As we collectively enter this season of holidays, we want to wish you and your families all the best across these coming weeks. For all of us, December is a busy month both here on campus and beyond. We hope that this month's newsletter will provide you the updates needed to prepare for the month ahead and into January 2023. If not, please reach out us for the information that you and your family need to plan and prepare.

Below are updates pertaining to everything from winter weather to an announcement of Transitional Kindergarten, returning to Monroe in late January. Also, please remember that our Winter Break begins on Monday, December 19th. Our office will be closed over the break, but several of us will be on campus on non-holiday days. Should you need anything during the break, please feel free to reach our by email (addresses below).

School will resume for the new year on Tuesday, January 3rd, with a normal schedule as we dive into the final weeks of our first semester. Please note that our mid-year assessments will begin in January. These iReady-based diagnostics will help us understand the comprehensive growth of our Eagles since the fall diagnostics last September.

For additional information and updates, please continue reading.

December:

• Monday, December 5 - Fall Art Showcase (6:00pm in our Atrium for specific students that chose to participate)
• Tuesday, December 6 - PTA Member Meeting (6:30pm in our Library)
• Thursday, December 8 - PTA Dine Out at Mill Creek MOD Pizza
• Friday, December 9 - LIF Day (1:35pm Dismissal)
  
• Tuesday December 13 - November Student Awards Assemblies
• Friday, December 16 - Pajama Day Spirit Day
• Friday, December 16 - Winter Break Early Release (12:20pm Dismissal)
• Monday, December 19, through Monday, January 2 - Winter Break (No School)

and into the New Year of 2023:

• Tuesday, January 3 - School Resumes (normal schedule)
• Friday, January 6 - LIF Day (1:35pm Dismissal)
• Thursday, January 12 - Primary and Intermediate Awards Assemblies (Time TBD)
• Friday, January 13 - LIF Day (1:35pm Dismissal)
• Monday, January 16 - MLK Jr Day (No School)
• Friday, January 20 - LIF Day (1:35pm Dismissal)
• Friday, January 27 - LIF Day (1:35pm Dismissal)

While few things have been completely normal across the past three years, some factors have been more impacted by the COVID pandemic. School attendance is included as one of these heavily impacted areas across both the 2020/21 and 2021/22 school years. While "normal" can feel difficult to sustain, we are constantly working towards doing so during this 2022/23 school year. One of our many areas of focus is regular attendance, and while we do not want families to feel pressure to send their children to school when they are ill, we are stressing strict attendance when well.

Factors related to regular attendance point to obvious academic and social/emotional benefits when students attend school 95% (or more) of the time. Studies across the past forty years have consistently proven that attendance is a vital factor in short and long-term achievement. Furthermore, patterns of attendance, established as early as Kindergarten, are predictors of high school success (including both attendance and academic performance).

As a school, we know that illnesses, family emergencies, and other factors are unfortunate elements of life. We support you in navigating these and, as well, in attending school as often as possible. As noted, our goal for our Eagles is a 95% attendance mark each month (present, in-school 19 of 20 school days). As we partner together towards this goal, please reach out and let us know how we can support your family.

Our Essentials classes (Art, Music, Library, and Physical Education) have been busy with weekly opportunities for our Eagles. This December, please look for the following in each class. In addition, on Monday, 12/12, our Essentials team will host all of our Eagles in a school-wide winter craft as part of their normally scheduled time.

• Art: In our art classes, our primary students will be wrapping-up their color line rug projects while our upper graders will be focused on their city lights projects using oil pastels (see images below)
• Music: In our music classes, our students are studying the many elements of rhythm through the use of several different musical components including different percussion instruments. Our big December highlight is our upcoming cross-grade winter singalong.
• Library: As many of our students complete their study of electricity through the use of snap circuits, we will begin our Hour of Code as an introduction to computer science. We are also encouraging our Eagles to select good books to checkout in advance of our coming Winter Break.
• Physical Education: In PE, our Eagles will be building their eye-hand coordination through skill-specific exercises and team-based games.

This week's early winter weather was an exciting reminder that winter is still forthcoming. Snow can be expected in December, January, and/or February and as such, we were thankful not lose a full day due to a cancelation this week. Below are a few quick inclement weather reminders to keep in mind.

• Decisions related to school delays and/or closures can be made the night before or morning of, depending on the situation. "No announcement" means that our school will function on a normal schedule.
• Weather-related decisions include transportation-specific impacts, two-hour start delays, and school cancelations.
• Decisions are typically announced by 4:45am and posted on our Everett Public Schools website and our Everett Public Schools social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).
• Blackboard Connect calls are made to school families beginning at 5:00am.
• Except in extreme situations, weather-related decisions are on a day-by-day basis.

• If your child utilizes bus transportation to/from school, please be aware of our bus snow routes for a two-hour delay and bus snow routes for a regular start schedule.
• Unless unusually cold temperatures are a concern, our Eagles will still get their outdoor recess. However, we often close parts of our playground and utilize the covered portions during harder rain and snow.

We are thrilled to announce that Transitional Kindergarten is returning to Monroe in late January. Registration for this outstanding pre-kindergarten opportunity is open now, and we encourage any/all interested families to consider becoming an Eagle in the coming months.

To quality, students will need to be five years old by August 31, 2023 and scheduled to attend kindergarten that fall, living within the boundaries of our Everett Public Schools, not currently attending an early learning program, and demonstrate a social emotional and/or academic need for such a program.

Sign-ups officially began several weeks ago so if you know a soon-to-be five year old, please consider introducing their family to our Transitional Kindergarten program. For more information, please click the links below for additional Transitional Kindergarten information (English/Spanish).

Our Everett Public Schools newsletter for the month of December is linked below. These specifically crafted monthly communications are designed to connect with all of our families and provide information pertaining to all of our schools/programs. This month's newsletter includes updates pertaining to:

• Washington Colleges/Universities - Guaranteed Admissions Program
• Wintertime Family Resources
• Parent University Update
• and more!

Below is a snapshot of our Lost & Found as of this morning. Please scan to see if you can spot anything that may have gone missing across the recent weeks. Please know that we are happy to help your child reconnect with any items you may note in this week's picture.

As a reminder, our Lost & Found racks are rolled out to the front of our school each Friday. Please feel free to visit if an article of clothing has gone missing. Additionally, if at anytime you would like to check our Lost & Found (located near the playground entry/exit), please stop by our office at your convenience. Thank you for your efforts in helping currently lost items return home again.

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On behalf of our entire team here at Monroe, we wish you and your family a wonderful Holiday Season. We appreciate your time and thank you for the honor of serving you and your child here at Monroe.

Win the Day, Eagles!

Tyler & Catarino

Principal & Assistant Principal

Monroe Elementary School

tream@everettsd.org - crodriguez@everettsd.org

Phone: 425-385-7300

Fax 425-385-7302

Below are links to previous editions of our MOE News:

• November 1, 2022: English Version - Spanish Version
• October 1, 2022: English Version - Spanish Version
• September 1, 2022: English Version - Spanish Version
• August 26, 2022: English Version - Spanish Version
• Mid-August Update: English Version - Spanish Version
• Mid-July Update: English Version - Spanish Version
• MOE News editions from the 2021/2022 School Year
  
• Yearend School Letter