Maize South Intermediate School

Visit our school website at www.usd266.com/msis.

Connect with Mrs. LaMunyon at klamunyon@usd266.com or 316-462-8501.

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Maize South Intermediate School is located at 9701 W. 37th St. N. in Wichita.

Happy May!!

We are excited to celebrate our sixth graders this month as we say aloha to them. We will miss them and wish them the best of luck in Middle School! Our fifth grade class returning for sixth grade will have schedules posted in Skyward in early August. If you are moving out of the district or have any questions or concerns, please let us know at chamilton@usd266.com or tslattery@usd266.com. We hope you all get a much deserved break this summer!

Dare Graduation for 5th graders in Mr. James, Mrs. Scribner, Mrs. Pfaff, Mrs. McEntire and Mrs. Burkholder's connect classes is on May 17th at 6 pm at the Maize Performing Arts and Aquatics Center!

It's going to be a fun night, celebrating what the students have learned and accomplished! We will have the Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach as the guest speaker! We look forward to having the students and their families there to celebrate!

🎉Congratulations 🎉

We participated in the program called Helping the Earth this year! Students learned about how humans affect our environments and resources and what we can do to help protect them. Students went on a nature walk, hunted for benthic macroinvertebrates, and learned about the impacts of light pollution!

Click here to explore our Summer Camps 2024 special edition e-newsletter, produced on April 30, 2024, for a wealth of information about a variety of opportunities for Maize USD 266 students this summer. Camps are offered in the following areas. Additional opportunities shared with the district on May 1, 2024 or after will be posted below.

• Agility/Speed/Strength
• Basketball
• Football
• Multimedia
• Soccer
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)
• Tennis
• Volleyball
• Wrestling

Maize Police Department is hosting 911 Camp this summer! It's for kids 8-14 years of age. It'll be a camp full of fun and learning all things related to the field of public service! Spots are filling up fast! Visit the City of Maize website to get signed up!

https://cityofmaize.org/911camp.php

Your child recently completed their Spring Reading and Math Fastbridge Assessment. A Family Report sharing their results will be sent home the week of May 13 - 17 with your student.

If you have additional questions, please reach out to your child’s teacher or to our MSIS Interventionists:

Andrea Burnett - Reading

Betsy Lang - Math

Each month, we will highlight different Mav Time Electives. Mav Time is the first hour of each Wednesday. Students have the opportunity to select a new Mav Time each trimester. This elective time is an opportunity for students to get a little taste of what an elective might look like in middle school and high school while exploring their passions that might lead to different career paths.

Building Challenges Elective: An Exploration in Engineering

We would like to start a new Mav Elective next year called Building Challenges: An Exploration in Engineering. In this elective, students would be able to have some free time to explore building using Legos, Knex, Erector sets, Keva Planks, and Snap Circuits. We will also have building challenges in which students will compete to build the best bridge, tower, and roller coaster. In the challenges, students will use a variety of materials to build, such as toothpicks, popsicle sticks, pipe insulation, etc. In addition to being a fun elective, students would also learn a lot about engineering and science concepts.

We could use your help in getting enough materials for students to use. If you have any of these sets that you no longer use and you are willing to donate, we would love to have them. If you are willing to help us out by purchasing sets and/or materials that we need, you can click here to access our Amazon link. We appreciate all of your help.

As our year in the library winds down, we find ourselves looking to summer and opportunities to keep reading! Following are some reading programs being offered in the Wichita area this summer. I encourage you to check them out and keep that reading habit going! ~Mrs. Rodell

Barnes and Noble: Pick up a reading journal; redeem completed reading journal for a free book during the months of July and August

Popcorner: Starting around Memorial Day, stop by to grab a paper to record the books you read. Read 10 books and redeem for a free bag of popcorn.

Pizza Hut: Book It! is back! Go online to www.bookitprogram.com to sign up. Read books and keep track on the digital dashboard to receive a free personal pan pizza.

