Greetings Mustangs!
As you are aware, this past Friday (10/14) students were dismissed early (at 1:20pm) due to a power outage. This was a first for me at MA, and as with any out of the norm experience, we take time to review/reflect on how things were handled. Overall, I was pleased with the cooperation of our students and staff. It is frustrating for sure when we don’t have power and therefore are unable to make announcements, to take/make calls, or to provide information to classrooms or to/from the outside. Having said that, we did manage to get all students lunch (which they ate in their classrooms) and the school was emptied successfully by 1:45pm. A special thanks to our Asst. Superintendent (Kristie Clark) who came to MA and offered her assistance; and to our Transportation Department (lead by Katie Spear) for responding quickly and safely while meeting the challenge at hand.
In the event that we have to dismiss students early again, I’ll be asking parents or those picking students up to do so in the lower parking lot area (by the basement level entrance) to avoid the traffic congestion in the front of the building due to buses trying to arrive to pick bus students up. Hopefully this plan will alleviate that congestion. We will have class lists prepared in advance and will ask students to identify themselves and who they will be leaving with (if they aren't taking the bus home) so as to move the student traffic along as safely and efficiently as possible.
Note: In the event that we are instructed by the police and/or other emergency response personnel to hold students and staff in place due to road and/or other outside conditions, I ask for the cooperation of our parents/guardians to ensure the safety/well being of our students. Thanks!
NWEA Testing: From the Maine Department of Education: The Department Maine D.O.E. has partnered with the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) to provide to students in grades 3-8 and 2nd year of high school, an assessment for mathematics and reading. The assessment is computer-based and adaptive, meaning the assessment adjusts the difficulty level of the items presented to the student based upon student response. With the transition to a through-year assessment program in Spring 2023, student achievement will be measured both according to benchmark, grade-level Common Core State Standards as well as according to a RIT score which allows for comparisons of academic growth across students and time.
On Tuesday, October 18, 2022, Monmouth Academy students in grades 9 and 10 will be taking the Fall NWEA assessments in the area of reading and math. These assessments will provide valuable data that will allow us to make informed decisions as to how to best support the needs of our students and improve our curricula. Due to the importance of these tests at both the state and the local level, we strongly encourage full attendance and participation. We appreciate any and all support from parents and guardians in encouraging their students to put forth their best effort. The testing period will run between 7:45am - 10:40am, with a 15 minute break between 9:00am - 9:15am. Students asked to make sure their laptops are fully charged and ready-to-go for Tuesday morning.
Jostens: Any Sophomore interested in ordering as class ring is invited to meet with the Jostens representative on Monday (10/17) between 8:30 - 8:45.
Infinite Campus Update: We are getting closer to the IC roll-out for parents. Our goal is to provide a user-friendly tutorial video along with usernames and passwords so that parents can access IC to get information about their student’s attendance; their student’s lunch account balance; their student’s demographics; and their student’s academics. The goal is to provide parents with the opportunity to access their student’s information at any time while maintaining an open line of communication between home and school rather than just waiting for the end of a quarter for a progress report or the end of a semester for a report card.
We will send out an advanced notice once the tutorial video and access information is ready. We would encourage you to go through this video and to access your student’s account with the understanding that if you need assistance or if you have any questions or concerns, we will have our Tech Department here to address your individual questions/concerns. We want to respect your individual time and schedules, and felt that a drop-in/support session after you have had the chance to access your Parent Portal would be more beneficial for our parents/guardians.
Please check the email you gave us (when you filled out the back-to-school paperwork) for information about this training video and your username & password. Once you have reviewed the video you need any assistance accessing your account, we will be happy to meet with you in person (date/time TBD). We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding during this process. I have asked teachers to reach out to the parents of any student who may be struggling academically in their classes. We have already done our first round of eligibility checks for ALL students (back on 10/03) and we did a follow-up this past Friday (10/14). I encourage you to connect with your student’s teachers if you have any questions or concerns about their current academic status.
Guidance Update: Cony/CATC is hosting a college/career fair and we would LOVE to bring a group of students to check it out. Seats are available for this trip, but they are filling up. Preference goes to Juniors and Seniors, however if we don't have enough interest we will consider bringing Sophomores. This trip takes place on Friday, Nov. 18, 2022. Please email me directly if you are interested in attending and we will see if we have enough interest to put together a bus for this event!
Scholarships for Seniors: Mrs. Knolwton has added a few scholarships to the list, some of them are pretty big! Check out the document attached and let her know if you have any questions!
Student Government: MASG will be hosting a Halloween Block Party on Friday 10/28 from 5-8pm. We will be putting on a haunted house on the lower level of the building and FBLA will be hosting a Trunk or Treat in the student parking lot. Any club is welcome to join in with their own Halloween activity. Please see Ms. Menice or Mr. Pascarella if you are interested in participating.
Civil Rights Team: Our Civil Rights is back up and running; picking up where they left off last school year! Our team is part of the Maine Civil Rights Team Project (CRTP) whose mission is to increase the safety of elementary, middle, and high school students by reducing bias-motivated behaviors and harassment in our schools. ALL students are invited and encouraged to be part of this team! For more information, please connect with Ms. Darrell and/or Mr. Shain.
Say NO to Bullying! Bullying is NEVER OK, and has NO place at MA. If you or someone you know is experiencing any type of bullying or harassment (directly or indirectly), please let a teacher, staff member, or administrator know immediately. We take great pride in maintaining a school environment in which ALL students and staff can feel safe and secure. As it’s been said before, “If you ignore it, you approve it.” Please join me in making our school a bully-free zone. Thank you!
Anti-Bullying Quote of the Week: “Strong people stand up for themselves; but the strongest people stand up for others.”
Athletics:
Monday (10/17) = HS boys soccer (varsity only) HOME vs. Lisbon; 3:30. HS JV football HOME (Winthrop) vs. Poland, 4:00pm
Tuesday (10/18) = No HS games scheduled
Wednesday (10/19) = HS girls soccer HOME vs. Richmond (scrimmage); 3:30
Thursday (10/20) = No HS games scheduled
Friday (10/21) = No HS games scheduled
Saturday (10/22) = MVC Soccer Championship games at Lewiston High School. Boys game at 5:00pm; Monmouth vs. Mt. Abram; Girls game at 7:00pm; Monmouth vs. Hall Dale; HS XC Regionals TBD; HS football at Oak Hill 1:00pm.
Use of the Gym/Weight Room: Students are reminded that you are only allowed to use the gym/weight room IF there is an authorized staff member serving as the gym/weight room supervisor. For MA, Mr. Morrill is that person and he will be posting hours that the gym will be opened to students. Due to safety and liability reasons, we can't have students using the gym/weight room facilities without this supervision. In advance, I thank you for your cooperation.
Yearbook: Senior Pictures are due to Dr. Ross by Halloween.
That concludes this week’s edition of The MA Express! Take care and stay well.
Respectfully,
Mr. Ted Finn, Principal