January 30, 2023

A message from Principal Vinten

Good afternoon Manara STEM families,

This week we have some great events on our campus! The Scholastic Book Fair is up and running! 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!

Thank you, again, to all the families who have filled out the Intent to Return forms for the 2023-2024 school year! If you did so, your scholar will receive a week's worth of dress down days the week before Spring Break! 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, as there are many exciting adventures to come for the Manara STEM campus!

Happy Sunday and Happy Reading! If you have any questions, please reach out, as we are always 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.

Arrival & Dismissal & Car Line Procedures

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!

Arabic Spelling Bee

The Arabic Spelling Bee was a huge success! Thank you to Ms. Gigi and Ms. Cabouni, as well as all the judges, for such a well organized event. Thank you to all the families who were able to come and watch as well! It was impressive watching all of the scholars who participated! Congratulations to all! More information to come regarding the winners moving on to the final round to compete with the winners of the Spelling Bee at the Irving campuses!

Scholastic Book Fair This Week!

Our Spring Book Fair is this week, Jan. 30 - Feb. 3. 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 - 5:30pm (Book Fair will be open during our Family Fun Night)

Wednesday: 11:00am - 4:00pm

Thursday: 11:00am - 4:00pm

Friday: 11:00am - 1:00pm

Reenrollment Time!

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!

Hearing & Vision Screenings

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 Tutoring App for Grades 4-8

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.

Testing Windows & Volunteers Needed!

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!

TELPAS Testing

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).

ESL YouTube Channel & Newsletter

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.

Manara Academy ESL Department - YouTube

https://www.manaraacademy.org/article/948697

Autism Awareness Advocacy

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. More information on the event to come!

Book Fair!

Our spring book fair will be the week of January 30 through February 3. Be on the lookout for setting up an E-Wallet for your scholar to be able to purchase books! The book fair will be open from 11am-4pm each day, with it also being open for parents to shop with their scholar on Tuesday, Jan. 31 from 4pm-5:30pm during our next Family Fun Night! Any purchase from the book fair helps our campus earn Scholastic dollars for us to purchase more books for our classrooms! More information will be passed out this week and sent home with scholars regarding the book fair and setting up the E-Wallet. Reach out to your scholar's teacher with any questions!

Family Fun Night!

On Tuesday, January 31, 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: