Marion Public Schools

The secondary teachers have created a robust list of electronic resources for students. The list is so robust, it will come in a SEPARATE MESSAGE, which will be sent tomorrow, Thursday, March 19th. The secondary resources are electronic, and we realize not all secondary students have made arrangements to take their chromebook home. Parents who want their children to have access to the school chromebook and instructional resources simply need to call the MS/HS office at (231) 743-2836. Arrangements can be easily made to sign out a chromebook and the district could even get it to your home if transportation is an issue. Ladies and Gentlemen, PLEASE help us get the word out about the new district app. It will make parent and student access to this type of information and resources so much more convenient and timely. Please tell everyone with a vested interest in Marion Public Schools to download our free App!

Parents and Guardians, Our K-12 instruction team met yesterday to refine our plan to provide students with quality learning resources during the school shutdown. The plan included in this message could change completely if the shutdown extends beyond April 6th. Instructional resources at all levels will be available beginning Thursday, March 19th. At the elementary, two plans exist: Kindergarten - Second grade teachers have created practice packets for your children to use at home. If you choose to participate, packets can be picked up at our elementary school front door tomorrow, Thursday, March 19th, from 11:00 - 6:00. If these hours do not work for you, please let us know. Grades 3-5 Teachers encourage your child to access the digital resources on our Marion app/website under Elementary resources. These include IXL, RAZ kids, Spellingcity, Typing.com. In addition, your child can log onto their own Rocket Math account, go to PBSkids, ABCYA, Prodigy, take an AR quiz (during school hours only), etc. If your child cannot remember their username and password please email your child’s teacher. Also, have your child read a book, play a game, go for a walk, do a chore, etc. jquist@marion.k12.mi.us mbell@marion.k12.mi.us tclark@marion.k12.mi.us The secondary teachers have created a robust list of electronic resources for students. The list is so robust, it will come in a SEPARATE MESSAGE, which will be sent tomorrow, Thursday, March 19th. The secondary resources are electronic, and we realize not all secondary students have made arrangements to take their chromebook home. Parents who want their children to have access to the school chromebook and instructional resources simply need to call the MS/HS office at (231) 743-2836. Arrangements can be easily made to sign out a chromebook and the district could even get it to your home if transportation is an issue. Ladies and Gentlemen, PLEASE help us get the word out about the new district app. It will make parent and student access to this type of information and resources so much more convenient and timely. Please tell everyone with a vested interest in Marion Public Schools to download our free App! I am proud of our staff's commitment to serving our community the best we can during this difficult time! Best wishes of health and wellness to your entire families.

MPS Family: Some of our staff collaborated today to organize learning opportunities for our students. Stay tuned as information for K-12 will be coming. Now would be a great time to download the Marion Public Schools app if you haven't already. Our website also has the same info

Winterfield, Redding, and Middle Branch Township Halls are the locations that will have free sack lunches available to all currently enrolled MPS students beginning this morning at 11:30 a.m. Adults can purchase sack lunches for $3. We hope to see you at one of the locations before 1:00 pm today. We intend on offering this service M-F through April 3rd. A special thanks to our entire transportation department fro volunteering to disperse the lunches! Michael, Marylou, Holly, Rusty, Sandy, Goldie and Tony have really gone ABOVE AND BEYOND this time! Thank you, DRIVERS!

Ladies and Gentlemen, To provide some clarification on sack lunch dispersal beginning tomorrow, please know currently enrolled students must be present to receive a FREE lunch. Adults may purchase a lunch for $3 each. My apologies for not including this on the original message.

Ladies and Gentlemen: Beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, March 17th, Marion Public Schools will be providing a FREE Lunch for all students currently enrolled in our district. There will be five pickup locations in the boundaries of our district. In addition to our elementary campus, lunches can also be picked up at the following parking lots: Redding Township Hall, Winterfield Township Hall, Middle Branch Township Hall, and the Dighton Store. Pickup times will range from 11:30-1:00 p.m. weekdays.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Please know we will be finalizing arrangements on Monday to provide up to two meals per day to our students through April 5th. If we can't bring meals to drop off locations (it is against rules to drop food off at individual houses)on Monday, then we will do everything in our power to make this happen beginning Tuesday. Please tell all those who are interested to stay tuned for details. Stay safe!

Ladies and Gentlemen: Please be advised the State of Michigan has issued a mandatory shutdown of all K-12 Schools beginning today at 6 p.m. Schools are slated to reopen April 6, 2020. Please stay tuned for the numerous updates that are to follow.

Sixth graders are rapidly finishing a unit on how cells work and the spread of viruses, a very relevant topic currently. One of the final lessons is on evaluating designs with possible treatments for a fictitious disease. Soon they will tackle their challenge of optimizing treatment choice to be sure to select the best possible choice. Today’s lesson used pasta towers to support a marshmallow; using optimization to improve their tower design and achieve the desired result.

