MCS Newsletter - December 13th, 2021

Knightly News

MCS Weekly Announcements

Dec. 17: Pizza Day
Dec. 20 - 31: Christmas Break - NO SCHOOL
Jan. 3: Return to school
Jan. 5: Donut Day
Jan. 7: Hot Dog Day
Jan. 14: Pizza Day
Jan. 17: MLK Day - NO SCHOOL

POSSIBLE SNOW

Currently, there are some snowflakes in our forecast. Who knows, we may actually get some snow. If we do get snow, MCS follows the Monroe Public School decision regarding delays and /or school closures. The following are the resources to determine the status for a particular day:

Tune in to KING-5 or KIRO-7 TV, or log on to one of their websites: www.king5.com or www.kirotv.com.
Call Monroe School District at (360) 804-2950. This line provides a message with the current status.
Log on to www.flashalert.net and search for Monroe School District.
As soon as the decision to close school or change the schedule has been confirmed, a text message will be sent to parents’ phones.
If it is known ahead of time that school will be closed the following day, an announcement will be sent out via email or text.
If there is a 2-hour late start, Preschool and half day Pre-K will be cancelled.

"A TIME TO GIVE"

Our annual Alumni and Friends Newsletter should be showing up in your mailbox soon. The newsletter is written by the MCS teachers, and it includes an opportunity to support the school.

"A Time to Give," is one of three major fundraisers to help the school. This year we are hoping the funds raised will help us continue the systematic replacement of our furnace and heat pumps with mini splits to customize heating and cooling for each classroom. We are also hoping to add more security cameras to improve security around our school grounds. And we are beginning to dream about the future, discussing what expansion looks like for our school.

If you did not receive your copy of the newsletter yet you can view it now by using the following link: "A Time to Give"

MCS APPAREL & ACCESSORIES

How about some MCS spirit for Christmas!! What a great way to support the school and give a wonderful gift at the same time.

Use this link MCS Apparel and Accessories to check out all the great items that are available. Find something you like, place your order, and it will be sent directly to you.

PIZZA DAY

This Friday is Pizza Day!

FREE & EASY WAYS TO HELP THE SCHOOL

There are many ways you can help the school that are free and easy.

Matching Employer Funds - Many larger employers offer matching funds when their employees donate to the school through their portals. Check with your employer to see what they may offer!
Fred Meyer Rewards - Link Monroe Christian School to your Fred Meyers Rewards card through the "Community Rewards" setting and a percentage of your eligible purchases will go directly to MCS. If you have already designated MCS as your Community Reward, please take a minute and check if it is still active. (The community reward must be renewed yearly.)
AmazonSmile - Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible purchases to MCS. Simply go to smile.amazon.com to get setup.
Office Depot - Use our school ID #70106855 when making purchases at Home Depot and we will receive credit towards future purchases.
Rite Aid - RXfundraising and Rite Aid are willing to give a portion of every dollar spent on prescriptions and purchases made at Rite Aid to support our school. Register your Rite Aid card with RXfundraising and choose - "support MCS".

Explore all the ways to benefit MCS.

COVID PROCEDURE

Please notify the office if anyone in your family has tested positive.
We will discretely notify the teacher.
The teacher will email the notice to each of the parents in the classroom.
The office will then give each teacher a hard copy for the students to place in their backpack to take home.
If you have any questions, please contact the office.
Do not assume that if a student is missing from the class that this is the reason, they are absent.
We have had tremendous transparency and support. We want this to continue.

SAFETY

We always want to offer a warm and inviting atmosphere to all our parents and to each of our students. Our classroom doors are often left open so that our younger students can enter and exit without struggling with the door handles. For safety reasons, no student will be allowed to leave class unless someone from the office goes to the classroom and gets that student.

We want you to know what is happening in our classrooms and you are always invited to help but it is important to remember that during school hours, students are busy learning and sometimes the smallest of interruptions is distracting to their learning.

If your student is leaving early, please call the office and we will get your student. If your student is sick, we will have them waiting in the office for you. Always stop by the office window and we will help you. But we are asking that you do not go into classrooms without working that out in advance with the teacher.

LOVE AND LOGIC

Tip for the Holidays

The holiday season is upon us, and we want to give you some perspectives for keeping sane. Our best holiday memories usually stem not from perfect planning and organization, but from the joy of being together and doing things together. It was the laughter. It was choosing to laugh and enjoy each other when the choices were to laugh or cry. Holidays are times for enjoying each another, regardless of whether everything is perfect.

Here are some tips to help you enjoy a perfectly imperfect holiday season this year.

Set limits with family and friends

Some people fear setting limits with their parents, in-laws, other family members, and friends because they worry about upsetting them. The only people who get upset by loving limits are people who really need them!

Don’t be afraid to say things like, “We can’t wait to see you. We will need to leave by six so that we can get the kids in bed by a reasonable hour.”

Set limits with your kids

Sometimes we avoid setting limits with our children at family get-togethers because we want to keep the peace or avoid meltdowns. Ironically, this leads to far more fits and far less harmony.

Plan ahead and provide a quiet spot for recovery

Particularly with small children, ask family and friends, “Is there a quiet place where my little one can go for some recovery time if they start to test limits or get overstimulated?”

I vividly remember being sent to my grandparents’ bedroom because of being unruly during a holiday meal. I also remember lying on their bed, screaming, punching their pillows, and falling fast asleep. I was worn out!

Don’t feel guilty about placing yourself in recovery

I love my family—but I still find it helpful to give myself some brief “bathroom time” so that I can regain the ability to exercise self-control.

Remember that this too shall pass

Despite our best laid plans, sometimes the wheels come off and things get ugly. At these times, it’s often comforting to remember that every situation, bad or good, is merely temporary and will pass.

Thanks for reading—we wish you a perfectly imperfect holiday season!

If this is a benefit, forward it to a friend. Our goal is to help as many families as possible.

Jim and Dr. Charles Fay

Our scripture theme for this year is based on Galatians 5:22-23, 25

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit