Good morning Manara STEM families,
I hope you all had a warm and safe few days off of school this week! February is now here! This time of the year always goes super fast for our scholars and teachers, as there are many academic and fun events that will take us through the remainder of the school year. Please see the newsletter, as well as the "Upcoming Events" section, as to several testing dates & fun family events to take place within the next few months.
Since we missed the book fair last week, we are extending it into this next week. Please see the information below about setting up an E-Wallet account for your scholar to be able to purchase books from the book fair without bringing in cash! Our goal is to sell at least 600 books and when meeting that goal, we also help our school to earn Scholastic dollars that will be used to purchase classroom libraries for each grade level!
You still have time to fill out the Intent to Return form if you have not yet! Our slots are filling up fast, so please refer any family or friends so they can enroll and save their scholar's spot on our campus! It is exciting to see us continue to grow, and there are many exciting adventures to come for the Manara STEM campus!
We moved our Family Fun Night to this Wednesday, February 8 due to the snow day last week. We look forward to seeing you all there for some fun events and book shopping at the book fair! If you have any questions, please reach out! We are here to serve!
#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 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!
On Wednesday, February 8, we will have our next Family Fun Night! From 4:00pm until 5:30pm, the campus will be open for families to participate in the following activities:
Coding robots
Art activities (Celebrating the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rabbit)
Games
Legos
Book Fair Shopping
Ordering Cookie Grams
Please come by and hang out with the teachers, shop at the book fair, and enjoy some family fun! We look forward to seeing you all there!
Our Spring Book Fair will continue this week, Feb 6-10. The book fair hours are listed below. Please click on this link to read more about our book fair, as well as how to set up an E-Wallet for your scholar(s). Setting up an E-Wallet is great because this allows you to put money in an online "account" for your scholar to spend and they do not need to bring in cash to purchase books! If you have any questions, please email your scholar's teacher or the PTO!
Book Fair Hours:
Monday: 11:00am - 4:00pm
Tuesday: 11:00am - 4:00pm
Wednesday: 11:00am - 5:30pm (Book Fair will be open during our Family Fun Night)
Thursday: 11:00am - 4:00pm
Friday: 11:00am - 1:00pm
A big thank you to all of the families who filled out your scholar's Intent to Return for the 2023-2024 school year! Those scholars will receive a week's worth of free dress down the week before Spring Break (March 6-10)! A notice will go home with those families as a reminder of the free dress down days.
Our spots are filling up very quickly! If you need assistance in filling out reenrollment documentation, please reach out to Ms. Smith (asmith@manaraacademy.org) and she would be happy to sit with you to help. The class with the most reenrollment/intent to return forms filled out by February 10th will receive an ice cream party! We love referrals as well! Bring in new families who are interested and we would be happy to give them a tour to learn more about our campus! Reach out to us if you have any questions!
The PTO will be sending home information with each scholar regarding Cookie Gram sales! If wishing to order, your scholar can give the completed form and money to his/her teacher or to Ms. Smith. The sales will be from Feb 6 until Feb 14, with a delivery date of the cookies on Feb 15. Thank you, PTO, for all the help in putting together the Cookie Grams!
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.
Our district testing windows are open for Pre-K through 2nd grade. Each scholar in those grade levels will be taking middle of the year (MOY) assessments throughout the next two weeks. Your scholar's teacher will have the results to share with you after all assessments are complete.
If any parent is available to come volunteer in the Pre-K through 2nd grade classrooms within the next two weeks to assist the teachers in watching scholars while the teachers are giving these exams, please reach out to Ms. Smith to let her know your availability. Each one of these assessments are individually given and it would be a great help to have volunteers to help assist other students while the teachers are working with individual testers.
Scholars in grades 3-8 are continuing to prepare for the upcoming STAAR exams in the spring. Scholars in grades 4-8 should be utilizing the Paper App at home to help assist with studying/homework each night. This free online tutoring service is a fantastic way to get FREE TUTORING every day! See the information above about the Paper App!
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!
Middle of the Year (MOY) STAAR Interim dates for scholars in grades 3-8 is upon us! The dates are below.
Feb 6 Grades 3 & 4 Math STAAR Interim Testing
Feb 7 Grades 5 & 6 Math STAAR Interim Testing
Feb 8 Grades 3 & 4 Reading STAAR Interim Testing
Feb 9 Grades 5 & 6 Reading STAAR Interim Testing
Feb 13 Grades 7 & 8 Math STAAR Interim Testing
Feb 14 Grades 7 & 8 Reading STAAR Interim Testing
The next two weeks all grade levels will also be taking a reading assessment online through mClass during their reading class block. Students in grades Pre-K through 2nd grade will also be completing their middle of the year assessments in either CLI Engage, TX KEA or TPRI. All assessment data will be shared in the upcoming Student Led Conference week (Feb 27-Mar 3).
Thank you for helping to reinforce great sleeping habits at home, as well as making sure your scholar arrives to school on time each day! Helping us with these items helps to continue to foster a great testing environment for each scholar!
Snack Cart will not take place this Thursday, Feb 9 due to Book Fair. We look forward to another snack cart next Thursday, Feb 16.
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 3 - 14 Cookie Gram Sales (PTO will be sending home information to families regarding the sales)
Feb 6-10 Book Fair on campus
Feb 6 Grades 3 & 4 Math STAAR Interim Testing
Feb 7 Grades 5 & 6 Math STAAR Interim Testing
Feb 8 Grades 3 & 4 Reading STAAR Interim Testing
Feb 8 Family Fun Night from 4:00pm-5:30pm
Feb 8 Book Fair Open Until 5:30pm
Feb 9 Grades 5 & 6 Reading STAAR Interim Testing
Feb 9 NO SNACK CART (due to book fair)
Feb 13 Grades 7 & 8 Math STAAR Interim Testing
Feb 14 Grades 7 & 8 Reading STAAR Interim Testing
Feb 15 Cookie Gram Deliveries
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 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)