Who's Wise Words - A Marion Cross School newsletter with a lot of info!
Valuable info for you whether you have school age children or not!
Important Dates
Wednesday, February 7 at 6:30pm – Norwich School Board Meeting in MCS Library and via Zoom
Monday, February 19 – Friday, February 23 – Winter Recess, School Closed
Monday, March 11 - Teacher In-Service, No School For Students
Tuesday, March 5 - Voting Day in Norwich, Tracy Hall - 7 AM - 7 PM
Pi Day (Thursday, March 14) at 5:30 to 6:30pm - Family Math Night
Friday, March 15 - Parent/Teacher Conferences, No School For Students
Marion Cross School Website Calendar SAU 70 All School/District Website Calendar
Message From The Principal
Marion Cross School is a place where traditions are valued. I appreciate that we are able to proceed with traditions that benefit kids and support the curriculum, but are able to let go when these traditions no longer serve that purpose. In addition, we are able to create and embrace new traditions to help our school, students and community grow.
Having said that, I want to recognize an event and highlight a few that are coming up. Last week fourth graders performed the Counting on Grace play. The performance helped students better understand the history of Vermont and the formation of child labor laws in our state and across the country. This performance is a strong and valued tradition, and clearly supports student understanding of our curriculum.
First grade is planning another traditional event that is well-loved and anticipated. This month, they will be hosting the Dinosaur Extravaganza, which highlights learning done during the first grade dinosaur unit. This event includes collaboration with Mrs. Farwell to incorporate movement and dance, collaboration with Mr. Ramsey to include music and songs, and collaboration with Ms. Eastman to create some pretty amazing dinosaur costumes. This tradition goes back so long that nobody can even remember the first dinosaur extravaganza!
Speaking of new traditions, our math coach, Ross McGee is excited to introduce Family Math Night. With a new math program comes new approaches to teaching kids to think mathematically. This requires some outreach on our part. Family Math Night is designed to have fun letting families explore games and activities that they can incorporate into everyday life and support math thinking.
Finally, MCS has a group of staff members who are committed to helping increase our level of understanding around diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. This group is working to redefine a past tradition. Traditionally, we would hold an assembly to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This year we have decided to combine that with Black History Month and look for other opportunities to teach our school community about the work that MLK and many others have done to further DEI+B in our country. The committee is working with staff and students on this expanded focus. This is a tradition that will look different in order to become more inclusive.
We are fortunate to be an organization that values tradition while also appreciating the need to change and adjust based on the current needs of our school and community. I hope that you will be able to join us for one of our upcoming events and appreciate the value of solid traditions.
Have a wonderful weekend,
Shawn
Student Services Update
We held our first community group of 2024 yesterday. These multi-aged groups of 10-12 students meet once a month and, hopefully, nurture relationships that strengthen our community as a whole.
Yesterday students had a short circle discussion and then went to the forest to play “camouflage”. Students seem to really like this time. I was in a kindergarten room and, even though those students knew where their community group rooms were, they could not wait for their 5th and 6h grade buddies to pick them up.
Have a great weekend,
Greg Bagnato
Counselor's CornerThis week in Class Counsel Kindergarten and First grade are learning how to report bullying to a caring trusting adult. In Second and Third Grade we are starting Second Step’s Bullying Prevention Program. In Fourth and Fifth grade we are finishing up our unit on managing strong emotions and will be transitioning to Bullying Prevention next week. In Sixth grade we completed the Bullying Prevention unit and will be starting to learn about emotions and the brain.
School News and Information
PE News: February is Heart Health Month
Marion Cross School is kicking off the American Heart Association Kids Heart Challenge! Students and staff are excited to care for their hearts and minds, help kids with special hearts and learn lifesaving Hands-Only CPR!
Join our MCS Kids Heart Challenge team today! We need your help to reach our goal of 100% of families completing Finn’s Mission (to learn Hands-Only CPR)!
