Marion Cross Who's Wise Words for Jan. 6, 2023

Most recent edition

Jan 11, 2023

Who's Wise Words

Welcome to Who's Wise Words. Here you will find the weekly newsletter as well as its archives. We encourage you to come back often to hear about the fun and exciting things happening around our school.

Most Recent Who's Wise Words

MCS Who's Wise Words, January 6, 2023

Important Dates

Wednesday, January 11 - Coffee Talk with Shawn & Greg 9:15am; MCS Multipurpose room. School Programming and Scheduling Committee
Thursday, January 17 - Norwich School Board Public Hearing & Budget Adoption - MCS library and via Zoom
Monday, January 16 - Holiday, No School
Friday, January 27 - Teacher In-Service, no school for students

Message from the Principal

Specials Rotation for the week of January 9

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

I hope that you have found cheery ways to spend the week with our rather unusual January/April weather! At MCS we have had a great week despite the January mud season conditions.

Our week ended with our third graders, with the help of their teachers and the PTO, celebrating a Norwich Hero. The best type of heroes are ordinary people who do extraordinary things. Our crossing guard Demo is that type of hero. Today marked his 10 year anniversary as crossing guard. Demo is one of the kindest, friendliest, and amazing people that I have met in Norwich. He greets everyone with a smile and always has kind things to say to and about people. Please enjoy these photos of our third graders and the PTO celebrating his accomplishment. Please remember that you, too, can be a local hero. The crossing guard position on main street is available!

images of Demo, our crossing guard. Also images of students with Demo.

You may hear your child speak about the MCS 100 Club. This is one way we have decided to recognize the positive attributes of our students. At MCS we have four school-wide expectations that we ask all students, staff, and visitors to follow. They are to show Kindness, Responsibility, Respect, and Safety. Much time is spent teaching students what those expectations look like in all the places at our school.

It will be no surprise to you that MCS students are stellar at following these expectations. The MCS 100 Club recognizes students for going above and beyond on a consistent basis to do what is expected. Each day three staff members are given the task of searching for one student each to recognize. These students are given a 100 Club ticket describing what they have done. They place their names on the MCS 100 Club board. I call or email parents to share this success and celebrate hard work and dedication to learning. During the year, Mr. Bagnato, Ms. Katie and I plan to host a variety of small events for 100 Club students to show our appreciation. Be waiting for the time that you can celebrate this accomplishment with your child!

100s clubs imagery, numbers 1 -100 on a grid

We are always looking for people who would like to volunteer at our school. Please find below the process for becoming a volunteer. Below are two links for families to fill out regarding various volunteer opportunities at MCS.

Please remember, all volunteers must meet our 'designated volunteer' criteria including a background check and fingerprinting at the Hanover Police Department before working with our students. This process can take time. If you anticipate participating as a volunteer this year, please make sure you fill out this form to work through the process in advance. Once completed, Bridget Peters will be in touch to schedule a time for you to be fingerprinted at the Hanover Police Department. Once completed, your background check/volunteer status is valid for 2 years.

Please note: there are two different forms to fill out:

volunteer opportunities (please fill out to let us know in what areas you are interested in volunteering)
background check form. (must fill out to begin process of background check/fingerprinting)

In other news, Thursday, January 17th at 6:00 is the final budget hearing. This meeting will be held in the library at MCS. I encourage you to either attend in person or via zoom. Because of multiple factors, the MCS budget has a large increase this school year. Our school board members will be considering cuts to our budget and will be able to explain what the factors are that have our budget on the rise. The zoom link to the meeting is above in the important dates section.

Have a splendid weekend,

Shawn

Student Services Update

Happy New Year! As a lover of winter I am finding the weather a bit dreary, but being back at school this week has really lifted my spirits.

This week each classroom is working to review expectations in their classroom and for the school’s common spaces. Teaching, modeling, and practicing what is expected is vital to proactively teaching students the skills they need to be successful. On that note, the students at MCS filled the aquarium and our next school celebration will be announced next week.

I imagine there is a good possibility that your child is pretty tired by the end of the first week after break. Getting back to a routine is super beneficial for all of us, especially the children.

Have a restful weekend,

Greg

COUNSELOR'S CORNER

It’s been so nice to see everyone back at MCS this week after break. Stella and I enjoyed visiting many classrooms and having students in our space for snacks, lunches and check-ins. In Pre-K, we focused on reviewing listening rules and making positive choices. Kindergarten classes worked on their zones of regulation feelings books, and in first grade we talked about our power to make positive choices, even when we are dealing with strong emotions. Second and third grades focused on compassion (empathy in action!) and practiced how to be compassionate to those who are struggling. Fourth grade finished creating their own personal license plates as a way to share a bit about who they are, and Ms. Safford’s sixth grade class started health class. The morning clubs continue to work hard: creating content for the fifth grade newspaper, painting kindness rocks in the fourth grade kindness club, and sixth grade Who’s Crew members were assigned new school-wide leadership projects. Needless to say we’ve jumped right back in and are looking forward to all 2023 has to offer!

SCHOOL NEWS AND INFORMATION

Marion Cross is accepting Pre-Kindergarten applications through January 27th 2023. Please visit our website enrollment page for more information.

From the library: Did you know that your child can access ebooks and audiobooks from any internet connection in the world through the MCS Sora collection? Did you know that if you set up a Sora app on your device you can also add the collection from the Norwich Public Library (or any other public library with a subscription to OverDrive)? Need help setting up your devices? Just contact me and I would be happy to walk you through the process.

PTO NEWS

Happy 2023! Thank you to all who attended our PTO meeting last night. For those of you who couldn’t join us, we began with a thank-you to all of our volunteers. The students and staff of MCS are fortunate to have such an engaged group for folks contributing to a positive, supportive school culture. We are grateful for each and every one of you!

Volunteers Needed! The PTO is looking for volunteers to organize the annual Valentine Staff Appreciation Breakfast & Bingo Night (March 10.) If you’d like to help with either of these beloved MCS events, please send us an email. Thank you!! Marioncrosspto@gmail.com

Coffee Talk: Wednesday January 11, MCS Multi @ 9:15am - Teachers on the programming and scheduling committee will give an overview of the groups work so far.

Norwich Rec & MCS PTO Family Skating Party: Thursday January 26, 3:30-4:30. Weather permitting, helmets required! Questions? Please contact Kristin Fauci: Kriscorvo@yahoo.com

Next PTO Meeting: Thursday, Feb 2, 7pm via zoom