I hope everyone has wonderful weekend. Don't forget to set your clocks back one hour on Saturday night/Sunday morning. It's time to "fall back" one hour.

Please note the following items:

Important dismissal and arrival information for walkers and car riders located below. Please be sure to read carefully for important updates.

Partnership: Boone Meadow is grateful for the partnership with our local McDonalds in a recent Dine for Dollars opportunity. This afternoon, James Poore and Pam Fisher presented BME PTO with a check for $500. We are thankful for the generous support of our community.

Conferences/EDay on Monday, November 2nd - Student conferences will be held on Monday, November 2nd. Please note the following important components to the day.

• November 2nd will be an Eday for students. So that teachers will be able to meet with families, content/modules will be published for students to access through Canvas, our learning management system.
• Conferences will be held via Zoom/virtually. Due to mitigation requirements, we can not hold in-person family conferences.
• Conferences will primarily be student-led so that they are given the opportunity to communicate their strengths and areas to strengthen. Student-led conferences align with our ZCS district priorities of student agency and empowerment. Concerns that need to be discussed privately should be ongoing throughout the school year as needs or concerns arise, and communication should remain fluid throughout the year. Please do not hesitate to stay in ongoing communication with your child's teacher.
• Teachers have a full schedule of conferences throughout the day and many extend into the evening. Please be timely and aware that they must hold tightly to scheduled times for conferencing with your family.

Boone Meadow/Blue Ribbon Spirit Week: During the week of November 9th-13th, we will celebrate the students, and the school community as a whole for receiving recognition as a 2020 National Blue Ribbon School. More details to come early next week about specific spirit day activities.

End of Quarter 1 Student Progress Reports (report cards) are now available to families in PowerSchool on Tuesday, October 27th.

Online Book Fair - This fall's book fair is going live on Monday, November 2nd and will be available through November 16th. See information located below.

Sincerely,

Tom Hundley, Principal

Below, you will find some updates regarding arrival and dismissal:

Car Riders:

• Thank you for keeping our fire lane clear until signaled by staff to pull up. The fire lane must remain clear as much as possible for potential emergency needs and school deliveries.
• Displaying car/family numbers in an easy to see manner is greatly beneficial. Ball point pen writing on a post it placed on your dash is hard for my old eyes to see, so bold numbers hanging from the rear view mirror or attached to the passenger sun visor assists in moving vehicles efficiently through the line.
• Please reduce idling when possible. The build up of vehicle emissions is not only harmful for the environment, but also creates unhealthy air quality for staff and students.

Walker/Bikers: This year, we have 30-40 more daily walkers/bikers than years past. Therefore, we will continue to assist with crossing Main Street by having staff present whenever possible. Please note the following items:

Significant weather (walkers/bikers) - When weather is inclement with heavy rain, heavy snow, sleet, etc...walking to school is highly discouraged. The office team will make the decision if staff will be present at the crosswalk.

• If families decide to walk to school and no crosswalk staff is present, an adult or family member must safely escort students to the front doors. The doors will open at 7:50 for arrival, and families should wait at the front doors with their students until the doors open.

• Dismissal on inclement weather days: Walkers and bikers will be dismissed after car riders (approximately 2:35). This allows families to use the car line for pick up. Simply display your family number while you are in line and pick up your child(ren) at the front door with staff assistance.

• In the event of questionable or severe weather, families must utilize the car rider procedures instead of walking/biking. (stormy weather, lightning, sleet, you need to get Toto before going to the Land of Oz...)

• Please do not bypass the car rider line and request to pick up students from the parking lot, other school sidewalks, etc... Again, we must adhere to all procedures for the safety of students and staff.

Boone Meadow and Zionsville Spirit Wear is on sale now! Cooler weather is here and it is the perfect time to start thinking about cozy Zionsville gear and holiday gifting! The online store is open NOW and you can shop through November 4th. Your ordered items will be delivered to your specific address or you may choose to have your order sent home with your child.

https://boonemeadowgear.itemorder.com/sale

The Boone Meadow Staff is incredibly thankful for the donors and generosity that is displayed through this wonderful organization. Read below to learn more about their recent grants awarded to the ZCS community and upcoming events.

