NOTICE:  Monroe County Schools to Release Early on Monday, August 21 for Solar Eclipse
The Monroe County School System will be on an early release schedule for students and staff on Monday, August 21, 2017.  Our area will be experiencing a solar eclipse from  approximately 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on that date.  Please see the article below for a full listing of details including school release times on Monday, August 21.
Monroe Messages
Newsletter of Monroe County Schools
Great Start to the 2017-2018 School Year!
#mcscometogether #committedtoexcellence
We welcome all of our students, families, and community supporters to the 2017-2018 school year!  See highlights from this year's Convocation, Pre-Planning, and First Day of School at the links below:

Pre-Planning and First Day of School
Pre-Planning and First Day of School

Recap of 2016-2017 School Year -- Welcome to Convocation
Recap of 2016-2017 School Year -- Welcome to Convocation
"We Are Monroe County Schools" Selfie Video Compilation

Convocation  Slide Show (New Staff Members and Program Highlights)
Monroe County Schools will release early on Monday, August 21 for Solar Eclipse
To Parents, Students, Faculty, and Community Stakeholders:
The Monroe County School System will be on an early release schedule for students and staff on Monday, August 21, 2017.  Our area will be experiencing a solar eclipse from approximately 1:00 pm-4:00 pm on this date. After much deliberation and feedback from school stakeholders, we feel it best to shorten the school day. Several factors influenced our decision to move in this direction:
  1. Eye safety concerns for students and staff and challenges with securing proper eyewear to view the eclipse in a safe manner.
  2. Parents, students, and faculty will be able to experience the solar eclipse with their families, friends, and groups since this phenomenon happens so rarely during a lifetime.
  3. Parents and their children will also have the opportunity to travel farther north on this date to view the total eclipse that will take place mid-afternoon.
The solar eclipse will be a wonderful learning opportunity for parents, students, and the entire community. Our school system will provide information and learning activities associated with the solar eclipse on the system and school websites. If you have any questions or concerns, please let us know.

If students are absent from school or check out before early release on this date due to the eclipse, the absences will be unexcused; however, we will allow students to make up any assignments missed on this date.

All extra-curricular activities scheduled for this date after 4:00 pm will proceed as scheduled. Parents/Guardians will be responsible for transporting students to after school practices and extra-curricular activities. Note- after school programs at each elementary school will be canceled on this date.

*Lunch will be served before students are released.  

As always, we thank you for your understanding and continued support of our great school system!  
Release times for schools are below:

Release times for schools      
Location   Bus Riders Car Riders
MPHS Freshman Campus/MCAC   11:35 a.m. 11:35 a.m.
MPHS Main Campus   11:45 a.m. 11:45 a.m.
MCMS Banks Stephens Campus   12:00 p.m. 11:50 a.m.
MCMS Hubbard Campus   11:45 a.m. 11:45 a.m.
Elementary Schools   12:15 p.m. 12:00 p.m.
 
Forsyth-Monroe County Boys and Girls Club Coming Soon!
  
The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Georgia is excited to announce that we will be opening our Forsyth-Monroe Count Unit very soon! Registration has begun and will run from 1- 6 p.m. Monday thru Friday. Please stop by the location at 500 Highway 83 South on the old eighth grade wing (toward the old gym) of the Hubbard Campus of the Monroe County Middle School. 
In addition to signing up Club members, we are looking to fill staff positions and for volunteers to help with the after-school program. Please call (478) 992-5605 or email our Unit Director, Joel Tolliver, at jtolliver@bgccg.org.  
We look forward to becoming a part of the Monroe County community and extending our "Great Futures Start Here" philosophy to the students and families of Monroe County Schools.
Nutrition Department Announces 2017-2018
Meal Prices and New Pre-Pay Option
Breakfast
Lunch
Elementary: $1.35
Elementary: $2.25
Middle/High: $1.60
Middle/High: $2.50
Reduced: $.30
Reduced: $.40
Visiting Adults: $2.25
Visiting Adults: $3.75

Parents may pay for meals by the week, month, or year.  A price list with extended prices is available at the school nutrition services website.  Nutrition Services now offers a new way to monitor school meal consumption and online payments.  Parents may go to https://www2.mypaymentsplus.com/welcome and register.  This will allow you to review your child's consumption and check balances.  The system will also notify you when your child's balance is low. 

Nutrition Services will work to accommodate students with special dietary needs when the needs are accompanied by a physician's request.  A Modified School Meals form should be completed and signed by a licensed physician.  You can find the form at our system nutrition services website. 

