January 11, 2024
from Jennifer Le Varge, Lower School director
Mark Your Calendars
- Monday, January 15: No Classes, Martin Luther King Day
- Monday, January 15: Indexed Tuition Re-Application Deadline
- Friday, January 19: LS Duty Free Lunch, 12:15-12:45 PM, Family Commons
- Monday, January 22: No Classes, Professional Day, register for Panther Care >
- Friday, February 9: No LS/MS Classes, Conferences
- Friday, February 9: LS/MS Conferences, 8 AM-5 PM
- Thursday, February 15: LS/MS Evening Conferences, 3:30-8 PM
- Friday, February 16: No Classes, Professional Development (Panther Care Closed)
- Monday, February 19: No Classes, Presidents’ Day
Welcome to 2024! Families seemed to enjoy a restful winter break, and the students are eager and ready to return to the comfort of school routines. Please read on for January updates and beyond:
Conferences Coming Up: February 9 and 15
Our Lower and Middle School Conferences will be held at the start of February. We will be sending scheduling instructions and details soon—please watch your email for registration/scheduling instructions by the end of this week. MPA will once again be using Pick-A-Time for conference registration. You will need to schedule your student’s conferences between noon on Friday, January 19, and noon on Friday, January 26. Families with two or more students at MPA may sign up a day earlier, starting at noon on Thursday, January 18, to help you secure back-to-back conferences for your children. Once the system re-opens at noon on Monday, January 29, families can schedule up to two additional conferences for a total of five conferences. The scheduling window will close completely at noon on Wednesday, January 31. A letter with more information will be coming home soon. Kindly note, no additional conferences will be scheduled after January 31.
CHAMP Assembly on January 31
At our CHAMP assembly on January 10, we revisited the attribute of inclusivity and introduced our new trait, integrity. Before the winter break, students were challenged to be inclusive by sitting with someone new at lunch and/or playing with someone new on the playground. Many Lower School children rose to the “inclusivity challenge” and got a special CHAMP sticker to recognize their character! Our next CHAMP assembly is scheduled for Wednesday, January 31. We will be focusing on the CHAMP attribute of being compassionate. Please be sure to send your child to school on January 31 wearing their CHAMP colors!
Recess Sledding Has Started Again
Much to the children’s joy, we have re-started our sledding program during recess for winter 2023-24 now that we have a little bit of snow. Each grade level has two assigned “sledding days” per week (so long as there is snow on the ground, of course). We recently reviewed the sledding expectations, including safe behaviors, at our CHAMP assembly. Another expectation is that students are appropriately dressed for recess and snow. Help us to make sure your child has a hat, gloves/mittens, a jacket, snow pants, and snow boots for school use. Only students who are appropriately dressed for the cold temperatures—wearing gloves/mittens, a jacket, a hat, snow pants and boots—can take part in sledding on their assigned day.
Winter FastBridge Testing: January 16-30
In the fall of 2023, all Lower School students in kindergarten through grade four took the FastBridge screener for math and reading. For students whose results were flagged for follow-up, they have now worked in small groups for several months with our learning support department, and their mid-year FastBridge testing will be completed between January 16-30. This result will help us to formatively assess the progress the children have made, and plan forward for the third trimester. Please look out for more information from Ms. Andretta or Mrs. Kramer, who will contact you if your child needs to complete the mid-year FastBridge testing.
