Reminders & Headlines:

Exhibition is Thursday March 17
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Friday's Spirit Theme:
Crazy Hat, Crazy Hair Day
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Less Masking Begins Monday March 7
Updates from our
Head of School
Hello Marblehead Community Charter Families,

Welcome back from the vacation week and happy March. Hopefully this month is all lamb and no lion. We are collectively ready for spring! We have a lot going on at MCCPS, so here are the updates.

Exhibition
Exhibition is in two weeks. Please mark your calendars and join us on Thursday evening, March 17 as our students showcase what they have been learning and working on during this second trimester. In order to maintain a safe event, we will continue to stagger the times for the advisory groups to share their work. We will ask that you consider wearing a mask, but it will be a mask-optional event. We ask that you plan to stay for 40 minutes in order to make space in the parking lot for the next group.

Masks
Next week we will transition to a less masking learning environment. Please see below for details. If your child is sick, please keep them at home. This is essential to maintaining a healthy learning environment for all. Many students and staff will likely remain masked during this transition. We respect all choices.

7th Grade Mentor Program
This week we rearranged the lunch schedule slightly to allow for additional opportunities for our 7th grade mentors to connect with their 4th grade mentees and serve as role models. It is wonderful to see these relationships growing and our 7th grade class emerging as leaders.

Calendar
The Board of Trustees has approved the master calendar for the 2022-2023 school year. Click on the calendar below to download your copy.

Enrichment - Spring
Today we distributed the menu of choices for Enrichment courses for the spring trimester. Please review this packet with your child this weekend. Students will rank their top three choices for each day of Enrichment and be assigned a course based on those preferences. Enrichment for trimester three will begin on Monday March 28.

Welcoming New Families
On Monday February 28, we held our primary enrollment lottery for the 2022-2023 school year. We have begun notifying families of their status on the waitlist. This includes filling the spots in the incoming 4th grade class. Current students are automatically enrolled for next year. In early April we will ask for a commitment to return from our current families so that we can then fill any vacancies we have. It is important for us to be fully enrolled at 230 students. Welcome new families. If you are on the waitlist, please be patient as we have rolling admissions over the spring and summer. New families are invited to check out Exhibition night and may schedule a tour by contacting the front office.

Mural Projects
We have almost fully funded our mural out front. Please help us raise the necessary funds for both the mural out front and the mural in our backlot. Thank you so much to those that have made a donation already. We are so close to making these mural projects a reality. Help put us over the top. https://www.gofundme.com/f/mural-projects

There is a ton of information below - please scroll through and review.

Peter Cohen, Ed.D
Head of School
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EXHIBITION SCHEDULE - THURSDAY MARCH 17
Due to limited parking availability, we ask that you plan to stay for 40 minutes to make room for the next group.
5:00PM
4th Grade Blue Advisory (in 4th-grade classrooms)
5th Grade Blue Advisory (in 5th-grade classrooms)
7th Grade Blue Advisory (in 7th-grade classrooms)

6:00 PM
4th Grade Gold Advisory (in 4th-grade classrooms)
5th Grade Gold Advisory (in 5th-grade classrooms)
6th Grade Gold Advisory (in 6th-grade classrooms)
7th Grade Gold Advisory (in 7th-grade classrooms)

7:00 PM
6th Grade Blue Advisory (in 6th-grade classrooms)
8th Grade Blue Advisory (in the community room)
8th Grade Gold Advisory (in the community room)
PTO Corner

Reminder: our monthly PTO meeting is this Friday, March 4th at 8am in the library or via zoom. This meeting is open to everyone so please join!

Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 965 8082 4884
Passcode: MCCPSPTO


MCCPS Apparel: we finally have t-shirts and hoodies available. T-shirts are $10 while hoodies are $25. See the display case or Emily Miner.

Upcoming Events
  • MCCPS Cookbook: this is to help raise funds for the kitchen, which needs upgrades to the floors and equipment. Please see the attached flyer for details. Recipes must be submitted by March 14th. The cookbook will be available in digital and hardcopy formats.
  • Black Light Dance: Friday March 25th from 6-8pm. This was pushed from the original February date due to COVID concerns
  • Penny Wars: start saving your change for this event, coming in April 
Advocacy Week for Charter Public Schools - March 7-11
Still Time to Register.

Just five minutes each day next week.

Community Food Pantry at MCCPS

We need your help to get our Food Pantry up and running.

