The Mission of Middlebury Elementary School in cooperation with family and community, is to develop compassionate, productive, responsible citizens and life-long learners.
Middlebury Elementary School
News from our Principal, Mr. Hostetler
March is here and our students and staff are doing an amazing job! This time of the year can be challenging leading up to spring break; however, we still have a lot of fun learning activities for our students. Activities to look forward to include: Beach Day, PTO fundraiser with our guitar and mallet clubs performing, spirit days, and March Reading Madness.
This is the month for IREAD. This year our second graders will test along with our third graders. This is new to second grade but I am excited that they have the opportunity to take it now. Our teachers have been doing an awesome job preparing the children for this test. The testing window opens on March 4th and closes on the 15th. We hope to have all students tested during the week of the 4th.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Spring!
March Calendar
1 - March Reading Madness Kickoff
4-8 Bean Week at Hacienda
4 -8 National School Breakfast Week
4 - Hacienda Night
5 - 2nd Grade Field Trip
5 - Board Meeting 4:00
7 - Old Hooser Give Back
13 - PTO Meeting 3:30
14 - PTO Fundraiser 4:30 - 7:00
15 - End of 3rd Grading Period
19 - Board Meeting 4:00
20 - Last Run the Halls
21 - Parent-Teacher Conferences
21 - March Reading Madness Ends
22 - Beach Day in the Cafeteria
29 - NO SCHOOL
April 9th, Tuesday - First Day Back from Spring Break
Music Program Dates
Guitar and Mallet Club Concert-March 14th
Performance 1: 5:00/Performance 2: 6:00
Third Grade Concert
April 18th @ 6:00 PM
First Grade Concert
May 9th @ 6:00 PM
Parent-Teacher Conferences
Parent-teacher conferences will be held on March 21st. A conference may not be necessary at this time. Please look for the conference note to come home with your child. All notes should be returned to your student's classroom, even if a conference is not requested.
News from Nurse Gleim:
For everyone's safety, food brought to school for parties or birthday celebrations must be store-bought with nutrition and allergen information.
News from Mrs. Rusk, Our Art Teacher:
Bean Week At Goshen Hacienda
March 4th - 10th
Visit the restaurant to see 2nd grade artwork on display.
SAVE THE DATE
The MCS Art Show will be on May 10th at Northridge High School.
News from Mrs. Davis, Our Librarian:
March Reading Madness begins Friday, March 1st, and ends Thursday, March 21st. All reading time must be done outside of school. Reading to yourself, reading with someone else, or being read to all count as reading minutes. Make sure you are keeping track of your time and record it on the orange reading logs that were sent home. Extra orange log papers will be located in the library. Each week there will be a prize to earn for your reading! If we reach our goal of reading 65,000 minutes as a school, Mr. Hostetler will get taped to the wall!
All reading logs are due March 21st. Our Celebration of Reading will be held on March 28th. The Northridge Raider Boys and Girls Basketball teams will be here for fun and games as well as the Northridge Middle School Pep Band! Please encourage your child to participate in our reading challenge!!
News from Mr. Peery, Our Counselor:
Parenting Can Be HARD! (but you're not alone)
Parenting is hard and we all get frustrated with our kids from time to time. Remind yourself that it is okay to feel frustrated. All feelings are okay even if they may make us upset or uncomfortable for a while. How we choose to handle those big feelings is what is really important. When feeling frustrated, it is important to find a healthy outlet for it like beating a rug, going for a walk, giving yourself a time-out away from people, or sitting down for a cry (seriously!). Remember that our kids are ALWAYS watching and learning from us. When we take the "easy road" to dealing with those feelings by yelling, screaming, or saying hurtful things, we are teaching them that it's okay for them to do that too. "Do as I say, not as I do" is not effective. Modeling good coping skills for our kids helps them know the right way to handle big handle big feelings and will hopefully save you some frustrations with their behavior in the future. Remember, taking out frustrations ON your kids only sets you up for more frustration and problem behaviors in the future.
Again, parenting is hard and sometimes we forget that we are not alone! It's okay to not be the perfect parent and to not have all the answers to problem behaviors. One of my all-time favorite parenting resources is Triple P (Positive Parenting Program). They have all sorts of free resources, webinars, seminars, groups, and friendly advice because they know that parenting is a challenge too.
Check out Triple P at the links below:
triplepelkhartcounty.org
Facebook (or by searching "Triple P in Elkhart County")
YouTube (or by searching "Triple P in Elkhart County")
You can also call or email with specific parenting questions to see if they can help you on the spot.
574-226-0160
info@triplepelkhartcounty.org
2024-2025 Bus Transportation
Your efforts to keep Transportation updated with your student's bus needs helps us to provide efficient bus service for as many students as possible. Transportation changes can be submitted online, on our webpage. This includes indicating if your child will NO LONGER be a bus rider, as that will allow another student to ride, as we manage restricted student capacities and a shortage of bus drivers. If there are no changes from this year to the next, a new form is not required.
IF YOUR STUDENT'S BUSING NEEDS CHANGE FOR NEXT YEAR, PLEASE SUBMIT A 2024-2025 TRANSPORTATION REQUEST FORM.
Also, please remember to have requests submitted by July 19, 2024. Any change made after that date WILL NOT BE GUARANTEED A BUS RIDE ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.
Middlebury Community Schools Transportation Department 574-825-9410
CHANGES IN CHILDREN'S INFORMATION
Many changes may occur throughout the school year regarding telephone numbers, work numbers, addresses, and transportation arrangements. Please notify the school office when these changes happen and give new information to the office.
We are proud of our new STEAM LAB!!!
MES has a new STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Arts Mathematics) lab located on the 3rd floor. Below is a short video of the kids at work! Check it out!
March is quickly approaching, as is our Spring fundraiser! We are excited to see all of the classroom baskets that your children have helped put together. If you have not sent something in for your classroom's theme, you still have time! If you would rather send in cash, that is also appreciated, and the teachers can add in some final touches! The deadline for donating to the classroom baskets is March 6, so there is time to get them assembled!
Old Hoosier Meats is excited to participate in monthly support for our school! Please remember, if you make a purchase at Old Hoosier on the first Thursday of the month to reference Middlebury Elementary, and they will send a percentage of their proceeds to support us!
Congratulations to this month's winner of the Middie Staff Spotlight, Mr. Joseph Parks! He was nominated by a student who says, "Mr. Parks is a good teacher and he teaches us a lot!" Another student says "He helps us and has patience." Here is what Mr. Parks has to say about himself:
I have taught for a total of sixteen years and fifteen of those years have been at MES. I currently teach 2nd grade. My favorite part of teaching is watching my students grow academically and witnessing their joy for learning. I have a wonderful family whom I love very much. I have two sisters, one brother, five nieces, and three nephews. I enjoy trying different mediums of art. Recently, I have been doing stained glass work. I also enjoy tent camping. I prefer camping in state parks that have great hiking and waterfalls.
So thank you so much, Mr. Parks, for your hard work and kindness! MES is blessed to have you.
Cafeteria News!
On March 1st, we will be celebrating Dr. Seuss's birthday.
March 4th - 8th is Surfs Up National School Breakfast Week. Come and see what Tropical Paradise items we will be serving.
March 6th is National Oreo Day.
March 15th, we will be serving a Luck of the Irish treat for St. Patrick's Day!
To end the month on the 22nd, we will be having a Beach Day Picnic!
