Good Morning Memorial Families,
I hope that you had a terrific weekend! We are just a week away from moving the clocks forward and gaining some more evening light. Hopefully we are moving quickly into the spring season- mud and all!
I have a few updates for families this week and will bullet them so you can skim as needed.
1. No School on Tuesday: We have a full Teacher Professional Development Day on Tuesday and students will not be in school. At the elementary level, we have been doing a deep dive into writing this year and some of that work will continue on Tuesday. We will also be looking vertically (cross grade levels) at math, ELA, and science standards and having discussions between elementary and middle school teachers that are not always possible at other times in the year. I know these days can be tricky for families, but the benefits of having that learning and collaboration time strengthens our teaching and that does positively impact your children!
2. ST Math March Mathness: As you know, ST Math is an important component of our math curriculum at Memorial. The conceptual understanding that students gain through the puzzles and the problem solving and perseverance the program builds carries over into our Bridges program and supports a well-rounded mathematician. In March, we always celebrate March "Mathness" with JiJi the penguin, and run competitions in school. This year we are also bringing in Spirit Fridays which you can see below. These are SIMPLE spirit days that should be easy to pull off and help to build team spirit at Memorial.
3. MCAS Upcoming: I have had the ELA dates at the bottom in upcoming dates for awhile, but Memorial third and fourth graders will take the ELA MCAS on April 2nd and 4th and the Math MCAS will take place May 13th and 15th. Please do your best to avoid travel on these weeks so that we can have strong attendance on the actual test days.
4. End of Trimester 2: Trimester 2 ends on March 12th. Powerschool will be open for you to view your child's report card on March 20th. We will also be sending out attendance letters for any child who is considered chronically absent. To be considered chronically absent, your child would have missed 10% of the school days so far this year. At this time, letters will be sent to any child who has missed 12 or more days of school by March 12th. We understand there are many reasons why children may need to be absent, and this letter is simply being sent so that you are aware of how many days your child has missed. Being chronically absent contributes to slower academic growth and increased anxiety, and so if your child has had a difficult year with illness, try to avoid missing school for other reasons to minimize the inpact it has on your child's growth in school.
Have a wonderful week!
Warmly,
Lauren and Wendy
