Administrator's Corner
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:
March 29 - April 2
Message From The Principal |
||||||
|
Believe it or not, soon the days will begin to be sunnier, with more springlike weather. This warmer weather allows opportunities to do a few of the things that we would do during a normal school year. On example, is school photos. We held off on having school photos in the fall because we were just learning how to keep everyone safe. During this school year we have learned a lot about how to keep our community safe during the pandemic. This year we will have spring pictures on April 20th. Photos will be taken by Whipple Studios and will include individual and class photos. We will utilize the Gazebo for safety purposes. Unless we receive a note from parents stating otherwise, individual photos will be taken without masks. All class photos will be taken with masks, what better way to mark a covid school year! As we get closer to the date, you will receive picture day envelopes to complete and send back to school. I am thrilled that we are able to have school photos! Many families have shared with us that the adults in the household are fully vaccinated and the family has travel plans during vacation. Most of these plans include MCS students and leaving the state. My personal preference would be for families to stay the course and avoid traveling out of state until summer vacation arrives. However, I fully understand that everyone is stir crazy and just itching to leave the area for a bit. Unfortunately, students are not yet vaccinated and must still adhere to the Vermont guidance. Here are two pieces of information to know upfront:
With spring also comes the sugaring season. Our expert sugarer, Lindsay Putnam, has been hard at work with students and teachers to gather and boil sap into delicious syrup. This past Wednesday afternoon some of our remote learning friends came for a visit and were able to enjoy the sugarhouse and maple sugaring experience. I can attest to the syrup being delicious as I greatly enjoyed a fresh cup directly from the evaporator...compliments of the third grade!
Enjoy the weekend,
Message From Student Services Thank you to the 101 families and 183 students that completed our climate survey. For all the families that still want to give your feedback (link), you are still welcome to, but the survey closes on April 1st (No April Fools). The bar graph below compares last year’s results to this year’s. There were several questions that led to the average for each category (i.e. Teaching and Learning). A three meant somewhat agree and a four meant strongly agree. It is great to see overall improvement in every category except one. One of our goals for the fall will be to improve our parental involvement, but of course, during the pandemic, this proved challenging. Students took a shorter survey. The eleven questions referenced in the bar graph were: 1. I like school. 2. I feel like I do well in school. 3. My school wants me to do well. 4. My school has clear rules for behavior. 5. Teachers treat me with respect. 6. Good behavior is noticed at my school. 7. I get along with other students. 8. I feel safe at school. 9. Students treat each other well. 10. There is an adult at my school who will help me if I need it. 11. Students in my class behave so that teachers can teach. A 1 on this survey was never, a 2 was sometimes, a 3 was often, and a 4 was always. On a positive note all but one category increased (Q4 decreased). During our inservice, teachers met to look at this survey and we created goals to improve some aspects of our climate. Students liking school and behaviors so teachers can teach were priorities.
I hope this survey reflects the attitudes of families and students and if they do, we should be proud of the hard work of our community during this challenging year.
Sincerely, Greg Bagnato |
||||||
