Maeser Updates: 17 March 2023

In This Edition

HS Game Night, MS March Madness Activity, Student Senior Capstone Project Book Drive, 2023-24 Fee Schedule & Spend Plan, State Testing for Grades 7-10, Volunteer Help Needed (MS March Madness Snacks, Counseling Donations, Teacher Appreciation, Report Your Volunteer Hours, Questions About Volunteer Hours), Lands’ End 40% Off Sale, Sports Announcements (Mountain Biking, Spring Sports Academic Eligibility, Sports Physicals, Maeser Sports Guide), Counseling Announcements (Breakfast: The Most Important Meal Of The Day, 8th Grade CCRs, Counseling Donations), Can We Reach You In Case Of Emergency? (Opt In For School Text Messages, Update Your Contact Information)

Front Office Hours This Week

7:30am-4:00pm Mon-Thurs
8:30am-12:30pm Fri

**PARENTS: Please remember to check in at the front office when visiting the school during school hours, including Fridays. We appreciate your help in keeping our students safe!**

Upcoming Dates and Deadlines

Friday, March 17
7-10pm HS Game Night

Friday, March 24
Last Day of Q3

Tuesday, March 28
Utah Aspire Plus – Freshmen & Sophomores ONLY on campus
NO SCHOOL for students in grades 7, 8, 11, or 12

April 3-7
Spring Break

April 10-27
RISE Testing – 7th & 8th grades (in-class)

HS Game Night

Friday, March 17th, will be a tricky, tricky game night for high schoolers. Come to the school from 7-10 to play all manner of games with your friends! Who knows– maybe you’ll win a pot ‘o gold!

MS March Madness Activity

Friday, March 24th is our Middle School March Madness Activity from 12-1pm. Come participate in a bunch of competitions–pickleball, Rubik’s cubes, chess! We’ll have dodgeball and drawing just for fun! There will be snacks too!

Student Senior Capstone Project: Book Drive

As part of a Senior Capstone project, a book drive to benefit the Ronald McDonald House will be held from March 20th – March 31st. Any and all, new and used books are welcome and appreciated. Donations can be dropped off in the boxes provided in the lobby, Ms. Moser’s or Ms. Smith’s classrooms. If you have any questions contact Mrs. Keene: mary.keene@maeserprep.org.

2023-24 Fee Schedule & Spend Plan: Initial Board Approval & Public Comment Period Open

Our board has given their initial approval to the 2023-24 Fee Schedule & Spend Plan. This document details any and all fees that can be charged to students next school year. If you would like to share any feedback with the board before their final approval of the 2023-24 Fee Schedule & Spend Plan on April 11, you may either:

  • Email finance@maeseprep.org before Tuesday, April 4, OR
  • Request to speak during the public comment period of the March 28 or April 11 board meetings. These meetings are held online. Please contact samantha.stonely@maeserprep.org if you would like instructions for joining the meeting.

State Testing for Grades 7-10

It’s that time of year again… when we start assessing student’s growth and proficiency in core subject areas. The Utah State Board of Education has implemented summative assessments for our students in grades 7-10 (as required by Utah Statute 53E-4-303): middle school students take RISE tests for English, Writing (8th grade only), Science and Math; students in 9th and 10th grades take Utah Aspire Plus – a special pre-ACT test for 9th and 10th grade students that provides a predictive ACT score and areas for improvement to prepare for the ACT, as well as growth and proficiency scores for Utah standards. These improved assessments help prepare our students to succeed on the ACT and other college readiness exams.

Please make every effort to avoid scheduling appointments during state testing, to avoid interruptions and distractions during testing.

We appreciate your help in creating a focused and productive testing environment for our students!

Utah Aspire Plus: 9th & 10th Grades

9th and 10th grade students will take the Utah Aspire Plus on Tuesday, March 28. This is a special testing day for students in 9th & 10th grades — only students taking Utah Aspire Plus are allowed on campus on Tuesday, March 28. Testing will begin at 8:00am and end at approximately 1:30pm.

RISE: 7th & 8th Grades

Middle school students will take their RISE tests in their regular English, Science & Math classes beginning Monday, April 10. More information about RISE testing will be provided as we get closer to that date.

Questions?

Please email Mrs. Myers at info@maeserprep.org.

Volunteer Help Needed

Snacks for MS March Madness Activity

Help provide snacks for the MS March Madness activity on March 24! We need some snacks for the activity: veggie trays, fruit, cookies and juice. For more information and to sign up, please visit our SignUpGenius: MS March Madness Snacks.

Counseling Donations

The Middle School Counseling team is in need of large bags of individual sized candy. You can use this towards your volunteer hours!

