March greetings to you as we fast approach the end of winter (despite yesterday's snow) and the beginning of spring. These are important weeks for us as the consistency of multiple uninterrupted weeks leading to spring break provide a solid foundation for consistency and sustained learning. Our second semester is well underway, and our teachers are looking forward to connecting with each family at our Spring Conferences, scheduled for March 27th - March 31st. Please look for conference scheduling information from your child's teacher.

Please keep reading for additional upcoming dates, information and updates, including this Friday's School Spirit Day - Colorful Day. This easy-to-participate day simply challenges our Eagles to wear their favorite color or wear as many colors as possible.

Enjoy and thank you for your time, partnership, support, and MOE pride!

March:

• 3/3 - School Spirit Day (Colorful Day - see above)
  
• 3/3 - LIF Day (1:35pm Dismissal)
• 3/9 - Awards Assemblies (Grades K, 1, & 2 @ 9:00am/Grades 3, 4 & 5 @ 2:20pm)
• 3/10 - LIF Day (1:35pm Dismissal)
• 3/17 - LIF Day (1:35pm Dismissal)
• 3/24 - 12:20pm Dismissal Day

• 3/24 - PTA Glow Dance

• 3/27 - 3/31 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week (12:20pm Dismissal)

Next Month & Other Dates to Note:

• 4/3 - 4/7 - Spring Break (No School)

• 4/14 - MOE Fun Run

• 4/21 - Natural Leaders Multicultural Night

March is Women's History Month and, here on campus, we are looking forward to learning and celebrating together as we learn from leaders, past and present, in concert with the month's theme, Celebrating Women Who Tell Our Stories. This timely and relevant theme honors women in every community who have devoted their lives and talents to improve the lives of others.

Our focus begins at home by honoring the efforts of the women who help shape our lives, past and present, each and every day. This includes our sisters, mothers, grandmothers, and others who make sacrifices, on a daily basis, for our benefit. Our month-long honoring will include the celebration of International Women's Day next Wednesday, March 8th. Please join us across the month of March in celebration of Women's History Month.

An early welcome to our incoming kindergarteners, the Class of 2036. Kindergarten registration for the 2023/2024 school year will be open on March 6, and if your child will be five years old by August 31, 2023, they are eligible to to join our amazing kindergarten here at Monroe! Registration is live, online, and available at www.everettsd.org/kindergartenenrollment or can be completed in person in our Monroe Office (please come by, we'd love to see you!).

If you have an incoming kindergarten student (or know of an incoming kindergarten student) please consider the immense value of registering now for the coming year. Early registration helps us better prepare including hosting our Kindergarten Welcome Evening, scheduled for the evening of Thursday, May 25th (6:00pm).

Each month, our school pauses to practice various emergency drills. You likely remember these in the form of monthly fire drills or earthquake drills. We have a specific process and set of expectations for each emergency scenario. These drills often involve specific scenarios including evacuation, lockdown, lockout, shelter-in-place, and associated practices like "duck & cover" in case of an earthquake.

Please be advised as our monthly drills include practicing a lockdown scenario. We have a schoolwide lockdown drill scheduled for this month, on Tuesday, March 14th. By nature, this drill can result in concerns. Knowing this, we want to communicate this information in advance and communicate clearly with our students. Prior to this drill, we will review actions and expectations for a lockdown. We will assure our students that this is a drill and that there is nothing they need to fear in practicing a lockdown. In addition, please know that we will test our RAVE app for this which will produce a "test" message to all registered users.

If you have concerns related to these drills, please reach out to our administrative team, Tyler Ream and Catarino Rodriguez.

Field trip season is nearly upon us, and we'd love to have volunteers approved in advance so you can join our students on these exciting outings! If you have not been approved as a volunteer since November 2021, please visit our district website (click here) to apply. Reviews and approvals can take up to two weeks, so it's best to apply early. In addition to field trips, we have the MOE Fun Run scheduled for April 14 and Field Day in June. Both daytime events run best with many volunteers, and our Eagles would be thrilled to see you on campus. Thank you for your support!

We need and value your thoughts, insights, and feedback, both as a school and as a district. One avenue for gathering as much feedback as possible is our annual surveys, conducted each March. This includes both a survey for students (third, fourth, and fifth grades) and a separate survey for our families. Your time is certainly valuable but so are your thoughts pertaining to what we do well and how we can improve. For access to our family survey, please click on the below link.

2023 Family Survey - Monroe Elementary

Our Student Surveys for third, fourth, and fifth graders will also be taken in our classrooms across the coming weeks. For additional information, please see the below-linked letters. Additionally, please reach out if you have any questions.

As always, thank you for your time.

As a follow-up message to previous updates, our district is working to balance our budget for the forthcoming school year. Due to expected shortfalls across various funding sources, we are preparing for $28 million in cuts and reductions. Last night (2/28), our School Board for the Everett Public Schools heard, discussed and approved a reductions plan designed according to the above fiscal constraints. This was in alignment with the proposed budget timeline and brings the Board and district leaders to the important place of making difficult decisions. The Everett Herald posted an associated article outlining the proposed reductions (link).

As these decisions are made, please know that you will continue to receive updates from both the Everett Public Schools and Monroe. This is especially true for any decisions that will directly impact our Monroe students, staff, and school community. For additional budget related information, please see our district's budget page.

Our Everett Public Schools newsletter for the month of March is linked/attached below. This specifically crafted monthly communication is designed to connect with all of our families and provide information pertaining to all of our schools/programs. This month's newsletter includes updates pertaining to:

• Everett's Student Arts Shows
• Annual Stakeholder Survey Reminder
• District Safety Practices & Procedures
• Kindergarten Registration Reminder

Our adventures in lost & found have become complicated as of late. The recent winter weather has produced a significant uptick in lost jackets, sweatshirts, scarves, gloves, and hats. Below are snapshots of our Lost & Found as of yesterday. Please help (please) by scanning the below image to see if you can spot anything that may have gone missing. If you spot anything below, please know that we are happy to facilitate a joyful reunification with your child and their lost item of clothing.

Additionally, please remember that our Lost & Found racks are rolled out to the front of our school each Friday. Please feel free to visit anytime. Thank you for your efforts in helping our currently lost items return home again.

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Thank you for taking the time to read our March 1st edition of MOE News. We value and appreciate your support and involvement. On behalf of our entire Monroe team, please know that we are honored to serve you and your family.

Win the Day, Eagles!

Tyler & Catarino

Principal & Assistant Principal

Monroe Elementary School

tream@everettsd.org - crodriguez@everettsd.org

Phone: 425-385-7300

Fax 425-385-7302

Below are links to previous editions of our MOE News:

• February 2023: English Version - Spanish Version
• January 2023: English Version - Spanish Version
• December 2022: English Version - Spanish version
• November 2022: English Version - Spanish Version
• Previous Editions of MOE News 2021/2022 & 2022/2023 School Years