Good Afternoon Muraski Families,

The building is clean, the floors are waxed, classrooms are decorated, and students' names are on desks. We are ready to welcome your children into our building as a part of our Muraski family.

If you haven't checked already, class lists have been posted on the doors of the flagpole entrance. This information is also accessible via PowerSchool, where you can find your child's teacher, as well as their transportation information.

On Wednesday, August 17th, we get to start building great relationships with our students and their families and build on the ones we've already established. We get to have fun with and laugh with your kids on a daily basis. We get to teach them reading, math, science, and social studies. We get to help them grow from mistakes. We get to help them connect with new friends, work through challenges, and manage their emotions. But most importantly, we get to help instill a passion and joy for learning in our children that will serve the m through their educational journey and beyond.

We are so excited to get to welcome our students on Monday, at Meet and Greet, and officially start school on Wednesday.

If you have any questions or concerns over the next few deays, please reach out via phone 440-572-7160, or connect with me via email at mgriffen@scsmustangs.org.

Here's to what will be a great year at Muraski,

Mike Griffen & Sam Lawrence

We want to see pictures of students celebrating their first day of school! To help with your first day pictures, we have created printable signs for your students. Click HERE for signs for all of our grades and schools. No matter how you are documenting the memories of the first day of school, make sure you tag your posts with #MustangsFirstDay. Good luck to all of our students on this very special day of the school year!

Dear Families,

I am extremely pleased to write this letter of introduction as the new Assistant Principal of Kinsner and Muraski Elementary School. I am incredibly grateful and excited to join the Muraski Family! I look forward to working in partnership with Mr. Griffen and this exceptional staff in order to continue the work of advocating for and providing all students and families with an educational experience that fits their specific needs and interests. Prior to joining Muraski Elementary, I was the School Counselor for Kinsner Elementary in Strongsville for the past two years. Before becoming an administrator, I was a classroom teacher servicing students in grades K, 3, and 6-8th. While I enjoyed the challenges of education, I am most drawn to the connections I make working with teachers, parents, and of course the students.

Because I am originally from Brooklyn, New York, my family is a NY Giants Family, but please do not hold that against us. When I am not working, I spend much of my time with my wife, Megan, my daughter, Sawyer and my son, Sutton. Disney is somehow usually involved.

I am committed to working alongside Mr. Griffen and the rest of the Muraski team - as we continue to provide leadership and build a structure of PRIDE in the school and community - so that ALL students have a variety of opportunities to succeed! I look forward to meeting all students and families this coming school year!

Best regards,

Samuel Lawrence

Main Line: (440) 572-716

Attendance Line: (440) 572-7160 *choose #2*

Bus Transportation: (440) 572-7060

Arrival: Doors DO NOT Open until 8:50AM, so please be mindful of this time. Regardless of weather, students will have to remain outside of the building until 8:50am.

All students will enter our school in the morning through DOOR A, unless you arrive after 9:05. All late arrivals should use the entrance by our main office.

• Busses will use the loop of traffic created by our driveway to promote more student safety.
• Cars will be asked to turn into our playground parking lot, follow the cones, and drop their students off on the sidewalk in the playground area, where students can walk to the doors. PLEASE TRY TO DROP AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, HAVE YOUR CHILD EXIT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE CAR, AND TEACH THEM TO DO THIS INDEPENDENTLY SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO GET OUT OF THE CAR (We understand this takes time)

Dismissal: Students will be called for dismissal at 3:30pm each day. This year ALL students will be dismissed out of DOOR A, our flag pole entrance.

• ALL Parents must park their cars using the playground lot or staff lot of the school, exit their vehicle and come receive their child outside of the entrance.
• In order to organize this, we will dismiss in waves, so students will exit the building with their grade level.
• Additional coaching will be provided on the first several days of school.

Please take a few minutes to fill out the form below, communicating how your child will most regularly go home. Please fill this out for EACH child that is attending Muraski. If you have multiple children, please fill out multiple forms.

Please update your annual forms by September 1, 2022. To update forms, log in to Powerschool, select Quick Links, then find "Information Update 22-23" under Custom Links. Please call the office with any questions.

The first time a returning user logs into PowerSchool for the first time this school year, you will need to create a new password. Update to Parent Portal: Parents and guardians will sign in with their username (email address) and their password. When logging in for the first time this school year, please click "Forgot Username or Password" link to reset your password.

Incoming kindergarten families: You should have received an email from Linda Konopinski (after registering) containing directions on how to create and access your parent account in our online Powerschool Unified Classroom Parent Portal. If you need this information again, please contact Linda Konopinski at lkonopinski@scsmustangs.org or 440-846-4137. This will be important to set up to access important information.

If your student has any medical needs or if they will be taking medication during the school day, please complete the appropriate linked forms and return to our school nurse, Jean Mahoney (jmahoney@scsmustangs.org) in person or via email.

Nurse Jean will be in the in the clinic August 17 beginning at 8:45 am. We also have Nurse Jana servicing our building on Thursdays and Fridays.

Breakfast costs $2.00 (Reduced price s $0.30 for breakfast)

Lunch costs $3.00 (Reduced price is $0.40 for lunch)

For the 2022-23 school year, we will be returning to our normal school breakfast / lunch program. The free program has been discontinued by the Federal government. To determine eligibility for free / reduced lunch, as well as various additional state and federal program benefits inclusive of possible district student fees being waived, an application must be completed online. The 2022-23 Free / Reduced Meal Application is currently available to complete.

PaySchools Central is an online payment platform to help make managing breakfast and lunch and fee payments easier for families. Click below to set up your portal to be used both online and via the mobile app.

As a reminder, all school fees that have not been paid are now considered past due. To check the balance and pay outstanding school fees, go to Pay Schools Central by clicking HERE. In addition to Pay Schools Central, school fees can be paid by cash/check to your student’s building secretary or with the Treasurer's Office. If you have questions related to this, please contact the building secretary or Dawn Evangelista (devangelista@scsmustangs.org) within the Treasurer's Department. As we are approaching a new school year, as well as the start of fall sports, per Board of Education policy, the consequences for outstanding prior year school fees will prohibit students from participating in any school extracurricular activities (i.e., athletics, student council, school clubs, etc.), field trips, and school sanctioned dances / events that require a purchased ticket. For additional information on District Fee Collection Procedures and Consequences CLICK HERE.

Strongsville City Schools partners with Right at School to provide families with before and after school childcare opportunities. The program is located right here at Muraski! For more information and for program registration, please visit their website.

Program hours: Before school: 7:00 am-8:50 am and After school: 3:25 pm-6:00 pm

The District adheres to guidelines for shared food and snacks so that we can promote safety, consistency, and equal access for the growing number of children who have life-threatening food allergies.

Students in Grades 3 will be receiving Chromebooks that they will take home with them and bring back to school each day. Students in grades 4-5 (enrolled last year) will need to bring their CHARGED chromebooks with them on the first day of school. Below are some specifics about Chromebooks in our building:

• ALL students will have access to a chromebook, as we are 1:1 at our building.
• Only 3rd-5th Grade students will be given a device to take home each day.
• Third grade students and NEW fourth and fifth graders will receive a carrying case that should be used to protect the device when traveling to and from school.

Please, if you haven't already, check the school supply list listed on the district website. You can access the supply lists by CLICKING HERE, or clicking the button below.

The “Back to School” online SCS Team Shop is now open through Sunday, August 28. Shop for lots of great Mustangs gear, including personalized items! Visit https://mustangs-fall2022.itemorder.com/shop/home/ for the complete selection of items. A portion of sales will be donated back to Strongsville City Schools.