Meridian High School

1. Principal's Message
2. Early Release
3. T3 This Week
4. Special Schedule
5. Summer School
6. Senior Final Transcripts
7. Sports Information
8. School Meals for 2022-23 School Year
9. Summer Office Hours
10. Hot Lunch Menu
11. Teacher Feature
12. National Holiday
13. Counselor Information
14. Requesting Transcripts through Parchment
15. Attendance Information
16. MHS Points of Contact

“To inspire and challenge active learners to positively impact a changing world.”

This last week will go quickly with only two days of school. This newsletter has information for summer operations (e.g. office hours, summer school). As the summer progresses we will put information on our website for you to learn about events taking place before school starts and what to expect upon our return in the fall.

Thank you for having your students be with us this year. It is such an honor for us to get to work with them and watch them learn and grow over the time they are with us. Graduation last week just reminded me again of just how much happens over four years and the pride I have in knowing what our students are prepared for and going to do as they show grace for others, appreciate the experience (both good and bad) and are persistent as they set new goals and take on new challenges.

See you in the fall

- Derek Forbes

June 14th is the Last Day of School! It will be an Early Release day, with students getting out of school at 12:10pm.

Meridian High School will offer Summer School June 20-July 22nd. Deadline for registration is June 17th. Classes are free and will run Monday through Friday 9:00-12:30 pm. Transportation is available if needed and you should contact the transportation department to make arrangements prior to the start of summer school. Please pick up an application from the office or your school counselor.

If you need your end of senior year, final transcript, sent to the college you will be attending in the fall, please submit your request via parchment asap. That way you can make sure your college has the information before school begins in the fall.

Meridian High School has partnered with parchment.com to fulfill transcript requests for current students and MHS alumni. Transcripts are securely sent electronically to colleges and universities across the nation, resulting in a reduction of lost documents at the financial aid offices. The service is free of charge to current students. Alumni pay a small fee. Please make sure that your intended college accepts electronic transcripts.

Please find the “Order transcripts through Parchment” link under Families & Students/Resources on the MHS website. Current students may call Mrs. Brinkman or Mrs. Waterman to receive their Parchment access code at the MHS office 360-398-8111.

Fall Sports begin in August on the following dates:

August 17th - Football and Cheer

August 22nd - Cross Country, Volleyball, and Girl's Soccer

There will be an All Sports Meeting on August 15th. This is a meeting for all athletes participating in all school sports. The rules, expectations and requirements for all high schools will be discussed at this meeting. More information will be provided as the date gets closer and will be found on the athletic department social media or at www.meridiantrojans.com.

The current USDA waiver that has allowed schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students is set to expire at the end of this school year. This means that for the 2022-23 school year we will be transitioning back to regular prices for school meals, with free/reduced price meals for qualified families. We realize that will be a shift for all of our families and want to be sure you are aware now. Students with an approved free/reduced meal application on file will continue to be covered under that application through Oct. 13, 2022. Meals are still free for all students through the last day of this school year.

Free/reduced meal applications for the 2022-23 school year will be available in mid-August. We will notify families if any changes occur to the USDA waiver for the 2022-23 school year.

The MHS office will be open 8:00am-3:00pm, Monday - Friday beginning June 15th. The office closes for the summer on June 28th. It will reopen August 16th with the summer hours of 8:00am-3:00pm.

