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CONNECTING.
LEARNING.
LEADING.
MARCH 2019
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Maize South Elementary
3404 N Maize Rd.
Wichita, KS 67205
(316) 462-8300
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A NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
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Dear Parents,
We are super excited to let you know about some changes in our annual Leadership Day. If you have previously had a student at MSE you may have heard about or even attended this special day. When we were Leader in Me members leadership day was about inviting other schools to MSE to tour our school and see how we promote leadership and the 7 Habits. We hosted principals, teachers, and even the commissioner of education one year.
Now that we are no longer affiliated with the Leader in Me we have decided to restructure Leadership Day so students can showcase leadership in a different way. This year our theme, created by our student lighthouse team, will be MSE Leaders of the Pack. Students will be working hard on leadership presentations and parents will make up our main audience. With the help of staff and students we will be turning our school into a leadership museum. More details will be coming, but be sure to reserve the morning of Thursday, May 9th to attend.
Have a wonderful break and I hope we are all able to enjoy a little spring weather.
Meg Thimmesch
MSES Principal
NOTE FROM THE PRINCIPAL
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A reminder that all visitors who wish to enter the school during school hours must present a government issued photo ID, such as a driver's license on their first visit. This includes parents, guardians and grandparents. Please allow for extra time to either run the driver's license or to look up their information if already in our system. Thank you for allowing us to keep our students and staff safe.
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IMPORTANT DATES AND INFORMATION
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March 7
Chick-fil-A Spirit Night, 4:00-8:00pm
March 8
End of Term
March 11-15
NO SCHOOL, K-12,
Spring Break
March 21
PTO Meeting
March 28
Kindergarten Enrollment, MHS Commons,
5:00-7:00pm
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April 1
PTO - Can You Spare a Dollar Fundraiser
1st Grade Music Program, MHS Auditorium, 7:15pm
April 11
PTO - Bingo Night, Maize South Middle School, SM, 6:00-7:30pm
April 16
4th Grade Music Program, MSHS Auditorium, 6:30pm
5th Grade Music Program, MSHS Auditorium, 7:30pm
April 17
Parent/Teacher Conferences, K-12,
4:00-8:00pm
April 18
NO SCHOOL, K-12, Parent/Teacher Conferences,
12:00-8:00pm
April 19
NO SCHOOL, K-12, Conference Comp Day
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May 2
3rd Grade Field Trip, Exploration Place, 9:00am-2:00pm
1st Grade Field Trip, Botanica, 9:00am-1:30pm
May 8
Kindergarten Adventure, (Part 1), Times to be determined
May 9
Leadership Day, 9:00-11:00am
May 10
No School,
K-12, Professional Development Day
Kindergarten Adventure
(Part 2), Times to be determined
May 13
Band Concert, MSHS Auditorium, 7:00pm
May 14
Orchestra Concert,
MHS Auditorium, 7:00pm
May 16
Kindergarten & 1st Grade Field Day, 10:00-11:45am
May 17
2nd & 4th Grade Field Day, 9:00-10:45am
3rd & 5th Grade Field Day, 12:45-2:30pm
K-5 Spring Parties,
2:45-3:30pm
May 20
Field Day Rain Date
(if needed)
May 22
Last Day of School
End of Term
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KINDERGARTEN AND PRE-K ENROLLMENT
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Pre-K, Kindergarten enrollment night March 28
at Maize High School
I
f you have an incoming Pre-K or Kindergarten student who will start school at Maize USD 266 in August 2019, please plan to attend our enrollment night, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 28 at
Maize High School
, 11600 W. 45 St. N. in Maize.
For incoming Pre-K families:
Maize USD 266 is excited to offer Pre-K to all children who live within the Maize School District.
Our Pre-K sessions are at our
Maize Early Childhood Center
on Monday through Thursday and use Pre-K Reading and Literacy curriculum along with developmentally appropriate activities and are taught by licensed teachers. If your child meets at least one of our state's at-risk criteria, there is no fee for the program other than the curriculum fee. If you would like your child to attend and he/she does not meet a criteria, a monthly fee applies.
For incoming Kindergarten families:
Please note that arriving early has no impact on your child's building assignment or class placement.
