Meridian Academy News

Hello Meridian Academy Community,

We have entered the 2nd half of the school year- and with it we have some big changes coming regarding schedule changes for next year. As many of you know from a recent email, MA will be moving to an AM/PM model in which your student can choose one of those "sessions"-- or BOTH. This is an attempt to help more students access the great things we have at Meridian Academy. There is a meeting about this restructuring on February 3rd at 4:30 in the Meridian Academy Gym. Your input is welcome as we work to incorporate these changes while keeping our school calm, predictable, and consistent for your student. My door is always open so please feel free to set up an appointment, stop by, or send an email. I am happy to answer any questions that I can, while we work through these changes. On another note, we are currently highlighting our behavior disposition of "Be Respectful" during the 3rd quarter. To me, our work in this area is some of the most important in making our school the "Best School in Idaho". When you walk onto our campus, you can feel how students and adults alike demonstrate respect for each other. This is not by accident, but rather due to the deliberate focus of our mentors, teachers, and staff- as well as the support from our community-- you. Thanks again for this support and I am looking forward to a great 2nd half of the year!

Thank you for all you do for our school

Principal Eian and the Meridian Academy Team

With the start of the new quarter, we now have a new behavior expectation focus. During first quarter, our focus was to “Be Kind”. It was a great success as we are often told by guests to the building that Meridian Academy students are the most kind in all of West Ada School District. 2nd Quarter, our focus was to “Be Safe”. It was fantastic to see students focusing on school safety and making safe choices. This quarter, Meridian Academy will focus on the behavior expectation to “Be Respectful”. We feel students are generally respectful at Meridian Academy already, but we are excited to see the improvements over the next quarter as we continue to focus on this behavior expectation.

The Yearbook staff are in need of new cameras. The students on this year’s Yearbook staff have taken it upon themselves to work towards obtaining new camera equipment. The cameras we have now are not of the highest quality. It usually requires several attempts and the objects of the photograph must stay in place for an extended time to get a Yearbook worth photograph. Cameras and the additional equipment necessary are expensive so students have taken to DonorsChoose to acquire the equipment. You can support getting new camera equipment for the Yearbook staff by donating to our DonorsChoose site. Please click the link below visit the page and we would love for you to pass the link onto anyone in the community that may be interested. Thank you in advance for your generous support!

DonorsChoose Yearbook Link

During the last week before Winter Break, Meridian Academy hosted another Spirit Week for Staff and Students to share their Panther Pride! Check out the fun times below!

Monday January 20th - No School For Students And Staff (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)

Thursday January 23rd - National Pie Day

Monday January 27th - International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Monday January 27th - Youth Vaping Virtual Presentation

Tuesday January 28th - SheTech Explorer Day

Wednesday January 29th - No School For Students (Staff Professional Learning Day)

Vaping is an issue that affects teenagers in our community and is something that can have extremely detrimental health consequences. We would like to invite all students and community members to attend a virtual presentation to prevent teenage vaping. Please see the flyer and scan the QR code for more information. Your attendance can win you a $100 gift card! It is an excellent opportunity to gain some valuable insight on the dangers of vaping and possibly win $100!

The West Ada School District College Career Counselors and Huntington Learning Center are offering a SheTech Explorer Day will take place on January 28th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The College of Idaho. Tech careers are in high demand which presents an excellent opportunity for Meridian Academy students. SheTech Explorer Day is designed for High School girls to learn more about STEM careers and the pathways to fund and thrive in them. Free lunch is provided and prizes can be won by students in attendance. For more information, click the link below or chat with Nichole in her office.

SheTech Explorer Day Link

It is that time of year when we need to be aware of the procedure for canceling school due to inclement winter weather. The winter weather team will begin assessing the road conditions at 3:00 a.m. and make school closure announcements to local media outlets by 5:30 a.m. You can also view any school closure announcements on the West Ada School District website and/or social media sites. Click the link below for more information and to be prepared for a snow day if it happens this winter.

Inclement Weather Procedures | West Ada School District

Begining January 22nd - Students will be REQUIRED to have their ID Badge in order to ride the bus. No students will be allowed to ride the bus without their ID Bade beginning January 22nd. Please remind all students to bring their IDs each day to school. It is necessary for students to navigate campus and swipe their cards to enter building doors. Students should see David K. in the Commons to replace a lost ID. School IDs are just one way we help keep our school safe so please do your part and remember to bring your ID to school each day!

Ike is a new Social Studies Teacher and Mentor this year at Meridian Academy. He moved to Boise from Minnesota about 5 years ago and he is very excited to be teaching with West Ada School District. Ike was a Teacher and Coach in Saint Paul, Minnesota for about 10 years before he began traveling the country. He has been to 48 out of 50 states in America and just has Alaska and Hawaii left to visit. Ike thinks Boise is the best city in the country and intends on making Boise his permanent home. When Ike was in Middle School, he took a nap after school and woke up around 7:30 p.m. That was about the same time he would normally wake up in the mornings before heading to the bus stop. His brother managed to convince him that it was 7:30 a.m. and not nighttime so he walked to the bus stop and waited for a bus that wasn’t coming for about 12 more hours. We are excited to welcome Ike to Meridian Academy and promise not to trick him like his brother did!

If you are interested in showing your support for our teacher, mentors, and staff- sign up to join the PTO (Parent-Teacher Organization)

Click Here!

Giving Tuesday was a huge success providing over $37,000 which will support students facing financial hardships, providing critical resources and opportunities to help them thrive. We appreciate everyone’s generosity and are proud to be apart of such a supportive community! For more information about Giving Tuesday and the results for West Ada please visit the link below.

Giving Tuesday Link

Meridian Academy High School's official Facebook page is the newest way we will begin to share updates and celebrations. Follow our page if you are interested!

https://www.facebook.com/MeridianAcademyWASD/