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9/08:
Letter from the Principal:
Welcome to the school year 2008-2009! I feel so fortunate to
be in my second year as the Principal of Meridian Park.
Meridian Park is a busy and wonderful place and I enjoy every
minute of my time here!
As you know, this school year began with lots of energy and hard
work! We hired some new faces over the summer, said goodbye to some
beloved staff members and welcomed some classified staff who
transferred to MP from other schools around the district. To
add to these changes, three days before school began, we added
another 6th grade classroom to lower class sizes! That was
great news and we pulled it off fabulously! I am thrilled to
say that we have fantastic staff on board already at MP!
Additionally, due to some classrooms who have reached full capacity
in terms of student numbers, we will hire some more staff to fill
our “classroom support teacher” roles in grades
1-6. Like last year, these teachers help out in small and
large groups with students. They are a fabulous resource to
our teaching team. Stay tuned for news from your teacher if
you have another support teacher helping with your child’s
classroom.
As we lead into our third week together, it feels like we are in
full swing! We held our first “welcome back”
assembly and it was great to hear over 500 voices singing our new
school song in unison together. We watched a slide show with
student photos from the family BBQ and the first few days of
school. We also reviewed our three school-wide expectations
for student behavior at Meridian Park – to be kind/
respectful, to be safe and to be responsible learners. The
students already know them and are showing such positive behaviors
all around campus.
As we lead into the next few months, we will continue to improve
our school systems so that student learning comes first. This
year, we changed our recess and lunch schedule to put an emphasis
on student learning. Please read more about it in our
upcoming MP newsletter. It is exciting and going well!
A big thanks to many parent volunteers who came into help with the
new system!
In terms of student academics, we are already testing students in
content areas with the DOMA (diagnostic online math assessment) and
the DIBELS, STAR and SRI assessments (reading/ phonics
assessments). Teachers are busy, busy, busy and as always,
making student learning and achievement a priority!
I feel it in the air… this year is going to be
fabulous! Feel free to stop by to day hello or to volunteer
in your child’s classroom. We invite you to see how
wonderful Meridian Park is this year... Here’s to a
great year together!
I hope to see you at Curriculum Night on the 18th or at Embrace
Shoreline Schools on Saturday, September 27th!
Amy Jessee
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