MACS Family Resources

Week of April 20- April 24, 2020 - Volume 5

We Are Here to Support Your Family During Remote Learning

MACS Families, we want to support your child and family during this period of remote learning.

Today's announcement that students will not return to school this year was not a shock and we know that it was made in the best interest of our students. However, it is also a sad time for our MACS family because we miss our students. Our main purpose for serving as educators is to serve our students in ways that will empower them for lifelong learning. Please know that your families are a part of our MACS family and we miss you. We are here to support in any way possible.


We know that supporting your child's remote learning can be a struggle and some families may be frustrated. If this is happening for your family, begin with contacting your child's teacher. As a district, we are committed to providing you with up-to-date resources, ideas for at home learning and ways to keep your child engaged in the learning process.


This newsletter will be published weekly for all MACS Families. You can find this resource on our MACS website, Twitter (@MACSchools) and Facebook.


We have also developed a new Learning Support for Families Google doc, this will be published on our MACS website as well.

A Parent's Guide to Zoom

Click here to find out more about the awesome platform that your child's teacher may be using to provide remote learning experiences for your child.

Monitoring What Your Child Watches and Accesses Online

Common Sense Media is a great resource for all families. You can review books, movies, websites and apps that your child wants to consume. Check it out here!

21st Century- Future Leaders Academy (FLA) Programming Continues Remotely

We are excited to announce that our Future Leaders Academy (FLA) teachers have been developing excellent resources for our students! The FLA program is funded through our 21st Century federal grant, which serves students in the after-school environment and summer programming. This grant is a huge opportunity for our students to be served outside of the regular school day.


Each week our FLA teachers will be sharing resources here to support our students during the COVID-19 school closure. Check out the first ones below and remember this is totally OPTIONAL for our students and families. The regular school day work should be the priority and these resources will serve as enrichment.


Click here to access the new FLA Choice Menu #3- designed for our Pre-Kindergarten -2nd grade


For any FLA student that works with Lexercise you will be served by 1 of your Lexercise teachers (Ms. Wertman or Mrs. Martin @Jones/ Mrs. Worrell @BHT).

Family Resources During COVID-19

Stanford University has developed a set of resources to support families during COVID-19. Now more than ever, it is important that we all access quality resources to manage our lives, stay healthy and continue to maintain happy homes.

BHT Families- Using QR Codes to Access Your Child's Learning

Mount Airy City Schools on Facebook Watch

Social and Emotional Learning for Your Family During the COVID-19 Pandemic

ACT Prep Opportunities for High School Students

The following opportunity is being offered by ACT and all information below has been copied from their email publications.


ACT Bootcamp for Students
Date: Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Students can attend our free ACT Bootcamp session and join one of our expert instructors, learning how to tackle some of the most common question types on the ACT!

Learning Happens in the Kitchen

Each week we will highlight opportunities for learning at home in the kitchen. Kids of all ages can participate in the process of food prep or cooking. See this week's healthy and kid-friendly recipes below.


This week we are highlighting the NC State University's Public Science Lab- see the link below to engage your family in science in the kitchen.

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Full STEAM Ahead At Home!

Mount Airy City Schools believes in our Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Math (STEAM) Framework for learning. Below are many resources to help you continue moving forward with STEAM in your home during the remote learning period.


April is STEM Education Month, this is a proclamation by our North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper in 2018.


We challenge our families to think about how STEAM can come to life in your homes! Check out the neat links below to spark your child's curiosity and inspire their STEAM mindset.

Accessing the "A" in STEAM- Art Resources

National Geographic Online Learning Events for Students and Families

Check out the link below to view the schedule of upcoming online events. National Geographic has also included a Family Guide for each topic to help plan for before, during and after the viewing.
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Learning Happens With and Without Wifi Connections

The internet is a great resource for remote learning. We appreciate all of the great resources that we have access to for teaching and learning during this time. However, all learning does not require a WIFI connection.

MACS Parents Share Out

We know that our MACS families are #MACSawesome and totally rocking this remote learning time. Feel free to share out your best tips and practices for at-home learning with our team. You can share via Twitter by tagging @MACSchools and using #MACSawesome.


You may also submit your best practices to our Teaching and Learning team by emailing Penny Willard at pwillard@mtairy.k12.nc.us. Each week we will highlight families for the fabulous teaching and learning being done at home.

MACS Teaching and Learning

Dr. Phillip Brown, Chief of Academics and Human Resources

Penny Willard, Director of Innovative Programming

351 Riverside Drive, Mount Airy, NC, USA pwillard@mtairy.k12.nc.us 336-786-8355 mtairy.k12.nc.us/