Midland Messenger
April 11-15, 2022
Midland Elementary
Email: midland@fpschools.org
Website: http://midland.fpschools.org/
Location: Midland Elementary School, 105th Street East, Tacoma, WA, USA
Phone: 253-298-4500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Midland-Elementary-Mustangs-112865059416899/?ref=settings
From the Principal:
Dear Families,
I hope you and your family had a wonderful spring break! The weather really showed that spring is a time of change! Hopefully we won't have snow on Monday morning! :)
As we get into April and May, I want to let you know that we are really working hard to have our students reading more. Our Accelerated Reading challenge is a a baseball game with students making their way around the bases by reading more books at home. This supports our homework policy of students reading (or practicing letter names and sounds for kindergarten) for 20 minutes each evening. Thank you for helping your child. Please let your child's teacher know if you need some books at their level to practice reading at home.
I want to end with a celebration and congratulations to our Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Sims. She had a beautiful baby girl during the break. Just a reminder to her students that Ms. Apel will be her long term sub until the end of the school year.
It's great to be a MUSTANG!
~Dr. Paula Dawson
Important Dates to Remember:
April 11 ~ Kindergarten Registration begins for 2022-23
April 13 ~ 1:55 Dismissal
April 20 ~ 1:55 Dismissal
April 27 ~ 1:55 Dismissal
April 27 ~ HOPE Assembly
**For additional future scheduled activities, please check out our Midland calendar at https://midland.fpschools.org/**
Social Emotional Learning Corner
Content by Mrs. Blaisdell
April 11th
March was Women’s History Month and Irish American Heritage Month. In that last week of March we studied a historically famous, Irish American female artist named Georgia O’Keefe. In addition to her artistic talents and style, we learned that she was an anxious person who used art to help her feel more emotionally well. Here are some quotes from Georgia O’Keefe that we used in our learning:
“I have been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do.”
“I found that I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way….things I had not words for.”
“I took great pleasure in walking the New York City streets and made many visits to colorful flower shops. It sometimes seemed as if the rest of the city was too busy to notice the flowers. I wanted to make them notice. I painted as if my paintbrush was a magnifying glass.”
Georgia O’Keefe chose to ”zoom in” on the small details of the flowers, landscapes and animal bones that she painted. This helped the world to not seem so big and overwhelming. The lesson for our Midland Mustangs in this is; first that art, in all forms, can help us to maintain our social and emotional wellness. Another take-away is that when the world seems TOO big and overwhelming…take time to “zoom in” on the beauty, the smaller details, and block out the stuff that makes us anxious or afraid. These small moments can calm our brains and fill our hearts to lead us to greater health and wellness.
Introducing the "Books for Bases" schoolwide AR Challenge!
**AR is a motivational Reading program. Students will read books, take quizzes, and earn points based on their individual reading levels.**
You can help and support the challenge by:
-Reading with your kids!
-Encouraging your kids to work on their AR goals for 3rd Trimester!
-Asking your kids about the books they are reading, points they have collected, or which base they are on!
-Taking your kids to the public library to get more books!
2022-2023 Online Registration for NEW students
At this time, we are taking registration only for those children who live within our attendance boundaries, or have daycare in our area. All registrations will be done online beginning April 11th. Enrollees must provide a copy of their child’s birth certificate, immunization records, and proof of residence by uploading them to our district's website along with their registration information. To be eligible for kindergarten, children must be five years of age by August 31, 2022.
Please visit fpschools.org - click on the red "Enrollment" circle - follow the instructions for the 2022-23 school year.
Medication at School
State law allows for students to be administered oral medications at school (including inhalers), ear drops, eye drops, and/or to apply ointments with doctor’s order only. All medications, even over-the-counter products such as pain relievers and cough drops, require an appropriate order from an approved medical provider. We must have a new medication order each school year. Please do not send medication with your child, as it is illegal for them to carry it on school grounds. Do not hesitate to contact our school nurse, Tia Stilson at 298-4508 if you have questions or need further information.
Adult Educational Opportunities
PTA and Volunteers Wanted!
Our PTA has historically been an important part of our school community. Truthfully, with COVID and the movement of our previous PTA leadership, we have had a difficult time having an active PTA. I feel strongly that we are missing this important part of our community and it's time to build it up again! I would love your ideas of what you would like to see in a PTA. If you have ideas, please email them to me at pdawson@fpschools.org.
Have you been wanting to volunteer at Midland? It's been almost two years since we have been able to have parents in our building, but we are excited that we can now do so! Due to the ongoing pandemic, we do have some restrictions which are outlined in the attachment below. Our classrooms could use tutors, we would love to have additional adults on our playground, and we could even bring back Friday snack sales during recess if we had adults who could help. Again, please email me and we will get you plugged in!
I'm looking forward to your partnership!
~Dr. Dawson
Franklin Pierce Schools does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.
Questions and complaints of alleged discrimination should be directed to James Hester, Compliance Coordinator for State and Civil Rights Laws; Wendy Malich, Title IX Officer; or John Sander, 504/ADA Coordinator at 315 129th ST S, Tacoma, WA 98444-5099 or at (253)298-3000.