Week of March 3, 2025
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Principal's Message from Dr. Edwards
We greatly appreciate our parents and the good partnership we enjoy, and we want to encourage you to keep doing the good work of parenting and supporting your child's development with academics and in all other respects. I will be sending out some information in the near future for families of our 2nd and 3rd graders, who will be taking the IREAD-3 state assessment over the next couple of weeks. There are some changes in state law that we want to be sure are clear. We appreciate your help in ensuring students are present, well-rested, and ready to do their best!
Also, we want to send a reminder that any transportation changes always be communicated directly to our office staff by 1:15p. It is very important to us (and you) that all of our 800+ students get home safely at the end of every day, and we try to have all of our transportation change slips delivered to teachers by 1:30p daily. We know exceptional situations happen, and we will always do our best to make things work, but we ask that those truly be outlier circumstances.
With the changing seasons, our Lost and Found has grown to an impressive collection of coats, hats, etc. Please be sure to have your child check, and if you would like to look for yourself, you can come to our office from 2:25-3:00p on any school days over the next couple of weeks. Anything unclaimed will be donated after Spring Break.
Let’s make these next two weeks heading into spring break great!
“Information may be free, an education is priceless.” — Marie Forleo |
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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
Happy Friday!
This week I went into 1st-grade and kindergarten classes for their classroom lesson. For the lesson, we started with an activity where students stood up if they had ever experienced a situation that I said. For example, 'stand up if you have ever eaten pizza' and 'stand up if you have ever felt lonely'. Then we read a book called, "The Invisible Boy" by Trudy Ludwig. This book gives a visual story of what it looks like to be left out/not noticed. After reading the book, we talked about including others and how when we include others that doesn't mean we don't still have our other friendships.
The next two weeks will be filled with lots of IREAD-3 testing for 2nd and 3rd graders! They've got this!!
Below are reminders from my office:
- MVCSC is now partnering with Indy Hygiene Hub. This organization provides hygiene packs to schools to hand out to students/families. The packs include soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush, and deodorant. If you are in need of the items in these packs please reach out to me, Mrs. Crecelius through email or ParentSquare and I can get you connected with a pack.
- If you have gotten a pack and need a refill, please reach out!
- Any student can request to talk/meet with me. All teachers have a "Let's Talk" form in their classrooms that students can fill out and put in the red mailbox outside my office. Once I get a paper, I meet with the student as soon as possible.
- As my husband and I look forward to welcoming our first child, I plan to be on maternity leave from Spring break/March 31st through the end of the school year.
Upcoming events:
- Q4: Mrs. Crecelius on Maternity Leave
FES Staff Favorite Vacation:- Mrs. Arnold's (5th-grade Teacher, Blue House) favorite vacation is visiting her sister in the Netherlands!
These students were chosen by their classroom teachers for this past month for “sticking together” and setting a positive example. We called them down to the cafeteria and gave each of them one of the gold tokens for our book vending machine they were able to use to choose a book to keep. We are so proud of these great kids and the great choices they make each day!
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
Read Across America Week is next week! Since 1998, the National Education Association’s Read Across America week is the nation’s largest celebration of reading. You can read more about Read Across America here and see FAQs about the program as well. We will celebrate Read Across America Week in the library by reading books “that students can see themselves reflected in, as well as books that allow readers to see a world or a character that might be different than them” (NEA).
"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 High Intensity IA.
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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(See pics of the fun from this event a few weeks ago)
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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