Wichita Public Library: Visit the nearest branch to set your reading goal and then keep track of your reading using the tracker or journal. Once you meet your goal, visit the library from June 27-August 1 to collect your prize pack and be entered into a grand prize drawing.

Forgot to order a yearbook? No problem! Call the front office to have your child(ren) put on the waitlist. We will contact you when you can send in cash or check for your yearbook!

Hello Maverick Families,

With the year wrapping up quickly, students are working tirelessly to finish their final projects. Thanks again to our PTO and Maverick families for fundraising in the fall to purchase the technology we are using for these last days in the STEAM Lab!

5th Grade

Students are using Ozobots to simulate drone path programming. We began our unit by discussing the benefits and consequences of using drones to deliver packages, and then used maps of various cities to program our “drones” to make deliveries. 5th graders then learned about additional purposes for drones including search and rescue. Teams are working together to create a search and rescue maze that they will then program their Ozobots to travel through. Mazes will have various themes to match different types of search and rescue missions!

6th Grade

6th grade students are working to complete a robotic petting zoo using our newly purchased Hummingbird Robotics Kits. Students have learned to program LEDs, servo motors, and sensors which they will apply to create an interactive robotic animal. Each class was given a specific biome, and they are now currently working in teams to accomplish this task before the school year comes to an end. It really has been amazing to see the creativity in the design and functionality of these robots!

6th graders are also participating in Drone Field Days. During the final three Wednesdays of the school year, 6th grade classes will be rotating through three stations using our DJI Tello Drones and the DroneBlocks app. Students will be rotating through three stations letting students experience piloting drones manually in the gym, programming drone flight in the STEAM Lab, and programming a simulated drone in various locations around Earth (and Mars!).

I hope that everyone has a great summer, and Mrs. Vieyra and I are excited to kick off STEAM next year with labs specifically for 5th and 6th graders!

All students are expected to attend class every day. Tardies are counted after the bell rings at 7:20 am regardless of reason. At 8:20 the student will be marked as having missed the hour. If your child will be tardy or absent please leave a message on our attendance line by 10 (462-8501 option 1). Per state guidelines and district policy, after 3 consecutive absences, 5 absences within a semester, and 7 absences in a year, your child will be considered unexcused without a note from the doctor. This means you will still receive an automated phone call from the district, even if you have called the school.

Students should all have lanyards to hold their student IDs. This will help as they are moving through the lines in the cafeteria and media center. We will also be able to start using their ID cards for a-la-carte items. If you will be using your cards for a-la-carte, please make sure you have money in your Skyward Lunch accounts. Lost student IDs can be replaced in the media center. The cost for a replacement ID is $3.

With the increased needs in our community, we have decided to expand our Mavs Care Closet to serve students across the district. We are currently accepting donations of non-perishable food items and gently used clothing. If you would like to donate you may drop items off in the front office at Maize South Intermediate and Maize South Middle School. You may also drop off items in the counseling office at MSHS. We appreciate your support! If you have any questions or are in need of assistance you can contact Caitlin Dailey via email at cdailey@usd266.com

Thank you!

Caitlin Dailey

Please be prepared for our inclement weather plan. Students will stand inside the cafeteria and library when it is raining, snowing, icy, or feels like 20 degrees or below. They are able to view cars pull up and receive text messages from families as to when they have arrived. There will also be adults outside with a radio to call in to students if necessary.

As the weather gets colder, it may also be a great reminder for your students to dress warm when we do go outside. We will try to get students out as much as possible.

HAPPY SUMMER!

It’s been a pleasure caring for your students during this school year! I wish all of our students and families a fun, safe and healthy summer!!

Medications

If your child needs to take prescription medication here at school, please complete this form with the physician’s signature and medication order information. Any medication sent to school needs to be in the original bottle, labeled with the student’s name and kept in the nurse’s office.

• Reminder: A new medication form needs to be completed EACH SCHOOL YEAR. Please remember this as you schedule appointments for your child over the summer. If they have any medication to be given at school, complete the medication form and give it to the school nurse in August or whenever appropriate.

!Attention 6th Grade Parents & Guardians!

