Maeser Updates: 12 August 2022 – Karl G Maeser Preparatory Academy

In This Edition

Truth | Honor | Virtue, Welcome Back (Schedule for First Day of School, Important Note About Uniforms), Important Attendance & Schedule Updates for 2022-23 (Student Attendance & NGs, Advisory Fridays), Parent Handbook, Student Schedules + Class Changes, IMPORTANT Carpool Info (Carpool Procedures & Etiquette, Carpool Connections), Class Supply Lists, Lunch Options for 2022-23, HS Back to School Stomp, XANADU Auditions, Mock Trial Teams, Sports Announcements (Fall 2022 Sports Academic Eligibility, Sports Physicals), Have Your 2022-23 Plans Changed?, Important School Communications (Opt In For School Text Messages, Update Your Contact Information)

Front Office Hours (Starting Monday, August 15)

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

Upcoming Dates and Deadlines

Monday, August 15
First Day of School!

Friday, August 19
8-11pm HS Back to School Stomp at the school

Thursday-Friday, August 25-26
Auditions for ALL-SCHOOL Musical

Truth | Honor | Virtue

Help us celebrate some of the great things our school community is doing!

HS Girls Soccer Team Captain Makes History

Senior Catherine Miller made history this week when she scored her 100th career goal. Cat is only the 10th player in state history to reach this benchmark, and she did it in only the second game of her senior campaign! Cat is a two-year varsity captain, and four year varsity starter. Not only is she an amazing soccer player, but she excels in the classroom too. Cat is an amazing Maeser ambassador to the community, and we’re extremely proud of her!

Welcome Back, Maeser Lions!

We hope you’ve enjoyed your summer break and are ready to hit the ground running for another awesome year!

First Day of School: Schedule + Uniforms

We will be on a special schedule for the First Day of School on Monday.

See you at 8:00am on Monday in your full dress uniforms!

Important Note About Uniforms

Both Dennis Uniforms and Lands’ End have informed us that many of their uniform items are back ordered. If your student does not have their complete uniform by the start of school, please have them wear as much of the uniform as possible. For example: your student can wear a white button down shirt and khaki or navy pants. These items can be purchased from any vendor (Target, Walmart, Old Navy etc). For information on where and how to buy new and used uniforms please refer to last week’s Maeser Updates. TIP: You can buy cross ties and ties at the school in the front office!

Important Attendance & Schedule Updates for 2022-23

Student Attendance & NGs

Maeser’s intense focus on academics and mentoring relationships grows out of our mission to “empower and inspire students to think critically, learn continually, and communicate effectively…to better themselves and their community.” Consistent school attendance is crucial to achieving Maeser’s mission. The opportunities lost through student absences and tardiness leave gaps that are difficult to fill. Consequently, this school year Maeser is reverting back to our pre-pandemic attendance policy, including assigning NGs (No Grade) for attendance issues.

Student Attendance & NGs

Students are allowed any combination of six tardies and/or excused absences per class, per term without any additional consequence. Upon receiving the seventh tardy/excused absence, the student will receive an NG in that class. This means that unless the NG is made up (more below), then the student will not receive credit for the class and the class will have to be repeated.

Students who receive one unexcused absence (i.e., skipping class or “sluffing”) will automatically receive an NG.

You can find additional information about how to excuse absences in the Attendance Policy on our school website.

Making up NGs

If a student receives an NG, they must come to Advisory Friday and attend the class in which they have the NG. Students are responsible for picking up and filling out the NG Make-up Form (available in the Front Office), taking it to the appropriate class and having a teacher sign it, and then returning the completed form to the Front Office.

Because Advisory Fridays are every week, students will have ample time to make up any NGs. All NGs must be made up no later than two weeks after the end of a term.

A more detailed explanation about the process for making up NGs is included in the Attendance Policy on our school website.

