Monocacy Valley Montessori Public Charter School

Parent Newsletter
MVMPCS CALENDAR:
Fri., 1/18Prospective Parent Tour, 9:15 a.m.; End of Term 2 Mon., 1/21School Closed , Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Observance Tues., 1/221/23No School for Students, Professional Development for Staff Wed., 1/30Ms. Shannons Student Recital, 5:00 p.m., Sanctuary Fri., 2/14th Annual MMCI Dinner & Talent Showmore details to follow! Thurs., 2/72 hour early dismissal at 1:45 p.m. for Teacher Work Session; no After Care.

January 17, 2013

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Families, The first three weeks of January have flown by so quickly! With the start of this New Year, I would like to reinforce with the MVMPCS community our open door policy here at the school. It is very important that everyone feels welcome at all times and understands the many ways that parents can communicate with the school staff and receive information. MVMPCS has always had an open door policy with the goal that all parents feel welcomed at the school from the time they enter the building until they depart. I have made it a top priority as principal to be in the hallway in the mornings and afternoons to greet parents and students daily. This is my greatest opportunity to interact with parents, the most important people in the lives of our students. In conversations, some parents have shared that they do not know the schools policy for scheduling a meeting with the Principal, Assistant Principal or teachers. If you would like to meet with either Ms. Wallace or myself, please feel welcome to contact us directly or our school secretary, Debbie, in the front office and have her place you on our calendars. Teacher meetings may be scheduled directly with the teachers. All meetings with parents are both encouraged and welcomed. At MVMPCS, we attempt to ensure many opportunities for you to receive information/communication from the school. This is done through our weekly school newsletter, Google forums (replaced List Serve), class newsletters, emails, phone calls, parent conferences and report cards. It is our expectation that all families are receiving as many of these school communications as possible on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. If you are not receiving any of these communications, please contact your childs classroom teacher or the front office and we will make sure that it happens. We hope that you have noticed our family bulletin board that was placed in the front hallway to celebrate our diversity here at MVMPCS! Please feel free to add your familys picture to the board at any time. Additionally, consider adding to our kind words which describe MVMPCS. It is our hope that we can fill the board with all our families here at MVMPCS. Please remember that school will be closed for students on January 21st, 22nd and 23rd for Martin L. Kings birthday and teacher work day/Staff Development. School will reopen on January 24th. Have a wonderful long weekend! Cita

MMCIS 4TH ANNUAL DINNER & TALENT SHOW

FRIDAY, FEB. 1, 2013

CALVARY CHURCH ACTIVITY CENTER, WALKERSVILLE

5:30 pm Dinner; 6:30 pm Show Look for invitations in todays Thursdays folders. Additional copies will be available from the front office. For your tasting pleasure, our menu for the talent show will be: Beef Chili, Homemade Mac and Cheese (gluten free and traditional), Baked Potatoes, Tossed Salad and drinks. REMINDER FOR PARTICIPANTS: 2nd Rehearsal January 25 - 3pm sanctuary New this year door prizes and raffle! Any questions? Email dinakarakus@hotmail.com
OPEN INVITATION TO ATTEND STUDENT RECITALS Ms. Shannon is pleased to announce that there will be a recurring recital program held at MVMPCS for her private instrumental and vocal students. The first recital will be on Wednesday, January 30th at 5:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary. The school doors will open at 4:45 p.m. All students, parents, and teachers are invited. There will be a suggested donation of $5.00 collected at the door. Some of Ms. Shannon's students are current MVMPCS students, or alumni who are playing piano, flute, and singing. The program will range from classical to Disney to musical theatre, and should take no longer than an hour.

MID-YEAR GLOBAL SCHOLAR ASSESSMENT Mid-Year Global Scholar Assessment has been completed: Students in grades 2-8 have completed the Mid-Year Global Scholar assessments in the areas of Reading and Math. Previously they completed Pre-Assessments in September. The Global Scholar results will be used by the classroom teacher to design lessons on skills that will be taught to individual students during the third and fourth term. The Post Assessments for Global Scholar will occur in May.

