MCMS Staff Update - February 26 - March 1, 2024

Good Afternoon MCMS,

Happy Friday and we made it!  A full moon must be close because it sure felt like it all day!  I hope that you are able to get some rest and downtime this weekend, after another busy week at school.  Thank you for your coverage, volunteering to watch classes, and just stepping up in every way possible.  You see a need and find a solution to whatever the problem or issue is.  You are the heartbeat of our school and I am thankful to come to work every day with you!

We close out February next week and are almost done with Quarter 3!  We are excited to have our i-Ready Benchmark testing in a couple of weeks, we know our students have worked hard to grow from December.  Please let us know if you can think of any way we can promote this testing time within our student body.

We are looking for more people to give us feedback!  We have 11 responses so far and would like everyone to have a voice.  Please complete the survey below to help provide us with your preferences related to Professional Learning.  I will keep the form open until Monday, February 26th.  Thank you for your help!

Professional Learning Preference Survey

Make sure you are looking over the 2023-2024 MCMS Calendar for current activities and events on campus.  If we have any changes to the calendar, we will make sure to let everyone know.  

Below are updates and reminders for this coming week, February 26th - March 1st.  Please let me know if you have any questions about this email, upcoming events, classroom supplies, or anything else.  We are here to support you!

Happy Birthday! We wish a very happy birthday to those who celebrate this week!

• Candice Dixon (2/26)
• Rita Dickert (2/27)

Weekly Reminders

Student Failures - Please make sure you are reaching out to parents with concerns over students who are failing.  Jared and I will continue talking with those students as well and we will look to see if they need to be in our after-school program.  Mrs. Briggs is also working with students with her MAX Accountability program.  Reach out to her if you have any students who may need to be in her program.

Schools to Watch Conference - A team from MCMS will be heading to the SCAMLE Schools To Watch Conference next weekend.  Mrs. Nichols, Mrs. Nix, Mrs. Thompson, Jared, and myself will be representing MCMS.  We look forward to bringing back great information for our school.  Please let me know if you are interested in attending in the future.

Grade Level Parent Emails - You received emails this afternoon from me that went out to parents for each grade level.  The goal of this email is to remind them of upcoming testing dates and the available resources they have to support their students.  We will provide more communications like this as we get closer to End of the Year testing.  Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas on how we can reach parents.

Lesson Plans - Each Monday morning lesson plans should be complete for the entire week.  We know you may have a few adjustments along the way but you should have plans for each day.

Ellevation Training Modules - Please complete your Ellevation modules for Semester 1 and Semester 2.

MCMS Schedule- February 26th - March 1st:

• Monday (2/26)
• SDNC Board Meeting
• Tuesday (2/27)
• Team Meetings
• Wednesday (2/28)
• Club Day, PL- Content Meetings @ 3:30 PM, and MCMS Parent Institute
• Thursday (2/29)
• Academic Team Meet @ Westview MS
• Friday (3/1)

Sneak Peek at 3/4 - 3/9:

• MCMS PTO @ 5:30 PM (3/4), Team Meetings @ 1st Planning with Dobyns, MCMS/MCHS Band Pre-CPA Concert, and Academic Team Meet (3/5),  Tornado Drill at 9:00 AM and Early Release (3/6), 8th Grade Field Trip to the Museum (3/7), SGA Meetings @ Lunch (3/8), Miss MCMS Pageant 6:00 PM Big Gym (3/9)

Professional Learning - Third Quarter

• Below are the remaining Wednesday Professional Learning dates for the Third quarter.  The dates highlighted in yellow will be full faculty.  I will send additional information and reminders.
• February 28th - Content Meetings
• March 6th - Early Release
• March 13th - Leadership Meeting

MCMS 2023-2024 Instructional Goals

Ellevation Training Reminder

• After completing your module, implement one of the strategies and then reflect on that strategy.
• The module completion and reflection should be on different days.  
• Below are the Ellevation Training modules you will need to complete this school year:
• Semester 1: Pathway- Understanding Multilingual Learners: 
• Intro to LTELs (Q1)
• Intro to Multilingual Learners (Q1)
• Intro to Newcomers (Q2)
• Intro to SIFE (Q2)
• Semester 2: Pathway- Developing Academic Language (4 modules in this pathway):
• Intro to Develop Academic Language (Q3)
• Develop Academic Language with Meaningful Messages (Q3)
• Develop Academic Language with Strong Sentences (Q4)
• Develop Academic Language with Weighted Words (Q4)
• If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Carpenter for more information.

7 Mindsets Schedule

• Thank you for continuing to teach the 7 mindsets curriculum and infusing it within your daily teaching.
• Mindset of the week- Attitude of Gratitude
• 7 Mindsets Schedule 2023-2024

Please let me know if you have any questions about this week's updates or any other topic.  

Have a great day!