September 26, 2024
from Jennifer Le Varge, Lower School director
Mark Your Calendars
- Friday, September 27: PreK-12 Spirit Wear Day (LS students wear uniform bottoms)
- Friday, September 27: G3-12 Homecoming Assembly, 2:20-3 PM, Lansing Sports Center
- Friday, September 27: Hall of Fame Dinner, 6-8 PM, Family Commons
- Saturday, September 28: Homecoming, information here >
- Tuesday, October 1: LS Parent Coffee, 8-9 AM, Gallery
- Tuesday, October 1: School Photo Retakes, 8-10 AM, Indoor Track
- Tuesday, October 8: HeadSpace: Civil Discourse in a Polarized Society, Election 2024, 7-8 PM, via Zoom >
- Wednesday, October 9: LS CHAMP Assembly, 8:15-8:45 AM, Family Commons
- Thursday, October 10: All School Evening Conferences, 3:30-8 PM
- Friday, October 11: No Classes, All School Conferences, 8 AM-5 PM, Panther Care >
- Monday, October 14: No Classes, Indigenous Peoples’ Day
- Wednesday, October 16: LS/MS Grandparents and Special Friends Day, 8 AM-3 PM, information here >
- Wednesday, October 16: LS/MS Grandparents and Special Friends Day Performance, 11 AM-12 PM, Nicholson Center
- Wednesday, October 16: LS PA Rainbow Club, 6-8 PM, Martin Lenz Harrison Library
- Thursday, October 17-Friday, October 18: No Classes, Fall Break, Panther Care >
It’s been a busy but fun few weeks since our last Panther Post. This is the point that we are almost finished with the “first six weeks of school,” a crucial time for children as they solidify the new routines and expectations that come along with a new academic year. Routines require a particular set of characteristics for children to be most developmentally supportive: predictability and accessibility. Children benefit from relationships and environments that are predictable to them. Routines like the process of getting ready for school, the daily schedule of fun activities encountered at school, and evening settling-down routines at home help children:
- feel in control of their environment;
- feel safe, secure, and comfortable;
- know what is happening now and what comes next;
- know how to do an activity or task; and
- engage in learning.
Soon, these new routines will become second nature, equipping your child for success with the rest that the year has in store!
MPA Parents Association Quarterly Coffee on Tuesday, October 1
You are invited to attend our first Lower School Quarterly Parent Coffee of the academic year on Tuesday, October 1, from 8-9 AM in the MPA Gallery. We will be hosting a general meet-and-greet and will share more information about our new MAP assessment initiative for second- through fourth-grade students. All parents are welcome, and no RSVP is necessary!
Grades 2-4 MAP Assessment Update
The students have done so well “showing what they know” with the new experience of MAP. Due to the power outage experienced on Thursday, we will take a bit more time than planned to complete the MAP assessments for second- through fourth-grade students. The assessments should be completed by next week.
Friday, September 27: Spirit Wear Day and Homecoming Assembly
Students are invited to wear their MPA Homecoming t-shirt on top (with uniform bottoms) on Friday, September 27, as we celebrate Homecoming 2024. Children will have the opportunity to have their faces painted with MPA symbols on Friday as part of the festivities. Lastly, Lower School students in third and fourth grade will also take part in the Homecoming Assembly led by our Upper School students at 2:20 PM in the Lansing Center. If you are a parent of children in the younger grades and would like to attend the Homecoming Assembly with your child(ren), you are more than welcome to do so. Please reach out to your child(ren)’s homeroom teacher to let them know.
CHAMP Update: Homecoming 2024!
On Wednesday, September 25, the Lower School students enjoyed a fun Homecoming-themed CHAMP assembly. We welcomed special guests, including our Upper School sports captains, MPA alum and parent Mrs. Rachel Katkar, and our very own Panther mascot! We also took a moment to remember dear Teddy, our beloved kindergarten hamster who recently passed away. Our next CHAMP assembly will be on Wednesday, October 9. Please wear your CHAMP colors!
October 10-11: Fall Parent-Teacher Conferences
MPA will once again use Pick-A-Time for conference registration. The window to schedule your student’s conferences is between noon on Friday, September 27, and noon on Friday, October 4. Families with two or more students at MPA may sign up a day earlier, starting at noon on Thursday, September 26, to help you secure back-to-back conferences for your children. Please see the email sent on September 20 with conference sign-up links and further information.
Lower School homeroom teachers will offer 25-minute conferences. Specialist conferences may be scheduled for 10 minutes per student. Families who would like to discuss more than one child with their specialist teacher(s) should set up separate conference times for each child. Families will have a chance to meet all specialists over the course of the fall and winter conferences. For fall conferences, the following grades will meet with the following specialists:
- PreK: Music and PE
- K-1: Music, PE, Art
- Grades 2-4: World Languages, Drama, Technology
