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Marion Cross School serves students in
Kindergarten through Grade 6
as part of the Norwich School District
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Welcome to the Marion Cross
School. Happy Spring!
Our Calendar Page, to the left, now has the 2013
- 2014 MCS School Calendar.
Also on that page, there is updated information regarding the
end of the year dates and activties.
The PTO's Spring Giving
Tree program is now in "full bloom."
Please click the tree for more information.
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Fifth grade students in a LEEEP activity conducted a
survey of the benthic macro-invertebrate life in Blood
Brook. They sampled different locations in the brook and
identified the macro-invertebrates they found. By assigning
a value to each organism based on that species' water
quality tolerance level, they were able to calculate a
water quality score for the brook. Fifth grade has been
doing this analysis for 11 years and Blood Brook has consistently
had "excellent" water quality.
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In celebration of Teacher Appreciation Week, the MCS
PTO and parent volunteers (over 80!) baked pies for all
members of the MCS staff. Many, many thanks to the PTO
and Norwich parents for Pie Day.
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A huge Thank You to all families and
community members who donated canned soup to benefit the
Haven and the Sharon Food Shelf. The drive was a great
success!
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Thank you, thank you, thank
you to our wonderful PTO and parents/community
for a delicious
Valentine's Day Staff Appreciation breakfast!
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Back by Popular Demand!
The Marion Cross School Community Spelling
Bee
Friday, March 22, 2013
6:30pm
Join Master of Ceremonies Jack Candon
and a distinguished panel of judges
Rob Gurwitt, Ruth Hall,
and Libby Robbie -
as 36 teams of 3 adults each
compete for local glory. Or come cheer on your friends
and neighbors!
Spectators are asked to make a donation at the door.
To Enter:
Please download a registration form here:
Spelling
Bee Registration Form
Entries will be accepted on a first-come, first-served
basis and must be received by Friday, March 15th. All
proceeds from the 2013 Community Spelling Bee benefit
the Norwich Public Library and Marion Cross School’s Visiting
Author Program. Thank you for your support.
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Look
who was our special, guest Crossing Guard on Friday morning! |
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Hurricane
Sandy brings a little unexpected treat to MCS |
Our 3rd graders had a great
trip to the Hood Museum to study the
Australian Aboriginal Art exhibits!
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We Read
Together
Eighth graders from the Richmond School came over the river
on Wednesday, January 9, to read their original children's
stories to Marion Cross School's K through 4 students.
(and ... afterward, some Kindergarten students
decided to read THEIR stories to the eighth
graders.)
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| Our 6th grade students work hard daily in "Writing
Committees". The groups meet regularly
to discuss story proposals and progress. To enrich and add
to our fiction writing, each student writer reads aloud one
page, while committee members offer feedback on sticky notes.
Responses include what the listeners wonder about, what area
needs more details, and what sentences provide good imagery.
We are learning to "write like a reader" in order
to stay aware of engaging the audience. Committees can help
writers by asking positive questions. This practice allows
students to operate in a group to establish ground rules,
support peer progress, and celebrate writing. |
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A committee discusses new story proposals |
Writing is covered with sticky note responses |
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Committees listen and respond
to writers |
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A Playful Place to Gather
Have you checked out the new seating area on the playground?
Mr. Bill already tweeted about it! How cool is that!
Inspired as gift to MCS from the 6th grade Class of 2012,
the new curved wooden benches, unveiled a few weeks ago,
have already become a popular and playful place that invites
people to gather, relax, and chat. Local designers and
architects, Jon Criswell and Scott Gordon, of Criswell
Gordon Design Studio, designed and fabricated this seating
area using natural woods.
The class would like to thank Jon and Scott for their
innovative design talents and craftsmanship; the Marion
Cross PTO for their generous contribution; Baker Lumber
of White River Junction for discounting the lumber; and,
local builder Matt Hall and his team, volunteers from
Youth in Action, and SAU 70 for graciously donating both
labor and equipment during the area’s installation. The
project benefited from the guidance of principal Bill
Hammond, the school’s playground committee representative,
Brian Cook, and Jonathan Brush, the SAU 70’s Director
of Facilities.
Finally, the project moved ahead because
of the many hours of fundraising and work contributed
by the class and their families. Thank you!
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We hope your children had a great
first day of school at MCS! This morning in the multi-purpose
room we first had a Welcome Back song from
the teachers, followed by a surprise visit from the Hogwart's
Express.
Using the analogy of a passenger
train and all the roles of the various people riding on
that train, our new conductor, Mr. Bill, asked students
how this might be similar to being in school. Students recognized
that in school, as on train, they could be passengers ....
or conductors .... or engineers.
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Happy
July 4! |
"Thank you, everyone,
for welcoming me warmly to Marion Cross. Having previously
lived in Norwich for ten years, I already feel that I'm a
part of the larger community; but I also feel at home in the
school itself, because you have shared events and stories
and the students with me.
"I'll be at the school during the summer, with occasional
meetings at the SAU in Hanover. Please come by if you have
concerns or commendations. I'd love to chat with you.
"Here, too, are other ways I will keep in touch. If you
like Twitter, you may follow me: I'll be sending a tweet every
day with an observation or a bit of philosophy or a piece
of information about the day. I can be followed by searching
for @billhammond61.
"Also, on Fridays at 3 p.m. during the summer, I'll host
'Bocce with Mr. Bill' on the Norwich Green. While
we set up and play the game (bring your own sets of balls
if you like), we will talk about the best ways to take Marion
Cross forward.
"Thank you. I hope to see you soon.
"Mr. Bill" |
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Please click
here for a description
of a new environmental project for MCS from our LEEEP coordinator,
Lindsay Putnam.
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MCS
Joins EcoSchool Program
Marion Cross School has become a
"pilot school" in a new international initiative
sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation called EcoSchool.
This program is a structured, interdisciplinary, whole community
approach to "greening" the school, the community,
and the planet. The first "Pathway" we have chosen
to do in the program is called "Green Hour", which
promotes children being active in the outdoors on a regular
basis. We are doing this in conjunction with the annual
"Passport to Winter Fun", brought
to us by the Upper Valley Trails Alliance and the Norwich
Women's Club. Sixth grade students helped to create a survey
that every student will fill out about our current level
of outdoor activity, and again at the end of the program
to assess any improvement. Our goals are to increase participation
in the Passport program over previous years, and to spend
more time outside this winter overall. As we progress through
the program, we will be incorporating much of our existing
environmental curriculum, projects, and community service
work into a unified EcoSchool hub around which all our various
eco-projects can turn.
For more information on the interesting details of EcoSchool
please click on
this link.http://www.nwf.org/Global-Warming/School-Solutions/Eco-Schools-USA.aspx |
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Clic
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