Reminders & Headlines:

MCCPS in the news: Support for Ukraine
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Friday Spirit Day
Wear Red & Black to show support for James Galante and the Marblehead community.
Updates from our
Head of School
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Our thoughts are with the Marblehead community following the passing of MHS senior James Galante. This week, we held a moment of silence during a community meeting. Our counselors have been available to students who may have known James or his family or are struggling to process this tragedy.
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Hello Marblehead Community Charter Families,

Despite today's rain and cold, we have set the clocks ahead, spring is here, and the third trimester has begun. Time begins to go by quickly during this spring trimester with many events and warmer days ahead. Next week begins the first round of MCAS testing. On testing days and every day, please help students be set up for success by getting a good nights' rest the night before and eating a healthy breakfast. While MCAS is not the highest priority for us at MCCPS, we do want our students to perform well on these assessments. Our students have the knowledge and skills to meet expectations on these assessments if they put forth their best effort and take the work seriously. These assessments are untimed and students should take the time they need. Please share our encouragement and expectation that students do in fact take these assessments seriously. The testing schedule is below.

We are proud of our students and our community for standing up in support of the Ukrainian refugees. See link above and the update below about this work and other events in our community.

The spring enrichment courses begin next week. We have a number of exciting courses that students have enrolled in for spring. This includes gardening, ballroom dancing, rock climbing, and so much more.

Our mural projects have received so much support. Thank you. We hope to run a spring fundraising event to further support both the mural projects and our kitchen upgrades. Please consider joining the Development Committee and/or volunteering to help organize a spring fundraiser. Contact me if interested.

Our next school dance is this Friday night. The PTO is sponsoring the blacklight dance. Last call for dance tickets!! For headcount & planning purposes, please reach out to Ceilidh (ceilidhwaddington@gmail.com) if you are thinking of going to the dance. Thank you! 

Peter Cohen, Ed.D
Head of School
The Marblehead Community Charter Public School (MCCPS) is
engaged in developing our next Strategic Plan. 

The Strategic Plan Committee will be holding a series of focus group discussions to gather insight from various stakeholders in the school community. Groups will be asked a series of five questions* in small groups about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges pertaining to the school. By sharing your ideas and feedback, you will help to shape our strategic plan, determine our priorities, and tell us where you think change is most needed. The responses from this dialogue will inform the work of the committee and the development of the next Strategic Plan. 

Parent/Community Focus Group #1
In Person at MCCPS
March 31 at 7pm

Marblehead Charter Lends Support to Ukrainian Refugees

At the beginning of March, Vivienne, a fourth grade student with family in Ukraine, approached Student Council to ask for help. She was very worried about the situation and wanted to raise money to help refugees. Student Council immediately voted to support the cause and went to work brainstorming ideas and making a plan. Student Council members, along with Vivienne and her brother, created and presented a slideshow to the entire school community summarizing the current situation and highlighting the humanitarian crisis. They placed a "spare change" jar on the school's snack bar and held a very successful bake sale. Over 20 students and staff contributed baked goods to the bake sale. So far, they have collected over $500. Many students responded to the request last week to wear blue and yellow to highlight the Ukrainian crisis. Our last planned fundraiser is a Hat Day on Friday, April 1 when students will pay $1 to wear a hat in school for the day. All proceeds will be sent to organizations who are supporting the refugees.
Join the Folk Arts Center of New England for a presentation on Ukrainian Easter egg decorating at 2pm this Saturday, to be Zoomed direct from Kiev. The Zoom is free and open to everyone.

There will be a demonstration of the decorating process that people can follow at home (the website has a list of supplies).

Here's the event webpage:

and the facebook event:
PTO Corner

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
The PTO still needs a few more volunteers for food donations. Please sign up via Sign Up Genius

The PTO is also looking to recruit members for next year's Board. Specifically, we are looking for: Treasurer, Fundraising Chair and Dance Chair. Please reach out to Connie DeBoever (cfang73@yahoo.com) for additional information. 

LAST CALL for recipes! Please send recipes to mccpscookbook@gmail.com by March 31st. These cookbooks will be used to fund kitchen renovations. Please help us support Danette & Hope!

Calling all chefs!! The PTO is helping raise funds for the kitchen renovation by putting together an MCCPS Cookbook, which will be available in digital or print format. Please submit all recipes to mccpscookbook@gmail.com. Thank you for your help & support of the MCCPS Kitchen!
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.
Upcoming Events


Wednesday March 30 - Early Release Day for students - Noon Dismissal
Monday April 4 - SEPAC meeting 6:30pm
Friday April 15 - Early Release Day for all
April 18-22 - SpringVacation Week


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)


Tuesday March 29 - Board of Trustees Meeting 7pm
Friday April 1 - Academic Excellence Committee Meeting - 2:45pm
Tuesday April 5 - Governance Committee Meeting 7pm
Monday April 11 - Personnel Committee Meeting 7pm
Tuesday April 26 - 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.