9.18.26

Dear Students and Families,

September is flying by, and it has been great to see our students learning, growing, and becoming more confident each day. We have a lot of great things happening in our building, and we are excited to continue the year together!

Wednesday, September 23, is a non-student day across Mt. Vernon Schools for Parent/Teacher Connection Day. Your student’s teacher should have reached out with information about scheduling a meeting. We look forward to connecting with families and sharing how your student is doing so far this year.

One of the life values we focus on at MVIS is Responsibility. As our students get older, we want them to become more independent and take ownership of their choices and responsibilities. For our 5th and 6th graders, this might look like remembering their materials, keeping up with assignments, following directions, making positive choices, taking care of their belongings, and being willing to admit when they make a mistake and make it right.

Families can help build responsibility at home by giving students opportunities to take ownership of everyday tasks and by asking questions before jumping in to solve a problem for them. Simple questions like, “What do you need to do?” or “What can you do to fix it?” can go a long way in helping students become more independent.

Be sure to see below for more information about our CHARGE Cards, including how we are tracking behavior, recognizing positive choices, and helping students take responsibility for their actions. We want our students to know what is expected, make good choices, and understand that their choices matter.

We appreciate all you do to support your students and our school. We’re looking forward to a great rest of September!

Sincerely,

Ms. Ashley Gustin

Principal

Wednesday, September 23: Parent/Teacher Connection Day, NO SCHOOL

Wednesday, September 23 - Wednesday, September 30 - Fall Book Fair - Volunteers Needed (see below)

Wednesday, September 30 - All Pro Dad, 5:00 pm

Monday, October 12 - Friday, October 16: Fall Break, NO SCHOOL

We frequently update Facebook with student learning activities, projects and other things happening in the building. Give MVIS a quick follow to see the daily activitivies.

Students of the week are recognized for demonstrating growth, effort, or positive actions during the week. We love celebrating these moments with our students! Great Job, Marauders!

You should have received a ParentSquare message with your child’s individual Family Portal access code and information about accessing their assessment results. The Family Portal allows you to view available ILEARN and IREAD results, including your child’s spring 2026 results.

You can access the Indiana Family Portal here: Indiana Family Portal

Please keep your child’s access code for future reference, as the Family Portal will be used to access results for state assessments throughout the school year, including ILEARN Checkpoints, IREAD, and spring 2027 ILEARN results as they become available.

If you need assistance accessing the portal, please contact Alissa Lockwood at alissa.lockwood@mtvernonschools.org.

Thank you for your continued support in your child’s learning!

We want our students to have a great year and feel successful both in and out of the classroom. One way we help students recognize their choices and stay on track with expectations is through our CHARGE Cards.

Students receive a CHARGE Card each Monday and use it throughout the week to keep track of how they are doing. The cards are collected the following Monday. If a parent or guardian signs the card, the student will receive a positive mark on their new card to start the week. We encourage families to look over and sign the card each week so you can see how your student is doing at school.

Students who have zero, one, or two “Not Meeting Expectations” marks during the week will get to participate in Fun Friday! This might include extra time outside, a special activity, or another fun reward.

If a student receives three or more “Not Meeting Expectations” marks, there may be additional consequences, including losing Fun Friday time, a step in our school-wide behavior system, a phone call home, or an office referral depending on the number of marks.

We encourage you to ask your student about their CHARGE Card each week and talk about the positive choices they are making at school. It is a great way to stay connected and celebrate their successes!

Our Book Fair is coming up, and we are looking for parent volunteers to help! If you would like to volunteer during your student’s scheduled Book Fair time, you can use the sign-up link below to choose a time that works for you. The attached schedule shows when each teacher’s class will be attending the Book Fair so you can sign up to be there with your student.

                Class Schedule

Your child’s school pictures are now available! To view them online, please log in to your account at mylifetouch.com. If you don’t have an account yet, you can create one using your email address. You’ll need your student’s ID number or their portrait id and access code to locate their photos.

MVIS has multiple tutoring opportunities for students! Sign up for FREE peer tutoring. Session 1 begins September 16th and is study skills lessons. Sessions 2-4 are regular tutoring sessions with our Peer Tutors from National Junior Honor Society and National Honor Society. Sign up here!

Looking for individual tutoring options? We have available tutors for all subjects, including organization/study skills. Contact Michelle Shepherd michelle.shepherd@mtvernonschools.org for tutor lists and tutoring questions.

For the safety of our students, we would like to remind families that we do not allow walk-up dismissal at the end of the school day. If you need to pick your student up early, the latest time to pick them up is 3:00 PM. After that time, students will need to be picked up through our car rider line.

We appreciate your cooperation and support in helping us maintain a safe and orderly dismissal process for all students.

If your student will be absent, please notify the school by 9:40 AM using one of the following methods:

If your student needs to be picked up early, please notify the school ahead of time to ensure a smooth process:

Please include the following in your message:

Click HERE for the full MVCSC Attendance Policy.

Doors open: 8:15 am

Morning Bell Rings: 8:35 am

End of Day: 3:30 pm

Early release Wednesdays: 2:45 pm