Madison News

Only in Iowa can you be at 50 degrees one day and a blizzard the next! We are thankful for the beautiful weather this week as it reminds us spring is not far off. Here are some things to note…

Our annual spring break is next week March 17-21! Students will return to school on Monday, March 24. I hope the time away is restful for your family. Be sure to find some time to read together as a family as this is a great way to instill early literacy skills.

Mark your calendars for Thursday, April 10 to celebrate our Family Fun Night! It is a great time to bring your immediate family and just enjoy what is happening at school! There will be a light supper, games, activities for the whole family to do together. 5:00-6:30pm at Madison. More information to follow as we get closer.

Pella’s annual Tulip Time is May 1-3 this year. Our elementary school students march in two parades during those three days. Madison marches Thursday and Friday afternoon this year. We dismiss at 11:15am on Thursday and Friday and will have you meet us at 2:15pm at the start of the parade route. You drop your kiddos off with us, we march in the parade and then you meet us at the end of the parade route and pick up your kiddos. The whole thing takes about an hour or so. We will be sending more specific information as we get closer to the date. Start thinking now about what your child will wear while marching.

Leader in Me is the school version of Steven Covey’s work on The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Leader in Me is a school improvement process that helps schools set goals and reach them. When we set goals, we need to assess our progress towards the goals with metrics. The Measurable Results Assessment (MRA) is the metric we use to measure our progress. The MRA is taken in our district by 3rd grade students, all staff members and parents. We look at the data from those three stakeholder groups to see if we are making progress. The links for the MRA will be sent to you right after spring break. If you are a parent of a 3rd grader, we need your permission in order for your child to participate in the MRA. I am sending that google form to you this week. Please respond quickly on the form either yes or no. If you choose to not let your child take the MRA, we will have an alternate activity for them while the rest of their class completes the MRA. The more data the better so we would love to have as many kiddos participate as possible, but you can make that decision as their parent.

I also want to say thank you for all the well wishes and treats I received on my birthday last week! Lots of chocolate, Pringles, beef jerky, diet coke and Arnold Palmer. Lots to be thankful for!