Meadow's Edge Elementary School
August 3, 2023
From the Principal's Desk
The start of a new school year is just around the corner! We are excited to see our returning students and want to welcome our new students to the Hawk family. We will be holding a Back to School Open House on August 14th from 4:30-5:30 PM. Stations will be set up around the outside of the building for students to meet their new teacher and our entire school staff. We will also have information available at Back to School Night regarding Title I, Interventions, and PTO membership and activities. We encourage you to come meet our staff and learn about the many great things happening here at Meadow’s Edge. Attached HERE is a map that will help you identify the location of grade-level teams and the informational tables that will be set up for the evening.
It has been a busy summer at Meadow's Edge. The building will be closed during Open House as our maintenance and construction crews work to wrap up projects in preparation for the first day of school. The completion of our building addition will allow us to have all of our programs under one roof, eliminating the use of portables for instruction and programming. Additionally, there have been numerous remodeling projects taking place throughout the existing building. Over the summer months, contractors have worked on replacing ceiling tiles, painting classrooms, and upgrading all interior lighting to LED. Outdoors, the parking lot has been expanded to add more spaces and additional fencing is being installed near the primary playground. Due to the shortage of flooring installers, carpet and tile replacement will be ongoing throughout the start of the school year and into the fall. This should not impact learning as most of the work will take place in the evenings or on the weekends. We appreciate your flexibility and understanding as we make these improvements to our learning spaces and enhance your child's experience and development in our school!
As we embark on a new school year, our commitment to providing excellence in all areas continues to guide us. Thank you for choosing Meadow's Edge and giving us the opportunity to partner with you during the coming year. Please “like” our Meadow’s Edge Facebook page along with our "Meadow's Edge PTO" page and keep an eye out for additional information and reminders throughout the school year.
Together, we will SOAR!
Gary Gardner, Principal
Important Dates
2023-24 P-H-M Schools District Calendar
August 11: Log in to Skyward to view your child's teacher for 2022-23. Details regarding how to access your Skyward Account will be sent by email from Family Access on this day.
August 14: Meadow's Edge Back to School Open House for Grades K-5, 4:30 PM-5:30 PM
August 16: 1st Day of School - Grades 1-5 (7:55 AM-2:20 PM. Doors open at 7:40 AM)
August 16: Kindergarten Orientation, 9:00 AM at Meadow's Edge
August 17: 1st Day of School - Kindergarten (7:55 AM-2:20 PM. Doors open at 7:40 AM)
August 25: PHM Community Tailgate Event, 5:30-7:00 PM at Penn High School-South Concessions
August 30: Picture Day!
BACK TO SCHOOL OPEN HOUSE (OUTDOORS)
We will be holding our annual Back to School Open House outdoors this year from 4:30-5:30PM on Monday, August 14. This event provides families an opportunity to meet their child's new teacher for the upcoming year, reconnect with friends and families following the summer months, and learn about our PTO. The building will not be open during this event as we work to finish up construction and finalize room preparations for the first day of school.
Who Is My Child's Teacher? (Skyward Family Access)
On August 11th you should receive an email from our Skyward Family Access that will provide your username so that you can establish a password and access the Skyward platform online. Once you log into Skyward your child’s class placement (teacher name) for the upcoming year will be visible.
Kindergarten Orientation
School Day Schedule (7:55AM-2:20PM)
Requesting A Car Tag Number (for Afternoon Car Riders)
Car Rider Line (Arrival and Departure)
Information regarding car rider traffic flow and procedures for arrival and dismissal was included in the back-to-school paper mailing. Information can be found HERE and a picture of the flow of traffic and lanes can be found HERE! We do NOT use car rider tags for students who are morning drop-off only. All students who will be afternoon car riders WILL be assigned a car rider number and tag the first week of school to assist us with creating a safe and efficient dismissal process. Please display the tag with your car number on your windshield or hang it from your mirror and leave it displayed while on school property.
Please be patient the first few weeks of school as our families get used to the arrival and departure process. We promise it will get faster each week and once the routine and procedures are understood by all it will move fairly quickly each day!
A couple of important tips:
* Stay in line at all times unless directed to pull around a car by a staff member.
* Keep your car number visible until your child enters the vehicle. Sometimes parents take numbers down before pulling along the curb which makes it difficult for staff to call out student numbers.
* Have your child practice buckling and unbuckling to provide for a quick entry and exit from the car. We ask that if your child needs assistance buckling you pull into the grass once you exit the car rider line and assist with buckling your child up in the BUCKLE ZONE (grassy area) to the right of the drive. We ask that you please stay in your vehicle when in the car rider lane to allow traffic to continue moving efficiently.
Transportation Update (School Bus)
We hope that you are having a great summer! The transportation department has been hard at work this summer getting our fleet refreshed and student routes ready to go for the 2023-24 school year. In order to prepare for a successful start of the school year with bus transportation, please review the following important information.
