Dragon Blast
Mary C. Howse Elementary School
From the Principal
Dear MCH Parents:
The end is here - the 2018-19 school year has come to an end. Please take the time to reflect on all of the positives in your lives and the amazing growth in your children. I am very blessed to have been a part of it all!.
Please read through our last issue - there are many wonderful comments in this issue - thank you to those who took the time to reach out. In a world where it seems so easy to complain or find the "wrong" in everything, we continue as a MCH staff and parent community to find the glows and grows!
My door (and e-mail) is always open to feel free to reach out at any time. Also, let your children know they can e-mail me this summer if they just want to share something exciting!
Take care and See you all in August. As usual, I will send Friday updates at the end of July to help everyone prepare for the 19-20 school year.
Dr. Cat
Announcements and Reminders
- Car line ENDS at 8:55 AM this year. Please make every effort to get your child to school before then. We have seen such an improvement thus far.
12:10 Dismissal - Half Days June 12th, 13th & 14th.
June 14th - last day of school!!
Note from Mrs. Pettigrew
I just want to thank all the Band parents and Band students I have had the privilege to teach. Mary C is a wonderful school and I’m so glad our lives touched. You have made a difference in my life, and I hope I have made a difference in yours. I hope you will always make time to enjoy music, whether it’s singing your favorite song at the top of your lungs, alone or with friends; playing the instrument of your choice; or dancing until your legs feel like jelly….remember that music is what you make it. Thank you for making beautiful music with me!
Mrs. Pettigrew
FROM THE NURSES OFFICE
Parents of new students and incoming 3rd graders. Please keep in mind that dental and physical examinations as well as immunizations are required upon original entry into school and an additional dental exam is required in 3rd grade. By state law evidence of completed immunizations must be provided to the school nurse by the 5th day of the new school year (September 4th, 2019). All dental and physical exams must be forwarded to the school nurse by October 29th, 2019. These reports are required by PA state law and WCASD School Board policy. If the reports are not received within the identified timeframe, you child will be excluded from school. If you have any questions, please call the MCH Nurses Office at 484-266-1306. Thank you.
KINDERGARTEN KICKSTART!
Are you looking for a summer camp opportunity for your preschooler? WCASD has partnered with Chester County Night School to offer a one week or two week camp called Kindergarten Kickstart for students who will enter kindergarten this fall.
The program will be taught by WCASD teachers and aims to provide children with a smooth and positive transition to school. It will be held at Penn Wood Elementary School from July 8-19. Choose a morning or afternoon three-hour session.
A description of the CHECK program can be found at www.chestercountynightschool.org. You can register there, too! If you have a 1st or 2nd grade child, check out the Reader’s or Writer’s Workshop on the same Chester County Night School website.
For more information, see the attached poster. Poster.pdf
SUMMER ENRICHMENT OPPORTUNITIES!
The West Chester Area School District is pleased to announce a partnership with the Chester County Night School to offer more than 20 summer enrichment opportunities for students. Please take a moment to review the variety of activities offered for one to two weeks this July. All classes are taught by certified WCASD teachers in our schools.
- What: Exciting, fun, and affordable summer classes covering lots of subjects!
- Where: Most classes are at Rustin High School. Some classes for younger students are at Penn Wood Elementary.
- When: July 8-19 (one week and two week sessions available)
- Who: Any student from pre-school to high school from any school. This is NOT restricted to WCASD students. Parochial, private, and students from other districts are more than welcome.Taught by WCASD certified teachers.
- How: For class descriptions and to register, go to: https://chestercountynightschool.org/ShowSchedule.awp?&Mode=GROUP&Group=CHECK&Title=Kids%27+Summer+Camp+Enrichment+(CHECK)
If your child is taking a morning and an afternoon class, inquire about lunch bunch opportunities by contacting Leslie@chestercountynightschool.org.
If you have questions about the classes or teachers, contact Linda Mangold at lmangold@wcasd.net.
Cooking
Orchestra – Elem & Middle
Band – Elem & Middle
A Cappella Singing
Robotics & Coding
Readers & Writers Workshop
Kindergarten Kickstart
Art
Irish Dance
POSTIVE PRAISE
Dear Mrs. Skalski - We would like to thank you for being an excellent teacher to our son this year. He really enjoyed having you as his first grade teacher and was eager to go to school!
