Good morning Marsh Creek,

I hope that you are having a great weekend! This week's newsletter contains a great deal of information related to all that is happening at Marsh Creek over the coming weeks. Our Home and School Association is sponsoring a Spirit Wear sale throughout the month of October, so please visit the HSA section below to access the link to all of the great gear we have available for our community! We are excited to begin planning for our annual Marsh Creek Trunk or Treat event scheduled for October 23rd, so please see below for more details on how you can help support and participate in this fun event for our students. I am looking forward to welcoming the students back on Monday for a great week!

As always, thank you so much for allowing us to work with your family this year.

Have a fantastic day,

Matt

Monday - 10/7

• D Team Paradise Farm Trip
  

Tuesday - 10/8

• D Team Paradise Farm Trip
• BESS Screener Administration Begins (See more information below)

Thursday - 10/10

• G Team Paradise Farm Trip

Friday - 10/11

• G Team Paradise Farm Trip

Important Upcoming Dates

• Monday and Tuesday 10/14 and 10/15 - F Team Paradise Farm Trip
• Thursday and Friday 10/17 and 10/18 - H Team Paradise Farm Trip
• Wednesday 10/23 - Trunk or Treat (See more information below)

In September and October, each interdisciplinary team will be traveling to Paradise Farm Camp, a local educational facility over two consecutive days. Students, teachers and administrators will participate in hands-on, outdoor, learning and team building experiences. The program is designed to facilitate team-building, resiliency and environmental awareness. Getting to know one another as a team and in small groups by working through different team challenges improves the all too important skills of cooperation, communication, and trust. Guardians will receive information from your child’s team in the upcoming weeks

Below is information that will be communicated to our families by each team prior to students attending the trip:

Our students will be taking a field trip to Paradise Farms Camp, located at 1300 Valley Creek Road in Downingtown throughout the months of September and October. This camp affords students the opportunity for outdoor education through a variety of activities that develop leadership and team building skills. The entire trip will be outside even if it is raining.

Parents will need to drop off students at Paradise Farms between 8:15 am and 8:30 am at the Paradise Farms gymnasium and pick up students at 3:00 pm at the Paradise Farms gymnasium. Carpooling whenever possible is encouraged. Teachers and staff members will be on-site to direct you to this area. If you are unable to drop off and/or pick up your child, there will be a limited amount of bus transportation available to and from Paradise Farms. Students who ride the bus will arrive later and leave the trip earlier so that our busses can accommodate school district arrival and departure from our other schools.

The cost of this trip is $40.00 per student. All payments must be made in PaySchools Central, the same system used for all district fees. Please note that if the payment option is not visible now it will be shortly, thank you for your patience. This fee covers all camp programs. Students need to bring lunch each day. You can also order a boxed lunch from the cafeteria that will be brought to Paradise Farm. If you select the option to order lunch on the permission slip, your child will complete the form at school.

We will go to Paradise Farms RAIN OR SHINE, so students will need to dress appropriately according to weather conditions. Old shoes or sneakers are the best type of footwear. For student safety, NO SANDALS, FLIP FLOPS, OR OPEN TOED SHOES OF ANY KIND ARE PERMITTED.

As part of our district and community's efforts to increase Mental Health awareness, starting the week of October 7th, the BASC-3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) assessment will be administered for Marsh Creek students. This assessment is provided to DASD students, and helps us to identify those that may be in need of support. This assessment should take approximately thirty minutes or less.

Information about the BESS :

• The BASC-3 Behavioral and Emotional Screening System is designed for schools to screen for a variety of behavioral issues that can lead to adjustment problems.
• It assesses a wide array of behaviors that represent both behavioral problems and strengths.
• It uses a Total Score on the report that is a reliable and accurate predictor of a broad range of behavioral, emotional and academic problems.
• It explores indexes that identify responses that may be overly negative or inconsistent.

Should results of the assessment indicate a need for interventions, our counseling team would share those recommendations with parents. If you would like to opt your student out of this screening assessment, please complete the opt-out form linked below.

Safe2Say Something is a youth violence prevention program run by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General. The program teaches youth and adults how to recognize warning signs and signals, especially within social media, from individuals who may be a threat to themselves or others and to “say something” BEFORE it is too late. As part of our district's safety and security plan, we will be working with our students during their Advisory period this month on communicating with a trusted adult if they have concerns, and the Safe to Say Something program is a way for families to get those concerns into the hands of those that can act immediately if necessary.

The Annual Marsh Creek Trunk or Treat will be held on Wednesday, October 23rd

from 6:00PM to 7:00PM in the bus parking lot at school. Candy cars will arrive

by 5:30PM to begin preparing for the event. We will be collecting candy

donations through Friday, October 18th, to help our candy cars get started. So

if you would like to help but are not going to be a candy car, please feel free to

send unopened bags of Halloween candy to school. Candy can be dropped

off in the main office or sent to Ms. Dunn’s room, B269. More information about

Trick or Trunk will be posted in Schoology and on the website in the coming

weeks. Thank you for your continued support of our Marsh Creek Student Council!

If you would like to participate as a trick-or-treater and/or a

candy car, please complete the following Google Form:

School pictures are ready!

