Mustang Family Newsletter

Attendance is one of the major goals that the team decided needed to be a focus on again this year. As a community, we can work together, by taking family vacations during the times when students are scheduled to not be in school. Of course, we do not want parents or guardians sending their child(ren) when they are sick, please keep your child home if they are not feeling well. Please help us reach our school goal.

Dear Families,

I am excited to share that our school is continuing with our iReady program. Students will be taking their diagnostics during the Fall and Spring like they have in years past.

What is i-Ready?

i-Ready is an online program that will help us determine your child’s strengths and areas for growth, personalize their learning, and monitor their progress throughout the school year. i-Ready allows us to meet your child where they are and provides us with data to inform instruction.

The i-Ready Diagnostic is an adaptive assessment that adjusts its questions based on student responses. Each item a student receives is based on their answer to the previous question. For example, a series of correct answers will result in slightly harder questions, while a series of incorrect answers will yield slightly easier ones. The purpose of this is not to give your child a score or grade but to determine how to best support their learning.

What can I do to help?

To help prepare your child for the i-Ready Diagnostic, encourage them to:

· Get a good night’s sleep and eat a full breakfast the day of the assessment.

· Try their best on each question and try not to rush.

· Try not to worry about questions to which they do not know the answers—remind them that it is expected that they will only get about half of the questions correct.

· Be respectful of other students who take longer to finish.

What happens next?

The i-Ready Diagnostic will provide results that help me identify your child’s strengths and determine next steps for instruction. I look forward to sharing these results with you throughout the year and providing a learning experience that will engage your child while teaching important skills and concepts.

If you have any questions about i-Ready, please do not hesitate to contact me or the school. You can also learn more about i-Ready by visiting i-ReadyCentral.com/FamilyCenter.

As always, thank you for your continued support and for being a partner in your child’s learning! It is much appreciated.

Sincerely,

Kaitlynn Brown

We are excited to inform you that our school will be transitioning from Seesaw to ClassDojo as our primary communication app. The unpaid version of Seesaw does not support whole school messaging, but ClassDojo offers the same features and more, ensuring that we can effectively keep you informed. All you need to do is download the ClassDojo app, and our teachers will provide additional details on how to sign up during Open House. We look forward to a smooth transition and continued strong communication with our school community.

Just a reminder that we typically have early release days on Wednesdays with dismissal starting at at 2:05. Note: We do not have early release on a Wednesday if the district called a late start due to weather.

DATE: Monday, September 10, 2024

Welcome to the new school year! Every student will be photographed, and parents will have an opportunity to purchase portraits.

STUDENTS! Wear your favorite outfit and let’s have FUN! Everyone will get three head-and-shoulder poses. Clothing in solid-colored pastels or whites makes for a truly unique portrait.

PARENTS: NO MONEY REQUIRED IN ADVANCE! We will have portraits in the on-line gallery about a week after the photography date. You will have the opportunity to purchase portraits AFTER previewing them. There’s no obligation!

Your satisfaction with the finished portraits is guaranteed.

PortraitEFX appreciates the opportunity to photograph your student!

Questions? Please call PortraitEFX of Maine at 207-657-6372.

Community Club invites Minot School families to enjoy great food and company at the Harvest Supper on Saturday, September 21st from 5:15–6:30 p.m.

This event is dependent on the generosity of our school community, but we ask that you do what is comfortable for your family.

Mrs. Wallace will be starting hearing and vision for students soon if you have any questions please call the school and ask for Mary Wallace or you can reach her by email mwallace@rsu16.org

Please remember: If your child has medications that they are required to take at school, we are required to have the following form filled out by your child's Primary Care Physician in order to administer these medications at school. This form is required to be filled out for any daily medications that are required to be taken daily at school regardless of if they are prescription or over the counter medications. Medications must be brought in by an adult. Those with Asthma, allergies, diabetes, or any other chronic illnesses that require support at school will need an updated action plan.

The form is linked here: Form

The end of the school year can be overwhelming with all the celebrations and end-of-school-year activities for some students, while other students are already "checking out" with thoughts of summer break. This month the RSU 16 SEL Resource Center focuses on tips to end the school year strong and ideas to continue your students' growth throughout the summer.

RSU 16 SEL Resource Center

Lunch and Recess

If you can consistently give 1-2 hours of volunteer time each week next school year, we are looking for volunteers to help with lunch and recess supervision. You would be partnered with school staff. If you are interested in learning more, contact Wendy Simard, wsimard@rsu16.org

Classroom Volunteers

We are looking for 1-2 people who can commit to volunteering in classrooms at a consistent time 3 times a week to help with supporting students with some specific academic skills. The staff would provide you with all materials and guidance for what to work on with a small group of students. If you are interested and and have the time available, please contact Kaitlynn Brown at kbrown@rsu16.org

Volunteer Paperwork

Please remember that all of our volunteers have to be pre-approved to volunteer within our schools. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Wendy Simard, wsimard@rsu16.org for the paperwork and to provide a copy of your license.

