Bear Facts

Email: billingsm@usd231.com
Website: https://www.usd231.com/o/madison
Location: 800 W Madison St, Gardner, KS, United States
Phone: (913) 856-0400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MadisonElementaryBears/
Twitter: @MDEBears

Monday, August 22 - Madison Monday (Wear your Madison shirt with pride)

Tuesday, August 23 - Madison Night at Chipotle (Please mention you are supporting Madison!)

Friday, August 26 - PTA Fundraiser Begins

Madison Elementary Lunch Menu

Just a reminder... Weekly balance reminders are sent to families whose students' account balances fall below zero due to purchases.

In an effort to avoid classes missing the same special on days of the week due to not being in session, we will continue to utilize a specials schedule that is on a 5-day rotation versus a day of the week rotation. Having this rotation, we will avoid the same specials always being on the same day of the week and avoid not having specials due to days off or snow days.

For a specific class schedule, please refer to the classroom information provided by the classroom teacher.

Monday - Specials Day #2

Tuesday - Specials Day #3

Wednesday - Specials Day #4

Thursday - Specials Day #5

Friday - Specials Day #1

What a great first full week of learning for all of our Bears! Thank you to everyone who attended the School Information Night last night. Our intent was to share important information to help the home-school partnership thrive this year. If you were unable to attend or have additional questions, please reach out to the classroom teachers and they will be happy to provide additional information.

This week, we practiced two of our safety drills - fire and lockdown. These drills are practiced routinely throughout the year in accordance with the state's expectations. I was extremely proud of our students and staff who utilized this time to practice routines and procedures in the event of a real situation.

We are looking forward to a great year, with students in classes and ready to learn every day.

We have learned that students who miss even a few days of school each month are at a greater risk of academic struggles compared to students who attend regularly. We have set a goal that every student in our school to attend regularly 95% of the time (has nine or fewer absences).

Because attendance is so important, please send your child to school every day unless he or she has a contagious illness or is running a fever.

A student will be sent home from school or should remain home when exhibiting any of the following symptoms:

1. Fever of 100 degrees or higher

2. Red eyes with thick whitish drainage

3. Undiagnosed rash

4. Vomiting

5. Diarrhea

6. Severe cold symptoms (cough and congestion)

Families should not allow their child to return to school until the child has been free of fever, vomiting, or diarrhea for a full 24 hours without medication.

We will be sending home a letter today with each family that includes a chart on the back of the letter that will help you keep track of your student’s absences. If your child is at risk of missing too much school, please feel free to contact Jackie Hodson, school social worker at 856-0409, or Allison Southerland, school counselor at 856-3313, for assistance. We will also monitor each student’s attendance throughout the year so we can work with families when the number of absences puts a student at risk. We will be happy to work with you to help your student attend regularly and have greater opportunities for success.

Additionally, we will recognize students who are present throughout the month. Students will have the opportunity to sign the ROAR (recognizing outstanding attendance recipients) board each month if they miss zero or one day that month. We will also have attendance raffles as well. Both efforts are to recognize students who are in attendance regularly. I thank you for your support in our efforts to have our students attend 95% of the time.

Take care,

Dr. Wachel

We are in need of extra snacks this school year for students who don't have them. If you would like to donate snacks, you can send them with your student to Mrs. Hodson. We LOVE snacks with protein such as beef sticks, protein bars, and snack-sized trail mix or nuts. Thank you for helping us care for the whole child!

We know many families are experiencing financial challenges so we wanted to make sure everyone is aware of some of the awesome resources in our community! Please contact Mrs. Hodson, school social worker, if you would like additional resources, more information or to utilize any of these resources.

Joy Closet-

975 E. Lincoln Lane, Gardner

Hours: Mon 10-7, Tues 10-7, Wed 10-4, Thurs 10-7, Sat 10-2

This is a low cost thrift store in Gardner and they have generously provided us with vouchers for FREE clothing, shoes, linens, books, and small household items. Each voucher is good for 20 items of clothes, shoes, and bedding PLUS 10 books per household! If you would like a voucher, please email Mrs. Hodson at hodsonj@usd21.com.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace-

This is an organization of amazing volunteers in Gardner who build, assemble, and deliver top-notch bunk beds and new bedding to children and families in need.

BackSnacks-

Harvesters’ BackSnack program provides a weekly sack filled with nutritious, child-friendly food for school children to take home over the weekend throughout the school year. Mrs. Hodson will deliver these to students at the end of the day on Fridays, putting them straight in their backpacks. We will start this in October so please sign up your children by emailing Mrs. Hodson at hodsonj@usd21.com.

Hope Market-

This is an awesome food pantry in Gardner!

233 E Main St., Gardner

Hours: Tuesdays 5pm-8pm; Saturdays 9am-12pm

They don’t have any requirements other than to have a need for food.

Internet Aid-

Information for eligible KS families to receive internet aid.

