Paramount Elementary
December 1st, 2023
Important Information
- First Snow of the Season
- No School Dates
- Bring Coats, Hats, and Gloves
- Toy Drive
- Attendance
- PTA School Store
- PTA Dine-Out Night
- Thank You for Awesome Assembly!!
Mark Your Calendar: Important Dates
- Monday, December 4th-Friday, December 8th: Toy Drive
- Friday, December 8th: PTA School Store
- Tuesday, December 12th: PTA Dine-Out Day
- Thursday, December 14th: Subway FORMS Due
- Friday, December 22nd: Subway Day; End of 1st Semester Grades K-12
- December 25th-January 5th: No School: Winter Break
- Monday, January 8th: No School: Teacher Prep Day
- Tuesday, January 9th: School Resumes
- Monday, January 15th: Human Rights Day; No School
- Wednesday, January 24th: No School K-12; Collaboration/PD Day
1st Snow of the Season
Who needs a "Snow Day" when we can have a School Day with Snow! It was a joyous day during recess today. Our students took full advantage of all of the fluffy snow.
No School
- December 25th-January 5th: Winter Break
- Monday, January 8th: Teacher Prep Day
- Monday, January 15th: Human Right Day
- Wednesday, January 24th: District-Wide PLC/PD Day
Brr!! It's Cold Out There!
Importance of Attendance
Why Attendance Matters
"Teacher effectiveness is the strongest determining factor for student success. But a student who misses school cannot benefit from the hard work of even the best educators who seek to inspire curiosity, interest, confidence, and passion in learning" (E3Alliance, 2023).
We are very aware of how the pandemic has changed education; one such area is with decreased student attendance (for a variety of reasons). In addressing this issue, please know we are not expressing judgment. Our goal is to see our students in class more consistently, as we know the importance of in-person learning on student success in school. Our teachers must work even harder in order to catch students up when they are absent, giving up break and prep time to ensure students have completed assessments and understand concepts taught in class. Absent students will often become two days behind other students for each absence, increasing their frustration in getting caught up.
To put this in perspective, please view the graphic below.
If you like to discuss ways in which we can partner with you to increase your student's attendance, please contact Brooke Roy (principal) or Lisa Hale (counselor) at (208)350-4120.
*E3Alliance. (2023). Why attendance matters. ACE: Attend, commit, engage. https://ace.e3alliance.org/why-attendance-matters
Student Council Toy Drive
Student Council is organizing a Toy Drive from Monday, December 4th through Friday, December 8th. If your student would like to participate, please bring in a new toy, unwrapped. All toys will be donated to local children for the holiday season. Students will place these under the tree in the main foyer. At the end of the day on Friday, these toys will be donated to a local organization to disperse to those in need.
Season of Giving
I would also like to take a moment to let you know that while we provide a variety of ways in which families can give of their time and money, we do not ever want you to feel obligated to participate in activities that will be putting a strain on you or your family.
We will be emphasizing to our students that there are a multitude of ways in which students and families can show support of others in need during the holiday season, not just by giving money. We want all of our students and families to feel valued within our Paramount community, so please know we do not have expectations for students to continually give money. Please participate when and how you can, knowing there are no expectations.
PTA School Store
The PTA will be running the School Store on Friday, December 8th during lunch. The theme will be Winter and Holiday items, ranging in price from $0.25-$5.00.
PTA is looking for volunteers to help with the December School Store. Click below to find a spot.
Paramount Dine-Out Day
The next Paramount Dine-Out Day will be Tuesday, December 12th at Marco's Pizza. The times will run from 11:00 am until 11:00 pm. Marco's will give 20% back to our PTA from the sales generated. Marco's is running this as a class competition as well. The class that has the most orders will win a Marco's pizza party.
See the flyer for ordering details.
PARAMOUNT PTA
Thank You!
THANK YOU to all of our families who have contributed to our fundraising through PTA to make these events possible for our students!
We are very fortunate to have such a supportive community around us, caring about our students. Thank you to everyone for making this happen. It truly takes a village.
Follow Paramount on Social Media
- Follow our Paramount PTA on Instagram: paramountpta
- Follow our Paramount PTA on Facebook (private group, click "join group"): paramount pta
Paramount Elementary (teacher-created posts):
- Follow on Instagram: paramountes_wasd
- Follow on Facebook: Paramount Elementary School
Additional Community Events
There are free reading events like Reading is Lit, Halloween activities and events, and sports opportunities.
