Hello Narwhal families,

We are so excited to welcome you to Marsh Creek! The first day of school for students is Monday, August 26th. Our staff has been hard at work preparing for our students' arrival, and we are so excited to meet our new Narwhals! Please know, that we understand a change into such a large school for our students, all coming from very different elementary school buildings, can be a source of excitement and nervous energy, and we will be spending time this first week of school helping students connect to each other, our wonderful staff, and to the building to ensure that they feel comfortable, ready to learn, and to have fun! Look out for our weekly newsletter each Sunday, as it will contain information about the week's schedule and activities, as well as a wealth of information about our school.

Have a wonderful weekend,

Matt

Monday - 8/26

• First Day of School

Tuesday - 8/27

• Back to School night - 6:00 - 7:00 pm - Blue House (Teams C, D, G, H)

Wednesday - 8/28

• Back to School night - 6:00 - 7:00 pm - Gold House (Teams A, B, E, F)

In order to help with their first day, students should know:

-Their team letter

-Advisory Teacher

-Bus Number

*Staff will be available to assist students as they arrive to school, and throughout dismissal.

As they arrive to school...

Students from our Blue House (Teams C,D,G,H) will enter the Gym. We will have Blue balloons outside the doors to help!

Students from our Gold House (Teams A,B,E,F) will enter the Cafe. We will have Gold balloons outside the doors to help!

For those parents that intend to drive their student to Marsh Creek this school year, please see the map below for directions on our traffic pattern. This will ensure the safety of our students each day, and increase the efficiency of our arrival and departure procedures. We will have signs posted to help direct traffic for parents arriving on our campus.

Tuesday - 8/27 - Back to School Night

6:00 - 7:00 Blue House (Teams C, D, G, H)

Wednesday - 8/28 - Back to School Night

6:00 - 7:00 Gold House (Teams A, B, E, F)

When parents arrive to Marsh Creek, they will follow their students "A" Day Schedule, and attend each of their student's core classes (classes that students have every day). This would include Math, Writing, Literature, Social Studies and Science classes. This will be a chance for our teachers to introduce themselves and their courses, and the presentations will last approximately 6 minutes. Simultaneously, our families that have Encore classes or lunch in their schedule will be able to tour the building, talk to our office team, and pop into our encore classrooms (Art, Music, Physical Education, Technology Education, World Language etc.) to meet our teachers throughout those periods. We are so excited to meet all of you soon, and officially start our partnership for the year!

*Our Encore teachers have also created presentations for their specific classes and roles within our school. These presentations may be accessed through the link below.

Our school utilizes Pick-Up Patrol solely for Attendance purposes – current day absences, early dismissals (even if returning to school) and late arrivals.

What you need to know:

On Monday, August 19, 2024 parents/guardians received a Pick-Up Patrol welcome email with a link to set up an account. Please enter your student’s regular routine dismissal plan into the system. This is called their default plan. The default plan is a placeholder so that you can drop down to report an absence, request an early dismissal, or advise the office of a late arrival. If you have registered, please log into your Pick-Up Patrol account by Sunday, August 25, 2024 to confirm your student’s default plan.

A change from the elementary level is that you do not need to change your student’s default plan if they switch from bus to car rider. Please communicate the change directly with your student. If this is not possible, please call the Main Office at 610-646-0080.

If you need to submit doctor excuse notes for absences, report a past absence or submit a family trip request form, please email mc_attendance@dasd.org.

Family Trip Requests: After you submit an Educational and Family Trip Form, one of our principals will review the request for compliance to attendance policies. We will notify the parent/guardian with approval or denial of the request. Please be advised these dates count as parent excused absences. If a vacation request exceeds ten (10) total days of absences the student will be withdrawn on the first day of vacation.

Link to Educational and Family Trip Form: Educational and Family Trip Form

For more information on our district’s attendance policies, you can check out this link: DASD Attendance Policies

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!

Below are some tips for a positive start to your school year. Remember, this is a new experience for EVERYONE. It’s normal to feel nervous. You got this!

As always, reach out if you need anything!

The following list of optional school supplies is available on our website, in the Backpack section of the web page. We will be working with our students during the first week of school to ensure that they all have what they need in order to participate in our opening week of instruction.

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. Intramurals will begin during the month of September for our students. Stay tuned for more updates in the weeks to come!

In the Spring, we enrolled all of our incoming 6th graders in our Welcome to Marsh Creek Schoology course. If you or your child would like to learn all about Marsh Creek, please feel free to visit the course, or enroll using the information below.