Hello Marsh Creek,

I hope that everyone is having a wonderful weekend. We are bracing for some winter weather this weekend, so unfortunately we are going to have to cancel our planned Martin Luther King Day event at Marsh Creek scheduled for Monday, January 20th. This week our students will complete their Winter Aimsweb assessment. Please see below for more specific information about the Aimsweb administration planned for this week. As we approach the end of January, it is time for us to begin working with our Narwhals and Middle School partners to prepare for our students' transition to Lionville and Downingtown Middle schools next school year. Please review the section below entitled 7th Grade Course Selection Headquarters, where we will be communicating information with our students and families related to the course selection process for both schools. Please know that we will be working closely with our students here in school over the coming weeks to ensure that our students are ready to take the next step in their journey through our district, and will be communicating all important information to our families over the coming months. The window to enter course requests opens on January 29th, and will remain open until February 7th. Thank you for all of your time and support so far this school year, and for allowing us to work with your students each day. I hope that everyone has an amazing week!

-Matt

Monday - 1/20

• Martin Luther King Day - Schools and Offices Closed / MLK Day of Service CPR Training Event (CANCELED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER FORECAST)

Tuesday - 1/21

• End of 2nd Marking Period

Wednesday - 1/22

• Aimsweb Winter Assessment

Important Upcoming Dates

January 29 - February 7 - Student/Parent Course Selection Window Open (Infinite Campus)

Between January 29th and February 7th, students and parents will submit their course requests electronically through Infinite Campus. Please take a few minutes to review the Rising 7th Grade Course Selection Video linked below for detailed information about the process. Below, you will also find directions related to accessing Infinite Campus on the 29th so that students can select their Encore classes. The majority of courses will be pre-loaded for your student on the 29th for both Lionville and Downingtown Middle Schools, but students will have to select FOUR Encore classes for next year.

Student Selected Encore Classes (electives)

1. Rising 7th Graders must pick four electives from the five Encore area options: Physical Education, World Language, Music, Family/Consumer Science, and Art (a required Tech Ed & Health course will be pre-loaded)

2. Please note that you are encouraged to take one course from each content area by the time you leave LMS/DMS at the end of 8th grade.

Below is a list of available electives for our students to choose in 7th grade. You will see that Technology & Engineering Foundations and Health have already been added, as all 7th graders will take these electives. Our students will need to select 4 additional electives from the options remaining.

PATH: Campus Student > More > Course Registration

1. After logging in to Campus Student/Campus Parent, select More from the Index. Then select Course Registration. A list of Course Registration Enrollments displays.

2. Select the desired enrollment (Next school year's enrollment).

3. You are now ready to enter Course Requests (Screenshots and Directions are included in the file linked below)

Required, Requested and Alternate Courses - Students are encouraged to select 1 Alternate Encore class in case of conflicts with first choices

● Courses that are preloaded display as Required. Changes to these requests cannot be made

● Courses you requested display as Requests. These requests can be modified (changed to alternates, removed, etc.)

● Courses you requested as alternates display as Alternates. These requests can be modified (changed to requests, removed, etc.)

● Change a course request to an alternate by selecting it from your list of courses and clicking the Convert to Alternate button

● Delete a request by clicking the red X from the Search Results or by selecting the course and clicking Delete Request.

For more detailed information related to course offerings at both Downingtown and Lionville Middle School, click on the link below to access the DASD Middle School Academic Program of Study.

Wednesday, January 22nd

Our students will hear us use the phrase "No Stress, Try Your Best" often this year, as we want our students to always remember that assessment plays an important role for us to evaluate our students' skills, and utilizing student data helps us provide the best instructional experience possible. Taking assessments can be a source of frustration and angst for some students, so we will always reinforce that when taking assessments, they should always just concentrate on trying their best, and should not put too much pressure on themselves. We are always going to be proud of all of our students, no matter what!

What is AimswebPlus?

On Wednesday January 22nd, we will be administering the AimswebPlus Winter benchmark for Reading and Math. This benchmark is completed on the Chromebook, so please remind your child to come to school with a fully charged device.