Important dates:
7/31/23: Elementary & Middle School Offices Open (school directory). Please contact your school with any transportation changes or requests.
8/8/23: Student enrollments/address changes deadline for the 1st day of School. Those changes shared with your child’s school by 12pm WILL be routed to begin on the first day of school. The EZRouting Parent Portal will go live on this day with routed student bus information.
8/9-16/23: Student enrollments/address shared with your child’s school will be routed in the order they are received. Please check your EZRouting Parent Portal after enrolling/requesting changes. When you see routing information for your current address – your student can begin riding! If the information is not posted, please make alternate transportation plans until your request is processed. An email will be sent to the primary contact in Skyward when routing is complete.
If you do not have an EZRouting Parent Portal – please visit www.phmschools.org/transportation for instructions and information on how to setup your account.
SAFETY FIRST
The safe transportation of students is the number one priority for the Penn Harris Madison Transportation Department. P-H-M currently has Stop Arm Cameras on all of our buses and uses 24-7 Security cameras that allow for full video and audio recordings of bus routes. Safety is a shared responsibility between the Transportation Department, parents, students, and schools. School bus safety is often impacted by student behavior. Schools and the Transportation Department reserve the right to remove students from the bus to maintain a safe environment for students and the driver. During a bus suspension, parents are responsible for transporting students to and from school.
________________________________________________________________________________
BUS CONDUCT GUIDELINES
Safety is our number one priority. Any action by a student that jeopardizes the safety of other students will result in removal from the bus.
Students are expected to follow directions given by the bus driver.
School behavior expectations apply to the bus.
Vandalism: Any form of vandalism to the bus will result in parents being billed for damages.
Please take a moment to watch the video School Bus Safety Training: How to be a Safe Rider with your student(s) as well as review the Bus Rider Do’s and Don’ts and Conduct Guidelines.
________________________________________________________________________________
With GPS tracking, you can track your child’s bus LIVE letting you also know exactly what time your child is dropped off. Follow the steps to create your account today! You can use Here Comes the Bus on your desktop, laptop or tablet. Make sure to download the app and use it on your smartphone.
You will need the following information to register:
PHM account number is 76205
Your child's last name
Your child's student ID (found in Skyward)
________________________________________________________________________________
BUS ROUTE INFORMATION
To change a student's home address, use this form. Please print off and return to your school or call your school office.
EZRouting is the first place to look for bus route information! This goes “live” on August 8th.
Calling your school office is a good way to verify bus routes, stops, and schedules
To request a review of a current bus stop, use this form. Bus stop reviews will begin to take place on Tuesday, September 5th. These will be processed in the order they are received.
Your child will be assigned to a bus route and have a designated bus stop. Students will not be assigned to more than two (2) bus routes.
To request an alternate bus stop location, use this form. Please print off and return to your school or call your school office.
Any student wishing to ride a different bus route for a day (i.e. child going home with a friend) MUST submit a written note from the parent; this note must be approved by the school and provided to the bus driver.
Bus Stop Distances - The district approved walking distances for PHM bus riders to their bus stop is 150 yards for K-5 students and 300 yards for 6-12 students.
Cul-de-sacs - Unfortunately due to the turning radius of a school bus we cannot drive down many cul-de-sacs. PHM Transportation requires a minimum diameter of 105 feet and no obstructions in all cul-de-sacs we travel in.
Bus service is available for all resident students within the district's boundaries to their assigned schools (based on address). Self-transportation is required for all non-residents or in-district transfer students.
________________________________________________________________________________
BUS RIDING INFORMATION
10 Minute Window - Please be at the bus stop 10 minutes prior to scheduled pickup. Buses can run early based on ridership. Also be willing to wait at the stop, buses can also run late due to external factors such as railroads, traffic, etc. If a bus is running later than 10 minutes an email will be sent to parents informing them of the late route.
Seating Charts - All students will have assigned seats on the bus
Parents are not permitted to board the school bus unless approved as a chaperone for a field trip.
In the event that a student must cross the street when boarding or leaving the bus the student should look to the driver for approval to cross.
Please only bring items on the bus that allow aisles to be clear and all students to sit comfortably.
________________________________________________________________________________
Food Services (School Meals!)
PHM school meals are healthy, well-balanced and tasty as well as providing students the nutrition they need to succeed at school. Menus are posted on the PHM website and at schoolcafe.com. School meals offer students milk, fruits and vegetables, proteins and whole grains, and they must meet strict limits on saturated fat, sodium and portion size. A detailed analysis of lunch entrees can be found on Schoolcafe.com
Breakfast
Breakfast programs are offered at all PHM schools. The breakfast price is $1.35 for elementary students and $1.60 for secondary students. Free lunch students also receive free breakfast. Reduced Breakfast is $.30.
