All About Midtown Community School

We are getting closer and closer to the first day of school on Wednesday, August 12th! In this final edition of our summer newsletters for families of new students, we'll answer some of the questions we most often receive from families who are starting at Midtown Community School.

If you have not yet submitted your child's online registration and required documentation, please do so as soon as possible. We now have waitlists for multiple grades, so you're at risk of losing your child's seat if registration is not completed. Weekly schoolwide emails will start going out via email and text to families of fully enrolled students this coming Monday, July 20th, and we want to ensure your family is sent all information, but this will not happen unless your child's enrollment is complete.

If you need help completing your family's registration or have any questions at all, please call or text Katy Lineberry, Enrollment Coordinator, at (816)550-5276 or email her at katy.lineberry@midtowncommunityschool.org.

Previous newsletters:

Volume 1 - History & Culture

Volume 2 - Project-Based Learning

Volume 3 - Social-Emotional Learning
Volume 4 - Supporting Our Families

Volume 5 - Community Partnerships

Finally, if your plans for this year have changed, please be sure to let us know as soon as possible so that we can release your child's spot and invite another family to join the community!

Hello, families! As your enrollment coordinator, it's been such a pleasure getting to know you these past weeks and months! As you likely know, our campus is undergoing exciting summer renovations, so our usual building tours haven't been available. Thank you for your patience - I hope you've been able to explore our website and social media in the meantime, and please keep reaching out with questions any time. As construction wraps up, we'll be confirming dates for a New Family Orientation and Meet the Teacher Night, so watch your inbox for that soon!

In the meantime, I know you probably have a lot of questions about what to expect on your child's first day. Many answers can be found on our website, especially the Family Dashboard, but here I want to walk through some of the most common questions we hear from new families.

Be sure to read to the bottom for your short to-do list before the first day of school!

I'm excited to finally meet you and your family in the weeks to come!

Katy Lineberry

katy.lineberry@midtowncommunityschool.org

816-550-5276

Yes! At Midtown Community School, our students wear uniforms, though we do not require that you purchase from us or any other specific store. In addition to these daily uniforms, we celebrate Red Fridays during football season and often have spirit weeks for additional fun!

Shirts - light blue, navy, or white shirt; spirit wear shirts. These should be plain with no logos, graphics, or designs unless it is MCS spirit wear. Wearing a light blue, navy, white, or black long-sleeve shirt under a uniform shirt is permitted.

Pants - khaki or black pants, shorts, or skirts. Jumpers are also welcome. Blue jeans are not allowed.

Sweatshirt/Sweater - light blue, navy, white, or black sweater or sweatshirt without logos. Hoodies are allowed if they meet this criteria. Spirit wear sweatshirts and hoodies are also permitted.

Shoes & Socks - closed toe, athletic shoes that are appropriate for recess, PE, and other safe movement are required. No light-up or wheeled shoes. All socks are permitted.

Due to our recent rebranding, we do not have as many items available in our uniform closet as in years past. However, if your family is in need of uniform assistance, please fill out this form, and we'll help if we can!

Spirit wear shirts are available for purchase and can be worn as a part of the student uniform any day of the week. We currently have quite a few spirit wear shirts available in every size through our Merch Store - simply order online, and we'll let you know when they're available for pick-up in the front office.

We also offer a bundle of new spirit wear each year, which typically includes three t-shirts and a zipped hoodie. This year's bundle will not be available until this fall, but it will be announced in the weekly newsletter when orders open!

Hopefully by now you know that we do not offer bus transportation at Midtown Community School. As a small school, we would rather spend those funds on supporting students and families - and we like having an excuse to see parents, grandparents, and other caregivers every day!

With our new building addition and other campus improvements, our drop-off and pick-up procedures will change slightly. You can expect to receive schoolwide communication regarding these changes by the end of the month, but for now, I'd like to highlight a few tips:

• Please plan to drop off your child every morning by going through the car line around back if at all possible. This is the safest way to drop off your child, and it ensures that we aren't blocking traffic on the surrounding streets.
• There are many staff members stationed around the building to supervise arrival, so while this is one of the only times that kindergarteners may encounter middle schoolers, we rarely have issues.
• School starts at 8 am every day, so make sure you drop off early enough that your child has time to get to class, especially if they are a middle schooler.
• Please follow all parking and traffic laws - do not block traffic, do not do U-turns on Broadway, and only park in designated spots. We want to be good neighbors!

CampFire provides after-school programming for students right in our building! There is no fee, but registration is required. If you need extended care but have not yet registered, make sure you register soon. Although CampFire always works to expand programming based on our families' needs, sometimes there are waitlists. Please reach out directly to Megan McMurray, the CampFire director, at megan.mcmurray@campfireheartland.org with any questions.

If your child is not enrolled in after-school care, they must be picked up between 3:30-3:45 pm every day.

Great question! It's important for you to get this set up for many reasons - it is where you can view your child's grades, submit an absence, sign up for clubs, and re-enroll for the next school year!

After you completed online registration and submitted all required documents, your child's registration was processed. At that time, you should have received a confirmation email that also invited you to set up your parent portal if your family is new to our community. You should be able to find this email by searching for "Infinite Campus Portal Activation".

Please note that if you received this email more than a week ago, the link to activate your portal is now outdated due to our name change - click here for the correct link to activate your Parent Portal using the activation key from the email.

If you cannot find this email or need help setting up your portal, please reach out to Tisha Kidd, Technology Coordinator, at tisha.kidd@midtowncommunityschool.org

We know that communication between families and the school is critical, so we have many methods for sharing information:

Schoolwide Newsletters - Every Monday you can expect a newsletter with lots of important info! This is sent through both email and text message, but only if you've set up your Parent Portal notifications so that you receive both.

Social Media - Check out our Facebook and Instagram pages for announcements, celebrations, and peeks inside classrooms!

Principal Updates - You will receive a monthly newsletter from your child's principal, but they may also reach out with other timely updates, as well.

Teacher Communication - You can expect to hear from your child's teacher(s) regularly. If you need to contact the teacher, email is the preferred method since teachers are typically not available to answer the phone during the school day.

Elementary teacher assignments and middle school schedules will be shared at Meet the Teacher.

If your child is going to be in 6th, 7th, or 8th grade this year, please take a moment to complete this 1st Quarter Electives Preference Survey.

There are just a few things that you need to do before the first day of school:

• Complete enrollment if you haven't already, which includes submitting all required documents. Reach out to me at katy.lineberry@midtowncommunityschool.org if you have questions!
• Set up your Parent Portal and check your notification settings.
• Round up uniforms for your student(s)!
• Start collecting school supplies.
• If you have a 6th, 7th, or 8th grader, please work with them to complete this 1st Quarter Electives Preference Survey by Friday, July 24th.
• Plan to attend New Family Orientation and Meet the Teacher in early August (dates to be announced soon)!
• Keep an eye on your email and text for more information coming soon!

Email: info@midtowncommunityschool.org
Website: www.midtowncommunityschool.org
Location: 3435 Broadway Boulevard, Kansas City, MO, 64111
Phone: (816) 499-8000

Facebook: www.facebook.com/midtowncommunityschool

Instagram: www.instagram.com/midtowncommunityschool