As state support for education has declined, our parent and community volunteers have come to the rescue. Through your help we have not only been able to maintain our quality programs, but have moved forward and continued to enrich the educational experiences of our children.

Parent and community volunteers make Meadow Park a very special neighborhood school. I think of the generous donations parents have made to the Irvine Public Schools Foundation (IPSF), Meadow Park’s Technology Foundation and our PTA. I think of the parents who planned and prepared the Welcome Back Coffee, Ice Cream Social, Candy Drive and Book Fair. I think of parents who organized a fun and educational Red Ribbon Week, and parents who devote their time and knowledge to provide the best technology experience possible for our students.

I think of the local restaurants that open their doors and give a percentage of their profits to our school. I think of parents who have spent days at school and at home organizing our fund-raisers, collecting and depositing funds, making sure each of our children end up with the spirit wear, pictures, pies and wrapping paper that they are supposed to – all this so that all of our children can continue to enjoy field trips, art instruction assemblies, etc. I think of our classroom volunteers who are so creative and dependable, who help our children with everything from reading to art. I think of our parent volunteers who arrange extracurricular opportunities for Meadow Park students through the ACE programs, the Reflections program and the Harvest Cup Soccer Tournament. I think of our parents who do everything from assisting with field trips, to being room mothers and fathers, to assisting in the library or with ASSETS, to coordinating staff appreciation activities.

We couldn't do it without you. We appreciate the special gift of time, and love, and energy that you give so joyously to our school. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. For all that you do, we give thanks to you.

Sincerely,

In an effort to encourage more effective communication between school and home, the school office, PTA, School Site Council and classroom teachers will gather all major school communications to send home to parents each Thursday. We hope that our community will become accustomed to receiving most school information on Thursdays on a regular basis. Naturally, there will be some incidental communications, such as parent notifications for conferences and dated material that we receive unexpectedly, which may go home on other days. But for the most part, expect general school-home communications on Thursdays.

IUSD Food Services no longer prints and distributes monthly lunch menus for students and families. The monthly menu can be downloaded from the IUSD website at www.iusd.org/services.

When the webpage appears, click on Services. A drop-down list should appear. Click on Food Services, and then click on breakfast, lunch or pizza. Find and click on Meadow Park. The lunch menu is also posted in the front of the school if you do not have Internet access from home.

School will be closed on Tuesday, November 11, to commemorate the holiday dedicated to Americans who have served in the armed forces, and perhaps have given their lives in defense of our great nation. Please take a moment to review with our boys and girls the significance of this holiday and the sacrifices made for our nation’s freedom.

Meadow Park School will be closed on Thursday and Friday, November 27 and 28, in observance of Thanksgiving. All of us at Meadow Park School wish you and your family an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday.

Picture make-ups are scheduled for Thursday, November 6. All students who were present on September 23 had their pictures taken that day. However, if your child did not bring the payment envelope to school, pictures were taken only for the yearbook and for school records. If your child did not bring the payment envelope or was absent on September 23, or is new to the school, he/she needs to have a picture taken on November 6. If you wish to purchase a picture package, payment envelopes are available in the school office and should be given to the photographer at the time your child’s picture is taken on November 6.

Please call the school office at (949) 936-5900 if you have changes of address, home or work telephone numbers, or emergency contacts. It is very important to keep our records current in case of an emergency involving your child. Thank you.

The Irvine Unified School District Board Meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month at 7 p.m. in the Board Room at the District Office, 5050 Barranca Parkway. These meetings are open to the public and you are welcome to attend.

Response procedures are in place to activate the emergency plan. Each year, the staff reviews and implements our plan in mock drills to ensure the safest and most efficient response to an emergency. State law requires each elementary school to conduct monthly fire drills, a lock-down drill, and a drop-and-cover drill as part of the emergency preparedness plan.

If you have any questions please call (949) 936-5900 or talk with your child’s teacher. With your help, we can work together toward a safe environment for all our students.

Fridays are Spirit Days at Meadow Park School. Every Friday students and staff show their Mustang spirit by wearing either the school colors (green and blue) or a school spirit shirt. On the last Friday of every month, teachers will determine the percentage of students showing Meadow Park spirit. The primary class and upper grade class with the highest percentage will receive and display the Spirit Trophy in their classroom for the following month.

