SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL’S FUNDRAISER, THE MERCER OLYMPICS!
Please be sure your child turns in all Mercer Olympics donations by 12 pm noon TODAY, Friday, October 27 so that the money your child collected can be included in the class totals.
If you would like to donate online, you can do so at
https://www.payforit.net/MakeItemPaymentEx.aspx
. Select Ohio, Shaker Heights, Mercer Elementary and Mercer Fall Olympics Fundraiser. Please have your child's class teacher name ready so that credit is given to the class and child for whom you are donating.
Also, families are invited to attend the
Mercer Olympics Closing Ceremony TODAY
, Friday, October 27 at 2:15 pm in the Mercer Gym. We will show you are Mercer Elementary School spirit and each student will receive a participation “medal”. Plus, Principal Florence will announce the results, including which class in each grade wins a bonus Physical Education class and which class in the school wins the dance party. Help us celebrate a successful week.
Please encourage your child to wear their grades assigned color (Pre-K and K: blue, 1st: black, 2nd: red, 3rd: yellow, 4th: green) to the Closing Ceremony. Feel free to also wear your child’s grade color or even a rainbow of colors if you have more than one child to represent. Thank you for your support!
Halloween Parade and Activities
Please join us on Tuesday, October 31 for the Halloween Parade and Classroom Celebrations. The parade begins promptly at 2:15 pm, but parents/guardians may arrive as early as 2:00 pm to assist their child with his or her costume. After the parade, students will return to their classrooms for the celebrations. Clean up will will begin at 3:00 pm to prepare for dismissal. As always, please remember to park on the side streets and allow the school buses to park around the front of the school building for dismissal.
MEERKAT CLUB
Thank you to over 120 students who participated in Meerkat Club last month! We connected with Kolter Elementary School in Houston, TX, which suffered severe damage from Hurricane Harvey. The Kolter students will not be able to return to their school building this year and had to start school a few weeks late in a temporary building. The Mercer Meerkats decorated and sent the Kolter Cougars approximately 680 cards, with a “Welcome Back Kolter Cougars” pencil attached, to extend their warm wishes for a great school year. The Kolter teachers and staff also received a “box of sunshine” filled with treats and other fun items.
Each session began with a discussion about Kolter Elementary and how the hurricane affected them. This activity is one of the many examples of how Mercer students are active participants in their school community and exhibit IB attributes, extending that spirit across the miles. Please visit the bulletin board at Mercer to see pictures and information about Kolter, the Meerkat Club sessions, and the very gracious responses we received from our new Kolter friends.
"Leveling the Playing Field: Addressing Issues of Equity to Close the Achievement Gap”
Children belonging to historically disparaged groups face an uneven playing field in public education. Addressing this issue remains one of the main challenges in advancing equity and excellence in education. The achievement gap, or the observed, persistent disparity in measure of educational performance among groups defined by socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, and gender, as well as providing equity across gifted education programs, programs for international and LGBTQ families, and special education programs are challenges that many communities face today. As such, the Shaker Heights School District developed initiatives like the Equity Task Force and other student and parent led groups to tackle the issues of equity and the achievement gap to increase student success in all levels of education at Shaker schools. Our speakers will discuss: what the achievement gap looks like in Shaker, the mission and goals of the newly formed Equity Task Force, and how to empower parents and community members to help remove barriers to overall student success. Please come and join our discussion.
Please join us on: Wednesday, November 15, 2017 at 7 pm at Onaway School
Speakers include: Dr. Gregory Hutchings,Jr., Superintendent, Shaker Heights City Schools, Mr. Eric Forman, Principal at Onaway Elementary, Dr. Ricia Weiner, school psychologist and mother of two Onaway students, and Mrs. Denise Brown, IB & Enrichment Coordinator, Onaway School.
Please RSVP at: https://OnawayPTO_LevelingThePlayingField.eventbrite.com
A handout is attached
here
for your convenience.
New Family Outreach
Would you like to be a parent resource for families new to Mercer this school year? The Mercer PTO plans to expand its outreach efforts and we need your help. If you have a few minutes a month to welcome a new family, extend a personal invitation to a PTO event or check-in with a phone call or email, this might just be the opportunity for you. To learn more about this volunteer opportunity, please contact Leslie Moore or Mary Petre
at [email protected].
Follow Our Awesome Gym Teachers
We invite parents to follow Ms. Amar and Mr. Welsch on Twitter to see what the students are doing and learn more about Physical Education news at @Shakerpe_amar and @shakerpewelsch.
Mercer Mailbox is a publication of Mercer Elementary. The submission deadline is Noon Wednesday to Sharon Galin at
[email protected]
.
