February greetings to you and your families! These past few days have provided a reminder that we are still in the midst of winter, but perhaps tomorrow's Groundhog Day will produce a prediction of an early spring. For now, we are squarely focused on ending this first semester well and starting strong as we enter the second half of our school year. As a reminder, first semester progress reports will be sent home on Friday, February 17th.

Additional dates for February and beyond are listed below. This includes our school-wide celebration of Black History Month which began today with the honoring of Mae Jemison. Additionally, our February School Spirit Day is this coming Friday (2/3) and themed as "Warm & Fuzzy Day." To celebrate, we've challenged our Eagles to wear their favorite socks, hats, scarves, or whatever else comes to mind when they think "warm & fuzzy." Like all school spirit days, participation is completely optional and meant only for fun.

Please keep reading for additional upcoming dates, information and updates.

February:

• Friday, February 3 - School Spirit Day (Warm & Fuzzy Day)
• Monday, February 6 - (No School) Teacher Workday
• Wednesday, February 8 - Class Picture Day

• Thursday, February 9 - Awards Assemblies (Primary at 9:00 am/Intermediate at 2:20 pm)

• Friday, February 10 - LIF Day (1:35 pm Dismissal)
• Friday, February 10 - PTA Skate Night (Lynnwood Bowl & Skate 5:00 - 7:00 pm)
• Friday, February 17 - LIF Day (1:35 pm Dismissal)

• Monday, February 20 and Tuesday, February 21 - (No School) Mid-Winter Break
• Friday, February 24 - LIF Day (1:35 pm Dismissal)
  

Next Month & Other Dates to Note:

• 3/3 - School Spirit Day (Colorful Day)
  
• 3/24 - 12:20 pm Dismissal Day

• 3/24 - PTA Glow Dance

• 3/27 - 3/31 - Parent/Teacher Conference Week (12:20 pm Dismissal)

• 4/3 - 4/7 - Spring Break (No School)

Today, February 1st, marks the beginning of Black History Month and a needed, collective opportunity to share, learn, and grow as we celebrate together. Black history is our nation’s history and should not be limited to a specific month or taught, learned, or celebrated in isolation. As such, we continue to strive to ensure that we, as a school community, honor the achievements, innovations, and accomplishments of African Americans, locally and across our nation, in every regard.

Our Eagles will learn, share, and celebrate together both in their classrooms and through schoolwide opportunities like our daily announcements. For example, we are celebrating engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut Mae Carol Jemison this week. We invite you and your family to join us as we honor Black History Month throughout February and across 2023 together. Please continue to check our Monroe Twitter account across the coming weeks for updates related to our collective opportunities.

Last month, our district formally began the process for considering and crafting the budget for our forthcoming 2023/24 school year. This will not be an easy deliverable as our Everett Public Schools will need to engage a potential $30 to $40 million deficit (or 7% to 10% of our operating budget). This challenge requires insight and feedback, and we thank everyone who took part in the recent budget survey. Additionally, this year's process will require authentic collaboration and support. To be clear, our district has outlined the below commitments to guide decisions related to this forthcoming budget:

• We will preserve items and services that directly affect student learning to the greatest extent possible.

• We will be guided by prioritizing Tier 1 instruction led by the Strategic Plan.

• We will consider regulatory, legal and contractual requirements as well as space needs.

• We will consider consolidating and reorganizing to increase efficiencies.

District leaders are doing an outstanding job of communicating where we are in this budget process. Please continue to look for future updates across the coming weeks and months. Additionally, district leaders have created a budget-specific webpage with additional, related information - www.everettsd.org/Page/41685.

We are thrilled to welcome the class of 2036 this coming fall! If your child will be five years old by August 31, 2023, they are eligible to to join our amazing kindergarten here at Monroe! Registration opens next month and beginning on March 6th, you can complete your child’s online enrollment for kindergarten. An easy and quick process is outlined and linked below including a step-by-step parent walkthrough video available in multiple languages on our website - www.everettsd.org/kindergartenenrollment.

We also invite you to enroll in person at our Monroe office (we'd love to see you!). Enrolling in March will ensure that you will receive invitations to our springtime kindergarten events and participation in this summer's Everett Ready program. Everett Ready is a transitional kindergarten program offered for one week in August to all enrolled kindergarteners. Additionally, you'll want to mark Thursday, May 25th, on your calendar as we will be hosting our Kindergarten Information Night that evening.

Additionally, a Kindergarten Enrollment - Kick-Off Webinar will be held on Thursday, February 23, 2023, from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. Please join us to meet the Superintendent and learn about our Kindergarten in Everett Public Schools. Information with a link to the webinar is available on our website https://www.everettsd.org/monroees.

Our annual surveys are forthcoming and, as we have done previously, will include both family and student surveys. Third, fourth, and fifth graders will be engaging in their surveys in March. In addition, family surveys are expected to go live at the same time. For additional information, please see the below attached letters. A letter specific to the forthcoming family survey will be communicated in mid-February.

Our Everett Public Schools newsletter for February is linked/attached below. This specifically crafted monthly communication is 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:

• Kindergarten Registration
• Calendar Update
• High School and Middle School Summer Academy
  
• Crosswalk Safety Reminder
  
• National School Counseling Week, 2023
  
• Special Education Update

Below are snapshots of our Lost & Found as of this week. Please scan the below images to see if you can spot anything that may have gone missing. As our winter temperatures continue, we have experienced a rise in lost jackets, hats, and gloves. If you spot anything below, we would be happy to facilitate a reunification with your child and their lost item of clothing.

Additionally, 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. 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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Thank you for taking the time to read our February edition of MOE News. We value and appreciate your time, involvement, and partnership. On behalf of our entire Monroe team, please know that we are honored to serve you and your family.

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:

• January 2023: English Version - Spanish Version
• December 2022: English Version - Spanish version
• November 2022: English Version - Spanish Version
• October 2022: English Version - Spanish Version
• September 2022: English Version - Spanish Version
• Late-August Update: 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