders take the lead on What Does it Mean to Be a Good Neighbor? 

This is an extraordinary community project, both within the school and Norwich community, of being neighborly. Please read more about the story behind the weaving sculpture at Norwich Historical Society. Also, consider adding your own ideas to the sculpture.

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The Norwich Women's Club, along with the Lions Club, has organized a Meet and Greet event for the town to welcome our new police chief, Wade Cochran, and to thank Officer Anna Ingraham for her continuing diligence during these trying

times. It will be held at the police station on Tuesday, Nov. 29 from 5 to

7pm. All are welcome and encouraged to attend. Many of us have never been beyond the front door of the building so here’s your opportunity!

Coffee, cider and cookies will be offered.

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Canned/Dry Fruit Collection

Each year, Hartford-Norwich Holiday Basket Helpers provide baskets of fresh fruit, canned fruit and vegetables, applesauce, and raisins for seniors in need in our community. These are hand delivered to seniors in early December. The organization would love help collecting canned fruit and vegetables, applesauce, and raisins for the baskets. Last year, more than 160 seniors were served and Holiday Baskets expects that number to be even greater this year. Please place your donations in the boxes near the main office. To learn more about Holiday Baskets, please visit holidaybasketsvt.org. THANK YOU for your help making someone's season bright!

With best wishes for the Holidays from all of us at
Hartford-Norwich Holiday Basket Helpers

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Winter Celebrations Concert!

Just another friendly reminder that all MCS community members are cordially invited to our performances next month.

Students in Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 2 will perform on Wed. 12/14 at 5 pm.

Grades 3-6 will perform on Thurs. 12/15 at 6 pm.

Also, if you would like to have your very own copy of the lyrics for your child to practice with at home, please email me and I will share the doc with you.

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Calling All Strings!

I am looking for a group of string players (violin, viola, cello) who would like to perform as part of the Winter Celebrations Concerts.  If you would like to play Peace Like A River and There Is More at the K-2 concert on December 14 at 5:00, and/or Personent Hodie and O Be Joyful at the 3-6 concert on December 15 at 6:00, please let me know!

This group is open to all violin, viola, and cello players in our school community, which might include…

• Students in the 2-6 Fiddle Group
• MCS Students who play violin, viola, or cello who are not in the Fiddle Group.
• Adults in our community who would like to join us at the concert.

The music is arranged for a beginner level (Key of D, first position, simple rhythms, etc.)

Instrumental Music for Next Week:

Monday (Day F): 7:45 Advanced 6th Graders, 8:05 Fiddle Group

Tuesday (Day G): 7:45 5th and 6th trumpet, trombone, french horn

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LEEEP Program Update:

Experiential and environmental learning has gotten off to a great start this fall at Marion Cross, with lots of experiences for students to learn and grow by doing. The garden in the fall provided many opportunities and almost every class in the school participated in some way.  Produce was harvested, tasted, donated and cooked.  Many grades were able to harvest something they had planted last spring. Most recently students harvested the last of the chard, planted next year’s garlic and tulips and mulched the paths in preparation for next spring. Also, I would like to give a huge shout out to all the parents and families who tended the garden during the summer! 

Classes continue their habitat and science studies with support from LEEEP.  This fall has seen stream and wetland studies with field trips to local habitats and further lessons back in the classroom, experiments on decomposition, and much more!

I am excited to have joined MCS as the new Environmental Education Coordinator.  Please feel free to reach at any point.

Sincerely,
Amy VanderKooi

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PTO Bulletin Board

Fall Feast: Thank you to our many wonderful volunteers who made our Fall Teacher Appreciation feast a big success! The MCS staff was truly grateful for the beautiful spread of delicious food. Special thanks to Megan Donahue and Megan Kelliher for taking on the organization of this event!

Gift-Making Festival:  SAVE THE DATE! Sunday, December 11, 1-3 PM

The MCS Gift Making Festival is returning after many years of being on pause due to Covid! At the Gift Making Festival, kids choose from a variety of arts and crafts projects to make as gifts. The kids have a great time getting creative and leave with extra special handmade presents. We need volunteers to make this event successful! If you are interested in helping with a craft activity, contact Leah at lcfosco@gmail.com by 11/23. You can offer your own special craft, or we have several ideas ready to go that just need parents willing to help! Want to help in another way? We will also need help with set up and clean up, as well as with a bake sale (more to come on those fronts as the date nears!).  Thank you!

Next PTO Meeting, December 1 ***details on time and date to follow!***

From all of us at the MCS PTO, Happy Thanksgiving!