Advisory Fridays

Guiding Principles of Advisory Friday

Creating and strengthening meaningful mentoring relationships between students and faculty is a hallmark of a Maeser education. The overarching purpose of Advisory Fridays is to allow students the opportunity for increased one-on-one interaction with teachers. Additionally, we’ve come to realize additional benefits of Advisory Fridays such as administering tests, providing students with opportunities to catch up on work, giving teachers additional preparation and collaboration time, and having dedicated time for special education services and mental health counseling without having to pull students out of class during the week.

While the actual logistics of Advisory Fridays are different from the rest of the week, Advisory Fridays are still school days, and student learning should take precedence over things like vacations, appointments, extracurricular activities, and jobs. Social interaction is important, but Advisory Fridays are not designed to serve as free time for students to socialize.

Timeline & Schedule for Advisory Fridays

STUDENTS

Students should complete each week’s Advisory attendance assignment in Google Classroom at the beginning of the school day each Friday. The attendance assignment is due BEFORE NOON on Fridays. Students must submit the attendance assignment in Google Classroom even if they are on campus that day.
Students are allowed on campus from 9-12. Students who are on campus need to be in a classroom working.
Students who arrive before 9:00 are invited to sit quietly in the hallway and get started on their work.
Students should be picked up promptly after they have completed their work.
Students who are waiting to be picked up are invited to be in their Advisory classroom. They should not simply roam the halls or play in the gym or play on the field outside unsupervised.

TEACHERS

Teachers are expected to be available to students on campus from 9-12.
Faculty and department meetings are usually from 8-9.
Teachers should take a lunch break sometime between 12-1.
Additional collaboration and preparation time is from 1-3.
Practices, rehearsals, and other extracurricular activities can begin at 12.

Expectations for Advisory Fridays

Because Advisory Fridays are school days, students should plan on attending in person if they have make-up work, need extra help, or have been asked to come in by their teacher. Additionally, teachers may assign tests, labs, or projects that require students to attend in person on Advisory Fridays. Teachers will be expected to communicate with students and parents about upcoming assignments, missing work, tests, or other reasons for requiring in person attendance on Advisory Fridays.

Parents and students should check PowerSchool often. If PowerSchool indicates that students have an F in any class, students are required to attend Advisory day on campus and should report to the class in which the F has been earned to receive additional help. It is often helpful for students and parents to review PowerSchool together each Thursday and plan Advisory Friday accordingly.

Please do not schedule extracurricular activities, appointments, or jobs during Advisory Friday time (9 am-12 pm).

First Friday of Each Term

On the first Advisory Friday of each term, ALL students will attend their Advisory class in person to set goals for the upcoming term, as well as review goals and progress from the previous term. These special Advisory Fridays will be posted on the school calendar, advertised, and reminders will be sent to students and parents.

Attendance-taking on Advisory Fridays

Each Friday morning, Advisory teachers will post an Advisory Question in their Google Classroom. All students, whether they come to campus or not, must complete the Advisory Question in their Advisory Google Classroom by 12:00pm on Friday. Students who are on campus are invited to go to their Advisory classroom and complete the Advisory Question there. Students who complete the Attendance Question after 12:00pm on Fridays will be marked tardy. Students who do not complete the Attendance Question at all will be marked absent.

Attendance Make-up

Maeser is returning to our pre-pandemic Attendance Policy. Students are allowed any combination of six tardies and/or excused absences per class, per term without any additional consequence. Upon receiving the seventh tardy/excused absence, the student will receive an NG in that class. This means that unless the NG is made up, then the student will not receive credit for the class and the class will have to be repeated.

In order to make-up an NG, students must attend the class they have the NG in on Advisory Fridays. Additional information about the NG make-up process can be found in the Attendance Policy on our school website.

Parent Handbook 22-23

If you haven’t already checked out our Parent Handbook, we highly recommend doing that before school starts on Monday. It has a wealth of information for parents as you get our Maeser students ready to return to school! Inside the Parent Handbook, you’ll find information about the school schedule, tracking your student’s assignments and grades, finding a carpool, lunch options, Winterim, and more!