Classroom percentages will be taken on the following dates:

November 21, 2003
December 19, 2003
January 30, 2004
February 27, 2004
March 26, 2004
April 30, 2004
May 21, 2004

The 2003-2004 School Site Council members are:

Nancy Bower, principal
Janet Anderson, teacher
Denise Olson, teacher
Linda Price, teacher
Lisa Richardson, teacher

Council meetings are open to all parents of our school, and we welcome your attendance. The meeting agendas and minutes are posted in the school office, and there is an opportunity at each meeting for parents to address the council or bring items up for discussion at the next meeting. The School Site Council will meet at 3 p.m. on the following dates:

Flyers were recently sent home with all IUSD students. If you would like to review that information, it may be found on the IUSD Internet at www.iusd.org/health/CommunityClinic.htm

I had a Parent who read me the things
That wholesome life to the child heart brings –
Stories that stir with an upward touch,
Oh, that each parent of a child were such!
You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be –
I had a Parent who read to me.

In the interest of children’s safety, pre-school children who accompany their parents onto the playground before or after school may not play on the playground equipment when Meadow Park students, who are much larger and play much harder than these little guys, are using the equipment.

Children who live in the immediate area and who wish to play on our playground must report home first. If students wish to return to our playground after they have been home, they should wait until school has been out for 30 minutes to do so. We simply do not have the ability to supervise students after the school day – either in the office, on the playground, or out by the front curb.

On a final note, our Irvine Unified School District Board Policy states, “Although the district is not liable for the safety of students who are not under school supervision, the school district can, and does, hold students accountable for their behavior from the time they leave their homes for school until they return to their homes from school.”

We continue to have four classes at Meadow Park, one for non-ambulatory students ages 3 to 8, and three for students with autism or related communication and behavioral disorders. Each student has an Individual Education Plan (I.E.P.) with goals and objectives that are aligned with the state standards. To meet these goals we incorporate the classroom teacher and assistants as well as a psychologist, speech and language specialist, occupational and physical therapist, adaptive physical education teacher and nurse. No wonder it’s hard to find a parking space!

Our Peer Tutor and Special Friends assembly was held on October 22 and we are looking forward to beginning the program as soon as possible. If your children are interested in participating, they will bring home information and permission forms.

All of our staff would like to thank the Meadow Park community for its continued support. If you ever have any questions or would like to visit, please let us know. Our school secretary is Laura Martinez, and our phone number is (949) 733-9981. Or just drop by anytime.

Have a great year!

All absences affect our school’s funding, since funds are allocated on actual daily attendance, not on enrollment figures. Approximately three years ago, the state of California eliminated paying school districts for excused absences.

Excused absences (which are unfunded) include: illness, religious holidays, funerals, doctor appointments, family business, etc.

Last year alone, Meadow Park School lost $97,328 because of absences, with unexcused absences totaling $12,264 of that amount.

If your child is late to school, please have the student come directly to the office to sign in.

It is important to note, however, that today’s instructional practices increasingly emphasize cooperative learning, group problem solving, and discussion. This type of instruction cannot be accomplished through an Independent Study Contract because it depends heavily on daily school attendance and participation during the classroom day. It is most difficult to replicate this type of interactive instruction, and students who miss it often are frustrated when they return to the classroom because they have missed classroom instruction and interaction.

IPSF funds and runs educational and child-development programs in partnership with the Irvine Unified School District, including the Art, Science and Music Elementary Specialist Program, Class Size Reduction, Health Education and Services, the After-School Classroom Enrichment (ACE) Program, and financial assistance programs for low-income children in our schools.

Meanwhile, the teachers’ old computers moved into the main lab and what a difference they made there! All the computers are finally the same! The Meadow Park Foundation worked hard this summer to remove and upgrade much of the obsolete equipment in the school. We continue to raise funds to replace old equipment each year. Special thanks to parents who responded to our latest pledge flyer.

