Frequently Asked Questions

General

How do I report a student absence?

Please call our attendance line at 720-972-7937. Absences must be reported on Meridian's attendance line, even if the teacher has been notified of the absence. This number may be called ahead of time to report an absence or tardy. Please leave a message with the following information:

Name of person calling
Relationship to student
Student's name
Date(s) of absence
Reason for absence
Teacher's name

If you are requesting homework, please email your child's teacher.

When can I drop my child off for the school day?

We ask that you bring your child to school after 7:25 a.m., since there will be no supervision before this time. At 7:30 a.m., students are allowed in the building.

The tardy bell rings at 7:35, students need to be in their classroom by that time.

Registration

How do I enroll my student?

Enrollment forms are available at Meridian or can be downloaded from the Adams 12 Five Star Schools enrollment page.

Health

What if my child becomes ill or injured while at school?

Your child will be seen in the health office if ill or injured at school. The health aide, or office staff, will determine if your child needs to go home for illness or injury. If your child needs to go home, you will be contacted as soon as possible. The school does not have a way to keep ill children for long periods of time. Therefore it is important that parents keep the school informed of any changes in address and/or telephone numbers.

Safety

What is your recess policy?

A recess break is provided for all children at their lunch period. Additional recess breaks are at the discretion of the teacher. Precipitation, wind speed and low temperatures can cause recess breaks to be held inside. Meridian policy is whenever any combination of these factors takes the chill temperature below 15 degrees, the recess breaks will be inside.

Because of the temperate Colorado climate, children are generally sent outside for recess. Children should dress appropriately for the season, and should wear warm clothing and boots during cold and wet weather.

What are expectations for visitors?

To ensure the safety of all students attending Meridian Elementary, all visitors must present a drivers license/I.D. at the front desk (between 7:35 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.). Your license will be scanned through our Raptor system and a visitor's badge will be provided.

If you are coming to volunteer in your student's classroom or the staff workroom, and you have younger children, please find alternate supervision for them.

Visitors are always welcome for lunch after signing in at the front office.

Nutrition

What if my child has special dietary needs?

Nutrition Services News

New Special Dietary Needs Procedure

Adams 12 Nutrition Services understands that there are many students in our schools with special dietary needs. Nutrition Services wants to make you aware of our Special Dietary Needs procedures.

Adams 12 WILL:

Make meal modifications (substitutions) prescribed by a licensed physician to accommodate a dietary disability based on a medical statement completed and signed by a licensed physician (doctor of medicine or osteopathy).
Make modifications (substitutions) for students as called for in their Section 504 or an IEP plans.

Adams 12 WILL NOT:

Make meal modifications (substitutions) prescribed by a medical authority due to a food allergy/intolerance or other medical condition that does not rise to the level of a disability.

In this case, Adams 12 Nutrition Services WILL provide nutrition information regarding ingredients in menu items specific to the student’s allergy or intolerance to help parents and students make appropriate meal choices.

Make substitutions for fluid cow’s milk due to a food allergy or intolerance or for other reasons.

For a copy of our Special Dietary Needs Paperwork, Allergen information and Carbohydrate count, please visit our website at …http://www.adams12.org/nutrition_school_meals

Peanut Cautious

Beginning in the 2014-2015 school year, elementary and middle schools (K-8), in Adams 12 School District will be “peanut cautious”. “Peanut cautious” means that there will be no peanut-containing menu items served in those schools. It does not mean that we are “peanut-free”. Adams 12 Nutrition Services does not guarantee that all of our menu items for K-8 were produced in a facility that is 100% peanut and tree nut free, some items may be processed in a plant that process peanuts or tree nuts.

Standards Based Grading

How does standards-based grading work?

Traditional grading averages a student’s achievement data with other criteria, such as work habits. Standards-Based Grading removes extraneous factors and focuses solely on a student’s academic achievement and continued mounting evidence that indicates a true assessment of the student’s present attainment of learning. Other characteristics are reported separately.

How is standards-based grading different?

The student’s grade more accurately represents the progress toward proficiency of standards than traditional grading does. Subject areas are subdivided into big ideas related to standards and their respective learning outcomes that students need to learn or master. Each target is assessed. Scores from activities that are provided solely for practice will not be included in the final assessment of the learning outcome. The influence of positive and consistent work habits on student learning is reported separately from the academics.

Why aren’t grades just averaged?

Because the purpose of standards-based grading is to report what students know and are able to do, averaging does not represent an accurate picture of where a student is in his/her learning. A student who struggles in a class at the beginning of a grading period and receives poor grades, but who keeps working and by the end of the grading period can clearly demonstrate competence in the subject, should receive a grade that reflects that competence. The average is a fixture in most grading systems, but the average does not always represent the data accurately. Consider two students, Stewart and Maria. Stewart earns the following scores: 85, 85, 85, 85, 85, 85, 85, 85 and 85. The average is not difficult to calculate, and Stewart’s grade is posted as a B. Maria struggles in math and turns in this performance: 50, 60, 65, 70, 80, 85, 90, 90, and 90. Her mean score of a little over 75 would result in a C on her report card, but it is obvious that Maria now understands the math even though she struggled in the beginning.

