Bear Facts
Madison Elementary news for the week of May 24
Madison Elementary School
Email: billingsm@usd231.com
Website: https://www.usd231.com/o/madison
Location: 800 W Madison St, Gardner, KS, United States
Phone: (913) 856-0400
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MadisonElementaryBears/
Twitter: @MDEBears
Mission
Vision
Core Values
Thursday, May 27 - Last Day of School
Thursday, May 27 - 4th-Grade Drive-Thru Celebration, 6:30 pm @ Madison (please line up at GEHS between 6:15 and 6:30)
Lunch Menu
Monday - (A) Pulled Pork Sandwich (B) Yogurt & Sweet Bread
Tuesday - (A) Corn Dog with Goldfish Crackers (B) Mini Waffles
Wednesday - (A) Hamburger (B) Yogurt and Muffin
Thursday - (A) Bosco Sticks (B) Ham & Cheese SubJust a reminder... Although school meals are free for the 2020-2021 school year, students are still welcome to bring a lunch from home as they desire. Please note that although these students will still be permitted to purchase milk or juice ($0.55 each) to accompany their lunch from home, these individual items are not covered by the program. Only complete meals are available for free. Weekly balance reminders are sent to families whose students' account balances fall below zero due to these types of purchases.
Specials Schedule
Please note, that our early childhood classes will have their specials on the same day of the week since they attend four days a week. Third grade will be use a 5-day letter rotation since there are 5 sections (A, B, C, D, E). For a specific class schedule, please refer to the classroom information provided by the classroom teacher.
Monday - Specials Day #4(grades K, 1, 2, 4), C (3rd-grade only)
Tuesday - Specials Day #1 (grades K, 1, 2, 4), D (3rd-grade only)
Wednesday - Specials Day #2 (grades K, 1, 2, 4), E (3rd-grade only)
Thursday - Specials Day #3 (grades K, 1, 2, 4), A (3rd-grade only)
Friday - No School
News from Dr. Wachel
A colleague of mine shared this poem with me. I have this poem in my office at school. I keep it in a file called “inspiration,” and I get it out every once in a while to remind myself of its message and inspiration. I hope it inspires you and your family the way it continues to inspire me.
Don’t Quit
John Greenleaf Whittier
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit –
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is strange with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure comes about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t’ give up though the pace seems slow –
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out –
The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It might be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit –
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.
Thank you for your support of Madison Elementary. We love our community and want you to know that you can depend on us.
Free Summer Meals
The USD 231 Nutrition Services department is excited to announce that FREE summer meals will begin on Tuesday, June 1!
Although we will not have any on-site dining options available this summer, we are thrilled to be able to continue to offer FREE weekly curbside take-home meal kits on Tuesdays from June 1 – July 27 (no service on July 6). Kits are available to ALL kids ages 1-18 regardless of residence or income thanks to the USDA’s federally-funded Summer Food Service Program.
As you may know, our team has been hard at work this year to ensure that all of our community’s kids have had access to high-quality, healthy meals since our world was turned upside down in March 2020. This summer brings another chapter in that adventure as we roll out the best of everything we’ve learned from our pickup loop conversations and feedback from our families.
Here are the highlights of this summer’s meal offerings:
All kits will include entrees for 7 lunches and 7 breakfasts
Kits will also be packed with a weekly fresh produce bundle (featuring local farms!) and 2 half gallons of milk
Pre-ordering from our Nutrislice menu website is also available for an expanded selection of items including:
Ability to select your milk choices (here’s where you can select none!)
Vegetarian kit with meatless options for those who prefer this choice (quantities limited, pre-order required)
New THIRD option (the Fridge Filler!) that includes a weekly set of staples to help keep your budget on track (quantities limited, pre-order required)
Automatic registration for kid-less pickup (with no weekly email to show in line!)
Meals will be distributed from GEHS on Tuesdays from 12pm – 6pm. Tell your friends and neighbors that online ordering is open NOW! Never fear, if you don’t want to hassle with ordering online you can always show up with your kiddos and we’ll have the current week’s Greatest Hits (kit 1) waiting for you along with two half gallons of milk for each kiddo in your vehicle.
For more details, please visit our menu website at usd231.nutrislice.com and select the GEHS Curbside Summer Meals menu option and navigate to June 1. For assistance with ordering, check out the “Need Help?” button in the upper right corner (desktop) or under the bell icon (mobile) from our menu site. (For up-to-date info throughout the summer, follow us on Facebook!)
Summer 2021: Nutrislice Meal Ordering Tips
On behalf of our team, we can’t wait to see all of you again in the loop! Hooray for summer!
GEYCP SUMMER PROGRAMMING (repeat)
School Supply List Orders
2021-22 School Supply List (repeat)
Last Day of School (repeat)
Read Alouds
News from Mrs. Long
For 28 years, I have been blessed to teach hundreds of children, including many of our Madison Bears. I helped open Madison Elementary and have called this my home ever since! This year, I have made the very difficult, but necessary decision to hang up my teaching hat. I will not be returning to teaching next year so that I can build my real estate business and focus on only one full time job. I want to thank all of the staff, parents and students who have touched my life in one way or another! I cannot express how thankful I am to have had so many amazing students and families throughout my teaching career. I will always hold those memories close to my heart. Once a bear, always a bear!
Counselor and Social Worker Corner
Thank you to all the parents and caregivers that volunteered to share about your career with our Madison Bears. We have many wonderful Zoom sessions and videos to share. Our students love seeing what their grown ups do while they are at school all day. Thank you for helping our children learn to dream big and work hard in school.
MUDMASTER MINDFULNESS SUMMER CAMPS
This 2-day camp will offer the opportunity to build skills for improved attention, stress management, resilience & growth mindset & connections with self/peers/nature/animals.
This camp is designed for children 5 years of age & older of all abilities.
Parents will have the option to participate and learn mindful parenting skills on both afternoons from 2-3pm. A healthy snack with mindful eating tips will be provided.
JUNE CAMP: Monday June 28th - Tuesday June 29th :: 10am - 3pm
AUGUST CAMP: Monday August 23rd - Tuesday August 24th :: 10am - 3pm
CLICK HERE to Register!
Birthday Treats
Update from the Health Room
As we enter into Winter, it is a great time to remind our school community of the measures we take to keep students healthy and prevent the spread of communicable diseases.
We reinforce frequent hand washing with our students and coughing/sneezing into a tissue or their sleeve (not their hands).
In addition, we refer to the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment (JCDHE) recommendations when determining the need to send a student home from school. The JCDHE recommendation chart provides specific guidance on when a student can be readmitted to school.
For example, students are to be fever-free for 24 hours WITHOUT the use of fever-reducing medication before returning to school.
Occasionally we receive questions about head lice management in our schools, and we have an extensive set of resources on our website that can be found HERE.
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 to those considered close contacts.
Thank you for reinforcing healthy habits with our students. If you have any questions, feel free to contact our school nurse at (913) 856-0450.
Amazon Smile
Virtual Homework Support
VIRTUAL HOMEWORK SUPPORT (VHS) allows Gardner Edgerton students access to teacher support outside the classroom.
MONDAY - THURSDAY
4:00 PM - 7:00 PM (ELEMENTARY)
4:00 PM - 8:00 PM (MS/HS)
If you experience difficulties logging in, please send an email with your name and grade to geycp@usd231.com.
Madison PTA
Interested in the Madison PTA Happenings? Stay in the know!
We invite everyone to join the Madison PTA Facebook page. By searching Madison Elementary PTA Gardner, KS under Pages, you will be able to join the group and receive updated PTA information.
If you are interested in joining the PTA, please see the membership form.