Thank you for your updates, pictures, videos and communications on see saw. I felt quite connected with the classroom and enjoyed seeing what they were learning. I appreciate all of the extra challenges that you provided to him and the other kids. He particularly enjoyed the wall building exercise, math challenges and book writing. Before bed, we have been reading all the writing pieces he has brought home this week.
I appreciate your efforts and dedication to teaching and giving our son such a good foundation! Now that he has a sister entering High School; we understand how important early education can be. We are lucky to have had you as his first grade teacher.
Enjoy your summer and we look forward to seeing you next year.
I am not even sure how to put into words to describe the magnitude of how much we loved having Miss. Forbes this year. She was 100% born to teach. We feel so lucky to have had her this year. our daughter is so sad that school is coming to an end and that she will have to say goodbye to her. In a world with so much ugly Miss. Forbes has managed to have EVERY day a ray of sunshine and love. She has taught our daughter about compassion, caring and acceptance at the same time as teaching her academics. She has fallen in love with yoga and by the way all these school lessons have carried over into our house and to our son. I cannot put into words how you have blessed us with placing our daughter in Miss. Forbes class......almost thinking about going for a third child just so we can get her again....don't think my husband would go for that.
Since no words can ever describe how much she means to us I have attached an apple that a student made in the string of "why I love Miss. Forbes" for teacher appreciation. There were many apples that described her kindness and intelligence but the attached one is my absolute fav!
Have a great summer!
Hello Ms. Greaves and Dr. Cat,
I would like to remind you that tomorrow Wednesday will be my daughter's last kindergarten day, as she will travel the following day. We would very much like to forward our greatest gratitude for all the things you did for our daughter. She has grown and learned a lot this year because of all of you at MCH working together as a team to help her exceed. She will continue to work hard and study during summer to prepare her for the 1st grade challenges. If there is any work unfinished during this semester, please send it with her and we will make sure she covers it.
Thank you and have a wonderful summer !!
Dear WCASD Administrators,
We wanted to take a moment to express just how blessed WCASD and MCH is to have such a wonderful teacher like Ms. Forbes!
We cannot share enough about what an absolutely incredible experience our son has had this year in second grade!!! Ms. Forbes was simply AMAZING for HIM!!! He can be sensitive at times, but her classroom environment, positive energy, use of yoga, and encouragement helped build his confidence even stronger as well as helped him improve socially, emotionally, and academically this year!! We are not sure if we can ever match the absolutely outstanding teacher he had this year.
Our daughter was extremely anxious before the school year started, therefore we reached out to her soon to be 5th grade teacher to let her know. Mrs. Powers immediately responded with a suggestion to have our daughter go to Sneak-a-peek a little early. She was so wonderful to welcome and quickly built a rapport with her. She even had her leave & then return so no one would know she had been there early for sneak-a-peek. This type of classroom environment, connection, and encouragement continued throughout the year and helped build her confidence even stronger! Mrs. Powers helped her improve socially, emotionally, and academically while preparing her for the transition to middle school!! We cannot thank Mrs. Powers enough for being an absolutely outstanding teacher for our daughter this year.
We wanted to take this opportunity to express just how blessed WCASD and MCH is to have such a wonderful teacher like Mrs. Powers!
Dr. Catrambone,
Feeling as grateful as I did yesterday, reliving those MCH memories at my senior walk through had to be the highlight of my year!
I wanted to personally thank you so much for creating the safe, secure and welcoming environment for my senior class and I, right back where it all started. Seeing all of the hard working, dedicated and kind hearted staff members share hugs, memories and an applause spoke words for how amazing Mary C. Howse truly is. I’m so blessed to have been able to attend the best elementary school ever, I mean that. My future plans are to become a teacher at a primary school, so that I can impact young children the way you all, the entire MCH community, helped me grow as a better student and person. With that being said, it’s a dream of mine to work for such a great school like MCH someday.
