MCS is gearing up for another school year

Check out the latest info here

Aug 13, 2023

Good afternoon all,

Here is the latest MCS https://mcs.sau70.org/our-school/whos-wise-words link to give you a heads up as to the school opening and happenings.

MCS Students Outside standing around on the tar

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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, June 16, 2023

Important Dates

Wednesday, August 30 - First Day of School

Message from the Principal

Thank you for a wonderful year. MCS has amazing students, families, and staff that I feel fortunate to work with each and every day. I greatly appreciate the many thoughtful notes and little treats that came my way at the close of the school year. It feels good to be thought of. More than that, I appreciate the opportunity that I have had for the past four school years to interact with your children. I look forward to next school year and many more to follow.

The staff spent time this week determining dates for our major events. My intent is to send out a list of events that can be put on your refrigerator for easy reference. We intend to have many more opportunities for families to interact with our school this coming year. You can expect more communication around opportunities to chaperon field trips and ways that you can get involved in your child’s classroom. If you are not already an approved volunteer, I encourage you to reach out to Teal Parker this summer and get the volunteer information completed in advance of the first day of school. Teal can be reached by email.

Please enjoy this photo of one of the gifts that our 6th graders gave as they departed MCS. Students and families worked to fundraise the funds to purchase new signs for the front of the building, chess pieces for the outdoor chessboard, and a donation towards the sensory walkway areas in the school hallways. This gift giving is an MCS tradition and something that students departing our school can be proud to leave behind. Please enjoy the photo below of the new signs that are displayed on the 1898 section of the building. Thank you MCS Class of 2023!

New signs on the outside of MCS, "Norwich Public School" and "1898"

Last Friday the school year ended for students. This week staff have been hard at work reflecting on the year and preparing curriculum for next school year. In the coming weeks we have staff off at a variety of professional development opportunities. I will be attending the Summer PBIS conference with a team next week. Our sixth graders will be attending the Middle Grades Institute, several teachers are attending The Writing Institute together, and most of the staff are doing some sort of new learning this summer. Our special education team met this week to learn about the new rule changes to qualify for special education and IEP services. I learned that to enter their meeting one needed to be Hawaiian themed!

staff member around the table wearing Hawaiian themed shirts and leis

Please have a wonderful summer break. Keep an eye out for the start of the septic project and new playground, both are looking at tentative early August start times. If you happen to need anything, please do not hesitate to send me an email. I look forward to seeing students bright and early on August 30th.

Happy Summer Vacation!

Shawn

SCHOOL NEWS AND INFORMATION

To MCS Families,

I want to thank you for your patience and understanding during this transition to two different PowerSchool instances. I know for those of you with students at MCS and a NH school you have to have two accounts. This is not ideal and I appreciate your understanding.

Your kindness and patience you have shown in your emails is greatly appreciated.

Shannon Howe
SAU 70 Database Administrator

Summer Garden Volunteers Needed!

Help maintain the school's gardens during the summer. MCS students are in the process of planting the Giving Garden with hopes of harvesting next fall but in order to do so need some help during the summer break. Families and adults can sign up for a week that is convenient for them throughout the summer. Jobs include watering and weeding and maybe the occasional harvesting! Food grown in the Giving Garden is used by classes for cooking projects and the majority of produce is donated to Willing Hands. Click here for more information and to sign up!

MCS COMMUNITY READ AND SUMMER READING

Summer is a wonderful time to dive into books as a family! Through the generous support of the Byrne Foundation, all returning MCS families should have received a copy of the 2023/2024 Community Read selection, Sophie Blackall’s Farmhouse (check your youngest MCS child’s backpack). Farmhouse is a stunning, multi-layered book that invites family reading, re-reading, and discussion. We are so excited to start next school year with this shared reading experience! Tucked inside your family's copy you will find a wealth of resources to support your family’s summer reading adventures. Your child is invited to illustrate and mail (or drop off) the enclosed postcard of themselves reading wherever they are. In partnership with the Norwich Public Library, our summer reading challenge is to read a book set in or written by a New England author. Hungry for more? Read a book from every New England state or read books from wherever your summer takes you. For more information about summer reading and for a wealth of resources to help you support your child’s reading journey, please visit the MCS Summer Reading website.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

A big thank you goes out to MCS & the Norwich community for bringing our Field Day, “A Day at the Beach” to life this week!

A special thank you to our amazing PARENT VOLUNTEERS! It would not have happened without you!

A special thank you to all of the MCS STAFF for all of your efforts and continued support of our PE program!

A special thank you to Mr. Gonyaw and Ms. Liddy for all of their efforts and guidance with our planning process!

A special thank you to Chief Northern and the Norwich Fire Department. It would not have been a day at the beach without you!

A special thank you to the MCS PTO for all of their efforts to supply everyone with a watermelon treat!

A special thank you to the Norwich Lions Club for helping with our lunches!

A special thank you to the Norwich Women’s Club for their help with our efforts to bring the rainbow t-shirts back to MCS!

A special thank you to the Norwich Police Department for joining us on the green!

“Movement will give you access to joy that will dramatically improve the quality of your life, help support mental health, and create more meaning and belonging.” -Kelly McGonigal

Melanie Farwell
PE Teacher

PTO News

Borrow BIns: MCS parent and educator, Lucy Hampton, spearheaded this awesome new program:

Jackets that had been in lost and found for months but remained unclaimed were washed and organized by size so students can borrow a layer and then return it. The goal is for students to be dressed for the weather and foster independence instead of relying on parents to bring a jacket from home. The system has received positive reviews from kids and teachers.

We are looking for: a parent volunteer who would take over this project in the fall and would agree to periodically launder and re-sort the items every 6 weeks or so.

Please email Lucy if you would like to help: lucyhamilton@hanovernorwichschools.org

Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped us start new traditions, keep old ones alive, and resurrect traditions that were lost during the pandemic. We are proud of the robust volunteer engagement at MCS. You make this a great school!

We are also fortunate to have a seemingly tireless staff and administration who offer patient guidance and support for the PTO. Thank you! Special thanks are in order for

Joy Smollin, who seems to know everything about MCS and is always willing to help, and Jessica Liddy, who takes care of every important detail behind the scenes (including making sure you get this posting!)

Finally, our sincere thanks to the other members of our executive board: Erin Butler, Christina Aquila, and Leah Fosco for your positivity, camaraderie, and commitment.

It has been an honor to serve this wonderful little school community this year.

Thank you,
Molly Riordan & Rebecca Reed