Dear Eagles,
What a great beginning to our school year! The students looked awesome in their new school outfits and sporting their fun face coverings. There was a positive energy throughout our day here at school. Lunches went well as we spread out in the cafeteria and gym. We debriefed with teachers after school, and all agreed it had been a great start to our year. Go Eagles!
School Community Council
Serving on our School Community Council is a wonderful way for parents and teachers to contribute and help improve academic performance at our school. The school receives an annual dividend from the school trust lands. Our council decides how these funds will be used. This year our school received about $65,000 from the School LAND Trust Program. The council reviews and prepares other academic plans for our students each year. All plans are reviewed for final approval by our school board. Councils also act in an advisory capacity to school and school district administrations. The committee meets on the first Wednesday of each month at 7:15 am.
Every public school in Utah has a School Community Council. Membership terms are for two years. Elections are held at the beginning of each school year.
Parent members must have a student attending the school at least one of the two years of their term of service. For more information please visit www.schoollandtrust.org .
If you would like to serve on this council, please pick up a candidate form in the main office any time before September 8th. We’d love to have you participate!
In-Person Learning
I focused so much on getting you information about how school will start with Covid-19 safety precautions, that I neglected to send out information about how our drop off/pick-up system works here at Silver Mesa! I’ll rectify that now.
Drop-off/Pick-up Procedure
To our families new to Silver Mesa, here’s a quick explanation of the drop-off/pick-up procedure in our parking lot. In the mornings, all students will line up on the south and west side of the building in designated spots with their class. As you enter the drop off lane, please pull forward as far as you are able. Let your students out on the sidewalk to walk the rest of the way to the south playground, even if they exit your car near the north end. Staff and safety patrol students will be helping to direct you to pull forward and to let your students out—there is no parking in the drop-off lane. As you exit the parking lot, only right-hand turns are allowed during the beginning and end of the school day. This helps traffic to flow continuously. In the afternoons, pull forward as far as possible while you wait for your student to come to you. Once your child has entered the car, pull over to the drive-through lane and continue out of the parking lot. Your patience and good manners are appreciated as we work to make this process go smoothly for 600 students and their parents.
After School Pick-up
School is dismissed at 2:55 pm Mondays through Thursdays and 1:15 pm on Fridays. Our usual procedure is to supervise students outside for 15 minutes after school has been dismissed. At that point, any students who have not been picked up yet are invited inside to call their parents. All students exit the building out their grade-level doors on the east, south, or west sides and then make their way to the front. On the southeast fence there are four different colored signs that make great meeting places for siblings and friends to meet up: blue, yellow, green, & red.
This year we are hoping to keep the students from congregating for too long out front together. Please help students find meeting spots away from large groups to encourage physical distancing. The flag pole may not be the best meeting place this year. Thank you!!
Spirit Day
Every Friday is Spirit Day at Silver Mesa! Please wear a school spirit shirt or our school colors: blue and white. However, this Friday we are celebrating our new kindergarten class of 2032 and their College Readiness Day. We invite our students to wear their favorite college spirit wear to school that day.
Online and At-Home Learning
Here is a resource to access supports for online and at-home learning:
https://www.canyonsdistrict.org/parentconnections/
Here are some helpful screencasts and resources:
PTA News
Welcome back Silver Mesa Families! We are excited to be back in school! As you know, it takes a lot to keep Silver Mesa running. A few items of business to kick off the school year:
1) PTA membership: Research shows that children perform better when their parents are engaged in education at HOME and SCHOOL. Parental involvement boosts student achievement! Please consider supporting Silver Mesa’s PTA and enriching the school environment for your children. Envelopes will be coming home this weekend, or you can join online at silvermesapta.org. BONUS: You get access to the on-line student directory!
2) Safety Patrol: We have an URGENT need to have parents run the Safety Patrol at Silver Mesa in the mornings and afternoons. Are you recently working from home and finding that you can swap your commute time for helping to keep your kids safe at school? Any dads out there wanting to be more involved at school? If being in charge the whole year is too daunting, please consider being part of the committee and taking a turn. We’re looking for a daily, week-long or month-long commitment–whatever you can give! Until then our PTA board is pulling double and even triple duty running this, so we really appreciate your help! Click on https://form.jotform.com/202336219631853 to see how you can help. AND if you have a 4th or 5th grader wanting to help out in the mornings & afternoons for a week 2x’s this year, email silver_mesa_safetypatrol@yahoo.com.
3) PTA Board positions available: Safety Patrol, Kindness Project Coordinator, Diversity & Inclusion Chair. See silvermesapta.org for details.
4) For Spirit Wear (mask purchase options will be posted later this week), PTA Registration, Volunteer Registration, Calendar items & more, see silvermesapta.org.
To stay up-to-date, follow us on Instagram:
@silver_mesa_pta
https://www.instagram.com/silver_mesa_pta/
Facebook: Silver Mesa PTA
https://m.facebook.com/SilverMesaPTAUtah/?ref=bookmarks
THANK YOU!!!
Silver Mesa PTA
Upcoming Dates
August 24-26th—KEEP testing for kindergarten students
August 27th—First day of school for kindergarten students
Sept. 7th—Labor Day holiday; no school
Sept. 17th—Hearing Screening for certain grades Postponed for now.
Sept. 23rd and 24th—Parent/Teacher Conferences
Sept. 24th—Early Release day; 1:15 dismissal on this Thursday
Sept. 25th—Compensatory day; no school
Sept. 28th—Picture Day
Let’s make it a great week!
Julie Fielding, Principal
Silver Mesa Elementary
Public Notices
(A virtual bulletin board!)
For the first time ever, track has come to Silver Mesa!
For students in grade 1-5 registration is now open to join the team. Practices will be held right after school at the school on Tuesdays and Thursdays for one hour for 6 weeks with two matches against other elementary schools.
Does your child love running? Do they love being outdoors? Would they love being part of a team? You can register through the link below. If you have any questions you can text Coach Kirstin Lassig at 801-712-1826.