Here’s a sneak peek of this year’s Kids Heart Challenge!
Here’s how you can help:
Register: http://www2.heart.org/goto/marioncross or download the free “AHA Schools” app.
Complete Finn’s Mission: Watch the 2-minute Hands-Only CPR video featuring cardiac arrest survivor, Damar Hamlin, and watch a music video on the warning signs of a stroke (F.A.S.T.).
Spread Awareness: Share with family & friends through conversation, social media, text messages and/or email.
Help your class win the School Challenge by registering and completing Finn’s Mission.
Our goal is to create a community of lifesavers!
Coach Farwell is challenging MCS this year to learn Hands-Only CPR. The first class to have every student and their classroom teacher complete Finns Mission (learn Hands-Only CPR through the KHC) will give Mrs. Farwell an ICE BUCKET CHALLENGE!
With Heart,
Melanie Farwell
Hello from Math world!
I’m excited to be preparing for our upcoming Family Math night on March 14 (in math world, March 14 is celebrated as Pi Day since 3/14 are the first 3 digits of Pi!)! This is the first time MCS will have done a math night since I joined the staff, and I am excited for it to become a yearly tradition. It will be a fun time to come and learn some games and activities that we use to help students learn various math concepts. And who knows what else might be in store at family math night on Pi Day! More details to come. I hope to see many of you there!
Mr. McGee
Dear French-loving community:
It’s been busy in our class. After the New Year’s mark we launched new learning units in all grade levels. Preschool is ever more engaged in the classroom routines and welcoming a new song/story this month. It is about escargot!
Kindergarteners and 1st graders share their beginner level with the Peanut Man! Caution to the nut-allergy prone but the story is an irresistible vehicle for descriptive and qualitative adjectives (petite, drôle, en carton, en papier). Kids learn to predict and fill out sentences with practiced key-words.
In second and third grade we followed Jean Petit and Lucille in their dramatized life stories involving language on parts of the body and specific clothing. Kids created sentences and wrote a selection of them in French by all known literacy rules.
Fourth and fifth graders learn about gender pronouns through examples: il/elle (and plural) doing various activities. They learn to name actions and feelings particular to different roles people play in life. We place an emphasis on kids learning to be able to respond to questions related to personal information by honing in sight words or speech format like name, age, telefone, domicile, place of origin, DOB.
In sixth grade it is imperative to learn how to form simple sentences made of subject, predicate, and object. We started seeing with a ‘connoisseur’ eye the verb endings in present tense and infer what is about one/many, them boys/girls or a mixed group. Also, the great numbers should be decoded more easily by now.
We are all enjoying, I hope, the French space and culture that we are creating together at MCS!
Merci beaucoup!
Mihaela
PTO Bulletin Board
Round Up at Dan & Whit's for 6th Graders at MCS!
From February 1-14, Dan & Whit's will be donating "round-ups" to the 6th Grade Celebration in June. Each time you check out at Dan & Whit’s for the next couple weeks, please ask the cashier to “round up” your total to the next whole dollar. Thanks for your support!
Upcoming PTO Events
February 13th (Tuesday): Coffee Talk - PBIS, MCS, 8:15 am
Valentine's Day Staff Appreciation
Show the MCS faculty and staff your gratitude by helping us fill the Multi with delicious breakfast items, sweets, and flowers at the Staff Appreciation Breakfast on Wednesday, February 14th. The staff truly enjoy these special food-filled days. The Valentine's Breakfast is provided by families of children in grades 4-6. If you would like to contribute to the Valentine’s Breakfast, please SIGN UP HERE!
Winter Grant Cycle
The PTO is collecting grant proposals from any member of the MCS community now through March 22nd. Grant proposals from students, parents, and caregivers are most successful when submitted in partnership with the teachers and/or staff who would utilize the funds.
To submit a grant request, please fill out this Google Form. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and awarded based on available funds.
Courtesy Community Interest Posts
22 Church Street
Norwich, Vermont
802-649-1703