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LIGHTEN UP! FIRST GRADE VOCAL MUSIC CONCERT
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YOU ARE INVITED TO
MAIZE SOUTH ELEMENTARY’S
1
st
GRADE VOCAL MUSIC CONCERT
Lighten UP!
Monday, April 1
st
, 2019
7:15 p.m.
Maize High School
Please note that each child should arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the performance. The children will meet in the Maize High vocal music room to warm-up. The concert will be held in the Maize High School Auditorium.
We are looking forward to sharing with you!
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MAIZE EDUCATION FOUNDATION
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Join the Foundation for its new March 28 Spring Breakfast event
The Maize Education Foundation is excited to host its inaugural Spring Breakfast and bring together the business and education communities in support of local public education. The event, at Abode Venue at 1330 E. Douglas in Wichita, will be catered by the Maize Career Academy culinary students and feature a pop-up shop hosted by the Complete High School Maize General Store.
Join us for the breakfast and hear Superintendent Dr. Chad Higgins deliver a State of the District address followed by an inspiring message from Kansas Commissioner of Education Dr. Randy Watson!
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Test drive a car April 6 to help raise money for the Foundation
The Maize Education Foundation is partnering with Mel Hambelton Ford to host a Drive 4 Ur School event. It will be 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 6 in the parking lot at Maize South Elementary School, 3404 N. Maize Road in Wichita.
Each qualified test drive raises $20, with a chance to raise more than $10,000 to support the students and educators of Maize Schools!
Contact Executive Director Travis Bloom at
tbloom@usd266.com
or 316-350-2029 for more information.
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INCLEMENT WEATHER SNOW DAY NOTIFICATIONS
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In the event of school being dismissed or canceled because of inclement weather, the district will send out an e-mail, phone notification, and -- for those who have opted to receive them -- a text message to the primary contact associated with both Family 1 and Family 2, if applicable, for each student. Those phone notifications will go out as early as 5:30 a.m. on the day of the closure. If a decision is made the night before to call off school, calls and texts will go out no later than 10:30 p.m.
It is wise to verify that we have your correct contact information on file. To do so, please log on to
Skyward Family Access
and click on "Student Info." If you are unsure how to log on to Skyward Family Access, please contact your child's school for assistance.
District officials will update the
district's web site
, official Twitter account (@maize266), and official Facebook page as soon as the decision is made to call off school. We also will contact local media outlets about any closures. When in doubt, we encourage parents to verify school closings by consulting multiple official sources.
Similarly, in the event of an emergency in your child's school, the district will use the Blackboard Connect parent notification system to notify you of the situation and alert you to steps you need to take in order to reunite with your child. Communications would go to all contacts listed in Skyward Family Access "Family 1" and the main contact in "Family 2."
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USD 266 uses the Skyward Food Service and RevTrak fee payment systems. Please check your email and phone numbers in Skyward, so you may be alerted when their child has a balance of $7.00 or less. Parents receive an email when your child has $7.00 left in their account. Parents receive a second email after their child has one lunch left. When no money is left on the account, your child will go to the office and call his/her parents. Please put money into the account that day. Parents will also receive a third email when their child has a zero balance.
Please check with your child if he/she is eating breakfast at school or getting a second milk, the charges add up quickly. If you have more than one child, please check both lunch accounts. We are not allowed to go into one child's account to pay for a sibling.
Parents may keep as large a balance as they wish in a child's account (for example: $5.00, $10.00, $15.00 or more). If the student doesn't have enough in his/her lunch account to cover a meal, the account will be charged for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and milk if the student chooses to take one. No meal charges will be allowed.
If you have any questions regarding Skyward and the RevTrak system, please call our school office. We want every child to have a good lunch, every day!
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ALERTS & NOTIFICATIONS USED IN
THE EVENT OF AN EMERGENCY
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In the event of an emergency in your child's school, the Blackboard Connect parent notification system will be used to notify you of the situation and will alert you to steps you need to take in order to reunite with your child. Voice messages will be sent to all phone numbers and email listed in Skyward Family Access "Family 1" and Guardian 1 of "Family 2". To view the contact information the district has on file, please log on to Skyward Family Access and click on "Student Information." If you are unsure how to log on to Skyward Family Access, please contact our school for assistance.
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PICKING YOUR CHILD UP AFTER SCHOOL
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SAFETY FIRST:
- Stop for pedestrians
- Drive slowly
- Refrain from using electronic devices
- Do not park in handicap parking unless you have an issued permit
- Please do not park in our reserved itinerant teacher parking
- Please keep the no parking area open when there is no movement in line.
