Dear Parents/Guardians:

Winter break, December 24 – January 8, will soon be here. It is hard for me to imagine that the end of our first semester is coming soon. Teachers and students have been working hard. Thankfully we have had few illnesses so far. We at Moran want to extend to you our best wishes as the holiday season approaches. Listed below is information we hope you find helpful.

Parent-Teacher Conferences: We appreciate all our parents/guardians who were able to participate in parent-teacher conferences this year. We had an excellent 99.8% participation rate. Thanks again for taking time from your busy schedules to conference with your child’s teacher. Good communication between home and school greatly increases the success rate of students. We thank you for helping your child get off to a good start.

Wellness Guidelines: Please remember the PHM wellness guidelines do not allow fast food or other commercial foods in the school cafeteria. If you arrive with these items we will have to ask you to eat at another location inside our school. We appreciate your cooperation and support of a healthy diet for our students.

Attendance: Students demonstrate higher achievement gains when they have good attendance. Being on time is just as important. At Moran Focused Instruction starts at 8:45 a.m. This is your child’s opportunity to receive small group tutoring on the state standards they will be tested on during ISTEP testing. Help your children by making sure they have good attendance and arrive on time.

Car Riders AM: If you are providing transportation for your children please use the south entrance, Door C, of the school. The front entrance, Door A, is for bus students. We do not promote or encourage walking between buses at any time.

Early Pick Up: Please provide the office with a note if your children are being picked up prior to the normal dismissal time. This helps reduce confusion and allows dismissal to run more smoothly. Unannounced pick-ups only make dismissal more stressful for everyone. Please help your child and us by sending a note if you are picking your child up at the end of the day prior to the regular dismissal time. Your cooperation and support will be greatly appreciated.

Assessments: November and December are busy assessment months. Students in grade 4 are taking Acuity Readiness Science. Grades 3-5 are taking Acuity Readiness Language Arts and Math tests. All kindergarten and second graders are taking NWEA exams. The purpose of the NWEA test is to help identify high ability potential in Language Arts or Math. Select fifth graders will also participate.

D.A.R.E.:  Graduation is scheduled for December 13 at 11:30 a.m. in the IMR. Seating is limited.

January 9, 2017: School Resumes

With the winter break and a New Year approaching I wish you and your family a very happy holiday season. Don’t forget to come visit us. We’d love to have you visit or volunteer. Moran Elementary School is dedicated to serving its students and families. Please do not hesitate to call or stop by if we can be of service.

                                                                                                            Sincerely,

                                                                                                            Frank Anglin, Ed.S.

Thank you very much for collecting and clipping your box tops. Please send to your child’s classroom. Checks that we receive from the Box Top program are greatly appreciated and used to support student learning.

Sunday, November 6th is the end of daylight savings, please remember to turn your clocks back one hour.

Dear Parents/Guardians:

It’s hard to imagine that we are discussing upcoming events for November. Where have the past three months gone? Enrollment is slightly down from last year; however, student learning is still going well at Moran. One thing we are very pleased about is our parent volunteers. We so appreciate the time and energy our parent volunteers are giving to help our students. I can only tell you that hundreds of hours have already been given. If you haven’t volunteered yourself please consider it. Volunteering is a nice way to serve our students and community. Below I have listed several topics of information for your review. Hopefully these will help you keep informed about important school topics.

Playgrounds: We ask that parent/guardians not visit our playgrounds during recess time or when school is in session. This policy is for your child’s safety and security as well as those of other parents.

Focused Instruction: Are you curious about what skill your child is working on and if they have mastered it or not? Teachers in grades K-4 are sending this information home. If you’re not seeing your child’s information coming home contact their teacher. FI skills are those state mandated skills we want all students to know and be able to perform.

Picking Up/Dropping off Your Child: Only bused students should use the front drop off area of our school. Students in cars, vans or trucks should be dropped off and picked up at the south entrance or exit. Please do not drop off students prior to 8:25 a.m. Help keep our students safe. Your cooperation is appreciated.

Parent/Teacher Conferences: We appreciated your attendance during our two evenings of parent/teacher conferences. Working together, in partnership, we can help your child reach their learning potential. We hope you found your conference helpful.

Picture Retakes: Retakes were completed on Wednesday, October 12.

Daylight Savings Time: November 6, at 2:00 a.m., marks the end of daylight savings time. Don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour.

