Midway Heights Family Newsletter
November 2020
From Mrs. Gerzen's Desk
Parent Teacher Conferences will be held in November ~ You will receive information from your child’s teacher as to when your conference will be held virtually via zoom. Teachers are working evenings preparing for conferences and progress reports. We work very hard for 100% participation and hope to see all parents conversing with teachers on student progress. We take student success very seriously and are really stressing student performance and accountability. You will notice that progress reports will look very different this trimester due to our current circumstances. Teachers will talk through the progress report at conferences. Research shows that parent involvement enhances student achievement. Help us meet our goal of 100% participation!
Parking Lot Information ~ I received an email reminder from our district office about Fire Lane usage during parent pick up. Please remember that the Fire Lanes in front of the school are just that…an area cleared so that fire trucks will have a place to park so that they can access our building as quickly as possible. The Battalion Chief understands that at arrival/dismissal we must utilize this area for parent drop-off/pick-up, and he is okay with that. What he is not okay with is parents parking their cars and then getting out of them to go into the building. The Battalion Chief does not want you exiting your vehicle at any time while in the Fire Lane.
Your Information ~ Our school enrollment is 180 in-seat and 32 CPS@Mizzou. Please help us keep our records up to date. If your contact information changes, please stop by or call the office to update it. If you move, please bring proof of residence such as a utility bill to the office. It is important for us to keep our database up to date. All of our information is sent out electronically through Class Dojo or email.
Missouri Weather ~ As cooler weather approaches, we wanted to remind you that we play outside most days. Rain and temperatures below 10 degrees will keep us inside the building. Please encourage your child to come prepared for outdoor play as Missouri weather often changes quickly and unexpectedly. We want to keep your children active, warm, healthy, and safe!
Arrival & Dismissal ~
Arrival: Midway starts school at 7:40 a.m. and breakfast is served from 7:20 a.m. to 7:40 a.m. Students arriving after 7:40 a.m. (when the front door of the school is closed and I am no longer outside) will need to be signed in at the office and will miss out on breakfast. Breakfast ends at 7:40 a.m. We start our morning opening right at 7:40 a.m. and then classes move straight into instruction.
Dismissal: We have lots more car riders this year and I’m pleased to say that dismissal is going very well. I highly encourage you NOT to arrive at school for dismissal before 2:20 p.m. This is part of the reason that we have cars backing up Trails West and Highway 40. At dismissal, if you are the first car not able to pull in our drive due to the long line, please drive down Trails West and turn around or drive on down Highway 40 and turn around. We have sped up our process and have car riders out and loaded by 2:50 p.m. We need your help to keep everyone safe and to keep things moving.
Hoping that everyone can have a healthy, fun, family filled Thanksgiving Break!
Mark Your Calendars
Virtual Book Fair Begins! See information below.
November 3
Teacher Work Day - No School
November 4
Teacher Work Day - No School
November 6
Midway Spirit Day
Wear Midway colors or your Midway gear!
November 9 - 12
Parent Teacher Conferences
November 13
Teacher Work Day - No School
November 17
PTA Zoom Meeting at 6:00 pm
November 25 - 27
Thanksgiving Break - No School
Picture Day Update
CPS Illness Guidelines and Policies in place for 2020-2021
Below is the list of symptoms and the algorithm that we will be following this year in regard to student illnesses and presentation of symptoms.
HIGH RISK SYMPTOMS:
- New cough, difficulty breathing, loss of taste/smell
MODERATE RISK SYMPTOMS (not otherwise explained):
- Fever (>100.4 F) or chills, congestion/runny nose, nausea/vomiting/diarrhea, sore throat, headache, muscle or body aches.
If student presents with 1 high risk symptom or 2 or more moderate risk symptoms and no known exposure to COVID-19, guardians need to consult provider for alternate diagnosis for child’s illness and provide school with doctor’s note; provide a negative COVID result on the child to the school, or keep the child home for at least 10 days from when symptoms first appeared and at least 24 hours from resolution of fever and improvement of symptoms.
If child is exposed to a person who is positive for COVID-19, guardian will need to contact provider or health department for further instructions. See the chart below for details.
Follow us on Twitter @ MidwayEagles
We post updates about school events, activities and much more!
Visit our Midway Heights Elementary website
Keep in touch with Class Dojo
Midway Nature Play Area Coming Soon!
Room Parents Needed
With kids back in school, I would like to start working on finding a room parent for each of the classrooms. This will look very different for right now and there honestly isn’t anything for you to do quite yet. We will get these put in place so that when restrictions start to lift (hopefully this school year) we will be ready to go!
In a normal school year, the room parent is responsible for the following things:
- planning the class parties (creating a sign-up genius to allow all parents the chance to donate/bring items)
- organizing the classroom basket for the fall fest silent auction
- organizing teacher appreciation week
Please email me at sroop@cpsk12.org if you are interested in being the room parent for your child’s classroom or if you have any questions about this position.
Thanks so much for considering!
-Mrs. Roop
Follow the CPS Learning Mode Matrix 14-Day Tracker
Find the latest information on our CPS Fall Learning Plan
We are so excited to be a part of such a great community at Midway. It is great so see all of our students and parents here to support our school whether you are able to attend in the classroom or virtually. We are definitely better together! If you have not become a PTA member yet and would like to, you can join for $6 via Venmo using our Midway Heights PTA account (@MidwayHeights-PTA). You simply need to make sure you put a note giving your first and last name and say this is for PTA dues.
Our meeting minutes are posted to the Midway Heights PTA website at https://www.cpsk12.org/Page/17251. If you were unable to attend a previous meeting, feel free to take a look and email us with questions. We are looking forward to seeing everyone at our next virtual PTA Meeting on November 17 at 6:00. Just look for the agenda to come through Dojo with the Zoom link. Also, be on the lookout for information through Dojo if you ordered a t-shirt. We will also be sending information out asking for donations through our PTA Venmo account to help out with November Teacher Appreciation.
Thanks!
Stronger Together,
Midway Heights PTA
Midway Heights PTA Facebook Page
Amazon Smile
We have an Amazon Smile account! You just need to go to smile.amazon.com and support "PTA Missouri Congress Midway Heights PTA". It is a long name but you can search it and it pops right up!
Box Tops
Box Tops no longer puts the coupons on the boxes. They now require you to scan in your receipt to their app. Go to your preferred App Store and download the Box Tops app and follow the directions in the app.