Meridian Elementary News

February

26th: Class picture & Paid Individual picture Day

March

1: Family Movie Night 5:00-7:00 PM

4: Drive-Thru Reading 5:00-7:00

5: Kindergarten Registration 3-6 PM

6: No School All Grades Professional Learning Day/Collaboration

7: Learning Symposium/ Art Night/ Book Fair 5:00-6:30 PM

11: Drive-Thru Reading 5:00-7:00

18-22: Spring Break

25: Drive-Thru Reading 5:00-7:00

26: Kindergarten Registration 4:15-6:30 PM

Click the link below for the West ADA 2023-2024 Student Calendar:

District Calendar | West Ada School District

We know that many parents have younger children at home and know it can be hard to find a babysitter for just a short meeting. We heard you and will have childcare available with one of our teachers in a Kindergarten classroom. We hope this allows more of you to be able to attend the meetings.

Feel free to come to any meeting anytime. PTO meets in the library the second Thursday of every month. There are so many reasons to join PTO.

Myth: PTO is just for Mom's. It is not we welcome any parent to come PTO is about building communities and we would love to have more Father's get involved. Myth: I will have to put in lots of outside hours. We would just like to have more parents give us input into what our school community should be doing. If you volunteer or lead that is up to you. You are welcome to just attend the meetings.

PTO Meetings:

March 14th

April 11th

May 9th

Congratulations to the Phantoms for winning the final basketball game. We hope all athletes had a great time and learned some fundamentals of basketball. Being part of a team win or lose is a great learning experience. Congratulations to everyone who participated.

Forms went out already and are due this week. There are only 15 spots left so sign up soon. This is for students in 3rd to 5th grade only. March 1 is the first day of practice to go over expectations and other important information. The first official practice is March 5. Games will be every Thursday. If you want more information, please contact Mrs. Hylton (Hylton.brittany@westada.org).

We are so grateful to everyone who continues to donate and support our community school.

We are currently running low on Hygiene items:
Shampoo
conditioner
body wash
face wash
toothbrushes
ChapStick

If you or anyone you know is looking to donate, we would happily accept these items at any time! They go right back out to families within our school and surrounding schools in the district.

Also, we were generously donated a storage cabinet that I have set outside the front door to the community school! This is where any donations can be placed if I'm not in the building to accept them, or if your family has a request, I can place them in the cabinet to be picked up, again if I'm not in the building. Sending a huge thank you to Center Point Church for the donation! It's such a huge help!

If your family is in need of emergency items such as warm clothing, coats, hygiene items, household cleaning items, food, etc., please contact Melanie Morales at morales.melanie@westada.org, or call at 208-855-4335 ext. 2002.

Thank you all for your support. This new process has been so successful for everyone. Please stay on the inside of the blue cones on the blacktop and wait for your child. They will be waiting by their grade level marker. This keeps our walkways open for students walking home or to the Boys and Girls Club.

Check out the attendance board in the front office. Classes are competing for the first ever attendance cup. Congratulations to Mrs. Zollinger's class who has pulled into first place. Congratulations to all classes attendance rates are looking good.

Hi Meridian Elementary Families!

Did you know that the Tools in the Toolbox are not just for your students? The philosophy and mindset behind each of our tools is beneficial to all people, not just kids. One of the ways that children learn how to self-regulate and to have a healthy balance of emotions is to have a care giver that co-regulates with them during times of distress.

That can look as simple as a parent who stays calm and helps the child process through a difficult and frustrating situation rather than escalating and becoming frustrated along with the child. I encourage you to check out the Tools of Toolbox on the Meridian Elementary website under the counselor services and explore using them for yourself.

Please contact Mr. Snell with any questions or concerns regarding your student(s) mental health.

Mr. Snell

Meridian Elementary School Counselor

snell.ethan@westada.org

Did you know that you can bring cough drops to the nurse's office? Nurse Fry will keep them for your student(s) and they can come by and get them throughout the day. This is an easy way to help your student. They can use them whenever they have a cough. Just put the name or names of your student(s) on the bag and drop them off.

Thanks for continuing to have your students dressed for the weather. It looks to be a rainy month. We will keep students outside as long as we can. We have indoor recess if it's raining too much or if it gets too cold. We also have to keep students in if the air quality gets in the red which can happen during the inversions. Students are outside during the day going from building to building so having a sweatshirt or sweater is also helpful. Continue to dress students in layers so they have options. It can also get muddy this time of year. Remind your kids to stay of puddles and muddy areas.

Continue to watch for slick surfaces as the blacktop and cement can be slick. Please watch your step. It is a good idea to keep up with the weather as it changes frequently.

If your child rides with bus, please ensure you have downloaded the My Ride K-12 application and have push notifications enabled to receive these crucial updates.

We have a new application available for bus notifications! This new application from Traversa has improvements to messaging and tracking. Bus stop/number changes are communicated via push notifications and the messaging center through the My Ride K-12 application. Whenever possible and necessary, this application is also used to send notification of delayed busses. The Ride 360 application can still be used, however messages will only be received as push notifications and not saved within the app.

My Ride K-12 provides secure access to student bus schedule/routing information. My Ride K-12 provides quick access to your child's bus schedule/routing information, which can include the bus stop, route, and bus number. This is accessible on mobile devices, and confidential and secure. This program is free to download and use. Instructions for download can be found on our Transportation Webpage: Transportation | West Ada School District. If you see an issue with your child’s transportation information, please use our HelpDesk ticket system to let us know. Transportation - Jira Service Management (atlassian.net).

Continue to encourage your students to pick up lost clothes. This time of year, clothes need to be picked up quickly or they can get wet, frozen, and/or ruined. We will regularly be donating left items. Please come and look it is overflowing with clothes and lunchboxes. It is outside so you can come and check it anytime.

Did you know that Fridays are spirit days? This is your chance to wear spirit wear like school t-shirts or school colors. Our colors are blue and yellow. Let's show our trailblazer pride.

Our district has partnered with tutor.com. This is a free online tutoring service offered by the district for students in grades 3-12. This service has individualized help for tutoring and homework. Visit the districts website for more information.

Free Online Tutoring | West Ada School District

Email: parker.courtney@westada.org
Website: https://www.westada.org/o/mes
Location: 1035 Northwest 1st Street, Meridian, ID, USA
Phone: (208) 855-4335