Previous Information
A Paramount Mindset
This year's school theme is having a Paramount MINDSET--maintaining high expectations of ourselves/students behaviorally and academically in order to be at our "PEAK" capabilities. While we will focus on a growth mindset with students and staff, we will also be emphasizing how to adjust our mindsets in other areas within our lives beyond our learning--how we are thinking about challenging situations and not just focusing on the negative.
We spent some time with our students defining "paramount"--helping them understand this word means more than just the name of our school or subdivision. We explained that paramount means the following:
- More important than anything else
- Superior to all others
- Ranking higher than any other
- Of the greatest importance or significance
We are emphasizing that our mindsets--our Paramount Mindsets--are more important than anything else in our learning journey. We are excited to see how this will become a positive impact with our students.
~"Our mindsets are everything; what we think, we become."
Student Drop-Off Times
Please help us keep your students safe! DO NOT drop students off for school before 8:50 am. (M, T, Th, F) or 9:00 am (W). If a student is eating breakfast, they can be dropped off to enter the building at 8:45 am. Breakfast is not served until this time.
Because we cannot guarantee the supervision of students prior to this time, we cannot allow students to enter the building or be on campus. Please help us with this.
Recess Times
Morning Recess: 10:15 -10:30
Lunch/Recess Schedule:
- Kinder Lunch/Recess: 11:30-12:15
- 1st-Grade Lunch/Recess: 11:40-12:25
- 2nd-Grade Lunch/Recess: 11:45-12:30
- 3rd-Grade Lunch/Recess: 12:05-12:50
- 4th-Grade Lunch/Recess: 12:10-12:55
- 5th-Grade Lunch/Recess: 12:30-1:15
Afternoon Recess: 2:30-2:45
Important Safety Reminders
Our #1 priority is to ensure a SAFE campus for our students and staff. In order to do this effectively, we do need your help. Please read our safety reminders below:
- Paramount is a CLOSED CAMPUS during the school hours of 8:30 am – 4:30 pm. Any visitors will need to check in at the front office during these times if they plan to enter the building or be on campus beyond our drop-off locations. For the first week of school, we will allow parents to escort students to line-up locations. After the first week, we will expect parents to adhere to remaining behind our gates when dropping off students.
- Please bring your ID with you when checking in at the front office. Please avoided checking your student out during recess times; please plan ahead to let us know if a student will need to wait for a parent during recess.
- We cannot allow anyone on our fields or playgrounds during the school day that are not approved to be here. Please do not bring young children to play on our equipment during the school day. Our staff is trained to report anyone they believe is not approved to be on campus.
- For students or parents riding bikes to school, please plan on “walking” bikes once on campus. This will help ensure the biker’s safety through the parking lot.
- For parents who will be dropping students off at school, or picking them up, PLEASE adhere to our “Drop-Off/Pick-Up” Zones. This helps ensure students are only entering/exiting cars in a safe area, where other drivers can see them.
- Students and parents are expected to use the crosswalk and wait for the Crossing Guard to indicate it is safe to cross. Please help us with this.
- No dogs are allowed on campus during the school day. Please do not bring animals on our campus without permission. If you bring them with you during drop-off or pick-up, they must be on a leash or remain in your vehicle (and remain in the parking lot area). Again, this is for the safety of all—our students and staff AND your pet!
- If you are accessing the school grounds outside of school hours with a dog, please be sure to clean up after them. We often find dog waste left in the fields. As you can imagine, if a student steps into this, it creates a major disruption and hygiene issue for our students, parents, and school. Please spread the word for us to help keep our fields free of pet waste.
- Throughout the year, we will practice a variety of safety drills: Lockdowns, Fire drills, Reverse Evacuations, Evacuations, etc. We work in conjunction with the Meridian Police Department and the Meridian Fire Department to establish the best practices for these drills. We will communicate when these occur, so you are aware of the drills. We will also send more communication regarding the types of emergencies and the procedures we will practice with our students.
School Meal Accounts: LINQ
Titan has converted to LINQ Connect as of May 2023. All information, including login information, will be transferred from Titan to LINQ Connect.
Setting up a LINQ Connect account is free. From your account, you can monitor your student's activity, view menus, add funds (credit card only, transaction fee applies), and apply for free/reduced lunch.
Payments can also be made directly to our school's kitchen staff with cash or check (payable to School Nutrition). There are no transaction fees associated with these types of payments.
Click the button below to access our district website with more information regarding school nutrition, menus, and payment options.