Watch for Our Students and Our School Buses
We urge motorists to use caution when approaching a school bus, and all drivers should know the law regarding passing a bus. 
According to Georgia law, vehicles traveling in BOTH directions must stop when a school bus activates its stop-arm on a two-lane road or multi-lane road with no median or barrier. Vehicles traveling in the same direction as a school bus must always stop, but motorists traveling in the opposite direction can proceed (with caution) when there is an unpaved median or concrete barrier separating the opposing lanes.
 
A warning that a bus stop is about to take place will always be given with the flashing amber lights on the front and rear of the school bus. Upon seeing flashing amber lights, vehicles approaching the school bus from both front and rear should immediately slow down and prepare to stop. All drivers must pay special attention to children, be focused, and exercise caution in vicinity of a school bus stop, as student riders can be unpredictable. Once the bus is fully stopped, flashing red lights will activate and the stop arm will deploy. Vehicles must stop and should remain stopped until all loading students are aboard in the morning or all unloading passengers have cleared 12 feet off the roadway in the afternoon. Motorists should proceed with caution only after passengers have cleared the roadway, the stop arm is canceled, and the flashing red lights are deactivated.
Free and Reduced Meal Application Information
Parents, have you returned your completed free and reduced meal application?  This year's application is on green paper, and it was mailed to your home in late July with an addressed, stamped envelope for returning the application to Nutrition Services.  If you did not receive an application to your home, please pick one up from your child's school office or from the school nutrition manager.  Parents/Guardians may also call 478-994-5609 to request a form.  Complete one application per family.  Information on the application will be kept confidential.  If you application is denied, you may re-apply at any time during the rest of the school year.  If you were approved for free/reduced meals last year, then you must apply again this year in order for your child to receive free/reduced meals.  For more information, contact sandy.peppers@mcschools.org.
HB91 Georgia Graduation Petition Notice
On Monday, March 30, 2015, Governor Nathan Deal signed House Bill 91 to create O.C.G.A. § 20-2-281.1.  This bill provides opportunity for students to receive their high school diploma without the successful completion of the Georgia High School Graduation Test.  This test series is no longer a graduation requirement.  Therefore, any individuals, that enrolled in 9th grade on or after July 1, 1981, no longer enrolled in a public school who were denied a high school diploma solely for not achieving a passing score on any of the graduation tests and met all other local and state requirements may submit a petition to the Monroe County Board of Education to determine eligibility to receive a high school diploma under O.C.G.A. § 20-2-281.1.
The Monroe County Schools Board of Education accepts petitions for graduation monthly.  Petitions must be submitted at the Central Office of the Monroe County Board of Education by the Friday prior to the monthly scheduled board meeting each month to be included on the meeting agenda.  Petitions received after the deadline will be placed on the board meeting agenda for the following month.  Contact System Registrar Cindy Seymour at cindy.seymour@mcschools.org for more information. 
Meet The Return:  Coming August 12
The Ultimate Beatles Experience

Click the picture above or visit  here to see a special welcome video from The Return. 

Macon's Nick Malloy added to August 12 Fine Arts Center concert line-up
The Monroe County Schools Fine Arts Center is pleased to announce the addition of Macon's Nick Malloy as an opening act for next week's concert with Beatles tribute band The Return.

Malloy, the 28-year-old son of WMAZ news anchor Frank Malloy, has been performing his own style of country music since he was 15 years old. He has formed a bond with the likes of  Dierks Bentley and Jason Aldean, and recorded his first CD in 2010.  A 2012 car accident interrupted his career, but he began performing again two years ago.  The upcoming August 12 date at the Fine Arts Center will be his first appearance in Forsyth since he opened a Shane Bridges' concert at The Rose Theater in August of 2015.
 
The headline act, The Return, will present "the ultimate Beatles' experience." Consisting of four gentlemen from nearby Griffin, The Return has performed around the world including in Japan, Europe and across the United States.  The first of their two sets will cover the early 1960s touring years of The Beatles before turning to the "Sgt. Pepper" years of the later 1960s.   To learn more about The Return, visit  www.thereturnonline.com.
 
The Aug. 12 concert will close out the Monroe County Schools Fine Arts Center's first Summer Concert Series.  All reserved seating is $20 and is available online at  www.ticketalternative.com, by phone at  877-725-8849, or at the Monroe County Board of Education Office at 25 Brooklyn Avenue in Forsyth.
Showtime is 7:30 p.m.

A Message from Monroe County Schools Nurses:
Back to School Health and Wellness Checklist


Following their opening for Jason Aldean in Macon on August 11, the Trey Teem Band comes home to the Monroe County Fine Arts Center for a concert on Saturday, August 19.  Get your tickets at http://www.ticketalternative.com.