Our district will be switching from School Messenger to ReachMyTeach as our new mass messaging platform. In addition to the traditional robo calls and emails, ReachMyTeach will now allow us to send text messages directly to your phones, ensuring timely and convenient communication. This upgrade will enhance our ability to keep you informed and connected.

BusRight is our new transportation software that allows you to keep track of your child's journey to and from school right from your smartphone by downloading the BusRight app. If you are having trouble connecting or seeing your child's bus route on the app please call transportation at (207)998-2738 (X107) or email Stewart Mason smason@rsu16.org

RSU 16 is fortunate to have the first ever known Gus the Bus in Maine.

Gus will help throughout the year with school bus safety trainings, along with collecting school supplies for the district's students.

As the dollar gets stretched tighter and tighter these days some students may have difficulty acquiring all the much needed supplies they need to start the school year off. Any and all supplies would be appreciated

Thank You,

Stewart Mason Jr.

Director of Transportation

Minot Community Club is a dedicated group of parents and educators working together to support the academic and extracurricular growth of students at Minot Consolidated School. The club meets monthly and all are welcome to attend! If you would like more information, please like and follow their Minot Community Club Meeting Facebook page on Facebook.

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 10th (7:00-8:00 pm)

Driveline will continue to be what we use for pick up and drop off. Please see the image below to see the route to follow (as of right now, it is the same as last year). Green tags with your child's number will be distributed during Open House. You MUST have a green tag present to pick up your child(ren). If your family would like any additional tags, please contact Kayla Wielki at kwielki@rsu16.org.

1. Please help us keep our arrival and dismissal cars to 6 on each side.

2. Please let us know if you need a replacement driveline number, so we can keep our dismissal efficient and fluid.

3. This is a friendly reminder that driveline is a no cell phone zone.

4. Please be mindful of not blocking the bus turn around when lining up driveline.

Thank you for keeping all students safe.

This year we will continue to offer free breakfast and lunch to all students at MCS. While this is an amazing opportunity to be able to offer our students, we have found that having free lunches has led to less families filling out the Free & Reduced Application Forms (shown and linked below). It may come to a surprise to many, but these forms are what is used to determine our Title I funding. With fewer forms being filled out, we have actually lost our Title I funding... and with it, we have lost some very vital supports for our students. It is so important for ALL families to fill out forms for ALL students so that we can have the best opportunity to provide our students with the most support! Everyone must fill out this form regardless of choosing hot lunch for their child or not.

The COMPLETELY CONFIDENTIAL application is available to print, complete, and return to your school (find form below) or you can complete the online form by clicking here. If you have difficulty accessing either of these methods, the form can also be sent home with a student...just contact your school's office to make the request. If you have any questions please contact Ellen Dore, RSU 16 Food Service Director, edore@rsu16.org, 207-998-5400 ext 107.

September 9th- School Board Meeting 6:30 at PRHS

September 10th- School Picture Day

September 10th- Minot Community Club Meeting 7:00 pm

September 17th- Budget Validation Referendum 8am-8pm at Town Voting Locations

September 21st- Harvest Supper 5:15-6:30

September 27th- Mustang Pride Assembly 2:15

RSU 16 recognizes that planned absences for family vacations or other recreational activities are important and will support students for missing school for such events. Up to, but no more than, 5 days absent will be excused each year for such experiences. This absences must be planned and pre-approved by administration. Additionally. it is the expectation of the district that students complete missing school work in a reasonable time. If your child is expected to be out, please fill out the following form and return it back to school as soon as possible. Please also let Wendy Simard know in the office if your child is planning to be out.

Click Here

Our Tip Line represents one approach our schools and communities may use to share the responsibility of school and student safety and well-being. This Tip Line provides students, staff or other members of the public with a safe and confidential way to report a threat or potential threat to student or school safety. Call 911 in cases of immediate emergency. It is located on our website: rsu16.org and scroll down.

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There are many benefits to providing families with newsletters electronically. An electronic newsletter conserves paper, is more cost efficient, and delivers the newsletter directly to parents. Minot Consolidated School will be providing newsletters electronically for the remainder of the year. If you would prefer to receive a paper newsletter moving forward, please contact us at (207) 346-6471 or at kbrown@rsu16.org in order to notify us. Newsletters can also be found on the MCS website

Future Newsletter Items

If you have any items you would like to have included in a future Family Newsletter, please forward them to me and I will be sure to add them!

School Hours

Arrival- 8:30 am

Dismissal- 3:00pm

Email: kbrown@rsu16.org
Website: https://www.rsu16.org/mcs/index
Location: 23 Shaw Hill Road, Minot, ME, USA
Phone: 207-346-6471