Wishing you good luck with the rest of your school year, and a big Thank You from all of us Henderson seniors (especially me). Beyond appreciative of you, Dr. Catrambone + MCH!
I didn’t get a chance to tell you in the mass exodus of field day, but I noticed how AWESOME the kids were with their teammates who were the “slow turtles” today. ;) One was in Mr. Benfield’s class, and I’m not sure whose class the other was in...but both boys were on the red teams. I was really impressed how those kids did not get frustrated with their teammate’s very slow pace even in the environment of “competition”, but still tried to “tag” them and kept up their own enthusiasm.
If you would not mind passing this along to their teachers, perhaps they would want to share with their kiddos. I know these boys have been their classmates all year, but it was great to see their kindness and tolerance - at least at our cup stacking station!!!!
Hey Dr. Cat!
With it being teacher appreciation week, I thought now would be a good time to reach out and praise a few staff members at MCH. It’s so easy to complain, but I want it to be known how thankful I am.
As you’re aware, my daughter received an IEP this year. There has been a team of strong, positive educators behind her and I’m starting to notice the difference!
In no particular order...Ms. Dougherty has made her classroom a safe space for my daughter. I feel like she has been an extension of me in that I know she encourages and offers whatever support she needs while she’s at school. Ms. Dougherty has kept me informed and up to date, even emailing me when my daughter started speaking up more in class. She gives her dragon dollars for participating and speaking nice and loud.
Dr. Stanton! What can I say...she is so accepting and empowering. She’s always saying things like “girl power,” or “purple power” to my daughter. When I see her at school she always offers a hug.
Mrs. Watson...it takes a special person to be a teacher and it takes an even more patient and caring person to be a special ed teacher. From the moment I met her, I knew my daughter would feel comfortable with her. She is on top of her game!
Everyone else on the team...Mrs. Orth, OT, and all the aides. I notice everyone that helps out makes sure to say an enthusiastic “Hi" when they see her, and slowly she is responding...even if she waves or smiles, that’s an improvement.
Oh and I can’t forget Mrs. Gorrie! Although our daughter doesn’t see her anymore, she still wishes she did.
We wanted to take a moment to thank you for the wonderful experience we had tonight at the Reading Olympics.
It takes a great deal of time and energy to help the students prepare and feel confident. It was absolutely fantastic watching them shine as they celebrated reading!!!
Thank you for everything you do each and every day at MCH for our children!
Hi Dr. Cat,
This isn't a questions... but I just wanted to say how much I love Mrs. Hower's use of SeeSaw! It's such a fantastic way to be connected and to see a slice of their life in the classroom!!
Dr. Cat - LOVE these emails, thank you for being so real and emphasizing to the kids that we are all imperfect and make mistakes. It’s a good reminder to me as well, because I’m a mess. :) Have a great summer!!
Parent Portal
Use the link below to access the parent portal page:
http://home.wcasd.net/pages/West_Chester_Area_SD/ForParents/Parent_Portal
On the page, there is written documentation (English and Spanish,) as well as videos (English only) that walk parents through how to set up your parent portal account, how to access grades and set alerts, how to view the online report card, how to check attendance, etc. There is even an app for your phone if you prefer.
Please call the office for your child’s user name and password if you do not have the information that was provided to you at the beginning of the school year.
Parent Resources
Community Bulletin Board:
For activities offered around West Chester, see:
http://home.wcasd.net/pages/West_Chester_Area_SD/Community_Bulletin_Board/Other
Articles to consider:
Should we still give grades?
Are letter grades failing our students?
- http://neatoday.org/2015/08/19/are-letter-grades-failing-our-students/
Allowing students redos and retakes: http://wp.vcu.edu/hhughesdecatur/files/2012/08/Wormeli_Redos-and-Retakes-.pdf
Our Mary C. Howse School Pledge
I pledge
To be the best that I can be
Respect myself and others
Make safe choices
And take responsibility
For my learning and behavior
Contact and Additional Information
Email: scatrambone@wcasd.net
Website: http://www.edline.net/pages/mary_c__howse_elementary_schoo
Location: 641 West Boot Road, West Chester, PA, United States
Phone: 484-266-1302
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mchpto/
Twitter: @SteveCat19