Yearbooks Are Now On Sale thru February 28th - It's time to order your child's 2021-22 Yearbook! Follow the link below to place your order online. Your child will also be bringing home a paper form for cash/check payments by the end of the month.

• Yearbook: $15
• Boone Meadow Yearbooks - ORDER HERE
• ORDER DEADLINE: February 28 (late orders cannot be guaranteed a yearbook).

CoVID Communication - Thank you for the communication flow regarding all things CoVID related.

• Thank you for communicating all positive cases through our district portal. I've included the link below, but it can also be accessed via the ZCS homepage as well.
• You are encouraged to reach out to your child's teacher should you have questions regarding school work during your child's absence.

We appreciate your assistance as we continue to navigate through this current surge of positive CoVID cases. We are truly grateful for your patience and cooperation.

Science and Engineering Fair - We are looking forward to our Science/Engineering Fair which is on the calendar for next week, January 26th-28th. A few items to note:

• Wednesday, 1/26/22 - Families may drop off projects from 2:45-4:00 on Wednesday, January 26th. Please enter door 1 (main entrance) and proceed to the gymnasium.
• Thursday, 1/27/22 - Judging will occur throughout the school day. BME Families are invited to view the projects from 4:00-6:00 PM on Thursday evening. (Masks required & asymptomatic individuals are allowed). Park in back bus lot and enter through door 7.
• Friday, 1/28/22 - Project pick up from 2:00-3:30.

Best Buddies Fun Night - Buddy UP Fun Night is a fun-filled evening of activities designed for students in grades 1-4. This annual event is held at Zionsville Community High School on Saturday, March 12th. See information below and/or register HERE.

Cold Weather Guidelines for Outdoors - We attempt to get outside to breathe fresh air as much as possible. Please see the paragraph below taken from page 19 of our ZCS Elementary Handbook:

“Each child is expected to be suitably dressed for play outdoors. As the weather turns colder, each child needs a winter coat, hat, and gloves. Snow pants, waterproof boots, warm gloves/mittens are required to be able to play in the snow. All children play outside except on rainy, icy, or very cold days (wind chill below the 10-20 degree range). Inside recess will be held on those exceptional days. A child who is well enough to come to school is well enough to go outside and play. Exceptions will be made if parent/guardians send in a note from the doctor stating that the child needs to stay inside."

Have a wonderful weekend, and stay healthy.

Together,

Tom Hundley

On Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022, Boone Meadow will once again participate in Global School Play Day. This day will provide us the opportunity to:

• observe and interact with students as they engage in authentic social exchanges,
• use this time to witness how your children navigate peer relationships,
• expand our understanding of your child as a person that has academic, social, and emotional aspects of their well-being,
• witness how they interact, show empathy, assist one another, problem-solve, and create
• glean more insight and information in order to provide more feedback to you (parents/guardians) that we are often unable to provide from our typical school day programming.

Simply put, Global School Play Day started in 2015 with the intent to set aside one day (or portion of the day) for students to engage in unstructured play. It is an opportunity to introduce and inspire us to consider the necessary benefits of play.

Play has significant psychological and cognitive impact on children.

Positively, play...

• develops physical fitness,
• refines physical (gross motor and fine motor) skills,
• provides practice for social and emotion development (requires cooperation, problem-solving, work in close proximity, requires emotional regulation, etc...)
• at times requires high levels of strategic thinking,
• and assists in developing skills to navigate risk and fear.

In other words, play can be considered the "work" of children.

The CogAT is a multiple-choice assessment administered to students in kindergarten and second grade. This is a computer based assessment that measures reasoning skills with different types of verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal questions. The CogAT uses two types of norms when tests are scored: age norms, and grade norms. Age norms compare how a student performed relative to other children of the same age, and grade norms compare how a student performed relative to the other children in the same grade. After scoring has been completed each parent will receive a parent report. For more information, please contact your child’s school counselor.

All Kindy and 2nd grade students will be tested sometime between January 31st and February 11th. Specific dates for your child's classroom assessment dates will be communicated by your child's teacher.

Yours in Education,

Kristi Sloan

ksloan@zcs.k12.in.us

Dear Families –

Please report ANY POSITIVE CASES by way of the ZCS CoVID Reporting Form, linked below, instead of emailing school personnel (teachers, nurses or office team) each day. The district will ensure that the school receives this vital information in a timely manner.

Our administrative and nursing teams are still here to answer any of your questions and to provide support as needed. However, please use the form for all reporting of positive cases from here moving forward. We sincerely thank you for your assistance!

