Back-to-School Hub

Students in grades K-12 will begin the new school year with a staggered start over a two-day period.

• Monday, Aug. 15 - students with last names A-L
• Tuesday, Aug. 16 -  students with last names M-Z
• Wednesday, Aug. 17 - all students together

Staggering our start helps teachers put students in a smaller group setting to accelerate relationship building while learning routines.

Famlies with children who have different last names and would like their children to attend school on the same day are able to do so. In K-6, share that information with your child's teacher. In 7-12, share that information with your school. 

MECC Preschool students 1st day is Monday, Aug. 22

MECC, ME, MMS, MHS
Families of students in grades K-4 & 7-12 will have opportunities to visit the school together and meet teachers on Friday, August 12, 2022.

• MECC (grades K-2) - sign up info included in MECC teacher's Welcome Letters
• ME (grades 3-4) - sign up info included in ME teacher's Welcome Letters
• MMS (grades 7-8)
• MHS (grades 9-12) - sign up info available August 5th

MI
Families of students in grades 5-6 will have opportunities to visit the school together and meet teachers on Wednesday, August 10, 2022. Sign up information is included in 5th Grade & 6th Grade teacher's Welcome Letters

Why is MI's Family Orientation Day different this year?
Last year, we recognized that having Mason Elementary and Mason Intermediate School's Family Orientation Day on the same day created parking issues, and other logistical challenges when having both schools' families all on the campus together at the same time. We adjusted and adapted, and hope this year will be a better experience for families who are eager to participate in all the welcoming activities that our staff is planning. 

PRESCHOOL
Families of preschool students will have opportunities to visit the school together and meet teachers August 12-August 18, 2022.

Back-to-School Gateway

New for the 2022-2023 school year is an online system designed to reduce wasting parents' valuable time!

Back-to-School Gateway is a paperless, online verification system for students already enrolled in Mason Schools. The system will open Friday, July 22, giving families time to update emergency medical information (including allergy or medicine needs), and emergency contact information.

Parents will need to input all the information in the system this year by clicking through screens and following the prompts. However, once this is completed for the first time, the data will remain and in future years families will only need to confirm the accuracy of information. Our staff has spent two years helping to customize this solution. We hope that it will be a much better user experience, and we are encouraged that it will increase the accuracy of vital information and save taxpayer dollars by eliminating the staff time our nurses and other staff spent processing other forms that did not integrate with our student information system. 

2022-2023 School Fees

• MECC Fees
• ME Fees
• MI Fees
• MMS Fees
• MHS Fees

Families will be able to pay school fees on EZ Pay beginning Thursday, July 28. 

MECC

ME

MI

MMS

MHS

MECC: Backpack & a folder.
Students use community supplies that are paid for by school fees. 

ME: Backpack & a folder. 
Students use community supplies that are paid for by school fees. 

MI: School supply lists are included in teacher welcome letters that families will receive on Thursday, July 28th at 4:00PM

MMS: Paper, students' organization preference, and something to write with.
Any special supply requests will be communicated from the classroom teacher to the students once school begins. 

MHS: Paper, students' organization preference, and something to write with.
Any special supply requests will be communicated from the classroom teacher to the students once school begins. 

• Thursday, July 28, 2022 at 4pm

  • Grades PK-6 Teacher/Team Notification and Welcome Letter with School Supply List links emailed to families. 

  • Grades 7-8: MMS schedules available in HAC

• Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2022

  • Grades 9-12: MHS schedules will be available in Mason Connects

MECC

ME

MI
5th Grade
6th Grade

Parents may access their child’s bus information via Stopfinder. 

• Monday, July 25, tentative bus stops, bus numbers and pick up/drop off times will be available.

It is important to check your child's transportation information again before school begins.  Changes may occur due to processing family change requests and new family move-ins.

Install the StopFinder App (Apple) 
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stopfinder/id1038063658

Install the StopFinder App (Google Play)
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=Stopfinder&c=apps

What the App Can Do

• View your student’s daily transportation assignments – including transfer trips and stops
• Securely share your student’s schedule with caregivers. The primary parent/guardian is the only contact able to share student schedule information. 
• Receive notifications and updates related to transportation

Monday, July 25, tentative bus stops and pick up/drop off times will be available.

After Friday, August 5, bus numbers will be available.

It is important to check your child's transportation information again before school begins.  Changes may occur due to processing family change requests and new family move-ins.

Install the StopFinder App (Apple) 
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/stopfinder/id1038063658

Install the StopFinder App (Google Play)
https://play.google.com/store/search?q=Stopfinder&c=apps

Every attempt is made to place a student at a stop closest to his/her residence.  However if a parent chooses to have their student utilize a different stop, parents may submit a Transportation Change Request Form to a different, existing stop.  A new stop will likely not be created on an existing route.

