Middle School Mane September 2, 2021

FROM THE

PRINCIPAL

Hello Middle School Families,

It was great seeing everyone during Curriculum Night on Monday. I hope you enjoyed meeting your student’s teachers and getting a closer look at your child’s classes.

We have some very important info in this week's letter:

Please remember Monday is a holiday and there is no school. Some students will be receiving schedule changes that will go into effect on Tuesday, Sept 7. Please read more about this below in the section on House Bill 4545.

This edition also includes details regarding Chromebooks for 6th and 7th graders as well as our first Character Dare of the year.

Crystal Lane,

Interim Middle School Principal

Important: HB4545 tutoring updates

We have completed Beginning Of Year (BOY) testing for students who did not complete STAAR testing last school year. Students who did not pass the STAAR assessment are required by the State to receive 30 hours of tutoring intervention.

Middle School students will complete tutoring during the school day. Some students may receive schedule changes in order to maintain small groups, place students in groups with similar goals, and maintain class size.

We know that many students have become comfortable with their classes and we regret having to make changes this far into the school year. I appreciate your support as we make these changes to support the needs of our students.

If your student has qualified for this intervention, our staff will reach out to you to review your child’s test scores in addition to how tutoring intervention will be provided to your child.

If you have any questions regarding tutoring please reach out to Shachon Leaf (shachon.leaf@mwschool.org) or Crystal Lane (c.lane@mwschool.org).

Yearbook Picture Day Sept. 20

All students in Kindergarten through 11th grade will take photos for the yearbook on Picture Day Sept. 20.

Read on for Picture Day details and to see what to do if you would like for your child to be listed by their preferred name in the yearbook.

Lockers explained

I know there has been some concern over students not having access to lockers during the day. This was a decision made with student safety in mind. Our hallways are not very wide. When students access lockers, it creates blocks in the flow of hallway traffic. The congestion caused by students accessing lockers creates additional opportunities for students to congregate in close proximity.

We are still trying to minimize close contact between students as much as possible. We encourage students to use a backpack and to only carry the items they need for the day.

Checking Out Chromebooks for 6th and 7th grade

Starting next Tuesday, Sept. 7, students will check out a Chromebook from their first period class. These devices will be assigned to individual students and they will keep these devices with them throughout the day.

The computers will be returned to the student’s first period Chromebook carts at the end of the day.

Students will be able to check out their device from the library if the need arises for the student to have a device at home.

We do ask that students use the school provided devices. We struggle to provide tech support to students that are working on their own personal device. School issued devices allow us to ensure students have the same access and restrictions from items. If you have additional questions regarding Chromebooks please reach out to Matthew Castaneda (m.castaneda@mwschool.org) for assistance.

Character Dare: Knowledge

We strive to develop students that reflect all of the learner profile traits. To support our students in recognizing the IB learner profile traits in action as well as demonstrating the traits in their own behavior, we encourage you to participate in the weekly Character Dare with your child.

This month, our focus is on being knowledgeable and how that helps one be respectful.

Mad Respect

Ask your student to define respect.
Ask your student to share with you a person they respect.
Discuss with your student why they respect that person and what they can learn from that person.
Have your student explain how their definition and understanding of respect might be different from others.
Talk about how being knowledgeable of other people's perspectives can help you develop a better understanding of people and to be more knowledgeable of those around us.

Want to bypass* afternoon Carline?

*(In a 100% acceptable and approved manner!)

Our Carline Raffle is still open! Would you like to bypass the carline during either primary or secondary dismissal? This is your chance to purchase your raffle tickets!

One winner for primary and one winner for secondary will be chosen in September. Visit the myschoolbucks.com store to get yours today.

Safety Drills

Meridian follows the Standard Response Protocol for emergency procedures, and we are conducting safety drills over the next few months. Each drill will be repeated during After School activities, and pickup will be paused for 10 minutes.

Our "Secure" drill takes place this week.

Learning in Action

Ms. Thomas’ class took advantage of some nice weather this week. Students enjoyed an assignment that required them to make observations in their environment.

I’m observing some kids having fun learning!

Athletics & Extracurricular Activities for Grades 7-12

Please open Athletics and Extracurricular Activities for Secondary Students for details on:

Sports registration closing soon:
Swimming (closes at 10 pm tonight, Sept. 2)
2021-2022 Model United Nations
Annual membership registration is now open and closes at 10 pm Sept. 9
Mandatory MUN Info Night for all interested students and their parents/guardians - Tonight, Sept. 2 from 6 – 7 pm via Zoom webinar.