We encourage parents to get involved with the Meadow Park Foundation in such areas as fund raising, technical support, finance (taking care of the money!), technology events and more. The foundation meets the first Tuesday of the month in the Meadow Park library at 7 p.m. Feel free to attend.

Early next year we will offer the first in a series of evening technology classes for our parents. Steve Ostrin and Susan Michon will teach Microsoft Excel in January. Stay tuned for more information. Any parent interested in getting involved in planning, designing or teaching classes, please contact Susan Michon at (949) 936-5936) or Steve Ostrin at (949) 697-0964.

More than one-third of those who were uncomfortable with spam e-mail do not tell their parents. The survey also found that nearly half of those surveyed disclose personally identifiable information online, and do not check with their parents first.

Another survey of children in 2000, reported in the Los Angeles Times, found that 80 percent of kids had private e-mail accounts, but only 66 percent of parents were aware of that.  A 2001 survey of 1,500 kids by Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire reported that nearly 1 in 5 respondents had received an unwanted e-mail solicitation.  Of those, 97 percent came from strangers, and 25 percent were directed at children under age 13.

Our School Supply Program was a big success and gave families the opportunity to purchase all of their school supplies and books right here at Meadow Park. What a convenience! Thank you so much to Laura Ruben, Terrie Watkins and Ruki Charna for making that possible. We also had a great turnout at our PTA Back to School Coffee, which was held September 10. Many volunteers signed up to help with all of our upcoming activities, which is what keeps the PTA running. Thank you! A special thanks to T. Laughlin, Sam Duke and Cathy O’Keefe for making the PTA Coffee such a memorable event. If you missed the PTA Coffee and would like to help with any of events and activities, it is never too late. Just contact me or any of the PTA board members and we will get you going!

Of course, we have had other great events for which all of your efforts and volunteer hours were greatly appreciated. Look for highlights of those events in this newsletter, as well as upcoming activities at which we could always use more help.

Thank you again for all the great work you do for Meadow Park. Our children are truly lucky to have the terrific parents they do, and they appreciate your work, too – even if they never say it! Continue to get involved – we can never have too many volunteers or PTA members! You are what makes Meadow Park the awesome school that it is. I hope to see you all at our next General PTA Meeting on November 18 at 6:30 p.m.

Let me introduce our 2003-2004 PTA Executive Board:

Janice Numamoto, Rita Daigh, Debbie Davis, Cathy Takemura, Cathy Lipton, Debbie Pfeiffer, Calvin Hardcastle, Jennifer Sheparovich, Shannon Jaramillo, Terrie Watkins and Dawn Eilers-Dunn.

I would also like to thank Sam Duke, T. Laughlin, Patty Rieff, Peggy Mariani, Peter Larios and Luis Manzo for their help with planning and preparation.

During the week of October 20-24, Meadow Park School joined the national celebration of Red Ribbon Week. The Red Ribbon Pledge is “No Use of Illegal Drugs, No Illegal Use of Legal Drugs.” This year’s theme was “Take a Minute, Make a Difference.”

Our students celebrated the week by wearing red, participating in the Art and Essay Contest, decorating the school with red ribbons and bringing in “Pennies for Prevention.” Highlights of the week included a lunchtime concert by Meadow Park parent Rob Biagi and a visit from members of the Concordia University women’s volleyball team.

Scholastic Book Fairs comes to our school November 3 to 7 to share exciting books and learning products with our young readers. Parents and teachers will find plenty of items to interest them, too. The fair will be open each day at recess, lunch and after school for an hour. Additionally, the book fair will be open on Thursday evening, November 6, to accommodate working parents and busy families. Everyone is welcome!

When you visit the fair, look for the Classroom Wish List display to see how you can help build your child’s classroom library.

The Book Fair helps us promote learning while raising money for our library.

If you would like to help with the planning, set-up or would like to work during the fair hours, please contact T. Laughlin at (949) 551-1153 or Laura Ruben at (949) 733-8153.

Another successful “Welcome Back” PTA meeting was held on September 12. We had a chance to hear messages from our PTA president, Megan Bunch, and our new principal, Nancy Bower. Thank you to all who volunteered to be on committees – we appreciate your dedication to Meadow Park!