Greetings Mustangs!
We are now into the first full week of December with 14 more school days remaining before the holiday break! Students are encouraged to connect with their teachers if they need any academic support. If there are any issues or concerns that need to be addressed by Guidance or the administration, please don’t hesitate to connect with us as well. We all want to wrap up 2022 on a positive note so that we can kick off 2023 moving in the right direction!
Early Release: Our next early release is scheduled for Friday (12/09). We will be running the following modified white day schedule with students getting dismissed at 11:20:
07:45 - 08:25 = Block 1
08:30 - 09:10 = Block 2
09:15 - 09:55 = Block 3
10:00 - 10:40 = Block 5 (not a typo)
10:40 - 11:20 = Lunch and/or Advisory
11:20 = Dismissal
Holiday Concert: Our band and chorus will be performing their Home for the Holidays concert on Tuesday, December 6th at 6:30pm at Cumston Hall. All are invited to attend! In advance, the band and chorus appreciates your support.
Vex Robotics: All of Monmouth Academy's VEX Robotics teams performed very well at their first qualifying tournament of the season in Yarmouth on Saturday (12/03), and their bots were some of the highest-performing machines at the meet. MA team 93303X was not only a tournament finalist, but these students also earned the Excellence Award, which is given to the tournament's best overall team. As recipients of this award and for advancing all the way to the tournament's final match, these students qualified for the state championship in February. Well done, MA teams!
From the Health Office: Our Nurse will be doing vision screenings on 9th graders this week. Please remember to bring your glasses to school with you. If you have any concerns or questions please email Ms. Sirios (msirois@kidsrsu.org) or call her. If you are not a freshman but have concerns about your vision, please contact her as well. Thanks!
NHS Update: Between December 5th and December 15th there will be another door decorating contest for the advisories, but this time it’s the Holidays edition! Judging will happen after school on the 15th and winners will be announced the morning of the 16th. Some of the rules and the winning prize have changed. An email has been sent out to all homeroom advisors with the updated rules, so please check in with them. The winning advisory group will receive donuts and hot chocolate so good luck to all! Also, our NHS would like to invite all MA students to create some fun, encouraging cards to give to those in the Heritage Nursing Home. A small group from the NHS will deliver these cards to the Heritage on December 17th. To make a card, all you need is a piece of paper to fold in half and a writing tool. When you’ve created one, you can give it to your advisor and the NHS will collect them. We greatly appreciate your help with this, and those in the nursing home will love it too!
Student Access to IC: On Tuesday (11/22) students received access (and instructions) to their Student Portal of Infinite Campus (IC). If a student is having issues accessing their IC account, they are asked to connect Mrs. Knowlton (via email) with our Tech Department for assistance.
Athletics: (subject to change)
Tue (12/06): HS boys basketball @ Old Orchard Beach 5:00/6:30; depart: 3:30. HS girls basketball HOME vs. Poland: 5:00/6:30
Wed (12/07): Girls hockey: vs. Falmouth 6:30pm at the Norway Ice Arena
Fri (12/09): HS boys basketball @ Buckfield 5:00/6:30; depart 3:30. HS girls basketball HOME vs. Buckfield 6:00pm start
Sat (12/10): Boys hockey @ Mt. Ararat 7:00pm (Bowdoin College Arena). Girls hockey @ Traip 12:30pm (Rochester Ice Arena)
Civil Rights Team: 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: “Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it. Right is right even if no one is doing it.” - St. Augustine
International Travel Opportunity: Are you interested in traveling to Amsterdam and Paris in April of 2024? If so, there will be a parent/student meeting to explain all the details on Monday, December 5th at 6:30 pm in Mrs. Arsenault's room (rm 210). If you have any questions, please connect with Mrs. Arsenault.
That concludes this week’s edition of The MA Express! Have a great week, take care, and stay well.
Respectfully,
Mr. Ted Finn, Principal