MCC Family,
The summer is coming to an abrupt end and we will be back in school with students on Tuesday, September 5th. We hope that you all have had an enjoyable summer and are ready to be back at MCC with as much enthusiasm as our staff has. We look forward to spending our days with you once again. This newsletter will serve as a reminder of our times and protocols as well as some policy changes that students and parents need to be aware of.
Our first day of school is a ½ day and like every other day will begin at 8:25am. Students will only have their advisory class on the first day of school. Dismissal will be at 11:30am. Breakfast will be available before 8:25am and will be ready when our doors open at 8:15am. Breakfast should be eaten in the classroom. Lunches for the first day will be available at 11:30am and will be a bag lunch. On Wednesday, we have our first full day of school and upperclassmen will have dual enrollment and CTE. Dismissal of full school days is at 3:13pm. On a very positive note, all breakfast and lunch are free to MCC students this year as long your family fills out and returns the lunch forms that will be provided.
MCC HS will enact some policy changes beginning this school year. The first one will be a cell phone policy. Students will put their cell phones in a holder that each teacher has in their classroom upon arrival into that class. Students will not be permitted to use their cell phones during instructional class time. However, each teacher will have a cell phone card that students can ask to use outside the classroom door in case of an emergency. Students will also be able to use their phones before school, between classes and at lunch. This policy is consistent with other schools in West Michigan and enhances focus and concentration in the classroom. Some of our teachers have already been using this policy in their individual classrooms in previous years.
Also, starting on October 2nd we will be utilizing an E-hall pass instead of physical passes to leave the classroom. Physical passes get damaged, lost, stolen, and are unsanitary from being in bathrooms. Again, multiple schools in West Michigan are using the E-hall pass. We will take the month to train our teachers and then students will use their Chromebooks to fill out an electronic pass that the teacher can approve. We will use our old system for the month of September.
We have a few staffing changes this year. In our office, we have two new office assistants. Mrs. Jennifer Waters will be our front office assistant/receptionist. Mrs. Sarah Wood is our office assistant/secretary. We also have a new Student Success Specialist, Mr. Tim Danielson. Please welcome them all to our school family! We do not have any teachers new to our district but we do have a couple of additions/changes. Mrs. Amy Smith will be a full-time special education teacher moving from the lower elementary school. Mr. Willett is also a full-time special education teacher. Mrs. Gauthier transitioned to our new educational assistant and Mrs. Rodriguez is now with us full-time in the social studies department after splitting time between the high school and the middle school department. Finally, Mr. Brian Beebe is our new athletic director and assistant principal.
Tuesday is the big day. We have already seen our Spartans on the field, court, and in the band. We are excited to see all 400+ Spartans in the building next week! Let’s make this school year the best filled with more MCC pride than ever before.
Jeffrey A. Tuka, Principal
Mason County Central High School