Positions Needed:

Volunteer Coordinator
Regular recruitment of volunteers, coordinate volunteer shifts, send reminders and assign jobs.

Outreach and Communications Coordinator
Advertise and promote pantry, create and distribute flyers, distribute forms, maintain social media etc...

Fundraising Coordinator
Seek donations for the program as well as equipment that may be needed for start up and sustainability. Coordinate donations, and maintain records of donations.


We also welcome help from recent MCCPS alumni to complete volunteer community service hours.

Please contact Danette Russo for more information or to express interest in one of the positions listed above.
Less Masking Begins Monday March 7

Please continue to send students with masks in their backpack in case they are needed.

Masks will be required in the Nurse's Office.

Masks must be worn for five days following isolation/quarantine.

Stay home when sick.

MCAS TESTING SCHEDULE -SPRING 2022

ELA Test Sessions
Monday March 28 & Tuesday March 29 - Grades 4 and 7
Thursday March 31 and Friday April 1 - Grades 5 and 8
Monday April 4 and Tuesday April 5 - Grade 6

Math Test Sessions
Thursday April 28 & Friday April 29 - Grades 5 and 8
Monday May 2 and Tuesday May 3 - Grade 4 and 7
Thursday May 5 and Friday May 6 - Grade 6

Science Test Sessions (Grades 5 and 8 only)
Monday May 9 and Tuesday May 10 - Grades 5 and 8
SUPPORT OUR MURAL PROJECT

In late spring, we will bring mural artist Alex Cook to our school to work with our students and our community to produce a mural on the front of the school building. Alex Cook has created series of murals that you can view on his website: http://www.youarelovedmurals.com/ He will create a mural for our school that fits this theme and our community.

Thanks to the efforts of our Director of Student Services, Andrea Barlow with help from two of our wonderful parents, Ariane Purdy and Lara Goodman, we have secured $8000 in grant funding for this project. We need your support to fully fund the project. Be on the lookout for more information of how you can contribute to the project. You can also donate right now at: https://gofund.me/ff1a3433 The artist will include students and community members in the work. This is part of our exterior beautification initiative, the first in a series of upgrades to our building and campus. Later phases will include a roof replacement and expansion into our warehouse space with a science/makerspace lab, new, brighter classrooms, and more.
DESIGN CONTEST, CALL FOR ENTRIES!

Safe Routes to School is holding a design contest for yard signs to promote safety while walking or biking to school. If your child is interested in participating, please either download the registration form (below) or pick one up from the front office at MCCPS.

Please hand in all forms and illustrations to Ms. Miner at the front office. If you have any questions, reach out to her at eminer@marbleheadcharter.com


Please consider donating hockey equipment for our upcoming Hockey enrichment, which starts in the third term.

In addition, we would love to use these donations for P.E. to broaden the range of activities our students can participate in!

Some donations we need include:
  • street hockey sticks
  • ice hockey sticks
  • field hockey sticks
  • street hockey pucks
  • field hockey balls
  • broomball sticks

If you would prefer to make a monetary donation, please follow this link to our donations page - https://www.marbleheadcharter.org/fund-a-need/

Your help is greatly appreciated, by us, and by the students. Thank you.
Upcoming Events

Friday March 18 - Early Release Day - Noon Dismissal
Monday March 21 - No School for students. PD for faculty
Wednesday March 30 - Early Release Day for students - Noon Dismissal


Thursday March 17 - EXHIBITION

Upcoming Meetings
(Meetings will take place in person at the school, as COVID-19 protocols allow or if remote, meetings will take place via Zoom w/ links on our website calendar)

Friday March 4 - PTO Meeting - 8am
Friday March 4 - Academic Excellence Committee Meeting 2:45pm
Monday March 7 - Pandemic Response Task Force Committee Meeting 6pm
Tuesday March 8 - Governance Committee Meeting 7pm
Thursday March 10 - Strategic Planning Committee Meeting 7pm
Monday March 14 - Personnel Committee Meeting 7pm
Tuesday March 22 - Facilities Task Force Committee Meeting 7pm
Wednesday March 23 - Finance Committee Meeting 8am
Tuesday March 29 - Board of Trustees Meeting 7pm

Join the PTO
At Marblehead Community Charter, COMMUNITY is our middle name. Everyone - teachers, parents, students, administrators, and staff need to do their part to support our school.

Please consider joining the PTO and become an ambassador for our school.