Hello Families,
Thank you so much for a wonderful start to our school year. We are working hard to focus on excellence and expectations as we guide our students, teachers, and staff to new levels of achievement. Our students have done an incredible job bringing their Tiger Binders to school with them everyday. Please continue to help encourage this as it supports our school wide structures and sets them up to be successful.
Parent Teacher Conferences– Can you believe that by the end of this week we will already be at midterm for 1st quarter? This year is flying by! Our Parent Teacher Conferences will be held this week, September 20th and 21st from 4-7 pm. Our conferences will be held in person on both nights. If you are unable to attend in person and would like to meet with teachers, please reach out to them via email and they can arrange a call, or meeting to discuss your students progress.
- We welcome you to visit with ALL of your child’s teachers during our open time Conferences. Teachers welcome you to drop by their tables throughout the evening. Please remember that we do not have scheduled appointment times and conferences are on a drop-in basis. In order to accommodate the large number of families we hope to see, please be mindful of your time as we have asked teachers to keep conference meetings to 10-15 minutes. We are excited to provide this wonderful opportunity to you and your student(s) and hope your Conference experience will be a positive one. Thank you for your continued support of both Matheson Junior High School and your student(s). If you have questions or concerns, please call 385-646-5290
In addition to Conferences this week, we have a lot of information that we would like to make you aware of. Please read through this information and let us know any questions you may have:
• Vision Screening– We will hold vision screenings for all 7th grade students on Thursday, September 28th. Screening will take place during the regular school day.
• School Community Council– The School community council will meet on Monday, September 25th at 3:00 if you would like to attend please contact the office. We are looking for additional members..
• Boo to the Flu Clinics -We will be hosting a flu shot clinic at Matheson from 4-7 pm in the commons area on Wednesday, September 21st and Thursday, September 22nd. We hope you take advantage of the opportunity to get a flu shot.
• School Calendar -Please review the following link for our school calendar. This shows our school days, and scheduled days off. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zfVRD_7NvdYeRjauTLsbPL1vS8c7jODL/view .
• Bell Schedule -We have been working hard to prevent as much congregating as possible in our hallways and common areas at Matheson. As a reminder, the doors to our building do not open until 7:15 am. Students are allowed to go to their classrooms beginning at 7:39 am. The bell rings for 1st period to start at 7:45 am. Please encourage your student to be in class on time. Excessive tardiness leads to a great deal of missed learning and further is a distraction to the learning process.
• Fee Waiver and Student Fees -If you have applied for a fee waiver, and have not received any feedback from us here at Matheson, then we have not yet received your needed documentation. Please refer to the front page of our school website for the fee waiver application in both English and Spanish.
o If you are not applying for a fee waiver, and have not yet paid school fees, don’t forget to get them taken care of.
▪Fees can be paid online through the Focus app or you can also pay over the phone with a credit card, or come into the office during our business hours.
• Breakfast and Lunch for Students -Breakfast and lunch are offered to ALL students. We would highly encourage families to apply for free or reduced lunch. The application can be found on the following website:
▪ https://www.myschoolapps.com/
▪ The application needs to be completed each year. Only one application needs to be completed for each household.
• Matheson Food Pantry -We have a mini mobile food pantry at Matheson. We would love to help anyone in need. Any student in need can come to the Main Office or the Counseling Center to have access to items available in our pantry.
• Parking Lot-Thank you for your efforts as we work to keep our students and staff safe. We have and will continue to adjust and refine our parking practices to do what we can to make drop-off and pick-up as smooth and safe as possible. Please see the link below for a map and detailed modifications we made regarding parking. https://sway.office.com/BNiH1aDxV4w3kfcI?ref=Link
A few items that will help us with student and staff safety during busy times:
- The main parking lot is split into two sections, one for staff and one for patrons.
- If you are coming into the building you may park in the front lot.
- If you are dropping off a student you can pull into the North half of the lot for drop off. Please do not pull into the staff area as it creates cross traffic and an unsafe crossing pattern for students.
- The main lot has one entrance and is used for staff parking and those patrons entering our building. The front row is a dead end and when used to drop off students creates a situation in which cars are unable to get out.
- Patrons can park at the church across from Matheson or in the seminary parking lot.
- Patrons looking to drop-off can use the main pull through.
- Do not drop off students on Montclair Street. Please have your student use the crosswalk.
- When using the drop-off lane it is most effective when families drop off immediately and then pull into the left lane. We are seeing many instances where families wait in the drop-off lane until reaching the stop sign at the front of the line before having students exit, this backs up the line.
• Calendar Reminders-
- Sept. 19th- Cross Country Meet at 3pm
- Sept. 22nd- No school comp day for Parent Teacher Conferences
- Sept, 25th- Boys soccer (Home), Girls soccer (@Westlake)
- Sept.26th- Cross Country meet at 3pm
- Sept.27th- Boys soccer (@Jefferson), Girls soccer (Home)
- Sept.27th- Hale Theatre field trip (choir and theater classes)
- Oct.2nd- Boys soccer (Home), Girls soccer (@Eisenhower)
- Oct.3rd- Cross Country Meet at 3pm
- Oct.4th- Boys soccer (@Jefferson), Girls soccer (Home)
- Oct.5th- Choir Mini Concert series
- Oct. 12th,13th, 16th- Fall Break and Student Recess Day- NO SCHOOL
Thank you again for trusting us with your student. We love our Tigers and are proud of the many accomplishments our students have already begun to accomplish this year. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns you might have.
Megan Madsen- Principal
