Student & Family Update

I hope that you are having a good week.

I wanted to send the weekly newsletter out on Thursday so that anyone with questions or concerns could call/ drop in to the office later today/ Friday.

Here are some quick bullet points:

• Start of the year student packets are waiting for students to collect from the main office
• Please see below for Bus information
• Please see below for breakfast and lunch information for 23/24
• Grade 11 - see below for information about the PSAT which will be administered on Thursday October 19th
• Caregivers of current students in grades 7-12 who might be interested in being a part of the Local Education Committee (LEC), please email me and let me know. There is more information about the LEC here: Link
  

Students in grades 8-12, please note that if you have a question in relation to schedules, please contact your guidance counselor by email in the first instance:

Grade 8 - Ms. Ruggeri: truggeri@mtrsd.org

Grade 9-12 - Ms. Cairney: acairney@mtrsd.org

Wishing you a great weekend and we are looking forward to seeing students on Wednesday 30th August from 7:45-11:30am.

Best wishes

Chris

Upcoming dates

• First day of school: August 30th, 7:45-11:30am (Breakfast available from 7:20)

• Labor day: Sept 4th (No school)

• MTRS Open House: Sept 12th, 4:30-6:30pm (Grades 7,8 and Middle School Exploratory teachers)

• School photographs: Oct 11th (Retakes, Nov 25th)

• PSAT October 19th

District Calendar for 2023/24: Link

Handbook

Bell schedule

Don't forget, you won't be issued a Chromebook without completing the Chromebook user agreement!

Please make sure that you check the Bus routes on district site. Care providers can call Dawn at the bus company on 413-489-3195 at ext 110 or call the school and ask to speak to Robin Pease.

Dear Caregivers,

Welcome back students and families!

We are excited to update you with the news that Massachusetts students will receive FREE school meals in School Year 2023-2024 and in all future years! Last month, Massachusetts became the 8th state to make Free School Meals for All permanent which means that breakfast and lunch will continue to be served at no cost to all students for years to come.

Please note that even though meals will be free for all, it is very important for families to still complete the Household Application for Free and Reduced Price Meals for the 2023-2024 school year. We strongly encourage ALL families to submit this form as it allows us to waive fees for those who qualify and serve families most effectively.

Completing this form also helps our district to receive more federal funding to keep our Nutrition Program strong.

If you are interested, please consider applying for SNAP, the federal nutrition program that provides eligible residents with monthly financial assistance to purchase groceries. More SNAP information can be found at gettingsnap.org or by calling Project Bread's FoodSource Hotline at 1-800-645-8333.

It is our privilege to provide breakfast and lunch to your children, supporting them with nourishing and healthy meals to power through the school day! We can't wait to see them in the coming weeks. Please reach out with any questions or concerns that you may have.

Best

Debbie Plante & Tammy Wheeler

Co-Food Service Directors

Mohawk Trail Regional School District

Hawlemont Regional School District

1-413-625-9811 EXT. 1324

dplante@mtrsd.org or twheeler@mtrsd.org

Grade 7: Students will go to the gym when they arrive. Once in the gym, the 7th grade team does introductions and students will receive schedules and locker combinations.

8th graders meet the 8th grade team in the cafeteria. This is when they will be given locker combinations and schedules.

Grade 9: The first day of school the 9th grade students meet in the auditorium after they arrive. They are welcomed by the Administration and their Advisors before receiving schedules.

Grades 10, 11, 12 all received their schedules in Aspen already and should report to advisory as soon as they enter the building.

Bell Schedule for 23/24

Mohawk HS is administering the digital PSAT on Thursday October 19th during the school day, which Juniors are strongly encouraged to attend. To register please fill out PSAT Registration Form AND submit $18* cash or check made out to Mohawk Trail Regional HS and drop off in the Student Services Office. The deadline to register is Thursday September 7th, end of day. *If you require financial assistance please email Aimee Cairney, HS School Counselor, at acairney@mtrsd.org

About the PSAT/NMSQT

The PSAT/NMSQT (short for Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test) is an opportunity for students to practice for the SAT. Your PSAT scores are designed to predict your SAT scores and gauge your college readiness. By taking the PSAT, you will learn which areas you should focus on when studying for the SAT and will be better equipped to score well on the SAT.

For more information please visit: https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/psat-nmsqt

Chrome books will be distributed to Grade 12 on 8/30 and to grades 8,9,10 & 11 on 9/30.

