Week of May 5, 2025
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Principal's Message from Dr. Edwards
We had a great turnout for our Family Fun Fest last Friday. Thank you to all the volunteers, donors, and attendees for making it a successful event. We have such a wonderful school community, and it was good to see so many people enjoying their time together. This week we finished up ILEARN testing except for some remaining make-up tests, and now we head into a very busy last 4 weeks. This coming week is National Teacher Appreciation Week, and our PTO has helped coordinate a number of special things to physically demonstrate our community's thankfulness for the amazing teachers we have here. I encourage you to also consider taking a moment and sending a ParentSquare message to a teacher or two this week just to say thanks and encourage someone.
I will be sending out a ParentSquare message in the near future to ask for parent volunteers to help assist with Field Day (all day commitment) and to come in to provide supervision of classes on our House Celebration Day (1.5 hour commitment). The Field Day volunteers help ensure that all our stations run smoothly and allow our teachers to focus on their students rather than the activities. The classroom coverage on our House Hoopla Day will allow us to give our teachers some time to finish packing their classrooms and/or go over and start setting up their new classrooms. We always have a large response on Field Day volunteers, and I hope we have a strong response for the classroom coverage slots as well. We can try to coordinate those times to individual classrooms where your child might be, but there will be no way to guarantee that is the case. Let me know if you have questions and watch for a separate ParentSquare message next week.
Finally, our yearbooks came in and were distributed this week. We have a limited number of extra yearbooks that can be purchased on a first-come basis (cash or check). Contact our front office if you would like to purchase a yearbook and did not pre-order. There are not many, and they will likely go fast.
“You don’t want to look back and know you could’ve done better.” — Unknown |
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 All current and prospective out-of-district/transfer students must submit an application to attend a Mt. Vernon school in 2025-2026. The application closes May 19 and can be found at www.mvcsc.k12.in.us/transfer25-26.
If you live in the Mt. Vernon district (Vernon and Buck Creek Townships) you do NOT need to fill out an application.
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Reporting Absences
Please assist us by being sure to call our office at 317-485-3180 or email elizabeth.thomas@mvcsc.k12.in.us if your student is going to be absent. With state reporting, we have to assign specific codes for every absence, and it saves our office staff a lot of time each day if we don’t have to call to follow-up on students that are marked absent by their teachers. And please be sure to provide the documentation required for qualifying absences to be marked as excused in a timely manner.
MV Absence Policy Infographic
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Important Dates
Teacher Appreciation Week
May 5-9
FES Choir and 2nd Grade Music Showcase
Thursday, May 8 @ 6p in FES Gym
FES PTO Schoolwide Meeting (held virtually)
Monday, May 12 · 7:00pm
Google Meet joining info
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/ccw-mvob-rtw
Or dial: (US) +1 413-931-1290 PIN: 584 128 616#
Kindergarten Graduation
Thursday, May 22 @ 5:30p and 6:30p in FES Gym
Mrs. Crecelius is out on maternity leave through the end of the school year. Please contact Miss Natalie Nolting (temporary counselor) or Dr. Edwards if you need anything.
Happy Friday!!!
This week, I did lessons with some first and fourth grade classrooms. For first grade, we continued with our lesson over how students can be better listeners. We listened to a story, “Howard B. Wigglebottom Learns to Listen”, which tells the story of a young rabbit who struggles with paying attention and following instructions. His lack of listening leads to various misadventures, such as bouncing during story time, ignoring his teacher's warnings, and not hearing his friend's important messages. These actions result in Howard facing time-outs and feeling isolated. Eventually, he realizes the importance of listening and makes a conscious effort to improve. As a result, he earns a "Number One Listener" star, enjoys more playtime, and experiences greater peace of mind. Students were asked to share examples of Howard not listening and what happened when he did start listening not just in school, but at home as well. After our discussion, students were given a coloring page of Howard B. Wigglebottom, showing the different colors to use on Howard (ears, nose, shirt, shorts, etc.). This activity tested their listening skills to see if they can color their Howard picture the same way that I colored mine. We would color one section together, and students were required to given a big thumbs up when they were ready to move onto the next set of instructions. They did a wonderful job being good listeners!
