Dear MMS families,

It's been wonderful having your children back in school after New Year's break! I've also enjoyed seeing many of you at our Zoom Step Up Nights. Over the next week, I will be sending out the recordings of these meetings to everyone so you can have a chance to watch the video and absorb the information on your own time. We are in the midst of re-enrollment, with our priority deadline for currently families on February 15. If you have any questions at all about your child's class placement or what to expect at the next level, please contact me anytime and I will be happy to talk with you and/or get you in touch with one of our guides.

As I mentioned in our Step Up meetings, we are moving forward with renovation plans at the Staunton Avenue campus. We will be looking for everyone's help with indoor and outdoor projects, and the move itself. As we move into Spring, be on the lookout for weekday and weekend opportunities to help. And don't forget - all our volunteers receive a complimentary special edition M shirt as a thank you!

We plan extensive improvements to the outdoor spaces at Staunton Avenue, including playground and safety enhancements, outdoor classroom environment improvements, the creation of outdoor eating areas, and improvements to the field space and outdoor sports areas. We will launch our Play for the Playground event soon, which will culminate in a weekend of family fun through physical activity (walking, kayaking, bicycling, running - the choice is yours and the sky is the limit!) on March 21-22. Through sponsorships from family members, friends, and local businesses, we hope to raise the funds needed to support out outdoor enhancements.

Look for your child(ren)'s mid-year progress reports soon. You will notice a new format for the reports that is a result of a multi-year, school-wide approach to better measure and report student outcomes and ensure curriculum alignment from classroom to classroom and level to level. This is still a work in progress, but I think you will appreciate the new report format. I welcome your feedback!

As always, thank you for your support in this unique year, and thank you especially for your diligence with our health and safety procedures and protocols. It is so comforting to be part of a community of people who look out for each other's safety daily. We appreciate all you do and we will continue to do our part to provide a safe environment for your children here at school.

Best wishes,