Click here to access the REPORTING FORM or click the image: ZCS CoVID Reporting Form

In addition, ZCS CoVID protocols can also be found at www.zcs.k12.in.us

During the November 8 board meeting, ZCS school board members approved an updated 1:1 technology plan. Beginning in the fall next year (2022-2023 school year), Zionsville Middle School (ZMS) and Zionsville West Middle School (ZWMS) will be using a staggered approach to transition into a 1:1 rental program that will eliminate the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). *These changes will only affect the current 4th grade class (class of 2030), students who are incoming 5th graders next year at ZMS and ZWMS.*

How it works.

Current 4th grade students (Class of 2030) will be required to rent a Lenovo 11e from ZCS for the start of their 5th grade year in 2022. Students in grades 6-8 will maintain their BYOD status for the 2022 school year so as not to interfere with already purchased devices. All current middle school students who started with BYOD will have the option to maintain BYOD status throughout their middle school years. The chart below shows the staggered approach over the next four years as we transition out of BYOD and into this new rental program.

For more details about this change, including financing, please visit the following

link: https://www.zcs.k12.in.us/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=458767&type=d&pREC_ID=2267749.

If you have questions, reach out to Dan Layton at dlayton@zcs.k12.in.us.

January 26 - Set-Up for Science/Engineering Fair (2:45-4:00 - in Gym)

January 27 - Science/Engineering project judging and open house for families (4-6 PM - Enter from back lot, door 7)

January 28 - Science/Engineering Fair concludes w/ winners announced, class viewings & pick up

January 31 - February 11 - CogAT testing window (Kindy & 2nd)

February 2 - Global School Play Day; Groundhog's Day

February 14 - Valentine's Day

February 21-25 - Presidents' Day & Mid-Winter Break (no school)

March 15 - End of Quarter 3

April 1-8 - Spring Break (no school)

May 25 - Last day of school

May 26- June 3 - Make up days (if needed)

May 30 - Memorial Day (no school)

Our Student directory is now updated! Many thanks to the PTO for organizing this helpful resource! If you have never used our student directory, just follow these easy steps:

• Go to www.directoryspot.net or download the “Directory Spot” app on a smart phone. Click “Login”.
• Enter your email address as your Username, and click on “Reset Password”. An email will be sent to you with a link to set your password.
• Click on the link in the email to set your password and to log in.

If you have trouble logging in, please contact PTO volunteer Eileen Adam at eileenadam@hotmail.com.

Also note that if your information has changed, you can update it by logging in on a computer (not available through the app).

At this time, due to CoVID 19 restraints, we are "pausing" on volunteers and visitors. When volunteers are needed and approved, appropriate staff members will reach out to you in effort to welcome your support and assistance.

If you plan to volunteer of visit in the future, please note the following information.

CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR VOLUNTEERS

We value partnerships with our families and welcome parents and guardians to serve as volunteers in our schools. Each ZCS building typically offers a wide variety of volunteer opportunities.

Examples include:

• Field Trip Chaperones
• Out of Town/Overnight Chaperones
• Tutors
• Volunteer Coaches
• Classroom Helpers (PTO parties/room parents)
• Library Helpers
• After Prom Workers
• Field Day/Jog-A-Thon Volunteers
• Book Fair Sales/Athletic Ticket Sales

During the school day, all volunteers are expected to sign in at the front office. Prior to the volunteer opportunity, all volunteers must sign a Non-disclosure Acknowledgement Form and have successfully completed a Full Criminal History Background Check. Necessary background check paperwork is available on the ZCS website at the Volunteers/BRAVO link and should be submitted at least 10 days prior to the intended volunteer date. Volunteers must also view the state mandated confidentiality/bullying video, provided on the Volunteer/BRAVO website. The volunteer will pay the fee* for the full background check which will expire after 5 years. The link to apply for the full background check can be accessed on the Volunteers/BRAVO link on the ZCS main webpage. For more information, contact the Volunteer/BRAVO Coordinator.

CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS FOR VISITORS

During the school day, all visitors must enter via the front door and sign-in at the front office. Visitors need to be prepared to present a government issued photo ID which will be scanned against the National Sex Offender Registry. All visitors will be issued a visitor badge/tag to be worn inside the building at all times.

Examples Include:

• Lunch Guests
• Classroom Guest Speakers
• Classroom Special Events (Grandparent Day/Famous Hoosiers/etc.)
• Parent/Teacher Conferences

We ask that all visitors schedule an appointment to meet with teachers, counselors, administrators and all other staff members so that we may best serve everyone. Visitors other than parents/guardians must be prearranged and organized through the main office.

*ZCS thanks all volunteers for generous support of our youth and schools. Thank you, too, for supporting assurance of student and staff safety by completing and paying for a volunteer background check.

Email: thundley@zcs.k12.in.us
Website: http://www.zcs.k12.in.us/bme/
Location: 5555 S Main St, Whitestown, IN, United States
Phone: 3178732226
Twitter: @ZCSBoone_Meadow