Upcoming Events
2/14
Lower El ASL Club-Makeup
3-4pm
McIntyre Ski Club- Makeup
3-6pm
2/15
Chess Club
3-4pm
2/16
Upper El ASL Club- Makeup
3-4pm
2/17
Pizza Friday!
Read-In: Denali & Olympic
8:15-8:45am
2/20
Presidents Day
NO SCHOOL
2/22
Chess Club
3-4pm
2/24
Pizza Friday!
2/27-3/3
February Vacation
NO SCHOOL
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CORPORATE SPONSORS
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We gratefully acknowledge the ongoing contributions from the following corporate partners:
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Snow, Shovel, Repeat...
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Just as you were reading the newsletter last Friday, our
Upper Elementary Dance Committee along with their helpers and chaperones were preparing for the Winter Dance. Fun was had by all...enjoy some photographs from the evening down below!
 This week has been a very challenging one given the storms we have endured. For the first time since we opened our doors in 2012, we took the unusual step of canceling school for Thursday BEFORE Manchester did on Wednesday night. To be sure everyone knew the plan, we posted on WMUR and sent out a school-wide alert via our student information system - ALMA - at about 9pm. Most unfortunately, our alert got tied up the ALMA system's malfunction along with several other schools' messages. We at MFCS and those at ALMA send their apologies to our MFCS community for the inconvenience of the late night and repeated notifications. Please be aware, we will ONLY utilize that system for emergencies or for situations when our schedule does not match Manchester School District's schedule. If you want to review your alert setting (text or call), please log in to ALMA and visit your personal account settings.
As a reminder, each year we build in 4.5
weather days into our school calendar (though our school year is built on hours not days). As of this writing, we have 1 full day remaining of that 4.5. Should we go beyond the 4.5, we will be required to add time to our schedule at the end of the school year. Fingers crossed that we are nearing the end of the storm season... but it's hard to say, especially since more snow is predicted for Monday.
Thanks to all of our families and our staff for your focus and understanding as we 'weather' these storms. Looking forward to spring time from this keyboard!
Finally, thanks to all our students who created artwork for the Annual Pink Day hosted by SNHU's Women's and Men's Basketball Teams. The sample to the left was handprinted by our Kindergarteners.
A reminder that Saturday is game day, with the Women's Game at 2pm and the Men's Game at 4pm at the SNHU.
Games will be played in the Athletics Complex on the SNHU campus in Manchester. Wear pink and entry is free!
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We Have a Winner!
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Thanks to all those who are participating in our
Family & Friends Monthly Giving Program
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As part of that program, the names of program participants are drawn monthly in a small gift raffle.
The winner of this month's raffle prize is the Doukas-Jerrell Family.
Thank you Lauren and Richard
for your ongoing and long-term support!
The prize this month is a gift certificate to Shorty's Mexican Roadhouse.
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SAVE THE DATE, and Call Grandma!
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We are super excited to announce our upcoming
G
randparents & Special Friends Day
on March 13th, 2017
Please help us spread the word by sending along the following information to your children's Grandparents or Special Friends...a more formal invite to follow.
This year we've scheduled this event on a Monday to give Grandparents and Friends the chance to travel to town in advance of this wonderful day.
When:
March 13th from 8:30-10am
Where: Mill Falls Charter School, 100 William Loeb Drive, Manchester
What: A morning together to share our public Montessori program with some of our students favorite people - their Grandparents and Special Friends!
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Service Learning
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A teaching and learning strategy that integrates meaningful community service with instruction and reflection to enrich the learning experience, teach civic responsibility,
and strengthen communities.
~ The
National
Service Learning
Clearinghouse
As part of the 6th Year Curriculum, our oldest students are working on some exciting Service Learning projects. The purpose of this is to further develop their leadership skills, encourage them to explore need within the school and greater community. They are working together to identify their strengths, and develop projects in which they can best share their strengths with organizations and people in our community.
 The first identified projects will take place within out school community. Our 6th Year students will act as mentors to our 3rd graders as we prepare for this year's Smarter Balanced Testing. The second project already underway is planning and preparation for our annual Game Night which is scheduled for April 7th (more details to come).
