December 5, 2022

A message from Principal Vinten

Good afternoon Manara STEM families,

What a wonderful Cultures Around the World event we had on our campus last week! It was so nice to see all of the families, scholars, and teachers engaging in all of the festivities! Thank you for your support and participation! Please see within the newsletter a link to a google form to fill out regarding feedback of the event. I love receiving feedback to help us learn and grow to make every experience the best for our community!

We will continue to check yellow car tags each afternoon when picking up your scholar(s). If you do not have a yellow car tag, you will be asked to pull around the car line and come in the front office with your ID to receive a temporary tag. We will continue this process all year long, so please make sure to have your yellow tag with you each day!

Please read about all the information of the exciting things happening this week regarding our field study expeditions for grades 3-8 and continued STAAR and benchmark exams. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know. Enjoy your Sunday!

#MAWAY!

Principal Vinten

The mission of Manara Academy is to provide students with a creative, adaptive and ethical environment to become knowledgeable inquirers and future leaders in a diverse and evolving global society where we master languages, honor cultural heritages, and respect diversity.

Cultures "Around the World" Festival Event

Thank you to all who came to our Cultures Around the World event! It was a wonderful experience to see all of the scholars and families participating and having a great time! Thank you to each family who also brought in a dish to share! I love receiving feedback on how the event was and what we can do as a team to make events within our school even better. Please fill out this link if you would like to leave feedback regarding the event. All responses will remain anonomous, unless you would like an individual response to your feedback. Thank you to all our families for all you do to support our team and school!

Field Study Opportunities!

We are very excited about our field studies coming up this week and next week!

Pre-K through 2nd grade will be going to the Crayola Experience in Plano on Wednesday, December 14.
Grades 3 through 6 will be going to Kidzania in Frisco on Tuesday, December 6.
Grades 7 and 8 (along with MLA's campus of grades 7-12) will be going to AT&T Stadium in Arlington on Wednesday, December 7.

Uniforms are required for scholars to wear on their trip.

Due to the stipulations at Kidzania and AT&T Stadium, if you have not signed up to chaperone, you will not be able to meet at the event to be with your scholar. They have strict regulations on chaperone attendance and if you have not had the background check with Manara, they will not allow parents to attend.

If you have any questions, needs, or concerns, please contact your scholar's teacher or Mrs. Vinten at avinten@manaraacademy.org. We are excited for these learning hands-on opportunities for each scholar!

STAAR Interim & Arabic Exams

This week we have the following exams:

December 5: Arabic exam for the 7th & 8th graders (during Language class time)
December 6: 8th grade Social Studies STAAR Interim
December 8: 5th & 8th grade Science STAAR Interm

How you can assist at home is by helping to make sure that your scholar is brought to school on time (by 8:00am) during those days, make sure they get a good night's rest after each school day, and make sure they know to grab breakfast at school (or eat at home) to start their day.

It takes a team to make sure all our scholars are ready and prepared! We appreciate your help and support!

Car Line & Updated Pick-Up Information

Thank you all so much for your cooperation in helping to ensure safety for all of our scholars during dismissal. We will continue to enforce that the yellow car tag is displayed during the entire dismissal time, from the call time until pick up. A scholar will not be called to come out to dismissal unless the car tag is displayed for the staff member calling to see AND for the staff member loading the car to see. This is necessary for all families to have, as it aids with safety and swiftness within the car line. If you are a newly enrolled family or need another tag for an authorized pick up person, please email the PTO and they will make you one for your car. manarastempto@manaraacademy.org

As a reminder, if you do not have the yellow tag, you will be asked to drive around the car line and come in to the front office to check your authorization for pick up. You will then be given a temporary car tag and be able to go back into car line and pick up your scholar. Safety of our scholars is our number one priority, so thank you for following the procedures so that we can keep our campus safe. Please reach out to Mrs. Vinten if you have any questions.

Paper Tutoring App for Grades 5-8

Paper is a program our district has purchased to help assist scholars in their academic progression within grades 5-8. Click on this link to learn more about Paper and how it can assist your scholar in their nightly homework. Scholars will be utilizing this daily within their classroom as well. Teachers and the adminstrator is also able to view the scholar/tutor interaction and dialogue so that we can support at school also. Please reach out to your scholar's teacher if you have any questions regarding Paper! All scholars in grades 4-8 should be using the Paper app on Clever at home with homework support.

Snack Cart this week

Snack Cart will take place this Thursday, December 8. Scholars have assigned times to attend the snack cart with their class, so if he/she forgets their money, please make sure it is dropped off to Ms. Smith in the front office no later than 1:30pm. Please reach out to the PTO if you have any questions!