A Message from our Principal: Welcome to School Year 2020-21!
This was sent via blast email 8/11. If you did not get this email, please contact the school to make sure you are on the email distribution list.
Greetings Monarch families,
I would like to welcome new families to our Monarch community and welcome back our returning families and students as we get ready to start the 2020-21 school year. Our teachers and staff have been thinking about and working on this school year all summer, and we are excited to soon begin!
As you know, per AACPS we will be in a virtual learning environment through January, and students and teachers will be engaged in daily live classes. This model will be more robust and academically rigorous than last spring as we work to ensure that our students grow in their grade level skills and abilities across content areas. To do this, we are committed to the Monarch Way, which is firmly grounded – whether virtual or face to face – in growing and supporting positive relationships among our community members, instruction / learning that is relevant, engaging, and meaningful, and the character development inherent in our Habits of Excellence. Our teachers worked this summer to develop virtual fieldwork, find experts that can join us on-line, and explore ways to engage students in a vibrant, collaborative learning community on-line.
As I explained before, as a public charter school, we get to make decisions about our curriculum and our instructional philosophy, but we also have to follow regulations and decisions from MSDE and AACPS. To that end, we continue to await information regarding student attendance and the parameters for a live teaching and learning schedule. When I receive that, I will quickly send you our plan so you can make the necessary arrangements in your family. I expect that information this week.
It is our aim to give every child a Monarch issued Chromebook for ease of access and to reduce the stress of sharing devices in the home. Hopefully, our order comes in on time, and we are able to start the year giving all children a Chromebook. If that is not possible due to production and delivery factors out of our control, we will contact families and create a need based list for distribution as they become available. To assess immediate needs, please complete the quick Monarch technology survey by Friday, August 14th. This survey is in lieu of the AACPS survey. AACPS does not provide Monarch with technology.
To ensure that our students have all that they need at home, all Monarch students in grades K-8 will receive a string bag with grade specific school supplies and instructional materials. Bags will include pens, paper, eraser, pencils, dry erase sleeve, dry erase marker, scissors, glue, headphones, clipboard, post it notes, and ruler, as well as content and grade specific materials such as Humanities workbooks, novels, math manipulatives, reading supplies, and math workbooks. It is important that every child picks up their specific grade level supply bag so they have what they need for virtual instruction on the first day of school. If you have several children in your home, please label each child’s materials and find a place to store them for daily access and use.
This would also be a good time to explore locations in your home / day care setting where your child can focus, keep their work organized, and complete tasks on and off of the computer. Eventually students will be back in school. You may want to take advantage of sales and tax free week to purchase a backpack, lunchbox, and other typical school needs to keep for when we transition.
Please put the following dates on your calendar:
Materials Pick Up
Date Time Last Names
September 2 8-11 a.m. A-E
September 2 12-3 p.m. F-L
September 3 8-11 a.m. M-R
September 3 12-3 p.m. S-Z
Join us for a virtual Back to School Night to meet our amazing Monarch staff!
Date: Thursday, September 3rd
Time: 3 repeating sessions at 4:00, 4:30, and 5:00 p.m.
Location: Back to School Night will be virtual through Google Meets. Meeting links for each teacher will be sent on September 1st.
We will send weekly updates throughout the remainder of the summer.
Wishing you all a restful August,
Kim Jakovics
Principal
