Lincoln Elementary Scholarships are being offered to former Lincoln School students who have decided to continue their academic desires beyond K-12. Each five hundred dollar ($500.00) scholarship will be given to high school graduates who will be attending a college or university in the summer or fall following their high school graduation. The scholarship is to be used first to pay tuition and then to buy books. Checks will be made out to the university or college registrar in the name of the student.
Applications are available in the Career Center at Monroe High School. Applications MUST be returned to Raisinville or Waterloo Elementary (attention Elise Hill) no later than Friday, May 19, 2017. Applications can also be emailed to elise.hill@monroeisd.us.
This April, MPS Vocal Music Department will be presenting our 3rd biennial Vocal Arts Day (VAD). This event was born out of the traditional "All City Vocal Concert" in which all choir students in grades 5-12 participated in an evening performance.
Back in 2012, vocal music staff decided they wanted more! So we brainstormed and came up with the first Monroe Public Schools Vocal Arts Day (MPS-VAD).
This day-long event involves the traditional evening performance with choir students in grades 5-12 with the addition of special guest artists. This year's group is Three Men and a Tenor, who performed for us at the first VAD. The 2015 VAD featured Broadway vocal artists Jessica Grove and Dan Cooley.
This year, Three Men and a Tenor will perform at Monroe High School for all Monroe Public School students in grades 3 and 4. This is one of the ways we work to get younger students excited about vocal music, so that they can hopefully see themselves as vocal artists in 5th-6th grade and beyond.
Later in the day, MPS Choir students in grades 5-8 will converge on MHS to participate in three rotating sessions: vocal arts workshops, coaching with Three Men and a Tenor, and concert rehearsals. They will join MHS choir students, working in a unique mentoring process which allows younger singers to experience high school choir life. The workshops also provide students interested in Vocal Arts the chance to hear Three Men and a Tenor perform, be led in warm-ups, performance critiques, and motivating activities.
The evening concert will showcase all MPS choir groups from MMS and MHS, as well as all 5th-6th choir students from all district elementary schools as one mass choir.
The theme of this this year's VAD is Motown, and will include such favorites as I Want You Back, ABC, Can't Help Myself, My Girl, and I Got the Music in Me, to name a few.
The format of the concert allows student groups to alternate performing with Three Men and a Tenor, resulting in an exciting, fast-paced evening of beautiful vocal music! The culmination of the concert will be ALL choir students in grades 5-12 singing with Three Men and a Tenor.
Since this event involves hiring this professional performing group and contracting sound engineers, the concert is a ticketed event, unlike most MPS concerts, with limited seating. Further, several MPS vocal music teachers worked last summer to write a grant to help defray costs, and were awarded the grant!
We will also hold our 2nd biennial Hot Chocolate Bar fundraiser on Friday, February 3 from 6-8 pm in the Custer I Elementary School cafeteria. This is a fun, family-friendly event that features a hot chocolate bar, desserts, and performances by MPS Choir students throughout the evening. Tickets to the Hot Chocolate fundraiser are $5.
The Monroe County ISD is hosting a CTE Expo to promote high school Career and Technical Education programs to all students in grades 8-11. The goal of this event is for students and parents to learn of the various programs available in Monroe County for all students. Come find out how you can be part of CTE in Monroe County!
There will be a half-day of school for Monroe Public Schools students on Wednesday, January 25. Pre-school at Riverside, along with Kids Club at Riverside and Custer, will operate on a regular schedule.
In honor of the Martin Luther King holiday, there will be no school on Monday, January 16. In addition, the Monroe Public Schools Administration Building will be closed. Classes will resume and the administration building will reopen on Tuesday, January 17.
Three experienced Monroe Public Schools Board of Education members were elected by their colleagues as officers at the January 10 organizational meeting.
The Board elected Lawrence VanWasshenova as president, Floreine Mentel as vice president, and Cynthia Taylor as secretary. Katherine Eighmey, MPS Business and Finance Director, was re-appointed as treasurer.
Mr. VanWasshenova, who has served on the Board since 2003 and as vice president since 2013, will preside over regular and special meetings.
The board voted Tuesday night to continue to hold its regular meetings at 7 p.m. on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. Workshops, which generally precede board meetings, will continue to start at 5:30 p.m.
January 2, 2017
Dear Monroe Public Schools Students, Staff, Families, and Community Members,
Happy New Year! I hope this finds you, like me, eagerly anticipating the entrance back into our school routines tomorrow, Tuesday, January 3rd, after a wonderful holiday season. It is a treasure when we have the opportunity to pause, become refreshed, and think about the wonder and promise all around us. This is especially true for me, as with the New Year, I am honored to begin serving our school district as Superintendent. I would like to thank Dr. Martin for his service and leadership over the past years and wish him all of the best in his retirement.
For over twenty years, I have witnessed our talented staff, involved families, dedicated Board of Education members, and invested community organizations in their relentless pursuit to provide the best possible experiences for our Monroe students. When I speak to others about our district as my home, where my own children go to school, and where I have invested my career as an educator, I am proud to share the many memories and opportunities within Monroe Public Schools. Whether it be in academics, arts, athletics, leadership, technology, or volunteerism, our students have access to the programs and initiatives that support them in meeting high expectations and becoming successful lifelong learners and global citizens.
