Moran Prairie Messenger
Weekly Moran Prairie Family and Community Newsletter
Friday February 3rd:
Highlights for the week:
- Mr. Huntington's students met with their reading buddies in Mrs. R Brown's kinder class for some learning time!
- Mrs. Chisholm's 1st graders celebrated Groundhog Day! If you listened carefully, you could hear them chanting "Punxsutawney Phil"...
- Students continued adding things they're proud of to Mrs. Walther's hallway display!
- Mrs. Bordeaux's class read a story about a boy who wants to save lives out at sea during storms. They had to pull out the themes and cite evidence!
- Mr. Hayes' class finished their informational essays on different jobs and started preparing PowerPoints to show while they read their essays to the class!
- Ms. Huschke's class uses math rotations to get some targeted support in different math skills, this week really looking at multiplication!
- All second graders took the cogAT this week!
- 6th graders had to invent a word and describe the part of speech, how you use it, and what it means!
Principal Updates
Next week is National School Counselor Appreciation Week! This week focuses public attention on the unique contribution of school counselors within U.S. school systems. We take this time to highlight the tremendous impact school counselors can have in helping students achieve school success and plan for a career. School counselors work to maximize student success, promoting access and equity for all students. As vital members of the school leadership team, school counselors create a school culture of success for all. School counselors design and deliver school counseling programs that improve student outcomes.
We are beyond lucky to have Mrs. Lorimer working with us! She brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and passion to all that she does. While this is only her first year at Moran, in the few months she's been here she has already worked to build the foundation for a robust school counseling program. She has lessons weekly in classrooms across the building to discuss age appropriate topics such as identifying your emotions, coping skills for big feelings, problem-solving choices, navigating peer conflicts or other stressors, and so much more. She plans engaging lessons for all students and is constantly looking for more activities to bring to her lessons. She pulls small groups of students identified by families, teachers, and other data points to provide more targeted social-emotional support. She meets 1:1 with a few students for short-term, more intensive counseling. Students are constantly asking to come speak with her and families reach out regularly. Every two weeks she shares counselor updates with our larger school community in our newsletters. She shares with staff different SEL supports and lessons as they are connected to our curriculum Purposefull People each month. And Leah serves on multiple school committees to bolster our PBIS model and strengthen our tier 2 and tier 3 supports for all students. And I know there is so much more I'm missing. I honestly don't know what I would do without her!
Please consider taking time to thank Leah and to celebrate her! You can see more about our counseling program on our school website.
Semester 1 Report Cards
Reach out to the classroom teacher or any specialists with any questions about the report card. You can find our staff directory for contact information on our school website at this link.
Special Events
We've got three special events coming up that you all should be aware of!
- STEAM Fair: communication went out in last week's family newsletter** and was sent home with students about the upcoming STEAM Fair. The event isn't until March 23rd, but it's just about time to start thinking about projects if your student is interested!
- Valentines Day Parties: communication will come sometime next week but we are bringing back our annual PTG sponsored Valentine's Day parties! Most will occur from 2-3 on Tuesday February 14th. Keep checking for communication from your child's teacher about crafts, valentines, or boxes/bags for collecting!
- Read Across America: on Monday February 13th we are launching our annual Read Across America event. More communication as well as instructions for completing will come from Mrs. Smith and your student's teacher!
**Find all previous newsletters on our school website here!
OSPI Educator of the Year
Chase Middle School's CCTV
Upcoming Dates
- Monday February 6th: Start of counselor appreciation week, late arrival for students at 9:30 am
- Tuesday February 7th: Family webinar for kindergarten readiness (register here), Japanese club after school
- Wednesday February 8th: Japanese and German clubs after school
- Thursday February 9th: PTG Executive Board Meeting, Spanish Clubs after school
- Monday February 13th: Read Across America Launch, student late start at 9:30 AM
- Tuesday February 14th: Valentine's Day Classroom Celebrations, Japanese club after school
- Wednesday February 15th: Family Night at Chase for incoming 6th graders, Japanese and German clubs after school
- Thursday February 16th: PTG Meeting, 6:30 pm in the library, Spanish Clubs after school
- Friday February 17th: Chase MS visits Moran for incoming 6th grade registration
- Monday February 20th: No School, President's Day
- Tuesday February 21st: Non-student day for staff professional development
- Wednesday February 22nd: Chase Family Night for incoming 7th graders, Japanese and German clubs after school
- Thursday February 23rd: Spanish Clubs after school
- Friday February 24th: Chase MS visits Moran for incoming 7th grade registration, PTG Cocoa and Cookies @ 4 pm on the blacktop
- Monday February 27th: Late start for students @ 9:30 am, Peperzak Family Night at Ferris at 6 pm
- Tuesday February 28th: Lockdown drill, Japanese club after school
You can find the entire calendar for 22-23 school year here for your information and planning purposes
Stay Connected
- Email us: mrnprairie.ptg@gmail.com
- Moran Prairie PTG Website: www.moranprairieptg.org
- Like us: www.facebook.com/MoranPrairiePTG/