Dear MMES Families,

Over the past few weeks, our staff has been working with students to implement some new tools in our writing toolkit! Each classroom is partnering up with a classroom in another school to begin pen pal relationships. Some classes will be paired up with classes in Essex and other north shore schools while one grade is working on an international relationship with a school in Germany...very cool!

Our school had our first "Drop Everything and Write" session recently. Students and staff across the building dropped whatever they were doing at that moment and enjoyed writing for pleasure. A suggested prompt was read over the loudspeaker. Students could opt to write about that prompt or anything that they wanted to write about. This is a great opportunity for everyone to take a few minutes to let the ideas flow without judgement. It is a way for our staff to model their enjoyment of writing while encouraging students to write for pleasure. It was great to see the whole school community enjoying a similar thing all at the same time.

Members of our leadership council worked together to design a flexible writing organizer that has been adjusted for all grades and can be adapted for many different types of writing. This is being rolled out to classrooms to provide a possible writing structure for more formal types of academic writing. One of the things that makes MMES great is how our staff balances character education with academic excellence and inspiration!

Enjoy the vacation with your family!

Best,

John

2023-2024 Calendar

February

February 19-25 - President's Day/ Mid-Winter Recess

March

6 - Early Release, Professional Development, 11:45 Dismissal

14 - Grade K to Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary

20 - Grade 1 & 3 to North Shore Music Theater

21, 22, 23 - Grade 5 Musical - The Phantom Toll Booth Jr.

April

3 - Early Release, Professional Development, 11:45 Dismissal

4 – Elementary Poetry Café Night 5:30 Essex Elem

10 – MCAS ELA G3-5 Session 1

11 – MCAS ELA G3-5 Session 2

15-21 - Patriots Day/Spring Recess

May

1 - Early Release, Professional Development, 11:45 Dismissal

15 – MCAS Math G3-5 Session 1

16 – MCAS Math G3-5 Session 2

16 –Art Show and Spring Concert at HS 5pm

20 – MCAS STE-5 Session 1

22 – MCAS STE 5 Session 2

24 – Memorial Day Celebration

27 - Memorial Day, no School

31 - HS Graduation

June

3 - Field Day

5 - Early Release, Professional Development, 11:45 Dismissal

6 - Last Day Kindergarten

11 - Crossing the Bridge, Grade 5

13 - Last Day, No Additional Snow Days

19 - Juneteenth

5k Committee Volunteers Needed!

We are so excited to bring back Hit the Street for Little Feet 5k, and we are looking for volunteers to help plan out the festival portion of the event. Reach out to mmptopres@gmail.com if you are interested in helping out!

Save the Date!

Fun-a-thon - March 6, 2024

Hit the Street 5k - May 17, 2024

Field Day - June 3, 2024

Be on the lookout...

Enrichment Event Berkshire Hills Music Academy on January 25th! The pto sponsored event is always a crowd favorite.

Schedule of Monthly PTO Meetings:

The following are dates for the 2023-2024 PTO Meetings:
• Wednesday, February 28
• Friday, March 29
• Friday, April 26
• Wednesday, May 22
All meetings will begin at 9 am, and will be located in the Project room on the first floor of the school. All are welcome...we hope to see you there!

Reminder - No phones or smart watches during school day: Please note that there are no phones permitted during the school day.

CORI requirements - We love having volunteers and mystery readers back in the building. Please note that all adults must have a completed CORI on file before filling volunteer or mystery reader positions and will not be admitted without one. Please plan to come in at least one week before your scheduled volunteer time to complete your paperwork. CORIs are good for 3 years. Please contact the office to see if yours is valid.

Absence, Late Arrival, and Early Dismissal:

Please plan to email your student's teacher, Nurse Seaman (seamanj@mersd.org), and the office (schmidtm@mersd.org) with all attendance updates: Absence, Late Arrival, Early dismissal. This will allow us to coordinate with your teachers.

Students who need to be dismissed early, must be released to a parent or guardian from the main office. When possible, please notify the office and your child's teacher ahead of time. When you arrive for early dismissal, your student will be called from the classroom. Please be prepared to show your ID if we are not familiar with you.

Physicals:

Current physical and immunization records are due for grades 1 and 4. Please do not make a new appointment. Send me the most current and then send me a copy of the new physical when it is completed.

Extra Clothing: ALL GRADE LEVELS

It is officially getting colder outside. Just a reminder we are out for recess unless the real feel temperature is below 20.

Occasionally a spilled drink, a fall in a puddle or even a ride down a wet slide occurs, if each child could have a change of clothing (head to toe) that would be great.

Just a few reminders:

1. If your child is going to be absent or arriving late, please call either 526-1909 or 526-1908 to let us know.

2. If your child has a temperature of 100. F or over, they need to be temperature free for 24 hours (without relying on Tylenol or Motrin) before re-entering the school.

3. If your child is experiencing diarrhea or vomiting, we recommend that they are symptom free for 24 hours and can tolerate solid food before they return

4. If your child has a contagious illness such as conjunctivitis or strep throat, it is the school policy that they are on medicine for 24 hours before re-entering the building.

5. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT ALL CLASSROOMS ARE PEANUT/NUT FREE

Thank you for your co-operation and continuing support.

Any questions or concerns please call or email

Joanne Seaman, R.N.

978-526-1909 Fax 978-526-5209

seamanj@mersd

"Fun, fit, February! Join the Cub Scouts this month. Boys and Girls ages 6 to 10 are invited to one of this month's Cub Scout meetings. The first is February 15th from 4:30-6 at Sacred Heart Church Hall at 62 School Street, Manchester. We will be doing some Scout games and working on our Pinewood Derby cars. The next meeting is for the Pinewood Derby Race on Sunday February 25th from 3:30 - 5:30 at the Manchester American Legion Hall, behind Manchester Town Hall."

• Mobile Markets will then run from 2:30-3:30pm in October and November on the first Wednesday of each month.
• Mobile Market will run on an early release schedule of 11am-12:15pm on the first Wednesday of each month starting in December for the balance of the school year.