Maeser Updates: 19 March 2021

In This Edition

Community Communication: Quarter 4 Plans, Utah School Climate Survey, Volunteer Opportunities (Senior Capstone Project: Backpack Drive Fundraiser, Don’t Forget to Report Your Hours), Sports Announcements (Sports/Academic Eligibility), Counseling Announcements (Miss Krystal’s Counseling Corner Podcast, Ms. Sorenson’s Middle School Podcast), Lands’ End 30% Off School Uniforms Sale, Help Us Stay In Touch + Opt In For School Text Messages

Front Office Hours This Week

>>Procedures for Front Office Visits<<

7:30am-4:00pm Mon-Thurs
8:30am-1:00pm Fri

Upcoming Dates and Deadlines

Thursday, March 25
Last Day of Quarter 3

Monday, March 29
**SCHEDULE CHANGE**
First Day of Q4
All students attend in-person Monday-Thursday
Fridays remain Advisory days

April 5-9
Spring Break

April 12-30
RISE Testing: 7th & 8th Grades (in class)

Thursday, April 22
Utah Aspire Plus Testing
9th & 10th grades ONLY on campus

Community Communication: Quarter 4 Plans

Dear Maeser Community,

We are so grateful to our team, students, and parents for the gracious way you’ve handled this school year. Of course things did not always go as planned, but as a community we feel we came together to weather the challenges while practicing our motto of Truth, Honor, and Virtue. We have found how essential education is to better ourselves and our community.

The State Legislature recently passed SB 107: In-Person Instruction Prioritization, and the governor is expected to sign the bill into law soon. This bill requires all Utah public schools to return to in-person instruction full-time, which has been defined in the bill as four days a week. This bill is set to take effect on March 22, 2021.

In February our Board of Directors decided, after careful deliberation and consideration of community feedback, to maintain our current hybrid schedule. However, this recent legislative development requires us to change from our current hybrid schedule and resume in-person, on-campus instruction for all students. Our new schedule begins on March 29th (the beginning of 4th term) and will be as follows:

  • Monday-Thursday, on campus from 8:00 am -3:30 pm for all students. There will be no more “online days”.
  • Friday, from 9:00 am -1:00 pm is Advisory for any student who needs or wants additional help. Students who have a failing grade or an NG (No Grade based on attendance) are encouraged to attend on Advisory Fridays to remediate those grades.

In some important ways, this will be a return to normal, as students will be in-class everyday, and the student body will no longer be split in half between on-campus and online learning. With the increased number of students in the school building and classrooms, we will have to be even more vigilant about our safety measures, including wearing masks.

We understand that this may come to a shock to many and that your current schedules and routines have been well established. This is why we want to give families as much time as possible to make any necessary adjustments to family schedules and circumstances.

As our team gears up for this change, we will try to be as transparent as possible. Please check the weekly Maeser Updates for news. Information will also be coming from your student’s individual teachers. You may find we over-communicate during this transition period, but please be patient and compassionate with us as we seek to better ourselves and community through this process.

Sincerely,

Maeser Board of Directors
Maeser Administration

Utah School Climate Survey: March 29-April 1

During the week of March 29, Maeser will be participating in the Utah School Climate Survey. We will be collecting survey responses from parents and students, as well as our teachers, administrators, staff, and school resource officers. The data collected from the survey will be used to identify student perceptions of school climate issues within our school.

Information about how to access the parent survey will be sent by email on Monday, March 29. It contains 33 questions and takes about six minutes to complete. The student survey will be given during class time; it includes 44 questions and should take less than 10 minutes to complete. All survey responses will be anonymous and confidential.

School staff will use the results of this survey to help inform our efforts at improving our school climate. Responses are housed securely in an anonymous format with the USBE (Utah State Board of Education). All evaluation research projects are in compliance with the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act, (343 CFR 99.31 (6)) and human subjects regulations (Protection of Human Subjects 45 CFR 46).