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A concern has been brought to our attention regarding parent pick-up. Some drivers are leaving spaces in the line while waiting for dismissal. Other drivers are then filling the open spaces in front of cars already in line. Please be sure to pull up and fill gaps between cars when in the pick-up lane. The only area which should be left open while waiting for dismissal is the drive to the east of our building. Leaving this area open allows staff who park on the east side a way to exit. Once movement in the line begins cars may pull up into the intersection. We would like to also remind everyone that children should load and unload only in front of the sidewalk. Thank you for helping us create a safe orderly dismissal for all by following these procedures. .
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Three reasons to take the wheel with
Maize USD 266
We are hiring school bus drivers!
1. BONUSES
In addition to competitive pay, our drivers receive a monthly $50.00 bonus for perfect attendance.
2. FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE
Our typical bus driver schedule is 6:00-9:00am and 2:00-5:00pm on school days, convenient for small business owners, college students and those who want to be off when Maize USD 266 students are off. No evenings, weekends or holidays.
Fall Break, Winter Break and Spring Break off.
3. BENEFITS
Retirement earnings through KPERS (Kansas Public Employees Retirement System), nine paid sick days a year and $250.00 each month paid toward your health insurance. . .
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PICKING UP & DROPPING OFF STUDENTS
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School begins at 8:30am and we dismiss at 3:40pm on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Students should arrive at school at 8:20am and should be picked up at 3:40pm.
Every Wednesday school will dismiss at 3:05pm and students must be picked up at that time.
We do not provide supervision for students before 8:10am or after 3:40pm. On Wednesdays, we do not provide supervision for students after 3:05pm.
We want all of our students, staff and family to be safe at all times at Maize South Elementary. If you are picking up or dropping off your child at MSE, please follow these guidelines.
- Please enter from the southeast entrance of the parking lot, follow the arrows around the new parking lot, and exit from the southwest.
- Please pull up to the farthest possible drop off or pick up point.
- Students should exit and enter from the passenger side of the car directly to the sidewalk.
- Students should be ready to exit the vehicle quickly.
- Stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk.
- Please do not block the crosswalk with your vehicle or step out of your car in the parent pick-up lane.
- There should only be one lane of traffic in the loading zone.
- When waiting to pick up, if vehicles in front of you have left, please carefully move your vehicle up in the line to allow more vehicles to get in the line.
- Adults must walk all students through the parking lot and across the school crossing for safety reasons.
- Parent may park and come up to the school building to collect their child at dismissal. Please do not enter the building. Use the sidewalk in front of the cafeteria and you may collect your child from the east cafeteria doors.
- Keep your child with you in the crosswalk and all the way to your vehicle. Students must be escorted by you when using the crosswalk. Students will not be allowed to use the crosswalk by themselves.
- Students must walk their bikes on the sidewalk in front of the school.
- Please remember to drive slow and watch for children who might be using the crosswalk. We do have students who walk or ride their bicycles to school.
- Please refrain from using electronic devices when dropping off or picking up to ensure all attention is on the safety of the students.
Students are asked to walk on the sidewalk closest to the grass. Please remind your child to walk at all times during drop off or dismissal.
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ADDITIONAL STUDENT TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION
Notification by parent:
Please send a note signed by the parent or guardian if there will be a change in plans on how your child will be getting home after school. Your child will be expected to ride the bus if that is the normal way of transportation without a signed note. This is the PREFERRED method of communication.
If you are unable or forgot to send a note and you wish to pick up your child, you may email the teacher before 12:00pm . Please copy the secretaries to help ensure your child will receive the message. Teachers have been instructed to reply to your email. If you don't receive a response, the teacher likely did not receive the message in time.
In the case of an emergency and you were unable to send a note or email the classroom teacher, you may call the office before 2:30pm (2:00pm on Wednesdays). Please consider this method a last resort. If the office is NOT notified before the 2:30pm (2:00pm on Wednesdays) deadline, your child will be expected to follow normal procedures and ride their bus.
Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. . .