Lunch
Students in all schools are offered many choices that they can combine into a complete lunch. The complete lunch includes one Entrée, fruit, vegetable, and milk. Students must take a least one fruit or vegetable but may take both or two fruits or two vegetables. Students not selecting a minimum of three items will be charged Ala Carte for the items chosen. Students choosing more than one Entrée and three sides will be charged on an Ala Carte basis for the additional items.
Meal prices are $2.35 for elementary and $2.60 for middle and high schools. Approved free students will receive lunch for free and reduced lunch is 40 cents. Elementary students are required to purchase a complete lunch unless the student has brought their lunch from home.
Snacks
A variety of snacks and drinks meeting the new “Smart Snacks” regulation are
offered to students. Snack purchases are limited in the elementary and middle schools as follows: Elementary students are limited to one snack and one additional drink per day. Middle School students are limited to two snack purchases and one additional drink per day. Parents can block snack purchases by going to Schoolcafe.com when putting money on their child’s debit card. Snack prices at the elementary range from $.25 to $1.00. Ala-carte at the middle and high schools is from $.50 to $3.00.
Debit Cards (School Cafe)
We would like to recommend this easy-to-use option so your child does not need to bring
money daily. You may pay online at Schoolcafe.com or send cash or a check to the school. Please specify your child’s name, grade, and teacher, and write “lunch money” on the envelope. You may register your child on Schoolcafe.com to monitor their purchases. Please keep in mind that per district policy, refunds are only made for $20.00 or more. We are always happy to move money between student accounts.
Click HERE to create an account for School Cafe.
Meal Charges
Please make sure your child has meal money daily. Charges are not allowed for Ala Carte
and breakfast.
Free/Reduced Meals Assistance
Your family may be eligible for assistance paying for cafeteria meals.
Households that meet the financial guidelines of the National School Lunch Program are eligible for free or reduced meal prices. To receive this support parents must apply annually and provide information that serves to verify household income. The application is easy to fill out; you can choose online or paper format. Please make sure to submit only one form (application) per household, even if the children are in different schools.
If you need assistance with fees (textbook or lunch), please fill out the attached application. After the application is approved you can print off confirmation letters from the website. If you are unable to complete an online application, paper applications are available at each school.
Please be sure if you need textbook assistance that you check the appropriate box on the Free/Reduced Lunch application. This application must be filled out each school year as it does not roll over.
What School Supplies Do I Need?
Parents frequently ask prior to school starting what school supplies are needed for the upcoming school year. Please know that all school supplies will be provided through the classroom and families are not required to purchase any additional classroom supplies. We do encourage all students to purchase a backpack for carrying items to and from school. We also ask that students purchase a pair of non-marking tennis shoes for use in the gym.
Volunteers & Guests In The Building
A Note from PTO
The Meadow's Edge Elementary School PTO welcomes all of our new and returning Hawk families back to school! For those of you who are unfamiliar with us or new to Meadow's Edge, we are a volunteer organization made up of parents and school staff who are dedicated to the success of our students, teachers, and school. We encourage you to get involved in the 2023-2024 school year.
How to keep up to date?
- The MEE Parent Newsletter (monthly)
- Like us on Facebook (Meadow's Edge PTO)
- Email us at meadowsedgepto@gmail.com
We are truly excited for this upcoming school year!
MEE 25 Year Celebration
This year marks the 25th year of learning and excellence at Meadow's Edge Elementary School. We will celebrate with a PTO sponsored family event in the evening on October 11. Please mark your calendars now and SAVE THE DATE for this fun-filled evening of celebration!
Community Events & Outside Organizations
P-H-M no longer distributes paper flyers or other promotional items of outside organizations through our schools. Please do not print and send flyers to our schools for distribution.
Instead, we now post digital flyers on our Community Events & Activities section of P-H-M District website at this link: https://www.phmschools.org/community-events-activities (linked below, as well) There is also a link back to this page off all 15 school websites.
The principals promote this link to parents through their school newsletters, as do some of the PTOs. Take a minute each month to check this site out for information regarding the many fun and exciting opportunities taking place around our schools and in the community.
Pre-School Academy (4 year olds)
Details regarding eligibility requirements and a pre-registration survey to express interest can be found HERE. In the event of more than 24 responses wishing to enroll, opportunity will be provided on a first come first served basis from this survey.
Title I Right to Know Letter
Attached below is a letter from our superintendent, Dr. Jerry Thacker. Meadow's Edge receives additional federal funding in line with our free and reduced lunch populations. In compliance with federal law, I have included the Parent’s Right to Know letter. Please note that all teachers at MEE are highly qualified by the standards of the Indiana Department of Education. We take pride in hiring outstanding teachers and look forward to the experiences your children will have with our educational staff.
Helpful Links
Meadow's Edge Elementary School
Website: https://meadowsedge.phmschools.org/
Location: 16333 Kern Road, Mishawaka, IN, USA
Phone: (574) 255-9347
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meadowsedgehawks