To order, log in to your account on mylifetouch.com or create an account using your student's student ID number. To enjoy the 10% discount being offered by Lifetouch, click the link Redeem Now

All families can also log on and order a FREE Digital SmileSafe card.

More about the Smilesafe program here.

Greetings from the Marsh Creek Counseling Department! We will use this area to keep you in the loop with updates from our department as well as helpful resources throughout the year. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns. We are here to help!

Please encourage your child to check out the Marsh Creek Counseling Department Schoology course. It’s filled with lots of great resources including stress management strategies, study skills, directions for how to check your grades and more!

Narwhals, it’s time to focus on our wellness! Taking care of ourselves helps us to stay healthy, improves our mood, increases our ability to concentrate and allows us to enjoy our time with friends and family. Check out these tips!

Communities that Care of Greater Downingtown offers many great parent resources including a Parent to Parent: Building Connections support group which starts October 1st. Check it out here!

This program provides supplemental nourishment for our students. Participating students receive a bag of non-perishable food items every Wednesday, which will be distributed in a discreet and caring manner by our staff. Click on the links below to complete the confidential form so that we can help in any way that we can.

Click here to enroll in Backpack Boost

Haga clic aquí para inscribirse en Backpack Boost

Thank you to all of our families for their willingness to support our Marsh Creek HSA this year as they work with our students and staff! We are so lucky to have a wonderful team of parents willing to help Marsh Creek. If you are interested in participating in our HSA this year, please consider joining us for future meetings. If you would like to contact our HSA to find other ways to support our students and school, please feel free to contact them at marshcreekhsa@gmail.com. If you are interested in volunteering with our wonderful HSA team this year, please complete the interest form linked below.

Back by popular demand, our students and families will have the chance to purchase Marsh Creek Spirit Wear throughout the month of October! Please click the link below to browse all of the options available to our families this year. Should you have any spirit wear questions/concerns, they can be directed to our HSA through Mrs. Rebecca Worthington-Fritz via email: becfritz@gmail.com.

The most frequent damage to a Chromebook is a cracked screen. Follow these tips to avoid damage.

• Always carry a Chromebook closed. Never hold a Chromebook by its screen and always use two hands to carry the device.
• If carrying the device from classroom to classroom, hold the Chromebook close to your chest much like a hug.
• Be sure to set a Chromebook on a flat surface during use and avoid slanted, uneven surfaces which could lead to the device sliding off and dropping to the floor.

For more tips about protecting your device, and information related to getting a protective case for your device, click the following link to our technology page. Thank you for your assistance!

https://www.dasd.org/departments/technology/11-technology-initiative/chromebook-care

Below is a link to the Activities page on our Marsh Creek website, which has been updated with all information that students and parents will need to engage in our extracurricular programs. It contains information related to the options available this year, as well as information related to Activity Fees, and the Activity Shuttle Bus. Students can work with our teachers to pick up information and to express interest in the activities offered this year. All information related to our clubs and activities will be communicated on Schoology.

The Summer Adventure Trip to Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park was held Tuesday, October 1st. Could not make it? Please access the presentation here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12yd0nvbNPxz4Fsfnk5RKarGBvJhdk3kM/view?usp=sharing. Registration is due by October 15, 2024. Please contact Mrs. Sibley (ksibley@dasd.org) with any questions.

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month is a time to honor the rich histories, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic and Latinx communities in the United States. At DASD, we recognize and celebrate this month to highlight the diverse backgrounds and achievements of our Hispanic students, staff, and families. By acknowledging the impact of Hispanic heritage, we foster an inclusive environment that values diversity and empowers all voices within our district.

In recent years, educators have become increasingly aware of the need for practical and effective tools to address the unique learning styles of their neurodivergent students. In this hands-on workshop, Rick Silver, MD and Mary Jo Puglisi, LCPC will provide participants the opportunity to assess their own strengths and challenges working with this population of students; and to develop customized solutions to specific issues they face in the educational setting. This workshop will allow participants to manage learning-limiting behaviors and mindsets, build a more supportive learning environment and decrease classroom stress.

Register: Click Here

Cultural Equity Taskforce is Back!

Next CETF Meeting will be October 28th, 2024 at 3:45 pm

The purpose of the DASD Cultural Equity Task Force (CETF) is to ensure equity for students, staff and families by eliminating bias and inequities in our classrooms and in our schools.

The CETF supports enacting policies, procedures and practices that are both culturally responsive and culturally sustaining. Join our team by contacting JBrown@dasd.org.

LGBTQ+ History Month/ Bullying Prevention Month

October is a meaningful month for our community as we observe both LGBTQ+ History Month and Bullying Prevention Month. These observances remind us of the importance of fostering a space where every student feels safe, respected, and valued. Let’s continue to build on our commitment to understanding, kindness, and acceptance.

We are reaching out for your support of the 4th Annual Downingtown

Unites 5K and Fun Walk on Sunday, October 13, 2024 at Downingtown

West High School. In an effort to unite our community, the Downingtown

West Field Hockey and Cross-Country teams organize this event to

promote awareness of mental health issues and access to mental health

services in and around the Downingtown community.

This clinic will provide a high-energy, fun, competitive learning environment focusing on the fundamentals of basketball—drills, games, and competition. D-East basketball t-shirts will be awarded to the winning 3v3 team!!

Click on the link below to access the Clinic Flyer.