Mason Gazette
2017-18 School Theme: Many Hands, One Mason!!
Dear Families,
Happy Monday and welcome to the start of the 2017-18 school year. Our entire staff are excited to see you and your child(ren) September 5th at 8:20 am for the first day of school (don't forget that our first day is a full day of school this year). Our theme this year is Many Hands; One Mason. We are a team and although we all come from different parts of the world and have had different experiences in life, we are a family. We are in this together and we celebrate the uniqueness that every child in our community brings with them to school everyday.
Please consider joining us for our PTO sponsored Ice Cream Social Thursday, August 31st from 4-6 pm on the Mason Playground. This is a great opportunity for your child to meet some new friends before school begins. Parents, this is also a great opportunity to learn more about how you can be involved in our PTO. We are looking to have every parent involved in some shape or form this year. From 5-6 pm Kindergartners and Young 5's are welcome to take a tour of their new classroom, meet the teacher and bring in all their school supplies. We also have new family orientation from 6-7 pm. Thanks in advance for your support!
We extending a warm welcome to all our new staff members joining our family this school year. While Mrs. Cole (Kindergarten) and Mrs. Dzapo (Young 5's) will be taking a leave of absence until further notice we are very excited to welcome Ms. DeSandre (Kindergarten long term sub) and Ms. Block (Young 5's long term sub) to our Mason Family. With Ms. Rheaume becoming the new Defer Principal (Way to go Ms. Rheaume!!!) and Mr. Francis moving up to 5th grade this year, we also welcome Mr. Rohde to the Mason Community as our new 4th grade teacher. Welcome to Mason Ms. Block, Ms. DeSandre and Mr. Rohde. Thanks for being a part of our awesome family!
To say we are excited for the school year to begin would be an understatement. We are also passionate about partnering with you to ensure your child's social, emotional and academic needs are consistently met at Mason. Please know that we are team and your concerns are our concerns. We are looking forward to another great year!
Sincerely,
Roy Bishop, Jr.
Be a Leader, Be a Learner and Be Kind....
Registration Required!
Have you completed the annual registration for your child(ren)? Registration is required for all students prior to the first day of school. If you have already completed registration, thank you! If you have not registered please do so this week! You can access registration from the Mason website "Fall 2017 Pre-Registration" your student id and birthdate 00/00/0000 is required to login. As always, contact information and email addresses are updated in the MiStar Parent Portal. Keeping contact phone numbers and email addresses updated in the MiStar Parent Portal is critical for emergencies, district notices, and school closings. Please call the office if you have any questions. Thank you for your continued support.
Remind Text Messaging System at Mason-
Do you want to hear about what is happening at Mason before your friend tells you or before you see it on social media? We are asking all families to subscribe to our text messaging service for everything Mason related. Subscribe immediately by texting the message @f69f4d to 81010 from your mobile device. Feel free to come into the office if you need help with this process.
Parking Lot Changes-
We have restructured where parents and teachers are able to park in our parking lot. All the parking spots in the center row and behind the school are now reserved for staff members. Please park in the spots that say visitor parking which are located on your immediate right (spots closest to the building) when you turn into the Mason parking lot and by the sidewalk closest to the baseball diamond. Please remember you can not park in the drop off zone during Morning Drop off ONLY during PM pickup is that acceptable.
Mason Parking Lot Rules for Student Drop Off and Pick Up
Parents/families… We need your help in the Mason parking lot! Mason is committed to maintaining a policy of safety and respect regarding transportation and parking. The following guidelines have been established to promote this policy. Please read this carefully as you participate in dropping off and picking your child up from school in the near future. Thanks for your support in helping keep our parking lot safe and accident free.
Parent/Driver Expectations:
Students that are being driven to school should be dropped off curbside (sidewalk) in the driveway circle. To assist with the flow of traffic, please pull your car forward as far as possible in the circle. We do not want any students walking across lanes of traffic or through the parking lot. Please do not leave any vehicles unattended in the circle. If you need to come in the building, please find a parking spot that isn’t numbered or park on Anita or Charlevoix St.
You MUST obey all traffic laws on the streets surrounding the school at ALL times. We will be enlisting the help of law enforcement throughout the year. Parking lot speed is 5 MPH.