For fourth grade, I gave a lesson about our zones of regulation (building off of what MV teaches with TBRI) and coping skills to use when we are in those zones. We started off the lesson by doing a deep breathing exercise together, then everyone got the opportunity to share what feelings they have felt before. Following this, we went over the different zones, which were the following:
Blue – sad, tired, bored
Green – calm, happy, focused
Yellow – anxious, excited, frustrated
Red – angry, mad, upset
For each zone, we talked about how we know when we are in each of these zones, especially through internal body cues such as our brain, heart, and tummies. We ended our lesson with an activity “Tools for Each of My ZONES”. For each zone, students got to share what coping skills they like to use or new skills they could try to regulate themselves when in the RED, YELLOW, or BLUE zones in order for them to get back to the GREEN zone.
Next week, I will be going into a couple of third grade classrooms to do a lesson over coping skills and conflict resolution.
These students were called down to the cafeteria on Friday to be recognized for something from the week (being a great helper, working hard, demonstrating growth in a skill, etc.) Thanks for being valuable contributors to our Viking community!
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MV Reads: News from the Library
Mrs. Jennifer Leavell, FES Teacher Librarian
This was the last week to check out library books for the school year. ALL LIBRARY BOOKS ARE DUE FRIDAY, MAY 9th. Please return overdue books as soon as possible. Parents can pay for lost/damaged library books via MVCSC’s eFunds link. Click on PAY for Optional Fees, then choose Lost/Damaged Library Books. Exact change and/or a check made out to FES are also still accepted. Thank you for your support in returning overdue books and paying library fines before the end of the school year.
"Be a Substitute Teacher" and MV Employment
Fortville Elementary is a great place to work, and we would love to have you join our team. You can apply on the MV Employment website. We are currently looking for a Kindergarten Teacher and Library Instructional Assistant.
And we always need substitute teachers! Subs apply through Kelly Education Services (information below).
- To learn more or apply for substitute teacher positions at Mt. Vernon, please contact Kelly Education by completing this Inquiry Form and a recruiter will follow up with you. For questions, please call 800-991-5157, option 2.
- Kelly Services will guide the applicant how to obtain a substitute permit issued by the Indiana Department of Education (~$17) and a background check (~$28).
- Kelly Services will then share a short orientation video that will show you how to choose the jobs of your choice at Mt. Vernon and how to see the incentive offers.
Help Support FES Year-round
Help our school get a share of the money that many of America’s best companies are giving to K-12 education. SchoolStore.com is an online shopping mall where over 400 merchants have agreed to give a percentage of every sale to schools. This includes companies like Walmart, Best Buy, Old Navy, Kohl’s, etc. Just go to the website and then to the merchant websites you normally order from and help us earn rewards. The SchoolStore fundraiser is 100% online so there is NO face-to-face selling, handling money, or delivering products.
Go to https://www.schoolstore.net/sid.t?0000177219 to sign up. If you have questions about how to participate, reach out to our office. Once you are registered, invite family, friends and co-workers to support your child and our school.
Parent Resources
To be a chaperone on a field trip or to volunteer in the classroom regularly, you must have a clear background check from the current school year on file with the district. MVCSC Volunteer Background Check Form
Webinars on support and advocacy for parents of High ability students. https://nagc.org/page/webinarsFrom the Technology Department: We're excited to remind you about the valuable partnership between Mt. Vernon Schools and Qustodio! This collaboration provides you with insights into your child's online activities and allows you to manage certain aspects of their school-issued devices at home.
For more details, please check out this ParentSquare post from earlier this year.
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The FES PTO spirit wear store is always open to help with your FES and MV apparel desires.
LINK for Fortville Elementary Designs LINK for MV Designs
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Be sure to see the MV Athletics Summer Camp Flyer (a consolidation from several flyers we have had listed the last couple of weeks) in the attachments to this message.
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