D.A.R.E. Graduation: Tuesday, December 13 is D.A.R.E. graduation for 5th graders. Graduation starts at 11:30 a.m. in the IMR. Seating is limited.

Don’t forget to come visit us. We’d love to have you visit or volunteer. Please remember only approved volunteers may participate. If you have not been approved please stop by our office and pick up the forms you need in order to serve. Moran Elementary School is dedicated to serving its students and families. Please do not hesitate to call or stop by if we can be of service.

Sincerely,

Frank Anglin, Ed.S.

Fall Book Fair Is Here

***Encourage your child’s love of reading and support Moran at the same time.  

October 21^st – 27^th 9:30 am – 3:00 pm

Our book fair will be open during Parent & Teacher conferences.

October 25th 3:00 pm – 7:30 pm

October 26^th 3:00 pm – 6:30 pm

New Way to Access Fliers of Community Events/Activities

Looking for the latest events and activities from our community organizations?  We’ve gone paperless!  Click above link to see details!

High Ability Identification

In accordance with the Indiana high ability law, we are required to have an identification process in place to identify students of high ability in the general intellectual and specific academic domains. We identify students who have high ability in language arts and/or math.

Every kindergartener, second and fifth grader who has not been previously identified in a subject area is considered for high ability identification.

Testing for the high ability identification process will begin in December.

Learn more about our identification procedures by visiting our high ability website at www.phmschools.org/highability.

Would you like to learn more about School Messenger and how to control the delivery of messages?  

School Messenger InfoCenter

Engaging, enriching—words that describe the 2016 Visual Arts Academy. 

Excited, enthralled—the reaction of so many of the children experiencing this unique summer program.

Now in its fourth year, over 800 children in grades K-5 are taking part in the 2016 Visual Arts Academy.  

The Visual Arts Academy has been nominated to receive the designation of “Promising Practice.” That distinction is granted by the Indiana Department of Education to programs that use innovative approaches to deliver educational benefits. Once “Promising Practices” are identified, other Indiana districts may choose to initiate similar programs for the families they serve.

The Visual Arts Academy represents an innovative partnership developed by Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation and the Snite Museum of Art at the University of Notre Dame. The Academy features art making and writing through the examination of original works of art from both the Snite Museum and museums around the world.

It is comprised of six one-week programs, running from June 6 through July 15, 2016. Each week students from a different grade level experience a diversely rich curriculum that focuses upon the creation of an identity as an artist with words as well as images.

Each day students work with the visiting artists and art teachers in art making, elementary writing teachers for writing workshop and visual thinking strategies, multi-media experience to learn about art mediums such as glass blowing or architecture. Students also spend one day at the Snite Museum.

Since its inception, the vision and mission of the Visual Arts Academy has been shared by a core group of teachers and administrators at P-H-M and Notre Dame. Under the leadership of Assistant Superintendent Dr. Kay Antonelli, the group created the curricula “from the ground up” and provided the professional development for all teachers who participate during the Academy. Over 25 elementary writing and secondary art teachers are serving the Academy this summer.

Thanks to the financial support of these contributors, the Visual Arts Academy is provided for all children free of charge.

• 

  The Community Foundation of St. Joseph County ($50,000 grant)

• The P-H-M Education Foundation

• Penn-Harris-Madison School Corporation

• The Snite Museum of Art

• The Law Offices of May, Oberfell, Lorber

• And various other contributors

CANVAS is an online communication platform that connects students, parents and teachers. CANVAS has boosted the success of P-H-M’s Chromebook program in middle and high school, and most of our users have given it a “thumbs up” this year.

Starting June 6, 2016, P-H-M’s CANVAS users will see a new and improved “dashboard” when they log on. In addition to the new look, the user will have new options for organizing and viewing CANVAS content. We think the changes being made to the user interface will merit two thumbs up!  

Parents and students, watch the video below for an overview of the changes. 

The URL (web address ) to CANVAS is not changing. You will find it at the same location, or by using the same link or shortcut, as you have used in the past. 

• Click here to go to the CANVAS login page now, or copy/paste this address into your browser bar: https://phm.instructure.com/ to go there. 

Your login information will not change. Your CANVAS login is the same as your HAC (Home Access Center) login.

• Contact the school office or email the HAC helpdesk HAC@phm.k12.in.us if you need help setting up your account. 

Visit the Canvas Help Page for additional resources and information.