We encourage you to talk with your students about this exciting element of our curriculum. You might explore not only the particular projects underway this year, but the meaning and significance of Service Learning throughout their education and into their adult lives.
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Upcoming After School Programming
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Girls on the Run!
We are excited to offer Girls on the Run again this spring! This is a 10-week, curriculum-based program that inspires girls in grades 3-5 to be joyful, healthy, and confident, while creatively integrating running.
This program is held after school at Mill Falls on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-4:30.
Please
click here
to see the flyer that went home today in backpacks.
Come make vehicles that can travel 50 feet under their own power or glide down a ramp! Use gears to make things move or spin! Participating students will create race cars, and exciting LEGO® builds. Students will use LEGO® pieces that move with gears and a motor. Each session the Let Go Your Mind teacher will discuss key engineering and physics concepts and demonstrate how special LEGO® elements work together. You'll take home lots of new ideas and fun memories, but not your LEGO® creations.
This program is for students in grade 1-3, and will begin on Monday, March 13th.
All forms and payment are due by Friday, February 24th.
Please
click here to see the flyer that went home in backpacks today.
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Brain Busters!
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Due to the storms, Colleen L. has not been able to pull the winners for this week's Brain Busters (that will happen on Monday). But she has shared some games she thought you and your children might enjoy playing together...and she notes the academic skills the particular games can help strengthen.
Colleen notes, "Games and toys can help children acquire prerequisite skills for math, and can better prepare them for all kinds of learning."
Some of her suggested games include:
Card Games -
helps develop visual clustering, pattern recognition, number concepts, and number facts.
Checkers - helps develop sequencing and patterning skills, spacial orientation and organization.
Concentration -
helps develop visualization skills, pattern recognition and visual memory.
Blink - helps develop pattern recognition, visual memory, classification and inductive reasoning.
Mankalah -
helps develop sequencing, counting, estimation, visual clustering, and deductive reasoning.
Enjoy these games and others with your children and know that it's time spent together helping them develop and reinforce important academic skills.
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Carpool Inquiry
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MFCS mom, Beth Hubbard who lives in Goffstown, is interested in carpooling. Any one in the Goffstown, New Boston, or Bedford area who might be interested, is asked to please contact Beth by email
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Winter Food Drive...for our New Food Pantry!
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Each Winter, the MFCS Community
participates in a food drive.
This year, y
our donations will directly support members of
our school community! We will be collecting donations for the rest of the school year.
Please click here to see the flyer.
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February Break Opportunities...
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Close to MFCS home, the Currier Museum has some great programming going on, including February Break Art Camps!
Click here for a link to the camps directly.
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Kiddos in Motion
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This area usually features photographs from the children's academic week. This week, with so many winter storms, we share photographs from the Upper Elementary Dance and the MFCS First Lego League's Celebration at Sky Zone.
Fire & Ice
The Winter
Upper Elementary Dance
The Winter Flames Dance theme was Fire & Ice. Students decorated the common area, library and special room with lights and balloons and dressed for the occasion in red, blue or white.
The Dance was proudly organized by our 6th Grade Dance Committee with some 4th and 5th year helpers. The students were guided by Ms. Colleen, Lead Teacher in the Zion Room.
Ms. Laura B, Ms. Rhiannon, Ms. Emily, and Ms. Collette chaperoned on the night of. And yes, that is Ms. Susanne in a Conga line!
Attendees danced the night away to the tunes provided by
MFCS Uncle and professional DC, DJRonDMC.
Very special thanks to the wonderful parents/grandparent who helped serve dinner and prepare and share those wonderful snacks, cookies and cakes!
The DJ's smoke machine was a great addition...
until it set off the fire alarm! Ooops! Thanks to the MFD for making sure our kiddos and adults were safe and to Tom at the Union Leader for
coming back to work at day's end, to help turn off the alarm!
Jumping for Joy!
Even the snow couldn't keep the First Lego League from having their celebration. Congrats again to our FLL team for their GREAT work during the competition season this year.
And our HUGE thanks to MFCS Parents Swati Gohel and
for their countless volunteer hours and the wonderful opportunity
their work created for our students.
The unexpected snow day on Wednesday made for a bigger than expected Jumping Jam - thanks Swati and Celestia for organizing this fun celebration
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