Welcome Back Muskrats!

Greetings Muddy Creek Families,

Welcome BACK or welcome TO our little school community everyone! I hope everyone had a restful or adventure-filled break with lots of time together. My family managed a few camping trips and lots of yard work. Alas, summer is winding down and we are getting ready to re-open our doors here at school. We have a lot of new students, and so much fun planned for all of us.

I want to begin this update with a few introductions! We have three new staff members joinging us this fall and we are so glad to have them. Please welcome to the MCCS Family:

• Catherine Novak - new 2nd Grade Teacher
• Dana Akins - new Office Manager
• Sam Watson - new Facilities Manager

I've included answers to some of your questions here and I hope you'll drop me a note if anything else comes up.

See you all soon!

Principal Danforth

Please make sure your child has the following items at school every day:

• Backpack (with nutritious lunch and snacks, clearly labeled, inside)
• Rain boots to be kept at school (labeled with child's name)
• Rain jacket (can be left at school, labeled with child's name)
• Emergency change of clothes to be kept at school (seasonally appropriate, full outfit including undergarments, placed in a gallon ziploc and labeled with the child's name)

First day of school is Wednesday September 4th*. Our doors open and buses arrive at 8:25am, students are dismissed at 3:00pm on Monday-Thursday. Every Friday students are dismissed at 2pm to allow teachers and specialists to attend professional development and meet in data teams. All our important dates and holidays are listed on our School Calendar. Please download/print a copy for your reference. Updates, closures, and special events will be communicated through monthly newsletters and/or ClassDojo.

(* Kindergarteners will do a "soft start", details have been communicated to families.)

If your child requires medicine during school hours, please be sure to complete the Medication Release Form and check all medications with Office Manager, Dana Akins before school starts if possible. Medications MUST be in original containers and - if prescribed by a physician - include doctor's instructions for dosing. (Students are not allowed to carry or self administer tylenol/advil, cough drops, antacids or other medications while at school.) All the rules from ODE...

🍎 Student supply lists: Families should provide school supplies for their student(s) this year. If you are unable to do so, please reach out to your teacher as soon as possible.

🍎 Some paper forms will be sent home soon and should be returned to the office as soon as possible. They include: Dietary Preference/Allergies, Digital stewardship, Fieldtrip permission, Parent Involvement, and a few others. Thanks and look forward to seeing you soon!

I am sad and happy to report that the has been a SIGNIFICANT tree removal project around the playground. Our neighbors to the West owned most of the trees along the property line. They thinned many last summer, and several fell down during the school year. They were required to remove them by their insurance company and as a condition of the grant they are seeking for reforestation! Almost all of the trees removed were non-native species or unhealthy. And the rest (plus the ones on OUR side of the fence) would not have done well with all the sub-terrarian disruption and were also removed.

The neighbors are planning to replant the entire area with 50 feet of native species, and build a fence that will extend down to the field. The MCCS students will be involved in that process as well, and we may plant a few more trees on our side in the meantime, too.

Muddy Creek is a small but strong community. Being a charter school, we receive only 87.5% of the funding of a neighborhood school which leaves us with quite a GAP in budget! Our Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) helps bridge that gap by organizing events and fundraising to keep our staff armed with all the tools they need to make this place awesome. We rely on our families to help our school of choice, and the PTO is a great way to get involved!

• We meet once a month (1st Thursday, 7pm online).
• We organize 1-2 events a month including Dine-OUTs, Movie Nights, and Staff Spoiling.
• You can learn more about our mission & goals on our website:
  https://www.muddycreekcharterschool.org/parents-students/pto/

Starting Monday, September 9th, students can be dropped off between 8-8:30am for quiet reading time in the library. We hope this will help our families with their morning schedules, and keep our parking lot from being so congensted in the morning. This service is free of charge.

Also starting up on the 9th is our After School Program! For families wanting help with childcare/enrichment after the school day is over, we have our "Afters" program! Students are able to hang out at school from 3-5:30, M-Th and from 2-5:30 on Fridays. Registration and fees are available on our website: https://www.muddycreekcharterschool.org/parents-students/afterschool/

8/21 - Family BBQ , 5:30-7:30p

9/3 - Open House, 12p-2p

9/4 - First Day of School (grades 1st-5th)

9/4 - 1/2 day Kinder, group A (8:30-1p)

9/5 - 1/2 day Kinder, group B (8:30-1p)

9/6 - First full day, ALL kinders

9/6 - All School Meeting, 8:40a

9/12 - ICP Board Meeting, 7p

9/13 - Curriculm Night, 6-7p

9/27 - Mountain Day Field Trip!

10/3 - Fall Picture Day

10/3 - PTO Meeting, 7p

10/4 - All School Meeting, 8:40a

10/14 - Inservice Day, NO SCHOOL

10/24-25 - Parent/Teacher Conferences, NO SCHOOL

10/31 - Halloween