Welcome to Meadow Ridge Dinosaur Is Spoken HereHere’s more evidence of why Meadow Ridge and Mead School District are such top notch places to educate your children. A good example for us happened this winter when we received an email from the Spokane Arena, which was sent out to all elementary schools in the Spokane area, inviting all schools to create and submit an application for an exclusive first look at “Walking with Dinosaurs” before they make their public début at the arena. We received this email on January 5th and it was shared with the staff that day. Before the week was out we had a volunteer group meeting in the mornings to brainstorm a plan for us. This plan resulted in a video (which we sent to them and posted on our school website under the media gallery in case you want to take a look) that involved all of our students chanting their plea, expressing their hopes, and sharing their rationale as to why our school should be the lucky one. Teachers helped their students learn the chants, work on a group choral reading, prepare a song, and do spontaneous interviews. It was precious! The arena thought so too. It wasn't long before we received a call to let us know that our presentation was by far the most impressive one they received and they are anxious to bring a dinosaur to Meadow Ridge. What made us stand out from other schools? We were responsive, creative, and inclusive (fast, original & broad involvement); an all and all quality presentation.  
The Meadow Ridge Drama Club proudly presented "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" for our 2009-2010 school play. Seventy-seven students showed up for tryouts, many in hopes of being Snow White. Everyone who wanted to be involved in the play had a part and did an outstanding job! The dancing snow nymphs looked magical and the wood nymphs were right out of classic fairy tale's ville. The set crew brought the great outdoors in, and included the all the mystic of smoke and mirrors for the transformation of the queen to a witch. Music added the extra touch that made sure everyone left with a smile. A big THANK YOU goes out to our PTO for funding this tradition at Meadow Ridge, and also to our dedicated Drama Coaches: Mrs. Krieger, Mrs. Corry, Mrs. Hale, Miss Clark, Mr. Rogers, and Mrs. Jordan (a much loved former teacher from Meadow Ridge).
24-Hour Absence Line: 465-6670
H1N1 Swine Flu PreparednessMead School District feels it is important to remind our community we have a Pandemic Flu plan in place and ready to implement should it become necessary.
News has slowed down on this issue but the virus continues to circulate in our community. The Mead School District is working with Spokane Regional Health District and other community partners in anticipation that as kids return to school in a few weeks, we may see the virus spread. Read more 
Mark your Calendar!!! No School - 2/12 & 2/15Eye for Art - MHS - 2/20 Baby Sitting Training available for students ages 11-15 March 23-25 Click here for more info
Reporting Student Progress in an Age of Standards
 A Standards-Based Report Card is a measure of authentic learning for all subject areas for the trimester. It represents what students have achieved academically, not how hard they have worked, how much they have improved, how they compare with classmates, or how well they have behaved. A student’s citizenship and personal skills, behaviors that impact and promote learning, are evaluated and reported separately. We need parents to partner with us in helping students to understand and apply skills in their homework vs getting 100% on Friday’s spelling test.
When administrators and teachers think about parents and grading, we often worry about the question foremost in any parent’s mind: “What grade did my child get?”
With a standards-based system, the question we’d encourage you to ask is: “How well is my child progressing in order to meet the state standards by the end of the year?”
A child’s score (level of achievement by the end of a grading period) should be based on many opportunities to make sure that enough student work has been assessed and evaluated to determine the level of progress towards the standards. The following terms are helpful in understanding the standards based report card:
Standard – A broad statement of learning which all students are expected to acquire.
Grade Level Expectation (GLE) – Specific content/process to be learned at that grade level in order for students to achieve the standard.
Performance Expectation (PE) – Ways students can demonstrate mastery of a GLE.
1 to 4 scale- Progression of learning towards end of the year requirements.
1- Significantly Below Standard
2- Developing Toward Standard
3- Meeting Standard (Expected Outcome)
4- Exceeding Standard
Not Evaluated (NE) – Not expected at this time.
Behavior Descriptions – (overall and in specific academic areas)
C- Consistently exhibits
U- Usually exhibits
O- Occasionally exhibits The Standards-Based Report Card is another tool that will be used to communicate to students and parents regarding student academic progress. Ideally, the report card will be used in an ongoing conversation between teachers, students, and parents about what is expected of students and how to help them be successful in a rigorous academic program
Kindergarten registration for the 2010-2011 school year is now open. Click here for more information.
Beginning in the 2009-10 school year, two new tests replace the Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL):
Measurements of Student Progress (MSP)
The name of the MSP, given to students in grades 3-8, conveys the goal of the test: to measure student progress. The dates for testing in spring 2010 are May 12-28 for paper-and-pencil and May 3-June 4 for online testing in grades 6-8 in reading and math.
High School Proficiency Exam (HSPE)
This test measures the proficiency of students in high school and serves as the state’s exit exam. Students must pass this assessment or a state-approved alternative in reading and writing in order to be eligible to graduate. The dates for testing in spring 2010 are March 16-18 (reading is one day; writing is two) and April 13 (math) and April 15 (science).
A New Resource in Social Services: Washington State 2-1-1. The 2-1-1 Community Resources Database has been developed in Washington state to serve the public seeking information and referrals for assistance of any kind. You can look at their web site or call 2-1-1 from anywhere in Washington and you will reach an Information and Referral Specialist to help you meet your needs. This is also a resource for holiday assistance. | 
