MAV Minute

Greetings Meadowlark Families!

We want to thank our parents for a well-attended Back to School Night, our faculty for putting together thoughtful presentations, and our PTSA for engaging our parent community throughout the evening. As we settle into the school year this September, we want to explain the concept of the "Huddle" at Meadowlark and invite parents to "Huddle" with our Counseling Team and Administration.

At Meadowlark School, "Huddle" is the time that students connect with their teachers at the beginning of the day to cultivate the attitudes and behaviors that help them grow as learners, navigate challenges that school naturally presents, and set goals for the day ahead. We value the "Huddle" at Meadowlark because these conversations and activities are essential for both academic success and personal development. We believe that starting the day with intentions yields long-term results in our students.

Parents and guardians play a crucial role in reinforcing student habits at home. Encouraging your child to talk about the school day, setting a time to complete homework or read as a family, taking time to thoughtfully listen to children and preteens, and praising efforts rather than just results solidifies the "Learner Mindset" that we want to grow at Meadowlark School.

In the coming weeks, our Counseling Team and administration will be hosting a book study with parents about coping with disappointment and failure. Parents can also huddle with one another or read on their own. We live in a world where instant gratification is typical. Struggle and failure are not as typical and we even avoid risk because of the fear of failure. However, failure often builds resiliency, competence, motivation, and healthy relationships. Please see the newsletter article from Mrs. Debroux and Ms. Wagner inviting you to "Huddle" with us to read The Gift of Failure as a community.

On another note, we really want to thank our students and parents/guardians for supporting our attendance communications and our cell phone policies. We are off to a great start this year and we credit a supportive community -- families, students, and faculty -- for making that way.

Maverick Up!

💛🖤 Brent, Jeff and Sarah

As school begins, here are some quick reminders about safety at Meadowlark:

• Meadowlark is a community school and many students choose to walk and bike to campus. Parents should know that student supervision begins at 8:35 a.m. in the morning and ends at 3:55 p.m. in the afternoon. Students are welcome to return to campus after they have gone home and checked in with parents. Our staff will ask students to walk or bike home at 3:55 p.m. if they are unaccompanied by parents. Any student who is waiting for a parent will be brought to the office at 3:55 p.m. and a member of our office team will call parents.

• Dogs should not be on school property when students are present, per BVSD policy.

• If you are driving to campus, there is limited parking in the Visitor Parking Lot. Please remember that this is a “Hug and Go” Lane when picking students up from school. There is no legal parking on either side of Meadow Sweet Lane and Flatirons Meadow Boulevard at any time. Parents are encouraged to legally park their vehicle in the Visitor Parking Lot or park on north/south running streets in the neighborhood during high traffic times. Please be considerate of neighbors and never impede driveways when parking. Our transportation plan is available at this website.

• Bikes and scooters need to be dismounted and walked in front of the school, as well as the bus lane. Please also remind your child to walk their bikes through crosswalks in the neighborhood, as that is a Colorado State traffic law.

Please take a moment to fill out this form if you are interested in reading The Gift of Failure with our Counseling Team throughout the month of September. We will be meeting at school on September 9, September 16, September 23, September 30, and October 7 at 12:30-1:30 p.m. if you would like to join us in person! See the QR code below for more information!

For more information about FET, please contact:

Amanda Boshinski, Teacher Leader, amanda.boshinski@bvsd.org

Gretchen Jimenez, Teacher Leader, gretchen.jimenez@bvsd.org

Lenin Garcia, Parent Leader, garcia.lenin@gmail.com

We are looking for more awesome volunteers to join our fun, vibrant office at Meadowlark. Currently, we are hoping for more volunteer support on Mondays and Fridays. We would prefer a commitment of days and hours so that we can rely on when you are able to support. However, we do understand that you may occasionally need to miss your scheduled day. Office duties typically include opening the doors, answering phone calls, using the radio and intercom, and checking students in/out in Infinite Campus. Tasks may increase and expand as you become more comfortable. Feel free to speak with our current office volunteers, Huong or Sarah, and they can tell you all about their volunteering experience in the office. You can also read one of their current reviews here.

We are also looking for volunteer support in our copier room for any day of the week. These tasks would include copy and print jobs, cutting, sorting, and prepping small projects for our LC teachers and other staff.

If you are interested in either opportunity, please reach out to Christie Laplant.

At Meadowlark PK-8, our school encourages positive attendance, meaning that students attend school at a 95% rate (no more than 10 absences a year). When students are absent more than 10 days a year, they are considered habitually truant by Colorado State Statute and BVSD policy. An excellent attendance rate in elementary and middle school improves a student’s academic prospects and chances for graduating high school on time (Brookings Institute, 2017).

Perfect attendance is rarely attainable and our overall attendance rate increases when students who are ill stay home and recuperate. We ask parents to keep children home when they have a fever of greater than 100 degrees or a stomach virus. Students should be symptom free for 24 hours before returning to school. Two weeks into school, our Mavericks are attending at a school rate of 96.08% as a school community.