AimswebPlus is a universal screening, progress monitoring, and data management system that supports Response to Intervention (RTI) and tiered instruction. Although not graded, AimswebPlus efficiently screens all students, identifying those at risk for academic failure and enabling early intervention and support. AimswebPlus progress monitoring helps determine the effectiveness of interventions and instruction for students, and whether students are progressing sufficiently to meet year-end goals. A report with your child’s benchmark scores will be uploaded into the Infinite Campus Backpack once results are available.

Each month, our schools around the district conduct drills in order to ensure that our students are prepared in case of an emergency. These drills include Severe Weather, Fire, and Safety and Security drills. During the month of January, our focus will be on conducting a Safety and Security drill. This week, we will conduct a Safety and Security drill. Teachers will work with our students to ensure that they are aware of our procedures, and we want to thank everyone for your support as we work to promote safety throughout the Downingtown Area School District.

Our students and Mrs. D'antonio recently published their December issue of the Narwhal News, our student newspaper. Please take a look at the work that our future journalists have completed this past month! Great job students!

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!

Hey Narwhals! As we come to the end of the marking period in a few days, take this time to complete and submit any missing assignments. See below for tips on managing your time to get everything done, without the stress!

Cartwheel is a trusted mental health partner to schools, offering helpful free resources to parents and guardians such as articles, podcasts and webinars like this one: Social Media and Youth Mental Health. Check it out as well as lots of other great resources on their website!

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.

2025 Yearbook Sales Are Open – Order Now Before They Sell Out!

Don’t miss out on your chance to order a copy of the 2025 Marsh Creek 6th Grade Center Yearbook! It’s the best way to capture memories of this year’s events, classmates, and friends.

Order now to guarantee your yearbook! We always sell out, and once they're gone, they’re gone! Ordering ahead also avoids last-minute stress. Be sure to note the date of your purchase. Keep your confirmation email handy!

How to order:

• Go to https://www.balfour.com/

• Create an account and place your order. Yearbooks cost $30 (pre-order price)

• Make sure you know your child’s Advisory Teacher’s name

• Save your confirmation email as proof of purchase

Pre-orders are open NOW through March 31, 2025

• After that, any remaining copies will be sold IN PERSON at the end of May, on a first-come, first-served basis. No email or phone requests to hold yearbooks will be accepted.

Secure your copy today and avoid missing out on this keepsake!

For questions, contact:

Lee Ann Allen (lallen@dasd.org)

Becky Leister (rleister@dasd.org)

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

Outstanding Technology Fee Obligations

All student technology fees have been updated through our District's PaySchools site. We ask that students clear all obligations prior to the conclusion of each school year. All fees can be viewed and cleared through the following link:

https://www.payschoolscentral.com/

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.

Did you know that next year ALL kindergarten students will have full day instruction? Due to recent board approval, all Downingtown elementary schools are providing full day Kindergarten to all Kindergarten students. Visit this website for more information: https://www.dasd.org/departments/teaching-and-learning/full-day-k-implementation. Registration is now open.

On Monday, January 27th, we have an incredible opportunity to virtually host Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez for a special and one-of-a-kind Zoom session. Since Cristopher Sánchez speaks only Spanish, this entire session will be conducted in Spanish. This is a fantastic opportunity creates a special event for our Spanish speaking population of students. This also includes our high level world language students. Cristopher will share inspiring messages about not letting language barriers hold you back, making the most of your school experience, and achieving your dreams. The session will be held in Q&A format for your students to ask him questions. If you’re interested in attending, please make sure to join the call and connect with Cristopher during this special event!

If you have students interested in joining us, please let me know and use this zoom link on the day of the event.

Zoom Link: https://dasd-org.zoom.us/j/97645629479?from=addon

Come check out the fun at Lionville Middle School before your child enters next Fall.

Tickets now on sale! Pre-purchase for a discounted rate!

Click here to purchase .

For: Girls in Grades 1st – 8th