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ATTENDANCE AND TARDY INFORMATION
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Unexcused Absences:
If a child is absent from school, parents are to notify the office. If the office is not notified, the school will call the home to verify the reason for the absence. If there is not an answer or response as to why the student is absent, the absence will be marked unexcused. Three consecutive unexcused absences from school or five or more unexcused absences in a semester will be brought to the attention of the building principal and the State Department of DCF. The principal or the designated representative has the discretion to determine if an absence is excused or unexcused. An attendance letter, regardless of excused or unexcused absences, will be sent to parents after eight accumulated absences. Subsequent letters will be sent if Absenteeism continues to be a concern
Tardies/Half Day Attendance:
Students not in their assigned classrooms at the set beginning school time will be counted as tardy if they report to class without a school-related excuse. Students with three consecutive or five total tardies in a single grading period will be brought to the attention of the building principal. A student will be considered tardy up and until an hour after school begins. After that time, a student will be considered absent ½ or one full day. Teachers will take attendance when class begins and again after their assigned lunch periods. If a student leaves an hour before school is out, the student will be considered absent for a ½ day in the afternoon. Students not present for one of these periods will be counted ½ day absent in the morning or afternoon.
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EARLY RELEASE EVERY WEDNESDAY
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MSE students will be dismissed at 3:05 p.m. every Wednesday in order for teachers to have time to meet in their Professional Learning Communities (PLC's). During PLC time, teachers participate in discussing curriculum, instructional strategies, data review, state standards and more.
Students will be transported home as soon as school is dismissed at 3:05pm. Please plan accordingly for supervision of students who will arrive home earlier on Wednesdays.
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The parent and student are responsible for ensuring that the student is in compliance with all aspects of the policy during the time the student is at school or participating in school-related activities. Failure by the student to correct dress code violations may result in disciplinary action. Building administrators are the final authority as to whether clothing is or is not in compliance with dress code policy.
The guidelines for appropriate attire are:
- Pants, capris, shorts and skirts must be worn properly and not sag.
- Shirts should be modest and appropriate for school. Straps must cover undergarments and midriff. No halter tops are allowed.
- Shoes must be worn at all times.
- Hats are not to be worn except on special days as approved by the administration.
Any item that advocates or advertises tobacco, alcoholic beverages, drugs, illegal substances, violence, racist organizations/symbols, gangs, obscenities, or nudity are not allowed.
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USD 266 MEDICATION POLICY -
GIVING YOUR CHILD MEDICATION AT SCHOOL
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- Complete a request for Administration of Medication form.
- The medication must be in the original container.
- The medication must be current. Expired medication will not be administered.
- The medication must be age appropriate. Any medication for a person older than the child will require a signed form from the doctor.
- All prescription medications require a signed form from the doctor.
- All prescription medications must have the pharmacy label with the student's name on the bottle box.
- Students may not self administer medications in the elementary schools.
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Please sign up for Watch D.O.G.S.!
Dads can now sign-up for a total of TWO days.
Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on SignUp.com)
3. Sign up! Choose your spots - SignUp.com will send you an automated confirmation and reminders.
Please remember to complete a volunteer background check on our school website at least a week before volunteering. Also please remember that we are unable to debit your child's lunch account for your lunch. You are welcome to bring cash or bring a lunch from home.
We are looking forward to seeing you!. .
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VOLUNTEER BACKGROUND CHECK
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Maize USD 266 is extremely thankful for the many volunteers who selflessly give of their time in our classrooms. Our schools are stronger thanks to the help and support of our community members, and our students benefit from this relationship.
Safety is a top priority for the district, which since 2008 has conducted background checks of potential volunteers.
According to Maize Board of Education policy,
"volunteers who work in a classroom on a regular basis, supervise students during a field trip when a staff member is not present, or work with students away from the supervision of a classroom teacher are required to have a background check." This extra step helps ensure that we are keeping our students safe.
Thanks to all parents and volunteers for continued support of our students and district!
Background checks are conducted on an ANNUAL BASIS. If you have any questions about the background check process, contact Meg Thimmesch at 316-462-8300.
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MARCH - Cooperation
Working together to complete a goal...
looking for ways to help...
sometimes staying out of the way..
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MSE MISSION STATEMENT
M
aking a Difference
S
triving for Excellence
E
mpowering Young Minds
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Principal
Meg Thimmesch
mthimmesch@usd266.com
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Assistant Principal
Carrie Thrash
cthrash@usd266.com
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