Before they head to 7th grade, your 6th grader will need updated immunizations per the Kansas Statute K.S.A. 72 - 6261. Meningococcal-Serogroup A,C,W,Y (MenACWY) and a dose of Tdap is required for entry to 7th grade (11-12 years old). Please click here to read more about the KDHE Immunization Requirements for the 2024-2025 school year and send a copy of the updated immunizations to the nurse’s office! Be on the lookout for a letter from the nurse’s office if this requirement still needs to be met.

Please feel free to contact me by stopping by my office, calling, or emailing me if you have any questions, concerns, or changes regarding your student. Thank you for taking an interest in your child’s health and well-being!

Hannah Weston, RN, BSN

Phone: 316-462-8506

Fax: 316-462-8502

Email: hweston@usd266.com

Following the procedures below will help our traffic run safely and smoothly each day. A traffic map has been included below for a visual reference. You will see that the parent drop off/pick up traffic drive runs behind the school. Please note that the traffic drive that runs in front of the school is reserved for buses only! Please do NOT drop off students in front of the building until after the bell rings at 7:20, at which point they will check in through the office and counted tardy.

Thank you for your cooperation.

AM Parent Drop Off Updates:

• Dropping off your student should be executed in a two lane drop off procedure. Once you pass the ECC entrance, you will enter the two lines and pull completely forward as traffic allows.

• An MSIS staff member will be stationed at the front of the drop off zone with a large STOP sign to indicate traffic should stop. An MSIS staff member will be stationed at the back of the drop off zone with a STOP sign to indicate traffic should stop and wait. Those in between the two stop signs should allow their students to exit vehicles to the sidewalk and enter the school.

• Students should only exit vehicles between these two stop signs to maximize the safety of this procedure.

• Once all students who were dropped off within the zone are safely on the sidewalk, the MSIS staff member will lower the STOP sign, indicating that traffic should continue towards 37th street.

• Please be mindful that left hand and right hand lanes will turn the appropriate directions onto 37th street.

• If you arrive after 7:20, please pull up to the front office on the north side of the building. Your child will sign in at the office after this time.

PM Parent Pick Up Updates:

• We will utilize a two lane pick up procedure similar to the morning drop off procedure. This will allow us to get more traffic off of 37th street and pick students up safely.

• We will have cones set up in the 3rd lane. This 3rd lane will not be used throughout the year. We will have staff set up with stop signs at the beginning and end of the lanes to notify cars when it is safe to pull forward.

• Please help us by encouraging your child to look for you and quickly load on the passenger side of the car. Once your student is in your vehicle quickly and safely, wait until you are notified to continue pulling forward.

• Please continue to pull all the way forward closing any gaps between cars when picking up students. Encourage your child to walk forward until the gap closes.

• Please be mindful that left hand and right hand lanes will turn the appropriate directions onto 37th street.

• Please remind your students if they are walking or riding their bikes to enter/exit the front of the building and follow along the sidewalk areas. The safest sidewalk routes are along the front entrance to 37th and then down Tyler. Please do not ride through the parking lot.
  
• Please make sure your child’s bike or backpack is equipped with reflective gear for safety. Sometimes it is hard to see early in the morning.
  
• If they are walking behind the school, please make sure they exit from the main exit on the southwest side, walk to the crosswalk by the ball fields where an adult (counselor) will ensure they cross traffic safely.
  
• Please be aware that the open field between MSIS and MSE is not safe to walk through.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering at Maize South Intermediate! Our school is stronger thanks to the help and support of our community members, and you.

Safety is a top priority for our school. Background checks are required and must be completed annually. All visitors moving beyond a school front office and its secure vestibule will also complete a Raptor Visitor Management System screening and a temporary visitor’s self-adhesive name tag printed each time they visit.

District-Paid: Maize Schools do not wish to discourage any potential volunteer from getting involved in our classrooms or attending field trips with our students. Please click here to begin the same background process at no cost to yourself, and Maize USD 266 will pay for your background screening.

Thank you for your continued support of our students and district!