MVMPCS NEWSLETTER
MVMPCS GOVERNING COUNCIL MEETINGS The MVMPCS Governing Council is changing the structure of its public meetings a bit. We will now hold 2 monthly meetings, both open to the public. GC Voting Meetings will still be held on the first Monday of each month, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., in the MVMPCS middle school room. During these meetings, we will accept Community Comment and the community will be allowed to comment and discuss concerns, as usual. GC Work Sessions will be held on the 3rd Tuesdays of each month, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., in the MVMCPS middle school room. During these meetings, the GC will work on and discuss a variety of initiatives, but will not necessarily vote on any items. The community is invited to attend, but will not provide comments or discussions. With that being said, the first GC Work Session does not follow the above schedule. It is set for this coming Monday, Jan. 21 at 6:30 p.m. The next GC Voting Meeting is set for Monday, Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m. Any questions, comments, concerns, ideas, etc. may be shared by emailing gcchair@mvmpcs.org or gc@mvmpcs.org Thank you!

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KEEPING OUR SCHOOL HEALTHY Please notify the staff in the health room if your child develops a contagious condition, such as chickenpox, strep throat, lice, pink eye, mono, pneumonia, etc. Now that the cold and flu season is here, please remind your student to practice good hygiene. Hand washing and tissues are excellent barriers and deterrents. Please keep your child home from school if he/she is ill and/or has a fever. If you have any questions or concerns regarding your childs illness please call your health care provider. As an employee of the Frederick County Health Department, the School Nurse follows CDC guidelines to investigate and to prevent the spread of communicable diseases. She tracks student illness by monitoring absenteeism, noting the number of student visits and symptoms of illness seen in the health room, and gathering information from families and staff. Thank you for your cooperation. You can contact the Health Room at 301-668-0667. *Absence notes for illnesses reported will still need to be submitted for attendance recordkeeping. Notes can be emailed to: Rose.Shapiro@fcps.org or handwritten and sent to the school office.

ATTENTION MIDDLE SCHOOL PARENTS The 2013-2014 High School Course guides are posted online at www.fcps.org. Copies will be distributed to our MVMPCS 8th grade students as soon as we receive them. In the meantime, feel free to take a look online.

ATTENDANCE INFORMATION:
THE FEBRUARY LUNCH MENU IS NOW AVAILABLE ON OUR SCHOOL WEBSITE:

STATE REQUIRED STUDENT ATTENDANCE: 94% MVMPCS ATTENDANCE TO DATE: 95.17%

http://education.fcps.org/mvmpcs/

VISIT THE EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE LABS AUSHERMAN PLANETARIUM The FCPS Earth and Space Science Lab's Ausherman Planetarium offers a variety of evening programs throughout the school year. There are shows at 5:30, 6:30, and 7:30 each night, as follows: Dawn of the Space Age - Thursday, January 24. Re-live the excitement of the early days of space exploration, from the launch of the first artificial satellite Sputnik, to the magnificent lunar landings and privately operated space flights. Be immersed and overwhelmed with this most accurate historic reconstruction of Mans first steps into space. Who were the people taking part in these death-defying endeavors? Witness their drive, passion and perseverance to explore. Saturn: Jewel of the Heavens runs Tuesday, January 29 and Thursday, February 7. Enjoy a breathtaking journey through one of the most beautiful and majestic planetary systems in space. This original Clark Planetarium production is the first full-dome presentation to take actual images from NASAs Cassini-Huygens mission and create a fully immersive 360-degree tour of one of the most amazing planets in our solar system. You may purchase tickets online at https://sites.fcps.org/essl or at the door if they are still available. The lab is next to Lincoln Elementary at 210 Madison Street, Frederick, MD 21701, and has ample parking.