Bear Facts
Madison Elementary - News for the week of March 25
Madison Elementary School
Email: billingsm@usd231.com
Website: http://www.usd231.com/mde/
Location: 800 W Madison St, Gardner, KS, United States
Phone: (913) 856-0400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MadisonElementaryBears/
Twitter: @MDEBears
Vision
Core Values
What's happening at Madison Elementary the Week of March 25
Monday, March 25 - Choir Practice, 7:50 am
Tuesday, March 26 - 4th Grade English Language Arts State Testing, 8:30-10:30
Wednesday, March 27 - Choir Practice, 7:50 am
Wednesday, March 27 - Kids Helping Kids Hat Day (see information below)
Thursday, March 28 - 4th Grade English Language Arts State Testing, 8:30-10:30
Thursday, March 28 - Royals Home Opener Spirit Day
Friday, March 29 - Madison Spirit Day
View our online calendar (select individual events for more details): http://www.usd231.com/MDE/Events:Month/
Next Week's Lunch Menu
Monday - (A) Dutch Waffle (B) Breaded Chicken Sandwich (C) Yogurt Cup
Tuesday - (A) Chicken Nuggets (B) Corn Dog (C) Jammy Sammy Plate
Wednesday - (A) Chicken Quesadilla (B) Cheeseburger (C) Yogurt Cup
Thursday - (A) Home Run Hot Dog (B) Pop Up Popcorn Chicken (C) Outta Here Jammy Sammy Plate
Friday - (A) Mac and Cheese with Soft Pretzel (B) Cheese Pizza Wedge (C) Chicken Caesar Salad
View our menu online: http://usd231.nutrislice.com/menu/madison/lunch/
Make Up Days and the Last Day of School
As a result of this season's inclement weather and our responsibility to meet the state of Kansas' requirements for hours completed during the school year, the following adjustments to our calendar are necessary (pending no additional inclement weather days):
- April 22 - Full day of school (originally no school as a result of professional development)
- May 22 - Full day of school (originally a 1/2 day of school)
- May 23 - Full day of school (originally no school if there was no inclement weather). Last day of school for Early Childhood, Kindergarten and 8th-grade students.
- May 24 - 1/2 day of school (originally no school if there was no inclement weather). On May 24, lunch will be served. Dismissal times are as follows: Grades 1-4 - 12:30 pm. Grades 5-11 - 12:00pm. Grades K, 8, 12 - No school.
Please know that Dr. Wachel will be in touch with additional details related to finals schedule, award ceremonies, end-of-year activities, field trips, etc. GEHS graduation will remain on May 18, 2019.
If your child is going to be absent on any of the days listed above due to an already planned activity, please work with Dr. Wachel to make arrangements.
Thank you for your understanding and continued support.
Report Cards
Enrollment for the 2019-20 School Year
Parent Input for Class Placements
The vision for Madison Elementary is to create learning experiences for every learner, every day, in every way. It is essential to establish a learning environment that promotes the academic success, personal growth and general well-being of each and every child. As such, it is important we spend time ensuring that every child is placed in a classroom where he/she can thrive to his/her maximum potential. Over the next few weeks, I will begin working closely with classroom, special education and specialist teachers as we begin to focus upon classroom placement for the 2019-2020 school year.
Parent/Guardian input is certainly welcome if parents/guardians would like to share information about their child to support the placement process. The class placement input form has been designed for this purpose. Parents/Guardians are reminded that a request for a specific teacher by name cannot be accepted. Forms that request a teacher by name will not be considered. There are several reasons for this. For example, we could encounter a situation where the team feels two or more students should not be in the same class, yet their parents have requested the same teacher. Furthermore, there may be other reasons which prevent requested placement including confidential factors concerning other students. Additionally, with a growing student population, last minute staff changes may occur which might prevent placing a student in a specific classroom. Parents/Guardians who complete the optional input form will need to have the form completed no later than Friday, April 5, 2019.
Our common goal is to make the school experience the best it can possibly be for every child. The Gardner Edgerton School District is fortunate to have excellent teachers who put children first. We all pledge to you that we will do all that we can to make your child’s education enjoyable, exciting, fun, meaningful and productive.