Please make sure that you have completed the user form and made a payment for the protection fee (check, cash or online) before this time.

This year Grade 7 will not be issued chrome books at the start of the school year. Instead, grade 7 will access have access to chrome books which are stored in their content classes. We hope that in the second semester we will be able to issue chrome books to grade 7.

Students, if you are interested in participating in the Play and/or the Musical, please complete this form: link

For those who participated in the 22-23 school year- there will be an informal meeting at school in the auditorium on Friday 8/25 at 2pm. This should last about an hour.

Upcoming events- There will be a meet and greet meeting on Wednesday September 13th for anyone who is interested in learning about Performing Arts at Mohawk Trail and those returning to Performing Arts. This meeting will be held in the auditorium directly after school. This is an early release day and you will need transportation home or wait for the late bus. If you can not attend please contact Miss Eva -stagemanager@mtrsd.org.

This meeting will last about an hour.

Auditions for the fall play ( non musical) will be held on Wednesday 9/20 (not an early release day!) in the auditorium. If you are unable to make the meeting on the 13th please contact Miss Eva for information on auditions. If necessary 9/22 will be added for auditions as well.

For those who need to plan- rehearsals will typically be held on Wednesdays & Fridays this year for both the fall play and the spring musical. If you have regular conflicts on these days of the week contact Miss Eva prior to auditions.

Looking forward to a great 23/24 season!! Miss Eva

We are looking at getting your feedback on possible changes to the schedule for MTRS. We would like to have your input into what you think is working/ not working/ could be improved or added to our schedule.

This is your chance to let us know about anything to do with the schedule. As we are gathering initial feedback, anything really does mean anything and could include: Start times, course offerings, elective offerings, technology, outdoor learning, block schedules... Whatever you would like to comment on in relation to the schedule, we want to hear about it!

Thanks in advance for sharing your feedback.

Your feedback will help with our next steps in looking at possible schedule changes and we will keep students and families updated in the process.

Local Education Council (LEC)

This meets virtually every second Wednesday of the month between 3:45 and 4:30pm. More information can be found here. The first meeting will take place on September 13th.

The virtual joining information is as follows:

Meeting ID

meet.google.com/gzo-toke-ibz

Phone Numbers

(‪US‬)‪+1 813-435-9650‬

PIN: ‪741 012 215#‬

Principal Drop-ins

As was the case last year, I will hold regular virtual office hours. You don’t need an appointment to come and talk with me and share your thoughts on what goes on at MTRS. I will try to be available for the whole 60 minutes but can't always guarantee it at our busy school. The first drop in will take place on September 8th.

Second Friday of each month: 8:00 to 9:00 a.m.

Meeting ID: meet.google.com/jtz-yhet-ipo

Phone Number: (US)+1 (813) 773-5581

PIN: 636 883 303

Official practices for all sports began on AUGUST 21st!!! Please make sure that your student is registered and has an up to date physical (last 12 months) on file with the school nurse. You can register your child online at https://mtrs.mohawktrailschools.org/Athletics. The official registration deadline will not be until September 8th, but please note that no athlete will be allowed to participate until their registration is complete.

This fall we will be offering…

Volleyball

Field Hockey

Cross Country

Middle School Football

Middle School Soccer

High School Soccer (Cooperative Team w/ Greenfield High School)

High School Football (Cooperative Team w/ Greenfield High School)

If your child is interested in participating on one of our Cooperative Teams, please reach out to District Athletic Director Greg Lilly at glillyAD@mtrsd.org for more information.

Check the Athletics page on the website for updates on practices for the week of 8-28!

Mohawk Trail SEPAC Member and Parent

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Do you have a question about your child, their services, or resources specific to your needs? If you or someone you know would like to be added to the private list and receive emails and event notifications, please send an email to: MOHAWKSEPAC@gmail.com Please indicate your email, title (such as parent of a student with IEP/504), District, Interested Party or other)

Disclosure: SEPAC maintains the list of contacts and keeps the information private. This email is maintained by a parent and volunteer. Our goal is to respond in a timely manner. We will get back to you as soon as we can. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.

Email: cbuckland@mtrsd.org
Website: www.mtrs.mohawktrailschools.org
Phone: 413-625-9811
Facebook: facebook.com/mohawktrailregional