Paramount Elementary

The excitement is growing around Paramount as we prepare for our Stars to return! We hope all of you are enjoying your summer break and continue to over the next several weeks. (Don't let this email throw off your fun 😎

Please take a moment to review several important dates and information, to help prepare you for the start of our 2024-2025 school year.

We will see our STARS soon!!

• Countdown
• Upcoming Dates
• Meet the Teacher on August 13th
• School Supply Lists
• School Nutrition Services: Free and Reduced Lunch Application
• Drop-Off Times
• Bell Schedule
• First Day of School Suggestions
• Grade-Level Line-Up Map
• End-of-Day Transportation
• Important Safety Reminders

• Thursday, August 1st (end of day): Power School Updates: See student's teacher
• Tuesday, August 13th: Meet the Teacher: 12:00-2:00 pm
• Wednesday, August 14th: First Day of School; Late Start Wednesday,
• Thursday, August 29th: Elementary Back to School Night: 6:00-7:30
• Monday, September 2nd: Labor Day; No School
• Wednesday, September 18th: No School: Professional Learning Day
• Wednesday, October 9th: Evening Parent Teacher Conferences
• Thursday, October 10th: K-8 No School: Parent Teacher Conferences
• Friday, October 11th: No School; End of 1st Quarter

We are planning on having our Meet the Teacher event on Tuesday, August 13th from 12:00-2:00 pm. This is a time to meet your student's teacher and bring in school supplies in order to help students have a smooth first day. Click below for the Paramount School Supply List.

YOU MUST UPDATE YOUR STUDENT'S POWERSCHOOL FORMS in order to view your student's class placement on August 1st. These will likely be available towards the end of the day.

Please remember, A LOT of thought has gone into class placements. TEACHERS, SUPPORT STAFF, AND PRINCIPAL make these determinations. Decisions are made in order to BALANCE student behaviors, academics, and social concerns. Please be thoughtful of this work.

LINQ Connect is the service we use for student meal accounts. Setting up a LINQ Connect account is free. From your account, you can monitor your student's activity, view menus, add funds (credit card only, transaction fee applies), and apply for free/reduced lunch.

Payments can also be made directly to our school's kitchen staff with cash or check (payable to School Nutrition). There are no transaction fees associated with these types of payments.

Click the button below to access our district website with more information regarding school nutrition, menus, and payment options. You can click the LINQ button to set up an account or add money.

Parents,

Please help us keep your students safe! DO NOT drop students off for school before 8:50 am. (M, T, Th, F) or 9:00 am (W). If a student is eating breakfast, they can be dropped off to enter the building at 8:45 am. Breakfast is not served until this time.

Because we cannot guarantee the supervision of students prior to this time, we cannot allow students to enter the building or be on campus. Please help us with this.

Lining Up:

On the first day of school, look for the "Line Up" signs for each grade level in the back of the building. There are designated doors students will line up by in order to access their classes.

See below for a "line-up" map by grade level.

Routines Start Day 1:

It is recommended that you establish a consistent routine for your students starting on DAY 1 of school. If your student is going to be riding the bus or walking home, we recommend they begin doing this on the first day of school. This helps our teachers best teach the routines and better know each student’s pick-up locations.

Trust Our Teachers:

It can be really hard for the first several days for parents when dropping off students. Please allow our teachers to comfort and help your child, instead of lingering around longer, making the transition more difficult. Our teachers will help your child feel safe at school while away from you. If you are particularly worried about your student, please reach out to your child's teacher through e-mail to discuss.

Please view the map below to direct students where to line up before school starts.

Please be sure to clearly communicate your student's transportation plan with their teacher. The teacher will help your student understand the routine and location for each plan: walking, biking, bussing, parent pick-up, and after-school care pick-up. The best way to ensure a consistent plan is to establish this for the first day of school. This will help eliminate any confusion for your student.

For siblings that will walk home together: they will meet each other at the bright yellow star on the north side of the school playground. If you have siblings walking together, please remind them of this. Our teachers and staff will help them know where to go.

Our #1 priority is to ensure a SAFE campus for our students and staff. In order to do this effectively, we do need your help. Please read our safety reminders below:

1. Paramount is a CLOSED CAMPUS during the school hours of 8:30 am – 4:30 pm. Any visitors will need to check in at the front office during these times if they plan to enter the building or be on campus beyond our drop-off locations. For the first week of school, we will allow parents to escort students to line-up locations. After the first week, we will expect parents to adhere to remaining behind our gates when dropping off students.
2. Please bring your ID with you when checking in at the front office. Please avoided checking your student out during recess times; please plan ahead to let us know if a student will need to wait for a parent during recess.
3. We cannot allow anyone on our fields or playgrounds during the school day that are not approved to be here. Please do not bring young children to play on our equipment during the school day. Our staff is trained to report anyone they believe is not approved to be on campus.
4. For students or parents riding bikes to school, please plan on “walking” bikes once on campus. This will help ensure the biker’s safety through the parking lot.
5. For parents who will be dropping students off at school, or picking them up, PLEASE adhere to our “Drop-Off/Pick-Up” Zones. This helps ensure students are only entering/exiting cars in a safe area, where other drivers can see them.
6. Students and parents are expected to use the crosswalk and wait for the Crossing Guard to indicate it is safe to cross. Please help us with this.
7. No dogs are allowed on campus during the school day. Please do not bring animals on our campus without permission. If you bring them with you during drop-off or pick-up, they must be on a leash or remain in your vehicle (and remain in the parking lot area). Again, this is for the safety of all—our students and staff AND your pet!
8. If you are accessing the school grounds outside of school hours with a dog, please be sure to clean up after them. We often find dog waste left in the fields. As you can imagine, if a student steps into this, it creates a major disruption and hygiene issue for our students, parents, and school. Please spread the word for us to help keep our fields free of pet waste.
9. Throughout the year, we will practice a variety of safety drills: Lockdowns, Fire drills, Reverse Evacuations, Evacuations, etc. We work in conjunction with the Meridian Police Department and the Meridian Fire Department to establish the best practices for these drills. We will communicate when these occur, so you are aware of the drills. We will also send more communication regarding the types of emergencies and the procedures we will practice with our students.

Paramount PTA:

• Follow our Paramount PTA on Instagram: paramountpta
• Follow our Paramount PTA on Facebook (private group, click "join group"): paramount pta

Paramount Elementary (teacher-created posts):

• Follow on Instagram: paramountes_wasd

• Follow on Facebook: Paramount Elementary Schoo