Kids Helping Kids
As you know, many states are experiencing devastating flooding at this time. In an effort to help kids in her hometown of Fremont, Nebraska, a well-known children’s author, Julia Cook, is assisting with fundraising efforts. Madison Elementary would like to help our neighbors to the north as well. On Wednesday, March 27th we will have “Wear a Hat for Fremont Day!” Those who wish to participate will donate $1.00 to wear their favorite hat to school. All proceeds will be sent to Kids Helping Kids and will be used to buy clothes, shoes and school supplies for kids who have been affected by the flooding in Nebraska. As an added bonus, Julia Cook has offered an all expenses paid full-day author’s visit and parent night for the school with the largest donation. We appreciate your support and look forward to Wearing our Hats for Fremont!
Royals Home Opener Spirit Day
Spring Picture Day Rescheduled
March Kindness Challenge - Kindmarks
Young Rembrandts
2018-19 Yearbooks (repeat)
Health Information (updated)
We wanted to provide some clarification regarding medicines at school. The safety of our students is our number one priority. Listed below are the key points of interest. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
Effective May 2018, in accordance to K.A.R 28-1-6 an individual with a physician diagnosed case of influenza shall remain in home isolation for seven days following onset of symptoms or for the duration of illness if the individual is immune-compromised, except when seeking medical care.
For isolation purposes, a case of influenza is defined as a person who has tested positive for influenza via any testing method and is experiencing symptoms of influenza-like illness (fever of 100°F and a cough and/or sore throat). Persons with influenza who received this year's influenza vaccine and persons with influenza who receive antiviral treatment are not exempt from isolation requirements.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most healthy adults with influenza are infectious beginning one day before symptoms develop and up to seven days after becoming sick; children and those with immunocompromising conditions may be infectious even longer.
Based upon the scientific information from the Centers for Disease regarding the infectious period for influenza, Johnson County Department of Health and Environment is enforcing this policy as written. No exceptions will be made to the isolation requirements regardless of receiving this year's flu vaccine or antiviral treatment (including Tamiflu).
All types of medicine should be brought to the nurse by a parent or guardian. Medicine cannot be sent to school with the student.
All prescription medicines must have a doctor’s order to be given to the nurse. The label on the bottle from the pharmacy is not considered the doctor’s order.
All over-the-counter medicines that are NOT on the District pre-approved list must have a doctor’s order to be given to the nurse. Some examples are cold and cough medicine, eye drops and homeopathic medicines.
The pre-approved list in Skyward is the following:
Acetaminophen (Tylenol)
Ibuprofen (Motrin/Advil)
Lotions, Creams, Ointment
Antacids (Tums)
Cough Drops
Winter, colds, flu, and other viruses often come hand-in-hand and this year is no exception. Germs from colds and other illnesses make their way into our workplaces, schools, and homes, but healthy habits can help protect everyone from getting germs or spreading germs. While school staff will continue to stress preventative measures, we also appreciate you encouraging these healthy habits with your children.
- If you have a child who is sick, we ask for your support by keeping them at home. District protocol requires students to stay home until they are fever free and symptom-free for a period of 24 hours
- Remind your child of important preventative measures for any illness, such as coughing into the sleeve, frequently washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds and getting plenty of rest and fluids.
Our custodial staff is also helping with prevention by following appropriate cleaning procedures, paying special attention to contact surfaces and by increasing the number of times per day these common areas shared by students are disinfected. As you know, the health of our students is important to us. Thank you for your continued partnership as we work together to keep our kids healthy.
Occasionally we receive questions about head lice management in our schools, and below is information regarding lice management.
As needed, we will inform parents when we see an increase in illnesses in our school population with the potential for rapid spread among students and staff (such as influenza) or in the rare instance we have a mandatory reportable disease occur in our population, like Mumps. General head lice notifications are not recommended as they have been found to cause harm and lead to unnecessary treatment. Instead, the school nurse will assess the need for notification on an individual basis.
Thank you for reinforcing healthy habits with our students. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Nurse Amy at (913) 856-0450.