Halloween Candy

Halloween is coming up next week. If you could please help…Halloween candy is not allowed at school. When children bring their candy to school it becomes a distraction to learning. Please keep the candy at home. Thank you for your help! 

Colder Weather

As a friendly reminder, please send your children to school with the appropriate clothing to be outside for recess. It's important for kids to be outside playing together and getting some exercise. Please send them with a coat, hat, gloves, etc. and we will be sure to have them wear it. 

No School for All AAPS Students – November 1 & 2

There will be no school for all Ann Arbor Public Schools students on November 1 & 2. School will resume on Wednesday, November 3. 

October 29 – Half Day

Dear Mitchell Families,

Friday, October 29 is a half-day for all elementary students. We will dismiss at 11:28am. Please arrive for pick-up no later than 11:28am.

 Typically, this day would also be the day of our Fall Festival. As you know, there is no in-person Fall Festival this year. Instead, we've designated this day as a Pajama Day and the Mitchell PTO will be making Fall Fest goodie bags for all students. We will not be wearing Halloween costumes to school – PJ's instead! 

While we know this isn't a replacement for the Fall Festival, it is a way for us to have some fun and enjoy the half-day. 

IB Reauthorization Year

Dear Mitchell, Scarlett and Huron families, 

This year represents our IB reauthorization year. As part of this process we would like your input on a parent survey about the Ann Arbor International Baccalaureate (IB) Schools. The Ann Arbor IB Schools are:

·       Mitchell Elementary School (grades pre-kindergarten - 5)

·       Scarlett Middle School (grades 6-8)

·       Huron High School (grades 9-12).

We hope you will share your thoughts about the IB programs at the schools your family attends. We want to know more about what we do well and where we can improve. We will use your input to help our schools become even better. As the year goes along, we will be sharing more information about reauthorization as well as the feedback from these surveys. We hope you'll take the time to participate!

Please CLICK HERE to take the survey.  

The survey text has been translated into the most spoken languages in AAPS other than English:

Español

한국인

عربي

日本

中国人

If you have questions, please contact Matt Hilton, Bernard Bell or Wendy Rothman.

Parent Pick-Up at Dismissal

I've noticed a few parents who drive and pick up kids at the crosswalk to Colonial Square.

If this is you, please do NOT park near the cross walk. This creates congestion at the cross walk as the buses exit via the Scarlett drive.

Instead, you'll notice two light posts – one on either side of the crosswalk. This tends to be a good rule of thumb and gives space for the buses at the crosswalk. Please do not park between the two light posts. 

Early Release Day – Wednesday, October 20

All AAPS elementary students will be released at 1:18 PM on Wednesday, October 20. All teachers will participate in professional development in the afternoon. Please plan to pick your child up on this day at 1:18 PM. Lunch will be served as normal. Buses routes will run as normal on this day and will depart Mitchell by 1:30 PM. 

Lost & Found – IMPORTANT UPDATE

Returning students' lost and found items in the era of covid presents unique challenges. We recognize the money parents and caregivers have spent on these items and we want them to get back to your student. One of our building employees (Liz Thomas) who is a PTO member has volunteered to serve as a liaison for student lost and found items in the school.

There is an online photo album of these items updated frequently at https://flic.kr/s/aHsmWRTyRQ

If you see your item, please email Liz directly at ethomas9812@gmail.com with a description of the item (label, brand, color) and your student's name plus their TEACHER'S name. The grade level is not important. Once a week, the lost-and-found coordinator will drop off the items to the student's classroom to be claimed.

 

Unclaimed cloth masks left for more than one week will be recycled, for sanitation we don't want to keep those in the building any longer than necessary. 

Email e.thomas9812@gmail.com directly with any questions. Also, please visually check the east playground fence every day when leaving school for jackets left behind that day. Thanks again for all your understanding and flexibility as we keep our building safe and sanitary.

Safe Routes to School Group

I'm looking to put together a Safe Routes to School group of parents would be willing to work together, with me, to create a Safe Routes to School plan for Mitchell. There are is also grant funding that we can apply for to help fund our efforts. If you're interested, please let me know.

 

You can find a bit more about Safe Routes to School on the AAPS website. 

NWEA Testing

Over the next two weeks, Kindergarten through 5^th grade students will be engaged in the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) Assessment. We give students the NWEA MAP Assessments each year to determine your child's instructional level and to measure academic growth over the school year in the areas of Math and Reading. As in previous years, your child will take these assessments on a computer.

 

You can find more detailed information about the NWEA Map test by clicking here. 

Staff Vaccination Rates and Ongoing Testing

AAPS Staff COVID vaccination rates remain very high. At this time, of approximately 2,300 AAPS staff members confirmed from across our schools, the AAPS maintains a 94% rate fully vaccinated, and this number represents almost all staff have reported.  However, we will continue to update this information throughout the remainder of this hiring season. We will publish a full, public report once the hiring process stabilizes so that we accurately share the facts about vaccination status of those working on our team to serve students in our schools during this 2021-2022 school year.