  • Kind: an assortment- chocolate, hard candy like jolly ranchers, tootsie pops or rolls, whatever comes in the assorted bags is fine. We would like some non-chocolate as well.
  • Amount: 4-5 bags/month

Teacher Appreciation

Volunteer to help bring Teacher Appreciation treats for the year by month. Thank you for putting a smile on a teacher’s face today! This is TRULY a blessing for our team. The little things are often the BIG things! For more information and to sign up, please visit our SignUpGenius: Teacher Appreciation Opportunities.

Report Your Volunteer Hours

DON’T FORGET! 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!

Questions About Volunteer Hours?

Contact us at volunteer@maeserprep.org.

Lands’ End 40% Off Sale

Lands’ End will be holding a 40% off sale March 18-31, 2023. This is a great time to pick up more expensive uniform items like plaid skirts and blazers! Shop online at landsend.com/school March 18-31 and use Code: DESK and PIN: 2886 for 40% off school uniforms (and everything else!).

Sports Announcements

Mountain Biking

For any students who might be interested in mountain biking: click here to learn about the Ride With Vikings program run through Pleasant Grove High School. (This is not a Maeser-sponsored sport.)

Spring Sports Academic Eligibility

Eligibility for participation in spring activities/sports will be determined by 2nd and 3rd term grades. All students (middle and high school) must have earned a 2.7 GPA with no Fs. In addition, high school students cannot have any Fs/NGs/Incompletes from previous high school terms. All Fs/NGs must be made up by the last day of term.

Sports Physicals

All students, middle school and high school, who will be playing sports this year (2022-23) need a physical in order to play. Physicals completed on or after March 10, 2022 are good until July 15, 2023. Any physicals completed before March 10, 2022 will not be accepted (per UHSAA policy) for this school year.

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

Maeser Sports Guide

For a list of the sports that are available at Maeser for both MS and HS students, click here: Maeser Sports Guide. The Sports Guide includes whether the team is boys, girls, or coed, when tryouts are, who the coach is, and the coach’s contact information, if it is available.

Counseling Announcements

Breakfast: The Most Important Meal Of The Day

Today as I ate lunch with a group of middle school students, I was distressed to find out that more than half of the group had not eaten breakfast and did not bring a lunch to school. I was even more distressed to find out that this is regular and normal behavior for them.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Our bodies have gone 8-12 hours or more with no food as we finish our day and then sleep. During this time we are getting no nourishment for our body or our mind.

John Hopkins Medicine research tells us that “Several studies suggest that eating breakfast may help children do better in school by improving memory, alertness, concentration, problem-solving ability, test scores, school attendance, and mood.” If your student is not eating breakfast or lunch, they are not able to learn effectively.

Perhaps your child wakes up late and there is not enough time to prepare a breakfast. Try keeping some quick, grab and go breakfasts that your child can eat on the way to school.
Some examples would be:

  • Yogurt cups
  • Overnight Oatmeal
  • Granola bars
  • Fresh Fruit (bananas, apples, oranges)
  • Make a batch of breakfast burritos or sandwiches and freeze them, then they can just pop them in the microwave to heat and eat.

Taste of Home has some great, go to recipes that you can make ahead of time and grab on the go.

Here are some great make ahead recipes for a quick grab and go lunch that will help your student keep going in the afternoon. Have the help with the selection and preparation of the food and they are more likely to want to eat it.

I also see a lot of students drinking energy drinks in the morning as a meal replacement. These are not a good option for your child. Regular consumption of energy drinks can lead to weight gain, high blood pressure, and anxiety. Have your student start cutting back on energy drinks by replacing 1 a week with one of the healthy alternative listed above.

8th Grade CCRs

Ms. Sorenson has opened some appointment slots in March for 8th grade CCRs. Please make an appointment if you have not already: Ms. Sorenson’s Calendar. We will go over graduation requirements and choose classes for 9th grade. Students without an appointment will be called out of class to meet with Ms. Sorenson.

Counseling Donations

The Middle School Counseling team is in need of large bags of individual sized candy. You can use this towards your volunteer hours!

  • Kind: an assortment- chocolate, hard candy like jolly ranchers, tootsie pops or rolls, whatever comes in the assorted bags is fine. We would like some non-chocolate as well.
  • Amount: 4-5 bags/month

Can We Reach You In Case Of Emergency?

It’s important to keep your contact information up to date and opt-in to receive text messages from Maeser — in case of an emergency, this is how we notify parents! In addition, we use your contact information to notify you about important school events and school fees deadlines.

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!