East Dale Elementary School

Thank you to EQT Corporation and President Ellen Rossi for the company's generous donation of $3,000 to the Marion County Christmas Toy Shop. "Every child deserves a Christmas," and EQT is helping to make this possible in Marion County. To donate, contact 304-203-8385.

1 Bus + 1 Driver = a BIG Impact on Education. It's National School Bus Safety Week. MCS is proud to work with our bus operators, families, students, teachers, motorists, and administrators to stress school bus safety. Students see poster contest guidelines at https://5il.co/10qvz

Underwood Smith Scholarship opportunity for graduating seniors who are interested in becoming a WV teacher: The current senior class can apply by December 31, 2021, for this scholarship, which could offer them $10,000.00 a year for four years while working to become to teacher.

The MC BOE recently accepted a resolution to recognize MCS as a Purple Heart District. Many WVs are veterans of the Unites States armed forces and have families with children attending school. During times when these families relocate to meet duty requirements or experience the absence of a loved one while on deployment, MCS has an opportunity to meet the unique needs of these children. The Purple Star Award is designed to recognize schools that create a military-friendly environment and make a special commitment to supporting the resilience of military connected children. For more information, contact L.D. Skarzinski, Administrative Assistant of C&I, at lskarzin@k12.wv.us or visit https://wvde.us/commonground/.

Help a Teen Out! Connecting Link Inc. is collecting items for Teen Angels this year. All donations should be turned into Connecting Link or one of Marion County Schools by Monday, November 29, 2021. Learn more at https://connectinglinkwv.com/.

Parent-Teacher Conference days and times are announced for each of the Marion County Schools. Families should contact their child's teacher for more specific information about how to connect on the dates and times listed below.

In collaboration with the MC Health Department, MCS is closing a Kindergarten classroom at East Dale Elementary School through September 13. These K students will return on September 14. There are 5 positive cases as verified through contact tracing. This closure is for 10 days after the initial exposure. Families who have been impacted are being notified by MCS.

Do it for Babydog: Round 2: Online registration is open for the sweepstakes. Weekly, 5 vaccinated WV students, 12-25, win a full 4-year scholarship – including room and board, tuition, and books – to any public college or university in WV. All 18 older who have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine can register for an opportunity to win additional prizes, including sports cars, free gas for 10 years, a dream wedding, season ticket packages to WVU and Marshall games, more!

MCS Child Nutrition Office has received word that its application as a countywide Community Eligibility Program has been approved for the 2021-22 school year. All students in MCS have the opportunity to eat breakfast and lunch at school at no cost through CEP. The CEP was enacted as a result of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and provides universal meal service to children in high-poverty areas. What does this mean for students? If benefits become available again this year through the Pandemic EBT, ALL MCS families now qualify for these benefits. Marion County is an equal opportunity provider.

Like businesses across the nation, the MCS Child Nutrition Dept. has been experiencing some outs and shortages from our suppliers. MCS will continue to substitute products as possible from our suppliers. If we have to change menus, we work diligently to try to give plenty of notice to students and families. Updates are sent through your child’s school as necessary. We appreciate your patience, grace, and understanding.

Help the WV DHHR and WVU Health Affairs gather data about Marion County. The Mountain State Assessment of Trends in Community Health (MATCH) is voluntary, confidential, and non-identifiable. See WVMATCHsurvey.org.

Celebrate Freedom Week educates students about the sacrifices made for freedom in the founding of this country and the values on which this country was founded (WV State Code §18-2-9 ). In social studies classrooms, students will be learning of the Declaration of Independence, Emancipation Proclamation, and Constitution of the United States with an emphasis on the Bill of Rights. This includes the environments and the study of historical documents that inspired the founding fathers for the purposes of safeguarding our Constitutional republic.

MCS will gather information about the levels of proficiency in English Language Arts and Math for grades 1 to 10 today through Sept. 17. This beginning of the year benchmark will help teachers plan instruction and interventions for the coming school year to recover instruction.

MCS provides insurance for our Dell 3100 Chromebooks . The enrollment window is open through October 4th at https://gpo.worthavegroup.com/gpo/marioncounty. Kindergarten students will get packets at their school.

As we enter the months of inclement weather, MCS is releasing information so our families may proactively plan for any weather-related interruptions that may occur. Find out more: https://5il.co/y5es.

For updates on COVID-19 cases in MCS, visit our homepage daily or this link: https://www.marionboe.com/page/covid19-reporting

"Grit and grace" and "stick together and take care of each other," are the words of 1986 graduate of North Marion High School and the first female WVU Mountaineer and former WV Secretary of State Natalie Tennant: https://5il.co/xos8 #MCSgetbackinthegame

Marion County Schools releases 2021-22 Quarantine Guidelines Summary Document at https://5il.co/xmt5. In the K–12 indoor classroom setting, a quarantine excludes students who were within 3 to 6 feet of an infected student if both the infected student and the exposed student(s) correctly and consistently wore well-fitting masks the entire time. See more information at the above link.

Given a review of Marion County trends in COVID-19 cases, in collaboration with the MC Health Department, MCS will extend the current mask mandate in all indoor spaces for all students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, to the end of the first semester. This mandate was originally in place through August 25 by MCS. It will be assessed regularly in collaboration with the MC Health Department, and it is our sincere hope that it can be lifted when local cases fall within acceptable levels.

Construction equipment is starting to arrive on the campus of East Dale Elementary School.