With the New Year, in addition to our rigorous plans to enrich student opportunities and achievements, I also think about the important role that each of us holds as a champion for our students and the school district. Our words are powerful, and for every positive story that we share, there is a person or an entire group of people, young and old, working harder and feeling a deeper sense of pride because of it. In daily routines, it is easy to overlook the influence that these positive stories bring to our students, our work as a school district, and ultimately, our legacy as a Monroe community. Please join me in this daily commitment to share and celebrate our children and our successes!
Thank you for your ongoing support. Monroe Public Schools is stronger because you are a part of it. Feel free to contact me through email at everly@monroe.k12.mi.us or by phone at 734-265-3000. Together, we will embrace questions, address issues, and engage in conversations to make Monroe the best it can be every single day. Here’s to a prosperous 2017, and wherever you go -- beam that one-of-a-kind Monroe Trojan Pride!
Believe. Engage. Excel. As always,
Julie M. Everly
Superintendent
There will be a half-day of school for Monroe Public Schools students on Wednesday, Dec. 21. Kids Club at Riverside and Custer will be closed in the afternoon.
Monroe Public School students have been busy this holiday season helping their fellow man, classmates and even animals.
The Arborwood Campus partnered with the Thrift Shop Association to adopt more than 60 families to help with Christmas gifts this year. They school referred families to the Shop with a Cop event held earlier this month. Staff members participated in the Arborwood Giving Tree where they adopted families at the school to buy gifts for this Christmas. Throughout the school year, Arborwood hosts food and clothing drives to help those in need. The school received support from several organizations and individuals. During the holidays, Elevate Church provided holiday meals for three families. Midway Products and the UAW also pitched in to help families have a happy holiday season.
Students at the Custer Campus have made Christmas cards for the troops while others were made for a sick child. The fifth and sixth grade choir will visit surrounding neighborhoods singing Christmas carols. Families were adopted through the St. Nick gift program and through community and private organizations. Custer student council hosted a food drive. Students made holiday placements and Christmas cards for residents at Wellspring Lutheran home. Students in Kelly Lake’s class have been doing Random Acts of Kindness throughout the school and in the community. Ms. Lake’s students have made cards for the Lutheran Home, ornaments for school bus drivers and blankets for the Monroe County Humane Society. The Parent Teacher Organization adopted a family at Custer 2. The Custer Sodexo group adopted a family. Staff at both schools also adopted families for the holidays. The school also received some kindness from the Knights of Columbus who donated more than 50 winter coats to the school for students.
At Manor Elementary, the school had a Good Deed Tree, which encouraged students to participate in good deeds at home and throughout the community. Students created Christmas cards for residents at Medilodge. The school hosted pajama day fundraiser with the money benefitting a Manor family. Students wrote cards to soldiers stationed overseas. The school also collected coats for a coat closet.
Raisinville Elementary students hosted a canned food drive, which was sponsored by teacher Mary Vincent. The food was delivered to the Salvation Army of Monroe County to be distributed to folks in need. Raisinville’s BFFs, or Birthdays for the Future collected money in lieu of presents, which was donated to a 9-year-old named Jose who lives in Quito, Ecuador through the Children’s International Charity. The money is used for school supplies, clothes, health care products and other items. In two months, the school collected nearly $400.
Waterloo Elementary students planned to go door-to-door Dec. 21 singing holiday carols to folks in the neighborhood. The school’s Parent Teacher Organization partnered with ProMedica to provide 11 Waterloo families with a holiday turkey dinner.
Students at Monroe Middle School crafted more than 500 letters to send to troops overseas. The school collected winter gear for the Trojan Closet, a clothing boutique inside of the school where students can select gear. Several groups hosted a penny war to benefit the Monroe Public Schools Promise Fund.
Monroe High School students helped more than a dozen local organizations through a variety of collections and drives during the holiday season. Each Trojan Family Time group hosted an activity to help their fellow man. Students collected food, toiletries, clothes and household goods to be donated to places like Oaks of Righteousness Christian Church/Oaks Victory Village, the Salvation Army of Monroe County, Family Counseling Services, Goodwill, Paula’s House, Philadelphia House and Monroe County Opportunity Program. Students collected food and toys to give to the Monroe County Humane Society and the Devoted Barn. Another room collected stuffed animals which were donated to Mott Children’s Hospital, Ann Arbor. One room made fleece tied blankets. Other rooms brought in canned food items to help stock the newly-created Trojan Food Closet, which benefits Monroe High School students and families. A number of rooms created holiday cards, which were sent to troops overseas. Others made cards for local nursing homes.
Orchard Center High School hosted a mobile food pantry Dec. 10 in conjunction with Monroe County Opportunity Program and Gleaners. With the help of volunteers from the district, food packages were donated to more than 125 families living in the community. For the past three years, Orchard Center High School has hosted a mobile food pantry prior to winter and spring breaks. On Dec. 21, the school’s choir group planned to visit a nursing home to sing Christmas carols. The students also created holiday cards, which will be delivered by the choir group that day.