Student Schedules + Class Changes

Student Schedules

Class schedules are now available in PowerSchool (our student information system, where you can track your student’s grades and attendance).

You can log in to PowerSchool here: https://maeserprep.powerschool.com.

If you are a returning parent and have forgotten your username or password, you can reset your password using the link on the login page.
If you are a new Maeser parent, you should have received an email this weekend with your login information (check your Spam, Promotions, and Updates folders in case the email was misdirected). If you did not receive an email, please contact us at info@maeserprep.org. so we can send you your login credentials.

You can access a quick overview of how to navigate our PowerSchool system here: Crossing the Digital Divide – Using PowerSchool Parents.

Class Changes

It is time to start thinking about your future! We are excited to see you and want to update you on some changes in the Counseling department, which include the addition of Ms. Chapman to our team. Your counselors are as follows:

Sandra Sorenson – 7th and 8th: sandra.sorenson@maeserprep.org
Mckay Peck – 9th and 10th: mckay.peck@maeserprep.org
Kathryn Chapman – 11th and 12th: kathryn.chapman@maeserprep.org

The beginning of a semester is always a bit chaotic. Class changes are already underway and will end on Friday, August 19th. We updated our process last year and will use the same process this year. ALL> schedule changes will be handled online using an online Google form. The first schedule change form submission is free but all other submissions cost $10, to be paid in the front office before the change will be made. Beginning August 8th, Counselors will be involved in training, so please use the following schedule change forms for any requests or changes:

Middle School Schedule Change Request Form

High School Schedule Change Request Form

Please note that being thorough and entering requests and alternate requests is helpful; however, if a class is full, you will be placed on the waitlist. Waitlists do change daily. Please don’t send multiple emails asking about schedule changes, as this will slow the process down. We work in the order of receipt. Please note: we will do our very best to honor requests, but we can’t guarantee all requests will be available.

For your reference, here are the links to the required course list and the master schedule.

IMPORTANT Carpool Information

ENTER: 1600 North OR 1200 West
EXIT: 1200 West ONLY

DO NOT USE THE CHURCH TO PARK OR DROP OFF STUDENTS. They do NOT want the liability. We had our visit this year from the facility manager at the church — they will be towing violators. We have plenty of parking at Maeser.

Our school building opens at 7:00am, so you can drop off your student as early as 7:00am (though there are only a few teachers here at that time to supervise students).

If you arrive for drop-off between 7:30-7:45am, the carpool lane is usually wide open!

In the afternoon, please give your student a chance to talk to their friends and go to their locker after school. Most students don’t even make it out to their carpool until at least 3:40pm. If you arrive for pick-up after 3:45pm, you won’t have to wait long at all for your student.

Encourage your student to come right out to the car after school to avoid holding up the carpool line.

Carpool Procedures & Etiquette

For those entering from 1600 North:

Please do NOT stop in the front of the Maeser building. Drive all the way around to the north side and pull all the way down to the math building (or until the line stops moving).

Don’t pull into the 15 minute spots at the front unless you are physically walking into the office.
Don’t stop at the steps.
Don’t think you are the exception.

Watch for student council directing traffic. They may hold students at the crosswalk in order to keep cars moving. Or, they may stop cars to empty the crosswalk. Please be aware!

There are TWO carpool lanes:

Lane 1 is closest to the building and is for drop off.
Lane 2 is against the cones and is for students who need to park.
Lane 1 and 2 merge AT THE MATH BUILDING not the end of the cones.
If drivers try to merge left immediately at the end of the cones (or as soon as their student exists the vehicle, it defeats the purpose of having a pull-through lane for people parking.
Don’t think you are the exception.

For those entering from 1200 West:

Go slowly up the hill. There are often a lot of pedestrians!

