Good Morning Memorial Families,
I hope that everyone is settling into fall schedules and getting plenty of rest! While I enjoy the back to school weeks, they certainly can wear us all out. After a summer of moving a bit more slowly in the mornings, the adjustment back to strict schedules can feel exhausting. I have a few updates and requests for families now that we’ve had a week to see how we are all adjusting to the back to school routines.
Parent Drop Off and Pick Up
Overall, this has gone fairly smoothly. Most families have figured out the routines and we are getting cars in and out more quickly with every passing day. Please remember the following:
Please do not get out of your car! Your child should exit the car themselves in the morning and enter by themselves in the afternoon. Please teach your child how to buckle their seatbelts. Most of our students in K-4 should be independent with this skill.
Please place a visible sign when picking up. This saves us time.
Do not pass other cars in the line. All cars should stay in line until the car in front of you moves. Please be patient so we can maintain a safe environment for our students.
Changes to Dismissal
All changes to normal dismissal should be sent in via email to one or both of our administrative assistants, Angelina Adams aadams@mursd.org, and Mina Johnson mjohnson@mursd.org. Please do not send your child’s teacher an email. Our teachers do not always have a chance to check email during the day, and your child may not get the message. Additionally, please do not just arrive in the afternoon through the pick up line to “surprise” your child. He/she will not be in the cafeteria waiting if we do not know you are coming. As a reminder, changes to dismissal routines, while sometimes necessary, can be very confusing for our youngest learners.
Attendance
After two years of strict protocols, quarantines, and excessive absences, we are hoping to have stronger student and staff attendance this year.
Please do your best to take your family vacations during scheduled vacation weeks. Your child will miss key instruction when they are out for a week or more, and teachers cannot provide work ahead of time. Nothing replaces the time in the classroom.
Please do your best to have your child at school before 9:00am. Teachers begin morning meeting at 9:00am and your child misses the opportunity to settle into the school day calmly when arriving after 9:00am.
Early dismissals are disruptive for the classroom and your child will miss out on instruction. While early dismissals are inevitable from time to time, please try to limit the number of times your child leaves early.
Obviously if your family is sick, do not send your child to school. We do still need to be mindful of virus transmission and do our part to make sure we keep our school a safe place to learn and grow. I appreciate everyone’s efforts this year!
School Council
I am looking forward to working with our School Council again this year. The school council is an advisory board to the principal. It is comprised on teachers, parents, and a community member. We have had a parent “graduate” out of the Memorial council and so we are looking for a new member. Our meetings are once Tuesday a month at 3:45pm at Memorial. If you are interested in joining, please send me an email at wbell@mursd.org. If we have multiple parents interested, we will need to hold an election.
Thank you for all of your support and dedication to your child’s education. Have a wonderful week!
Warmly,
Wendy
