Marsh Newsletter
November 1, 2024
Upcoming Dates...
TOMORROW is the Fall Festival from 10:00-2:00. Hope to see you there!
Monday- Picture Retake
Tuesday- No School
Wednesday- GLTS visits Grade 8
Thursday- Parent Coffee at 9 am with Ms. Gordon!! Hope to see you there!
Friday- Star Assemblies- Ask your child about this month's focus
Daylight Savings Time Ends
Don't forget to "fall back" and set your clocks back.
Peer Leaders Thanksgiving Drive
The Marsh Peer Leaders delivered “Donation Jars” to classrooms for our Thanksgiving Money Collection Drive. In addition to our Money Collection Drive, The Peer Leaders are partnering with National Junior Honor Society students to sponsor a perishable goods collection for our Thanksgiving Meal Food Baskets. Each grade level will be assigned a particular non-perishable item to bring in. (Please see attached flyer for details.)
If you can, families are welcome to donate some spare change and/or a non-perishable item so that we can help those less fortunate in our Marsh Community. We will use all funds collected to purchase frozen turkeys, pies, beverages, etc. to complete our Thanksgiving Meal Food Baskets for Marsh families in need.
Thank you for helping the Peer Leaders with this worthy cause.
Grade 5 & 6 Dance
The Student Council will be hosting a school dance for our 5th and 6th graders on Friday, November 15, 2024 from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Marsh Grammar School. A permission slip is due by Wednesday November 13th, 2024 with $10 for admission costs 2 slices of pizza and 1 drink. Please click here for more info.
Grade 8 Fundraiser- TUESDAY
The 8th grade is hosting a fundraiser bake sale on Tuesday, November 5th from 8:00 am - 4:00 pm at the Marsh. We will have a variety of delicious baked goods and a "Breakfast" themed raffle basket. Baked goods will be available at the upper school entrance, please stop by for delicious treats and refreshments. We will be accepting cash only. We look forward to seeing you!
Lost & Found Items
Our Lost & Found is growing by the minute. Please ask your child to check it for any missing items. You are welcome to stop by to check too!
MPS Backpack Program
As you may know, the district runs a "Backpack Program" for students/families who are in need of extra food each week. This program relies heavily on donations from our community. If you would like to make a donation, please check out the Amazon wishlist. Donations can be dropped off at Central Office or here at the Marsh! We appreciate your support!
Collective Bargaining Updates
The Methuen School Committee is actively bargaining with the Methuen Education Association for Unit A (teachers) and Unit C (program assistants). In an effort to be transparent about the process and information being shared, there is a new link on the MPS website titled collective bargaining updates. This page will be updated as needed as negotiations continue. Methuen School Committee values all MPS educators and the need for fair and equitable contracts while working within the constraints of the MPS operating budget.
Care Solace
We are excited to share that Methuen Public Schools has secured a resource to support matching
students, staff, and their families to mental health services. Care Solace draws on a national
database of mental health providers and manages complete coordination of the service matching
process all the way through to intake. Support is available in multiple languages for all forms of
insurance 24/7/365. This service can be accessed confidentially without informing any MPS staff. Click here to access the Methuen webpage to search for mental health services and begin the matching process. Students under the age of 18 will need the consent of their caregivers to begin the process of accessing mental health services.
Community Behavioral Health Center (CBHC)
Beth Israel Lahey Health Behavioral Services serves as the region’s CBHC and is a valuable
resource for the MPS community. Community Behavioral Health Centers (CBHCs) serve as an
entry point for timely, high-quality mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment on
an urgent and ongoing basis to youth, adults, and their families. Beth Israel Lahey Health
Behavioral Services offers this continuum of services to members who have MassHealth,
private health insurance, or no insurance. Members who are not eligible for insurance may be
eligible for a sliding fee scale, based on family size and income.
Parent Pick-Up/Drop-Off
All families need a “parent pick-up number” if you are planning to pick-up your child from school. If you have yours from last year, it will remain the same. If you are new to the school, please email Ms. Ramos, Lower School Secretary, or Ms. Rodriguez, Upper School Secretary, for a number.
*Please post your parent pick-up number in the passenger side window.*
Please remember during parent pick-up/drop off to pull all the way up to the end of the sidewalk so that we can keep the cars moving and reduce wait time. As it is a live traffic area, parents/families should remain in the car and students should exit/enter the passenger side door. As you wait in the parent pick-up line, please make two lines in front of the church. We want to ensure student safety, most importantly, but also efficiency! Thank you for your help!
From the PTO...
We are fortunate to have a very active PTO who are always looking for volunteers…we appreciate any and all help. Remember you put the P in PTO!! Check out their Facebook @Marsh PTO or click on the Marsh PTO on our website. Our first General Meeting is Wednesday, March 19 at 6 pm in the Marsh auditorium. We hope you can join us!
As always, please feel free to call the school with any questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Ms. Gordon