Monday - Cook's Choice

Tuesday - Grab and Go Lunch

Other Daily Offerings May Include:

Pizza

Variety of Fresh Made Salads

Variety of Fresh Made Wraps

Deli Sandwiches

Yogurt Parfait

Mr. Ames has been working at Meridian High School for 23 years, and he says his favorite thing about working at Meridian would be his appreciation of the fact that most students and staff have lots of opportunities to be included in the school outside of their classes. If students want to join many other clubs and activities, they can. Teachers can also have many other involvements through coaching or being an advisor for a club, and the teachers and students can get to know each other outside of the school day. He says that it's a really unique and special opportunity that you can only have at a school our size. Mr. Ames didn't originally think he was going to be a teacher but when he was halfway through college he had a conversation with his football coach. To keep the story short, if Mr. Ames wanted to keep his football scholarship; he needed to take one of two paths. One of the paths was physical education or education, and both of his parents were teachers so he decided to go into education. As he went through his education classes he realized that he really enjoyed them. He thought that he could be happy as an educator. Alongside his English classes Mr. Ames coordinates the leadership class. He's a part of the state leadership association as well. Outside of the classroom Mr. Ames coaches football and track and field. Mr. Ames says his favorite thing to do in his free time is traveling with his family. His favorite place he's gone with them would be Disney Land. One of Mr. Ames' highlights from working at Meridian would be having the opportunity to teach and coach alongside some of his greatest teachers and mentors, and alongside his wife as well. Students say their favorite thing about Mr. Ames is "he really cares about his students wellbeing," "how hardworking he is and how willing he is to meet everyone's needs before himself," and "how positive he is to everyone no matter what."

Teacher Feature is provided by Bhavnoor Dhatt. Bhavnoor is a leadership student that will be providing the Teacher Feature as part of her personal project for Leadership class.

Every year National Strawberry Shortcake Day is celebrated on June 14 at the peak of the strawberry season. Strawberries are found all year round nowadays but this wasn’t always the case. Previously, it was only harvested in the summer months. Even now, the strawberries that come in the summer months are juicier and tastier. Strawberries are eaten in all sorts of ways during this time by slicing, dicing, mixing, and cutting them and, at times, using them to make something flavorful like strawberry shortcake.

Meridian High School has partnered with parchment.com to fulfill transcript requests for current students and MHS alumni. Transcripts are securely sent electronically to colleges and universities across the nation, resulting in a reduction of lost documents at the financial aid offices. The service is free of charge to current students. Alumni pay a small fee. Please make sure that your intended college accepts electronic transcripts.

Please find the “Order transcripts through Parchment” link under Families & Students/Resources on the MHS website. Current students may call Mrs. Brinkman or Mrs. Waterman to receive their Parchment access code at the MHS office 360-398-8111.

Being present in class is vital to be successful in school. We want to encourage all of our students to be at school every day! If you are missing school, you are missing out on learning!

If your kids miss a day or even part of a day of school for whatever reason, please contact our attendance secretary, Mrs. McMains by either phone (360-318-2260) or email (tgmcmains@meridian.wednet.edu)with the reason for the absence. If they are going to miss because of an illness, please call or email in the morning and let us know! If there is a planned absence, please contact her and she will take care of notifying teachers. If she is unable to answer the phone right at that moment, please feel free to leave the information on her voicemail.

Website-www.meridian.wednet.edu/mhs

The homepage has access to recent news.

Meridian School District on Social Media

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/meridianschooldistrict505/

Instagram: @meridianschooldistrict505

Twitter: @meridian505

The Meridian School District does not discriminate in any programs or activities on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. The following employee has been designated to handle questions and complaints of alleged discrimination: Title IX, ADA, and Compliance Coordinator (RCW 28A.640/28A.642) Kurt Harvill, Director of Personnel, 214 W. Laurel Rd., Bellingham WA 98226. 360-398-7111. Section 504 questions

Derek Forbes, Principal: dforbes@meridian.wednet.edu

Shaun Doffing, Assistant Principal:

sdoffing@meridian.wednet.edu

Cheryl McBride, Counselor A-J: cmcbride@meridian.wednet.edu

Don McMains, Counselor K-Z: dmcmains@meridian.wednet.edu

Tami McMains, Attendance: tgmcmains@meridian.wednet.edu

Robin Brinkman, Registration: rbrinkman@meridian.wednet.edu

Chromebook Tech Support: chromebook@meridian.wednet.edu