ZEF Grants Awarded This Past Week:

The Zionsville Education Foundation is excited to announce 2020 Fall Grant awards to Zionsville Community Schools teachers, administrators, and staff totaling $26,526.83. These twenty grants result from direct teacher feedback on their immediate needs and creative ideas during this unprecedented time in our world and in education. Please join us in congratulating Boone Meadow Elementary teachers Erika Sorrells and Garrett Stephens on their grant awards. For a complete list of ZEF’s 2020 Fall Grants, please click here: https://zionsvilleeducationfoundation.org/how-we-do-it/latest-grants-awarded/

We have a real "treat" for you! Dine for Dollars presents Jill's Cookies! Place an order between now and Nov 5th and Jill's Cookies will donate a portion of the proceeds to BME PTO! You can place an order via FB Messenger to Jill's Cookies, text (317)446-7022, or fill out an order form: https://forms.gle/8hfLSvL9u2L2fJ6Q8. Use code BMEPTO when placing your order! Orders will be available for pick up between Nov 4th-6th. And yes, its not too early to order extras to freeze for the upcoming holidays! And, yes, you can order extra for the upcoming holidays and freeze them!

The next opportunity to dine to donate will be with City BBQ on "Why Cook Wednesday?", all day, November 18th.

More upcoming events include:

• Soupremacy, (just in time for those cold winter nights)
• Noble Romans and
• Panda Express.

Laura Santos, PTO Member

November 2 - Student Conferences (Eday for students)

November 3 - Election Day

November 4-6 - Jill's Cookies (Dine for Dollars - all day)

November 9-13 - Boone Meadow/Blue Ribbon Spirit Week

November 11 - Veterans' Day

November 25-27- Thanksgiving Break

December 10 - Hannakah begins

December 18 - End of Qtr 2; Celebrate with dinner from City BBQ (all day, Dine for Dollars)

December 21 - January 1 - Winter Break

January 18 - MLK Jr. Day (no school)

January 19 - No School

February 12 - Chinese New Year

February 14 - Valentine's Day

February 15 - Presidents Day - No School

February 17 - Ash Wednesday

March 12 - End of Quarter 3

March 14 - Daylight Savings Time

March 17 - St. Patrick's Day

March 28 - Palm Sunday/Passover

April 2 - April 9 - Spring Break

April 2 - Good Friday

April 4 - Easter

April 13 - Ramadan Starts

April 15 - ZWest Music visit to BME

May 5 - Cinco de Mayo

May 13 - Eid

May 26 - Last day of school

May 27 - Teacher work day

May 31 - Memorial Day

There is some new information on our radar which was confirmed through a conversation with the Boone County Health Department this past week. We want families informed so they can make the best decision for your respective family members.

Some COVID tests are not currently accepted by the Department of Health for return to school/work –

• The only negative result that will allow a child/staff member back into school is a PCR. (Per IN Dept of Health and Boone County Health Department, a negative rapid antigen test for SARS-CoV-2 is not acceptable for a return to school.)
  
• Schools can accept any antigen test if it comes back positive---We will treat as a positive case (Through this process, we will inform you of isolation/quarantine protocols as required by the state and county health departments.)
• If a family/household member has a PCR antigen test that comes back negative and the individual has no symptoms, then no other testing is necessary. Students can return to school.
• If symptomatic and rapid antigen comes back negative then a follow up PCR test is required due to the high rate of false negatives in the rapid antigen test.

Important NOTE: * If an individual has had a close contact with a positive COVID case, a negative test cannot shorten the quarantine period.

Trick-or-Treating in Zionsville

The Town of Zionsville will not be posting official Trick-or-Treat hours this year.

Due to the pandemic and the public health implications of trick-or-treating, the Town of Zionsville is referring people to the Boone County Health Department’s recommendations to observe CDC’s guidelines. The CDC has labeled traditional trick-or-treating (where treats are handed to children who go door to door) as a higher risk activity. The CDC recommends one-way trick-or-treating as a moderate risk activity which includes individually wrapped goodie bags lined up outside (end of the driveway or edge of the yard) for families to grab and go while continuing to social distance (washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after preparing bags).

The CDC lists a number of moderate and lower risk Halloween activities on their website here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays.html#halloween.

If you would like to contact the Boone County Health Department, contact information is posted here: https://boonecounty.in.gov/Offices/health-department.

Whitestown Trick or Treat:
Whitestown offered a link with detailed info and also there will be an outdoor trick-or-treat event this Saturday in addition to official trick-or-treat hours from 6-9 p.m. on October 31.

Link: https://whitestown.in.gov/halloween