Your student’s survey responses will be kept anonymous and confidential, but as a parent or guardian, you have the option to opt your student out if desired using the form at the bottom of this page: Parental Notification/Opt-Out Form – School Climate Survey

Our desire is to involve parents in their children’s education. If you do not wish for your child to participate in this important activity, please sign and return this form to the school by Friday, March 26.

If you would like to examine the survey, please come by the school between Tuesday, March 23 and Friday, March 26, and we will be happy to provide you with a copy for your review.

Volunteer Opportunities

Senior Capstone Project: Backpack Drive Fundraiser

The recent war in Armenia has led to a humanitarian crisis as thousands have died and more than 80000 people have been displaced from their homes. Senior Robert Yeritsyan and his family are going to Armenia in May to help with more humanitarian aid projects there. After discussing the current needs of children in rural areas of Armenia, Robert discovered that many children are unable to go to school as they don’t have the basic supplies required by the schools. The number of these children has increased drastically as thousands of fathers/providers have lost their lives in the recent war.

For his senior capstone project, Robert is doing a backpack drive to give these children a chance at education. Monetary donations are also greatly appreciated as they’ll save a LOT on the shipping costs to Armenia. Robert and his family will be personally buying and delivering the backpacks and school supplies to the children and will document and share all of them. Seeing the children’s smiles is priceless!

For more information about how you can help, click here: Backpack Drive.

Don’t Forget to Report Your Hours!

Report your volunteer hours once you’ve dropped off your donation: Report Parent Service Hours. Each $5 spent for donations counts as one hour of volunteer service!

Sports Announcements

Sports/Academic Eligibility

Eligibility for winter sports (basketball, wrestling, swimming) and activities will now be based on 2nd term grades for all grade levels. If you are planning on playing a spring sport (boys soccer, boys tennis, track & field, middle school girls soccer, middle school boys volleyball) your eligibility will also be based on your 2nd term grades.

Students (7th-12th) must earn a 2.7 GPA with no Fs/NGs. In addition, high school students cannot have any Fs/NGs/Incompletes from previous high school terms. If the F/NG/Incomplete is made up by the beginning of the sports season they will be able to participate.

Counseling Announcements

Miss Krystal’s Counseling Corner Podcast

THIS WEEK! Reflection over the past year and changes that occurred with COVID, plus alumna Jill McConnell shares her recent internship experience and some advice. Catch it all in episode #39: A Year After Covid and Alumni Advice

Students can listen and email Mrs. Anderson a main point from the podcast to be entered into a weekly drawing. Drawings will take place on Mondays or Tuesdays.

Ms. Sorenson’s Middle School Podcast

THIS WEEK! Don’t miss this week’s episode of In the Lion’s Den with Ms. Sorenson, where we’re talking about The Magic of St. Patrick’s Day!

Also, take on the challenge by Ms. Sorenson as we all get to know each other and get candy in the process!

Lands’ End 30% Off School Uniforms Sale

Land’s End is holding their popular 30% off sale March 18-23! This is a great time to purchase or replace more expensive items like blazers, sweaters, and skirts.

Use promo code SPRING and PIN 2021 when you shop the sale online at https://www.landsend.com/school between March 18-23 and receive 30% off school uniform items!

Help Us Stay In Touch!

Not getting our emails, phone or text messages? Here’s how to make sure you’re getting all of our important announcements and information:

Opt In For School Text Messages

Our school utilizes the SchoolMessenger system to deliver text messages to your mobile phone with important information about events, school closings, safety alerts, student fees, and more. We will only use text messaging for urgent and important information.

You can participate in this service by sending a text message of “Y” or “Yes” to our school’s short code number, 67587. You can also opt out of text messages at any time by simply replying to one of our messages with “Stop”.

Thank you for helping us keep in contact with your family!

Update Your Contact Information

If any of your contact information has changed – email address, mailing address, phone number – please let us know so we can stay in touch with your family.