MTE Summer Update/Save the Dates
Happy Summer!
June 25, 2019
Dear Mission Trail Families,
I hope this update finds you and your family enjoying the summer and doing well.
I do apologize in advance for the length of this email. This message is to bring you up-to-date on the happenings at Mission Trail and provide some important information as we prepare for the start of the 2019-2020 school year. The upcoming fifth grade class selected the theme, “We are Family!” for the year. This works well with our school family and classroom family focus of the last year. It also supports our continued work in the upcoming year. So to our new families, “Welcome to the MTE Family!”
Email will continue to be our primary means of communication. I will typically send two community emails each week. I will include important calendar information and building tidbits. Please be certain to keep your email address current with our office. We do recognize that you get many emails each day and we will try to keep school emails to a minimum. We also have an MTE Twitter account where photos of building happenings are shared. You can follow us @MTEBulldogs if you are interested.
Once again, summer has been a busy time at Mission Trail. This year, our school hosted the district summer school “Step Up” program. It was great to have kids in the building.
Our building custodians have been working throughout the summer on maintenance and deep cleaning our building. We deeply appreciate the district’s continued attention to our wonderful building and the community support. The district facilities department replaced the concrete on our circle drive and I am very pleased with the result!
Our teachers also have been very busy. As teachers, our continued learning is critical to the success of our students. Our building leadership team attended the district leadership conference, and we focused on Unconscious Bias and on creating a school blueprint for staff learning. At this conference, our team again set our building goals and planned our professional development for our school year. One team attended a conference on Problem Based Learning and will share their learning with our teams. Other teachers attended a technology conference, several attended a mathematical thinking institute, attended an online course called Bold School, and many staff met and planned for the school year. I hope all of our team took time away from school and focused on their families. Our staff is truly exemplary!
We do have some staffing changes at Mission Trail this year. I am excited for you to meet them!
New staff to highlight –
Mrs. Mercer joins us and will be teaching first grade. She has seventeen years’ experience teaching grades kindergarten/first grade in the private sector. She loves the first grade classroom and the joy first-graders bring to learning. We are very excited to have her join our team.
Ms. Regier will also be teaching first grade. She has seven years of experience in the first and second grade classrooms. She most recently taught at Oak Hill Elementary. She is trained in project based learning and also delights in the young learners. We are so excited she agreed to join Mission Trail!
Mrs. Johnson was one of seven student teachers last year at Mission Trail. Mrs. Johnson worked with Mrs. Richardson and we were delighted to select her as our new second grade teacher. She did a wonderful job in the classroom and the second grade teachers are very excited to have her offer her passion to their team.
Our current list of grade level teachers for the 2019-2020 school year:
- Kindergarten: Ms. Lohmann, Ms. Meier, Mrs. Richardson, and Ms. Sullivan
- First Grade: Mrs. Buescher, Mrs. Mercer, Ms. Regier
- Second Grade: Ms. Bode, Mrs. Johnson and Mrs. Stuck
- Third Grade: Mrs. Bartlett, Mrs. McCormick, Mrs. Jones
- Fourth Grade: Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Pattison, Mrs. Pratt
- Fifth Grade: Mrs. Farnsworth, Mrs. Hammond, Mrs. North
We have also added an Intensive Center Based Classroom at Mission Trail.
Mrs. Hachinsky will be the classroom teacher for this new room. She has a multitude of experience as a parent of a child with special needs in addition to working in a special education classroom. We welcome Mrs. Hachinsky and her new team! This room will be located in A7. This is where the Spanish room was this year. Spanish will be relocated into C9.
As you continue to enjoy summer, please remember to have your child/children take time to read and practice math facts. Research is clear that practicing over the summer prevents summer learning loss and improves learning! It is also a great time to power down and play outside! Limiting technology can have benefits for your child. Families often ask what they can to help students succeed in school. Playing board games together, playing cards, and spending time outdoors together will strengthen the skills needed in the classroom. It is not too late to start and may help your child feel most confident as he or she transitions back to school.
As we continue our journey together, please remember that each family is an important part of our Mission Trail team, and we need your support to provide the best educational experience possible for each and every student. We invite you to take advantage of the many opportunities to be involved here at school. Your Mission Trail PTO is a great way to get involved and make a difference for each and every child. I encourage all families to join PTO and support our students. Together, we will continue to focus on life-long learning, working together, character development and the importance of high expectations. We could not do all we do without the continued support of our PTO. Our flexible seating, OSMOs, DASH/DOT robots, walkie-talkies, bottle filler drinking fountains, playground, classroom microphones, SMARTboards, Broadcast Center, library soft seating, guest speakers, our technology programs/platforms, yearly author visits, and many more opportunities are provided because of funding from our PTO. The first class education is possible because of the involvement from our parents. Our students deserve the best from each of us, and I am very appreciative of the community’s commitment to our vision!
Thank you to everyone who has registered and paid fees online through your ParentVue account. You may still register and pay fees through the online account if you have not yet done so.
If you need to contact the office, the office reopens on July, 29, 2019. Our Mission Trail team will be away from email before this date.
We are working to ensure this is another successful school year at Mission Trail!
As always, please contact me with any questions, concerns or comments you have. You will find a timeline of important dates below. We hope this is helpful as you plan the return to school.
“It’s a great day to be a BULLDOG!”
Sincerely,
Debbie Bond
#bulldogstrong
MTE - We are family!
August 2019 Important Dates/Events
- Registration- If you have not already done so, please pay your $100 Learning Resource and $15 Instructional Technology Fee plus the grade appropriate student activity fee. We are unable to place students on class lists until these fees are paid. July 31, 2019 is designated as walk-in registration date from 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
- Class Lists
You will receive an email on Tuesday, Aug. 13, around 4 p.m. from your child’s teacher welcoming them to school.
- Sneak a Peek Night
Please plan to come to Sneak-a-Peek Night on Tuesday, Aug. 13 from 4-5:30 p.m.
*Families may meet the teachers and go into the classrooms.
*Our PTO will be on site with a variety of opportunities. More info to come.
* Students in grades 1-5 should bring their labeled school supplies and leave them in their classroom. You will be able to help your child put these away during this visit.
*Kindergarten students should come to Sneak-a-Peek Night but wait to bring all school supplies their first day “orientation” visit on August 15th.
- First Day of School
The first day of school is Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019.
School hours are from 8:35 a.m.-3:40 p.m. for grades 1-5
Kindergarten is varied schedule - see below
- Kindergarten families will receive a letter with special information about the first day of school. It should arrive via email on July 1, 2019. Please call the office if you are a kindergarten or preschool parent and did not receive the letter about “Orientation Day” on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019.
- Back to School Night
Back to School Night is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 29, 2019.
This is an evening intended for parents only. Please mark your calendar and plan
to attend. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet the staff, learn about the classroom curriculum and procedures, sign up for volunteer opportunities and receive the MTE Parent/Student Handbook. You will receive an additional email with more information about this night.
The schedule for the evening is as follows:
5:00-5:45 - session 1
6:00-6:45 – session 2