How will student progress be measured?

The District Standards were synthesized into major learning goals (Gradebook Reporting Criteria, or GRCs) to provide clear and concise information to parents regarding student progress. Teachers collect evidence of student understanding through observations, class work, projects, and test data then evaluate overall performance using the following scale: 4 – 3 – 2 – 1.

So is a 4 like and A, a 3 like a B and so on?

No. While it may feel as though standards-based grading performance scale scores are easy to translate to the traditional A, B, C, D, F, it is actually quite difficult, and should be avoided in Standards-Based Grading. Think of the two grading methods as totally different languages. For example, Mandarin Chinese has words and phrases that cannot be translated accurately into English because no English equivalent exists. It is like that with Standards-Based Grading. In Standards-Based Grading, a 1 is a very narrow range which communicates that the student has made little or no progress toward the standard. A 2 tends to have a larger range because it includes student performance that ranges from just a little closer to the standard than a 1, to just a little short of meeting the standard of a 3. A 3 indicates that the student has met the standard, and is right where we expect the student to be. A 4 is quite narrow because it indicates that not only has the student met the standard, but has also taken the skills and concepts and transferred them with greater complexity and depth into other areas and disciplines. In traditional grading, letter grades report the number of points earned in a subject, and doesn’t report very much about what the student has learned.

How Will IEP Students Measure Their Progress?

Standards-based grading principles and tenets are equally as applicable and appropriate for students with disabilities as they are for their typical peers. IEP teams, inclusive of general educators, should determine what, if any, adaptations are needed for students to master grade-level expectations. Some students on an IEP have accommodations that support them with making progress to grade-level standards. These students will be instructed with these accommodations and then graded on the GRCs as written in the GRC rubrics. Other students may have modified grade-level expectations (standards) written into their IEP. If a student has a modified grade-level expectation as part of his or her IEP, the GRC that represents the modified standard should be noted on any report card or progress report and parents should be aware that their student is working toward a modified standard.

How Will ELL Students Measure Their Progress?

Standards-based grading principles and tenets are equally as applicable and appropriate for students who are learning English as they are for their native English speaking peers. English Language Learners may have modified grade-level expectations for any oral language and/or communication standard within various content areas. This includes all Reading, Writing and Communicating Standards, as well as any communication standards within other content areas. The modification within these standards should be adjusted based on the student’s current placement along the language acquisition continuum. The GRC that represents the modified oral language or communication standard should be noted on any report card or progress report and parents should be aware that their student is working toward a modified communication standard, including knowledge about their student’s current language development on the continuum.

How Will I Know If My Student Is On Track To Meeting The Standard?

In order to know what progress students are making, parents should begin with talking to their student’s teacher to understand what assignments, assessments and/or student work products are most important for their student in regard to the GRCs in any given content area. Schools using the IC gradebook with the parent portal, will have certain assignments, assessments and/or student work products listed in the online gradebook with a 1, 2, 3, or 4 score. Parents should look at these scores over the course of the semester and pay attention to trends in these scores, knowing that they will not be averaged, but that over time, students should be progressing toward 3’s and 4’s by the end of the semester. Teachers will be using assignments, assessments and student work products as a body of evidence to make a final mark at semester. Some elementary schools are not yet using the IC online gradebook and will be communicating with parents about these assignments, assessments and/or student work products through conferences, and regular and timely parent communications.

How Does Homework Fit Into Standards Based Grading?

Homework is practice. Therefore, let's re-think the question to be, "Does practice count?" To use a sports analogy, or a knitting analogy, or a painting analogy, or an accounting analogy or pretty much any other analogy you can think of... Practice is extremely important and valuable as it prepares you to perform. Let’s take Peyton Manning as an example. Manning is known for his dedication to practice and study. He's one of the first ones at practice and he's one of the last to leave. He works incredibly hard while practicing, but his work on the practice field or during preseason games doesn't "count" at the end of the season. What "counts" is his performance in actual games - in our case, the assignments, assessments and/or student work products.

Here are some examples:

Law School is practice. The Bar Exam counts as performance against the standards of practicing law. There are examples of people passing the Bar Exam with very little formal law study, and there are lots of examples of people who attended numerous law school classes and may have even earned a law degree, but they never passed a bar exam.

Driver's Ed is practice. The driving exam “counts.”

Cosmetology school is practice. The cosmetology state board exam “counts” – serving satisfied clients as a cosmetologist “counts.”

Studying accounting is practice. The CPA exam "counts" - performing your accounting job well once you've landed a job "counts."

Homework assignments need to be aligned to GRCs in order for students to utilize homework as practice toward proficient performance on grade-level standards. Students should be able to articulate how a homework assignment helps them practice toward performance at a 3 or 4 in any given GRC. Teachers should NOT use homework completion as an indicator of student proficiency on a GRC or standard and instead should use student assignments, assessments and/or student work products from class to determine proficiency. However, teachers SHOULD use homework completion as an indicator of a student’s progress toward Scholarly Habits (Respect, Preparation, Risk Taking, Perseverance, and Excellence). Progress on Scholarly Habits will be reported each semester

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