Understandably, mornings and afternoons can be extremely hectic as we are all rushing to get to many different places. However, our students’ safety has to be our first priority. Therefore, please take time and drive slowly through our parking lot. Your cooperation with these basic safety rules is greatly appreciated.
Again, our goal is to make sure that that we create a safe environment for all students and families. Thank you very much for your support and cooperation.
Top 9 Tips for a successful school year from the Mason Office
1. Check your child's homework folder nightly.
2. Visit the Mason website for access to important calendar dates, and the Mason Gazette (our newsletter). Twitter page (@masonelemgp) and PTO Facebook page for valuable information.
3. To ensure a healthy school year, please remind your child not to share food/snacks due to potential allergies. Also don't share hats, combs or hair accessories with friends.
5. Have a daily plan for timely arrival and departures from school.
6. Show patience and kindness in the parking lot, especially with inclement weather. As with all our elementary schools, we have more cars than parking spaces. Please remember that you should not be parking in the drop off lane and getting out to walk your child into school. Please find a parking spot that is not numbered in the Mason parking lot or park on Anita Ave or Charlevoix St. when possible.
7. Join us in building a positive partnership! It takes all of us working together to create the learning environment for your child(ren) that leads to the best school year ever.
8. Remember that we have a late start every Monday and students will be allowed to enter the building at 9:05 AM.
9. Have fun!! Learning is Fun!
Upcoming Events:
Dinner Conversation Topics for the week:
What are you most excited about this school year?
What is one thing you would like your teacher to know about you?
What is our drop off plan for the first day of school?
Where should we meet each other after school every day?
Stay Informed by …
-regularly checking our Mason Elementary School webpage
-signing up for for Mason Elementary Community Remind text messages by texting the message @f69f4d to 81010 from your mobile device
-receiving and reading Mr. Bishop’s Weekly Update email
-following us on Twitter (@masonelemgp) and FaceBook (@masonparents)
Spirit Wear
We have spirit wear this year at Mason! Please take a look at the order form attached to our Mason website for size, color and style options. We would love to have all of our families purchase spirit items if possible. We will be having a lot of spirit days at Mason this year and students will wear their spirit wear when they go on field trips as well!
Parent Back to School Night
Monday, September 11th is Parent Back to School Night at Mason. We will start promptly at 6:30 PM in the gym with a message from Mr. Bishop followed by teacher presentations at 7 and 7: 30 PM. We have two sessions available for each teacher just in case you can’t make the first one or if you have multiple students at Mason. Thanks for coming! We would love to see all our parents there! Let’s make this the biggest Back to School Night turnout ever!
School Hours
Are located on our Mason webpage or click here:
http://gpschools.schoolwires.net/Domain/127
Parents/Visitors at Mason
For the safety of all of our students, all parents and visitors must go directly to the office to sign in and obtain a visitor’s pass. This pass must be worn and visible at all times while in the building.
September’s Positive Behavior Intervention Support (PBIS) Focus
Hallway Behavior- We are working extremely hard at making sure we are conducting ourselves in a positive way in the hallway. Our goal is to make sure we are keeping our school as safe as possible and part of that is making sure we understand the expectations for the hallway. Please ask your child to tell you what they are expected to do in the hallways of Mason.
ABCD Schedule
Attached is our ABCD schedule for the entire year. This is very important as it relates to the specials students have on a daily basis. http://bit.ly/2ckXvXs
DOCTOR NOTE? ATTENDANCE UPDATE
The GPPSS has modified attendance codes for our district to keep consistent records at all schools. What's important for you to know?
Medical appointments now require a doctor's note for an excused absence.
Tardies are now split out in six minutes increments, giving a better picture of our students arriving late.
Attendance is a serious matter. We need to know where your child is when they do not show up for regular school hours. Please use the attendance line 313-432-4401 to report an absence prior to 9:00 a.m.
Thank you for your cooperation!
As always, thanks for taking the time to read our Mason Weekly Update. Please feel free to contact the main office if you have important information that you would like to see include in our next Update. Have a great week!
Mason Elementary School
Website: https://mi01000971.schoolwires.net/Page/8518
Phone: 313-432-4400
Twitter: @MasonelmGP