See additional USD 231 Family Resources

Thanks to our PTA, every student will receive a t-shirt on Meet the Teacher Night. If families want to purchase a matching shirt or sweatshirt, they can use this link through September 6.

Our year-round spirit store will be running a special on all purchases. To visit this store, please visit this link.

• Sale Dates: August 8th - September 7th
• Savings: 30% savings sitewide. Free shipping over $60. No coupon code necessary.

The Madison Elementary health room is available if your child becomes ill or injured while at school. Please familiarize yourself with the USD 231 Parent Handbook with details of our Health Services guidelines and procedures. Kansas law requires all students to have on file evidence of required immunizations prior to attending school. The Medication Authorization Form must be completed and signed by the parent or guardian for all medications given at school. It is recommended that medication NOT be sent to school with children. Parents should bring the medication to the health room (8:15 am to 3:45 pm).

A student will be sent home from school with any of the following:

• Temperature 100 degrees or greater, or with incidents of vomiting and/or diarrhea.
• Symptoms related to a possible communicable disease.
• Excessive drainage from eyes, ears, persistent earache, constant cough, or painful sore throat with enlarged lymph nodes.
• Students with acute infectious disease or parasite

Mrs. Angie Serrano, Madison Elementary’s Health Room Nurse, is available to answer any additional questions you might have and you may contact her directly at 856-0450.

Birthday treats can still be brought to school and we encourage them to be store-bought or pre-packaged items (think Little Debbie type snacks) to help our students celebrate in a safe and healthy way. In addition, the USD 231 Nutrition Services department offers birthday catering options. Please see the image above or this link for more information about these services.

Did you know your Amazon purchases can benefit the PTA? AmazonSmile is a website operated by Amazon with the same products, prices, and shopping features as Amazon.com. The difference is that when you shop on AmazonSmile, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice. Simply go to smile.amazon.com and select Madison Elementary Gardner to find our school!

Hello MDE families! We’re looking forward to the return of our Bears for the 2022-23 school year!

Let’s kick-off the school year by loading the teacher's lounge with snacks and refreshments.

Please consider signing up to bring a snack item and/or sponsor a teacher’s meal on School Information Night (Thursday, August 18th). Items can be dropped off during Meet the Teacher Night (Tuesday, August 9th) or on the first day of class.

Thank you for your continued support of our school, amazing teachers and staff. Here’s to another great year!

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/60b0c45ada722a4fe3-load

Madison Elementary PTA Executive Board Officers

President: Leah Bates

Vice-President: Jessica Grimes

Treasurer: Heather Musselman

Secretary: Andrea Satterfield

Membership Chair: Diane Owen

Madison Elementary PTA Meeting Dates 9/6, 10/3, 11/14, 12/12, 1/9, 2/13, 3/20, 4/10, and 5/1. All meetings will occur in the Madison cafeteria at 7 pm

Email us at: Madisonbearpta@gmail.com Like us on Facebook "Madison Elementary PTA Gardner, KS"

Interested in the Madison PTA Happenings? Stay in the know!

We invite everyone to join the Madison PTA Facebook page. By searching Madison Elementary PTA Gardner, KS under Pages, you will be able to join the group and receive updated PTA information.

If you are interested in joining the PTA, please see the membership form.

Nominate a Deserving Student or Employee Today!!!

The GESD recognition program has been established to recognize students and employees who exceed expectations.

"Gardner Edgerton Students of Distinction" (GESD) nominees can be any current student in the Gardner Edgerton School District who exemplifies traits of outstanding character and serves as a positive influence on their peers and the community-at-large.

"Great Employees Serving the District" (GESD) nominees can be any certified or classified employee in the Gardner Edgerton School District who exemplifies traits of outstanding customer service and is a positive influence on students, parents, co-workers or members of the community. The award will be presented on a weekly basis.

Answers to a few questions you may have:

• Nominations from previous years have been removed from the database.

• Even if a student or staff member has been selected as a GESD in previous years, they are again eligible.

  
  

We will recognize our first student and staff member sometime in September. This will allow time for nominations to be submitted.

Nominate a deserving STUDENT by clicking HERE.

Nominate a deserving EMPLOYEE by clicking HERE.

Little Blazer Cheer Clinic -- Students in Grades K - 6 grade

GEYCP Theater Academy Presents: High School Musical Jr -- Students in Grades 5-8 grade

Youth Experience: Volleyball with the GEHS Blazers -- Students in Pre-K-2nd grade

Youth Experience: Basketball with the GEHS Blazers -- Students in Pre-K-2nd grade

GEHS Boys Fall Basketball Academy -- Students in 3-8th grade

GEHS Girls Fall Basketball Academy -- Students in 3-8th grade

Fall 2022 USD 231 Driver Education – Students must be 14 years of age on or before September 17.

Be sure to follow us on Twitter - @MDEBears and on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MadisonElementaryBears. We will use our twitter and facebook accounts to share information, pictures, and classroom happenings throughout the school year so you can have a window into the classrooms and experience the learning with your bear.