Ladies and Gentlemen, As a result of the guidance given by the Michigan Department of Education, tonight’s K-1 concert has been postponed. A new date will be chosen when the district is granted clearance by the State of Michigan. Please check the district website and Facebook page for other event cancellations and information. Sincerely, Chris Arrington

Ladies and Gentlemen, As a result of the guidance given by the Michigan Department of Education, tonight’s K-1 concert has been postponed. A new date will be chosen when the district is granted clearance by the State of Michigan. Please check the district website and Facebook page for other event cancellations and information. Sincerely, Chris Arrington

Ladies and Gentlemen, I will apologize in advance for the length of this post. I feel it necessary to provide an update regarding Coronavirus. Many state organizations are "shutting down" and postponing key events for the foreseeable future. These include the Michigan Mass Band competition, the statewide Robotics competition, and the Governor's strong urging to cease and desist from large organizational meetings as a whole. Perhaps the most potentially unpopular restrictions have just been handed down by the Michigan High School Athletic Association. Please know the following procedures are not those of Marion Public Schools. Instead, we will comply with the following rules and compliance guidelines: From MHSAA - Host managers need to communicate with competing schools in determining facility arrival & entry protocols, pregame warm-up time and efficient postgame & departure plans. Each competing school will be allowed an ENTRY LIST of no more than fifty (50) individuals that will only include parents/legal guardians and essential administrators. This list will be generated and coordinated by each competing school’s athletic director. No admission will be charged for this list of 50 individuals. The host manager will determine whether competing schools will provide the list and have those names “checked off” upon entry or simply provide those individuals on each school’s list a ticket that will allow entry. In either case, the entry list must be provided to the host manager prior to doors opening. Doors will open to spectators no earlier than 30 minutes prior to game time, and the facility needs to be cleared of these spectators immediately following the end of the game and presentation of awards. Encourage social distancing among those spectators. Note that this entry list of no more than 50 individuals does NOT include bench personnel that consists of players, coaches and other bench staff (e.g. athletic trainer) within the published limits in the MHSAA Basketball PSTI & Tournament Managers Materials. Each team may also provide one person at the scorer’s table to handle the team’s scorebook. Host sites should only have essential game personnel onsite which includes the announcer, official scorer, timer/scoreboard operator and other essential staff/security that will coordinate the teams, officials and the limited numbers of spectators. Only credentialed MHSAA media members should be allowed admittance to your game. We are allowing credentialed media to document and tell the story of what occurs when so many individuals are not able to attend. Also know that there will be no pregame or postgame handshakes between teams/officials. There will be no cheerleaders or pep bands at any tournament site. As always, no artificial noisemakers are allowed at any indoor tournament site. Concession stands are optional and are not essential. The decision to have these available is made by the host manager. We understand that these are unprecedented times in our athletic event history. We thank everyone in advance for your cooperation and positive spirit in making this the very best experience possible for the kids involved during these incredibly challenging circumstances. Please stay tuned to the new district website, which now features real-time news and posts on the home-page. Individual cancellations will be posted on the website, facebook, and when appropriated automated texts/calls will be sent to those who are subscribed. Respectfully, Chris Arrington, Superintendent

Ladies and Gentlemen: I feel it necessary to update everyone on the Coronavirus as it relates to the immediate future here at Marion Public Schools. First, Governor Whittmer issued a "State of Emergency" here in Michigan, and our state now has two confirmed cases. Both MSU and CMU have shut down their respective campuses. Superintendents have been alerted more news is to follow today at 5 pm, to explain of what a "State of Emergency" means for a K-12 school. At this moment, MHSAA is advising schools to NOT CANCEL athletic events as a precaution. However, we just received word that this weekend's robotics competition was postponed by First Robotics. We realize there is contradiction on the state level, but this is the information we have at this time. If there are significant details from today's 5 pm press release, we will share with our staff, parents, and community. Thank you for staying tuned on this issue. Please take precaution and stay safe out there.

Here is a reminder from our Marion Youth Baseball and Softball Leagues. You still have some time to sign up tonight, or catch them next Monday at the elementary school.

MHS Drama Club Spring Production is in the works! Save the dates: May 8 and 10!!

Here is sneak peek of early morning play rehearsal with MHS drama club. Stay tuned for more information! ♥️🦅🎬

Ladies and Gentlemen, While there is no lack of information regarding the Coronavirus, It is appropriate to share the information from Central Michigan District Health Department. In addition to the resources packed in this website, https://www.cmdhd.org/novel-coronavirus, a letter will be going home with K-6 Students today.

The jv and varsity girls’ basketball teams recorded wins over Big Rapids Crossroads tonight. Great job girls!👍. The varsity will play NMC at NMC Monday at 6:00 for districts. Come out and cheer the girls on to victory!

Hey all you Eagles fans, stand up and clap your hands…for community night!! Free admission, 50/50 drawing and Eagle nest prize drawing at the boys’ basketball game Fri. Feb 28! JV tip off at 6:00 and it’s Senior Night!! Eagle pride sponsored by Marion Athletic Boosters. ♥️🦅🏀&🍿

The 7th and 8th grade band performed a “dress rehearsal” today for students. They will perform on Tuesday at Band Festival as will the high school band. We wish you the best!! ♥️🦅🎵