Good afternoon, STEM families!
We had a wonderful week full of learning this past week! Please read within the newsletter the information about our next Family Fun Event to celebrate Black History, as it is sure to be a wonderful time! We do not have school on Monday, February 20 and on Tuesday, February 21. We look forward to seeing all of our scholars back on campus by 8:00am on Wednesday, February 22.
Enjoy the long weekend!
#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.
Friendly reminder that there will be no school for scholars on Monday, Feb 20 & Tuesday, Feb 21. We look forward to seeing all scholars back on campus on Wednesday, Feb 22!
On February 28 we will have our next Family Fun Night from 4:00pm until 5:30pm featuring Black History Month. The Black History Month staff committee has been working extremely hard getting all the events together for this amazing event. Come out to our campus to experience some of the wonderful events below!
Divine Nine - The College Experience
STEM Activities (lower & upper grades)
Motown Sounds (Karaoke)
I AM… Black History Stories (videos)
Famous Black Inventors
Student Art Displays
Art Activities/Color Wall/Many Faces of Black History
Poetry Presentations
All families will be given a flyer upon entry to be able to locate all the fantastic events! We look forward to beautiful evening!
Friendly reminder of school times are below:
Monday - Thursday:
Arrival is 7:35am until 8:00am (scholars are counted tardy after 8:00am).
Dismissal begins promptly at 3:30pm.
Please remember to have your yellow hang tag visible in your dashboard, as this helps in the swiftness of the dismissal process!
Friday:
Arrival is 7:35am until 8:00am (scholars are counted tardy after 8:00am).
Dismissal begins promptly at 1:15pm.
Important: Please remember that all cars should enter off of Collins Street and exit off of Sublet Street. Please DO NOT ENTER from Sublet, as cars are trying to exit. Please also DO NOT EXIT from Collins, as cars are trying to enter that way. Do not cut through the parking lot as you are filing into the car line or after you have dropped off/picked up your scholar(s). We want all people to be safe, and not following the car line designated procedures is unsafe for all on campus.
We appreciate your help and support with our arrival and dismissal processes!
A big thank you to all of the families who filled out your scholar's Intent to Return for the 2023-2024 school year! We had 100% of our families fill out the Intent to Return! Because we had 100% participation, ALL SCHOLARS WILL RECEIVE A WEEK'S WORTH OF FREE DRESS DOWN DAYS THE WEEK BEFORE SPRING BREAK (March 6-10)!!! Great job, STEM families! We are so excited about our numbers for the 2023-2024 school year! If you know of any families who would like to enroll their scholar for next school year, open enrollment is underway! Let them know to come on in and Ms. Smith can help them enroll their scholar for next year! YAY!!
All of the staff would like to thank all of the families for the yummy cookie grams sent to us! You all made us feel very special and loved! It was fun seeing all the scholars excited about the cookie deliveries! THANK YOU!!
Hearing and vision screenings will continue to take place this week. Scholars in grades Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st, 3rd, 5th, and 7th, as well as newcomers to Texas, will be screened. If your scholar wears glasses or contacts, please be sure to send them to school wearing them each school day, especially this week. If you have any questions, please reach out to Ms. Smith (asmith@manaraacademy.org).
Paper is a program our district has purchased to help assist scholars in their academic progression within grades 4-8. 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.
Please read this link regarding the upcoming TELPAS testing. The state testing calendar for TELPAS is February 20, 2023 through March 31, 2023. We will be assessing students between February 27th and March 10. If a student is absent on the day of testing, a make-up test will be administered before March 24, 2023.
The assessment components for grades K–1 and 2–12 differ in the following ways:
Grades K–1: Holistically rated listening, speaking, reading, and writing assessments based on ongoing classroom observations and student interactions.
Grades 2–12: Online reading, listening, speaking and writing tests.
If you have any further questions, please reach out to our ESL teacher, Ms. Stoker (ahayesstoker@manaraacademy.org) or our Director of Special Populations, Ms. Chamri (cchamri@manaraacademy.org).
Below is our Manara ESL YouTube Channel link, as well as the ESL Newsletter link! Please view the links below for great information pertaining to our ESL department.
Our district will be hosting an event to support Autism Awareness within the month of April. National Autism Awareness day April 2. To help celebrate the event we will be hosting, there is an opportunity to also purchase shirts for this event. Please share this ordering link below with friends, family, and students who are interested in purchasing a shirt to support this event. All ordered shirts will ship to the district office and will be distributed them once they arrive. Here is the link to order shirts if you are interested. The t-shirt order form closes on March 10. More information on the event to come!
Snack Cart will take place this Thursday, Feb 23. Please send in money with your scholar that day, or if dropping it off for them, please make sure it is given to Ms. Smith before 1:30pm. Thank you!
Below are links to grade level newsletters (continued from the week prior due to the snow days last week). Please reach out to your child's teacher with any questions!
Feb 20 TELPAS Testing Window Opens
Feb 20 No School for Staff & Scholars
Feb 21 No School for Scholars (Staff Development Day)
Feb 27-Mar 3 Student-Led Conference Week
Feb 28 Family Fun Night from 4pm - 5:30pm - Celebrating Black History Month
Mar 6-10 Free Dress Down Days for ALL Scholars!
Mar 10 Autism T-Shirt Order Form Closes (see link within the newsletter to order)
Mar 13-17 Spring Break - No School for Staff & Scholars
Mar 29 Art Show (more information to come)
Mar 29 Family Fun Night (more information to come)