TRANSPORTATION CHANGE REQUEST FREEZE BEGINS FRIDAY, AUGUST 5 at 5PM
(does not include newly enrolled students)

In order to ensure that bus drivers can successfully and safely drive their routes at the beginning of the year, drivers receive routes ahead of time to practice. Consequently, it is important to have all changes into our system at least two weeks before school begins so that routes are properly built and practiced.

During the transportation freeze, no changes will be made to a student’s transportation. 

If parents know that they will be utilizing child care outside the home, a Transportation Change Request Form must be submitted to the Transportation office prior to the freeze. These forms are also available online and may be submitted via mail, dropped off in person or emailed to MCSTransportation@masonohioschools.com

Safe Rider Orientation Program

WHEN: Tuesday, August 9 from 8-11AM

WHERE: MCS Bus Garage, 5025 Enterprise Dr., Mason OH 45040

There will a chance to get on on and off the bus, learn about bus safety, and play carnival games. We hope you'll join us!

Mason City Schools Menus

**August menus will be loaded by Friday, July 22

No. The USDA’s free meals waiver for public school food service programs, which provided free daily breakfast and lunch to all students (regardless of financial qualification) for the last two years, expired on June 30, 2022.

As a result, families who may qualify for free and reduced meals based on income or other qualifying factors will need to complete the free & reduced lunch application form

Regardless of previous qualification, the meal benefits application must be completed on an annual basis. Only students who qualified for free/reduced meal benefits prior to the USDA waiver will continue receiving benefits through Sept. 15, 2022, after which a new application will need to be on file to continue receiving free/reduced meal prices. 

MyPaymentsPlus is available for families to prepay children's meal accounts on Friday, July 29, 2022.

(Free & Reduced Meal Applications available in schools and online now. 

Ohio law requires children to have certain immunizations to attend school.  View the Immunization Requirements.

All immunization records must be provided to your school nurse before the 14th day of school (Sept. 1, 2022) to ensure your child can continue attending school. Records can be provided on Back-to-School Gateway, in a paper format or emailed/faxed from you or your doctor's office to your school nurse. 

Incoming 7th Graders: All incoming seventh-graders are required by law to have one dose each of the MCV4 (Meningococcal) vaccine and Tdap (Diptheria, Tetanus & Pertusis) booster vaccine. 

Incoming 12th Graders: All incoming seniors are required by law to provide an updated shot record showing proof of two doses of the MCV4 (Meningococal) vaccine. If the first dose was given on or after the 16^th birthday, a second dose is not required. A record of these updated vaccines must be sent to your school’s main office before the start of the new school year. 

COVID-19 Vaccination: Mason City Schools does not require staff or students to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. If your child has received the vaccine, you can submit a copy of the vaccination record to your school's nurse to have on file.

Warren County Immunization & Child Health Clinic

According to the Warren County Health Department guidelines, if your child was born outside of the U.S., has been in the country for less than five years, and is coming to Mason City Schools from a country or area identified by the Ohio Department of Health and/or US Centers for Disease Control as an area of a high incidence of tuberculosis, they must submit proof of negative tuberculosis skin test. This requirement also applies to a student returning from travel to a high-incidence region if the travel duration is two months or longer. If submitting a TB skin test with a positive result, a negative chest e-ray or QuantiFERON test result proving the non-existence of active tuberculosis must be submitted before the student may attend school. 

Kindergarten Students
Families of kindergarten students need to share proof of an updated physical within the last year through Back-to-School Gateway or with MECC nurses Patty Gast, RN & Sally McDonald, RN. 

New to Mason Students
New Comet families need to share proof of their children's updated physical within the last year through Back-to-School Gateway or with their school nurse. 

Athletes
Comet athletes need a current (within the last year) physical on file. Log into FinalForms to ensure your athelte's physical is updated.  
 

We're so glad you've joined our Comet Family! Visit the New Family Welcome Center.

We hope you're getting all settled into your new home! 

Permanent changes due to change of address need to be shared with the Central Registrar, 513.398.0474 ext. 20141 or email hillja@masonohioschools.com  

Please add support@masonohioschools.com to your contact list. We have found that when our support specialists reply to your ticket, the response often lands in Spam or Junk Email due to using an external ticketing system.  Even if the initial email is received, replies tend to be problematic.

Schedules will be visible within Mason Connects by August 5th.

Check out our Family System Login Guide!

Email support@masonohioschools.com and be as specific as possible. Also, please whitelist support@masonhioschools.com, so you don't miss our response to you.