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Administrator's Corner

Principal Gonyaw scooping ice cream outside at MCS
Shawn Gonyaw

Shawn Gonyaw

Principal
Greg Bagnato

Greg Bagnato

Associate Principal

Archived Posts

Welcome to the Administrator's Corner. Shawn Gonyaw, Principal of Marion Cross School, and Greg Bagnato, Student Services Coordinator will post their weekly messages here. The intent is to keep you updated on important topics that are happening at school.

These posts can also be found in the weekly Who's Wise Words newsletter, which we highly encourage you to read. We hope you find all this information helpful, informative and fun.  We encourage you to reach out to us with questions and comments.

Regards,
Shawn and Greg


 

Most Recent Post:

Week of March 4 - 8

Important Dates

Friday, March 8 - BINGO night hosted by the PTO, MCS Multi, 6:00 - 8:00pm
Monday, March 11 - Teacher In-Service, No School For Students
Pi Day (Thursday, March 14) - Family Math Night, 5:30 to 6:30pm, MCS Gym
Friday, March 15 - Parent/Teacher Conferences, No School For Students
Friday, March 22 - PTO Mudstop, 6:00pm - 8:00pm, MCS Gym
Thursday, April 4 - Chorus Concert, 6pm - 7:00pm, Norwich Congregational Church
Monday, April 8 - Friday, April 12 - April Vacation, No School
Monday, May 6 - Teacher In-Service - No School
Monday, May 6 - Pre-K AND Kindergarten Orientation, time TBA
Thursday, May 23 - Mayfest, 1:30pm - 3:00pm

Message from the Principal

Thank You

On behalf of the MCS staff, I would like to send out a heartfelt thank you to Norwich voters for supporting the MCS budget.  Even in a year when school funding has been a mess and the impact will raise property taxes, the school budget was overwhelmingly approved.  Please know that your support of our school is much appreciated.  We will now move forward with planning for next school year knowing that we have the resources needed to maintain our excellent program for all students.

students in the stream, with staff

Three Fantastic Student Happenings

Three, standout times this week students wowed us with their presentation skills, enthusiasm, and confidence.  On Wednesday night at the Norwich School Board meeting, our newly formed Environmental Club presented about food waste at MCS.  This group conducted a food audit where they collected data about food waste in our cafeteria as well as student opinions about this waste.  It was impressive how articulate and passionate our students were when they presented their findings, along with recommendations.  Students took the time to understand the rules involved with the National School Lunch Program and made reasonable recommendations based on those regulations.  I am excited to see how the Environmental Club works to change the amount of food waste at our school.

students working at a table

Thursday evening the first graders wowed us with their annual Dinosaur Extravaganza.  They shared poetry, songs, dances, and skillfully written reports.  This is an annual MCS tradition that has been enjoyed for years.   This year, not only were the children enthusiastic and talented, so were the families.  During the dance off competition families really showed their stuff…and certainly matched students in their dancing skills.

Finally, Thursday afternoon Mrs. French’s class treated their families and friends to some amazing student narratives.  Students took their writing pieces through the writing process and shared final products.  Each student read aloud their written work and took questions and comments.  The event had a sweet ending with some of Mrs. Frenchs’ delicious chocolate chip cookies!

students nailing at the tree

These events all had one common factor - fantastic family representation.  I continue to be amazed at how supportive MCS families are of their young scholars.  Thank you for taking the time to come to school and support students.  Your engagement is appreciated.

Report Cards

Report cards will go live on the Parent Portal on Wednesday, March 13th at 5PM.  This gives you the opportunity to view the report cards before your conference next Friday.  Please note that there will not be comments on the report cards for this trimester.  Because teachers are meeting with families to talk about progress, it makes sense to us for them to put their energy into preparing for conferences and making certain that the time you have together is meaningful.

Enjoy the weekend, 
Shawn


Student Services Update

Happy Friday!

It is unreal how fast the year seems to be flying by.  I cannot believe it is almost time for our Spring Conferences and with that in mind, I have two important announcements.

#1 - 2024-25 Class Placement:

At the beginning of May, we will send out a form to each family in order to provide them an opportunity to give us feedback about your student’s 2024-25 classroom placement.  Class Placement is a topic that sometimes pops up during March conferences.  However, there are several weeks before we send out the form, so it may be best to wait knowing there is a process for this input

#2 - Save the Date:

  • The families of students with a place in Pre-K for the 2024-25 school year will have an orientation on May 6th from 8:30-9:30.  This is for adults. 
  • There will be a Kindergarten Orientation for all families and students that plan to attend Kindergarten for the 2024-25 school year on May 6th.
    • Ideally, we will have students with a last name beginning with the letters A-J  come from 8:30 - 9:30 and students with a last name beginning with the letters K-Z  come from 10:00 - 11:00.  There will be more information coming out detailing this program.

Have a great weekend,
Greg Bagnato