Stay to the left.

Be aware of students. They should cross at the crosswalk… but sometimes when the bell is about to ring things can get a little chaotic.

Merge with the other line of carpool AT THE MATH BUILDING.

Carpool Connections

We have an amazing Carpool Coordinator who has created carpool Facebook groups for our school:

Class Supply Lists

Ready to hit the Back to School sales? You can access 2022-23 class supply lists here: 2022-23 Class Supply Lists

Please keep checking this link as we get closer to the start of school, as teachers continue to add their class supplies to this master list.

Lunch Options for 2022-23

This year we will have the following lunch options available for students who wish to purchase lunch instead of bringing a lunch from home:

Tuesdays: Gandolfo’s – $5 for a Turkey Bacon or Club sandwich and bag of chips
Wednesdays: Little Caesar’s Pizza – $1.50 per slice (pepperoni or cheese)

Microwaves are available in the lunchroom for students who bring lunch from home. Please note: we do NOT have refrigerator facilities for student use.

HS Back to School Stomp

Our HS Student Council is sponsoring a BACK TO SCHOOL STOMP on Friday, August 19 from 8-11pm at the school. All high school students are invited!

XANADU Auditions

Students in all grades (7th-12th) are invited to be a part of our ALL SCHOOL musical this year, to be performed in February 2023 in the new Liahona Academy Theater. Rehearsals start in October.

To audition for a principal/supporting role, prepare 16-32 bars of a pop ballad (or rock ballad/sentimental ballad). To be in the ensemble, just fill out the audition form (no auditions! all are welcome).

Auditions will be held during the 2nd week of school: August 25 & 26. Details, audition forms, and audition sign-ups can be found at the Drama Room, #126.

Mock Trial Teams

Maeser will be sponsoring 2 High School Mock Trial Teams this year for students in grades 9-12! We need a minimum of 7 students on each team, but can have up to 12. We will also sponsor a Middle School Team again this year for students in grades 7 & 8. Check Maeser Updates for future announcements on our initial meeting day/time. If you are interested and haven’t been part of Mock Trial previously, please contact Coach Geary: douglas.geary@maeserprep.org. MOCK ON!

Mock Trial Attorney Coach

Our Mock Trial teams are in need of an additional Attorney Coach to assist in training our team members for competition which begins in February. Anyone with experience as a practicing lawyer would be a great addition to our program. We’re especially looking for someone who can help with rules of evidence and making/responding to objections. This is a great opportunity to fulfill your volunteer hours! For more information, please contact Coach Geary at douglas.geary@maeserprep.org.

Sports Announcements

Fall 2022 Sports Academic Eligibility

Eligibility for participation in fall activities/sports will be determined by 4th term grades. All students must have earned a Q4 2.7 GPA with no Fs. 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 as long as they have a 2.7 GPA.

Sports Physicals

All students, middle school and high school, who will be playing sports next year (2022-23) need a physical in order to play. Physicals completed on or after April 15, 2022 will be good until July 15, 2023. Any physicals completed before April 15 of this year will not be accepted (per UHSAA policy) for the upcoming school year.

Here is a link to the UHSAA form which Maeser uses for ALL athletes: UHSAA Physical Form

Have Your 2022-23 Plans Changed? Please Let Us Know ASAP!

If your plans for 2022-23 enrollment have changed and your student will not be attending Maeser Prep, please contact us ASAP to let us know by emailing us at registrar@maeserprep.org — please include your student’s name, their 2022-23 grade, and the school they will be attending next year. We are sending out record requests for our new students and want to help you avoid having your student’s school file sent to the wrong school. We are also creating schedules for next year and want to make sure students can get into the classes they’ve requested.

Thanks so much for your help in keeping our records up to date!

Important School Communications

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”.

Update Your Contact Information

If any of your contact information has changed – email address, mailing address, phone number – please let us know asap so we can be sure you’re getting school and teacher communications.

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