We strongly recommend our community to adhere to the CDC's recommendations regarding COVID-19. Please refer to the guidelines via the BVSD site linked here. If you have any questions about health policies and procedures, please reach out to our School Nurse Consultant, Annie Engelmann or our Health Room Paraeducator, Katie Olson at 720-561-8687.

Although school meals are free, we strongly encourage eligible families to fill out the Free and Reduced Price School Meal application; doing so might qualify your family for reduced fees and impact funding for your school. If your family received an email with a F&R notification letter for the 2024-25 school year through DirectCert, you must fill out the sharing form linked within the letter to share your status with your school to receive benefits.

If you have not received a notification letter and your household income is within the guidelines to qualify (found on right side of FRL webpage), fill out the Free & Reduced Price School Meal application found in your Infinite Campus Parent Portal of Infinite Campus under More > Meal Benefits. More program info can be found on our site. If you have questions, please contact Lola Campos-Herzfeld at dolores.campos-herzf@bvsd.org.

This last week, we had our first afternoon Lifelong Learning Classes. With the exception of Kindergarten, all grades can walk to the location of the class where their instructor is assigned. Kindergarten students will be gathered slightly ahead of the dismissal bell and a school staff member will escort them to class. At the end of Lifelong Learning, classes that are in the building will be dismissed at the main entrance with the class instructor. Any class that meets on the turf field will be dismissed from that location.

Please review after school plans with your child when the are attending Lifelong Learning at Meadowlark.

The SAC (School Age Care) Program offers Morning Care each day from 7:00 a.m. to 8:35 a.m. in the heart. The students have an opportunity to work on homework, play with other students, and create arts and crafts. If you are in need of Morning Care, there is plenty of space! Part-time and full-time options are available. SAC also provides Afternoon Care Monday - Friday and is currently full, please join our waitlist if you are interested in Afternoon Care at SAC. Sign up today at: bvsd.childcare@bvsd.org or call: 720-561-5974.

SAC Newsletters: AM SAC Newsletter | PM SAC Newsletter

The BVSD School Age Care (SAC) Program is licensed by the State of Colorado. Our program staff must follow state guidelines to keep the children safe by maintaining a supervision ratio of 1:15 during program hours. Thank you for your support and understanding.

Our grade level learning communities sent slide decks to parents prior to Back to School Night, so that parents can review the content and be prepared with questions about the classroom. If you were unable to attend Back to School Night, important information can be viewed by clicking the following links:

Kinder BTSN Slides

1st Grade BTSN Slides

2nd Grade BTSN slides

3rd Grade BTSN Slides

4th Grade BTSN Slides

5-6 B2SN Slide Deck

7-8 BTSN Google Slides

At Meadowlark, administrators aim to interact and know all students and families. Of course you can reach out to any adminstrator at any time. However, if you have specific questions about the school or need to contact an administrator, please know that the division of responsibilities are as follows:

Brent Caldwell, principal, is responsible for our 5/6 learning community, 7/8 learning community, and special education. His email contact is brent.caldwell@bvsd.org.

Sarah Grubb, assistant principal, is responsible for our PK/K learning community, 1/2 learning community, and counseling. Her email contact is sarah.grubb@bvsd.org.

Jeffrey Miller, assistant principal, is responsible for our 3/4 learning community, specials team, clubs and athletics, and paraeducator staff. His email contact is jeffrey.miller@bvsd.org.

Of course, we expect that any student question or need related to the classroom is addressed with teachers first, as a matter of direct communication and respect.

1. Go to the RevTrak Dashboard on the Meadowlark School Website
2. Log in using your username and password from the previous year OR if you do not have a current account you will need to establish a new log in
3. Click the Learning Community box and then click the specific Learning Community for your student(s)
4. Complete the Screen as Prompted
5. Repeat process for each additional student

Many schools, including those in BVSD (Boulder Valley School District), have implemented background checks for volunteers, such as CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation) checks.

• CBI fingerprinting will be required for all volunteers who spend time in the building with students or chaperone Field Trips. Raptor will be used for "one-time" visits such as grandparents and classroom/school events.

This is a link from the district office for Visitor/Volunteer FAQ where parents can find resources to begin the volunteer application. If you have any questions about the process or requirements, please contact Christie LaPlant at 720-561-7276 or christie.laplant@bvsd.org

Volleyball registration will be due September 11th and our season practices will begin on September 19th. You can find additional registration details on our website. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to Jeff Miller or Lindsay Barber!

Our first cross country meet of the year is at Broomfield Heights Middle School (5:00 p.m.) on Wednesday, September 4th.

September

9/2 Labor Day Holiday - No School

9/30 Professional Development Day for Teachers- No School for students

October

10/1 ML8 WALK & Roll to SCHOOL Day

10/2 National Custodian Appreciation Day

10/11 K8 - 1st Quarter Ends

10/14 AM District PD, No School for Students

10/15 Student Led Conferences 4-8p

10/16 Student Led Conferences 4-8p

10/17 Student Led Conferences 4-8p