Mount Olive Parent Newsletter
February 2020
Note From Dr. Cutter
Dear parents,
Wow, what a wild and crazy semester it has been so far! We have had 6 and a half unexpected days off and none of them were due to snow. It's a true fact that we have only had one full 5 day week of school since the start of the second semester and it's mid-February. I want to publicly say thank you to our staff, students and you for being so flexible on our early dismissal day. It was a difficult day and tough decision for the district, but it was amazing to see how everyone came together to ensure our students went home safely. We were one of the only schools in Knox County to ensure our students received a hot lunch before they left for the early dismissal. Our staff pulled together to get all 200 plus students through the lunch line in twenty three minutes! In addition, your response to our early dismissal forms in January made our dismissal more seamless and those of you that pick up your students did a wonderful job of getting to school on very short notice. Overall, the day confirmed that our staff is incredibly caring and ready to ensure the safety of our kids no matter what comes up.
In other news, I want to give a special Shout Out to Esme and Tallulah for their 1st and 2nd place finishes in their respective age groups in the "Life in the Soil: Dig Deeper" state art contest! Esme and Tallulah will be recognized for their amazing accomplishments next week at an awards ceremony in Nashville!
We are looking forward to getting back in our routines so we can grow your students as much as possible this second semester. Be sure to see below for all of the exciting events we have coming up.
Sincerely,
Dr. Cutter
February Mount Olive Staff Member Spotlight-Mrs. Courtney Burgess
Important Information
2019-2020 Mount Olive Parent Survey Responses
I want to say a special thank you for your amazing response rate on the Mid-year Parent Survey. We had 145 surveys returned, which means around 65% of our parents responded! Here were some of the highlights from the survey:
- Parents are loving our new Families program and how it is building community with students from different grade levels. Some of you did mention that you were unfamiliar with the program. If you are unaware of the Families program, be sure to check out my note in the September and October newsletters or head to our Mount Olive YouTube Channel to learn more.
- Overall almost every survey question score was very positive and improved from last year. Parents were most happy with the welcoming and friendly school environment, the cleanliness of the building and our family engagement opportunities.
- In addition, parents are loving the student academic celebrations and the overall student clubs and opportunities we are providing. Overall, you love our amazing hard working staff and believe that the communication from the school is excellent.
- A few areas we need to work on improving are: providing more resources and ways for you to support your students academically at home, providing you with more opportunities to voice concerns and you would like us to grow our community partnerships.
- Also, you would like to see more teachers use the Remind or Class Dojo applications for communication and you would love to see more building updates as needed.
Here are some actions steps we are taking to address some of your comments and concerns:
- We will be starting an online anonymous parent comment box, so you can send in comments or concerns any time you like. The Online Parent Comment Box link will always be available at the bottom of the newsletter or you can click here to access the comment box.
- We will be working hard to share more parent resources with you so you know how to better help your students at home. We will be sharing these resources at the family nights and also on the website. We will also be spotlighting these resources in future newsletters and will be coming up with new ways to help educate you more on how you can help support your students at home.
- We have some amazing Community Partnerships, but based on your feedback we feel like we could do better about sharing with you about those great partnerships. We will continue to look for ways to spotlight those great partners on the website and in our newsletters in the future.
- We will be introducing a way to pay your school fees and field trip money online next year, so stay tuned.
- The PTO has agreed to attempt to broadcast their meetings via Facebook Live for those parents that can't make a meeting due to other engagements. Be sure to follow the Mount Olive PTO Facebook page, as next week they will be broadcasting live for the first time!
Keep an eye out for a paper copy survey from the district that will be going home soon. I know you are probably tired of completing surveys at this point, but this survey helps the district know how we are doing as a school compared to other schools and provides us with additional feedback. We encourage you take the time to complete this additional district survey sometime soon. The survey must be sent back to school by Friday, March, 6th.
Interim Reports Pushed Back a Week
PTO Penny War Fundraiser Extension
2nd Semester After School Clubs and Field Trips
Our students will be going on some amazing field trips the second semester due to the amazing work of our staff and because of your input on last year's survey. A big thank you to our instructional coach, Ghada Eid, for securing a Target and a private business grant to provide our 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders with an amazing opportunity to visit the beautiful Great Smoky Mountain National Park! Here is a list of all the exciting field trips this semester:
- Kindergarten-Zoo Field Trip
- 1st Grade-Great Smoky Mountains National Park Sugarlands Visitor Center
- 2nd Grade-Great Smoky Mountains National Park Sugarlands Visitor Center Field Trip & Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Very Young People's Concert
- 3rd Grade-Great Smoky Mountains National Park Metcalf Bottoms Field Trip
- 4th Grade-Tennessee Smokies Health & Safety Day
- 5th Grade-Biztown Field Trip
PTO & Sevier Heights Paint the Final Hall at MOES Day - 2/22
Stay Tuned Next Week To Hear About A Special Project We Will Be Announcing!
Mount Olive Reading Week 2/24-2/28
- Monday, 2/24: Team Up for Reading Day-Wear your favorite sports teams' jerseys or colors.
- Tuesday, 2/25: Reading Jogs the Mind-Wear workout stuff or sweatbands or whatever. This is also Drop Everything And Read Day (DEAR) day and we will have a school wide reading time from 2:15-2:30. K-1 will go to the library for a read aloud and grades 2-5 will go to the gym during this time for a silent reading.
- Wednesday, 2/26: Read a Shirt Day-Wear clothes with words on them.
- Thursday, 2/27: Reading Keeps you Warm-Wear cold weather gear: hat, gloves, scarves, etc.
- Friday, 2/28: Wild About Reading Day-Wear animal prints or clothes with animals on them. The Zoomobile will come do a program with small animals. The programs will be from 8:45-9:30 for grades K-2 and 9:45-10:30 for grades 3-5 in the gym.
Please contact your child's teacher if you would like to visit and be a guest reader during Reading Week.
Save The Date-3/12-MOES Math Family Game Night
Upcoming Events
District Learning Day - No School For Students
Monday, Feb 17, 2020, 07:30 AM
Mount Olive Elementary
February PTO Meeting (Moved Due To Flood Day)
Tuesday, Feb 18, 2020, 06:00 PM
Mount Olive Elementary Library
Q3 Interim Reports Sent Home (Moved Due To Flood & Flu Days)
Friday, Feb 21, 2020, 02:45 PM
Mount Olive Elementary
PTO/Sevier Heights Paint the Final Hall Line at MOES
Saturday, Feb 22, 2020, 08:00 AM
Mount Olive Elementary Primary Hall
Presidential Primary Election-No School
Tuesday, Mar 3, 2020, 07:30 AM
Mount Olive Elementary
March PTO Meeting
Tuesday, Mar 10, 2020, 06:00 PM
Mount Olive Elementary Library
Spring Pictures
Wednesday, Mar 11, 2020, 08:00 AM
Mount Olive Elementary
MOES Math Family Game Night
Thursday, Mar 12, 2020, 05:00 PM
Mount Olive Elementary
End of the Third 9 Weeks Grading Period
Friday, Mar 13, 2020, 02:45 PM
Mount Olive Elementary
About Us
Email: casey.cutter@knoxschools.org
Website: https://www.knoxschools.org/mountolivees
Location: 2507 Maryville Pike, Knoxville, TN, USA
Phone: 865-579-2170
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mountolivees/
Twitter: @MountOliveElem