Greetings Meridian Families and Students,

I hope everyone is doing well as we quickly approach the end of the school year. There are a few topics to share with you today: a shorter quarantine duration, end-of-the-year preparations, and a reminder for tonight’s board meeting.

Shorter Quarantine Duration
The Department of Health and the Whatcom County Department of Health has provided continuous guidance throughout this pandemic. The WCDOH provided guidance to allow schools to shorten the default quarantine period. Starting today we are changing the quarantine period to 10 days rather than the previous 14-day quarantine period.

Strong Finish & Upcoming Details
It’s hard to believe we are three weeks away from the end of this school year. It has been a year full of changes and adjustments. It is time to close this one out! We are planning to return to school as normal as possible. As we know, it’s too early to understand the conditions we’ll experience at the end of August. We are working hard to return to in-person school with full schedules this Fall. There is a lot going on in each of our buildings to help close out this year and prepare for a great start to the next school year. Here are a few topics where you can expect greater details in upcoming building newsletters:

  • Irene Reither Elementary: Mrs. Christiana will be sharing some details about the summer school program (partnering with the YMCA), Kindergarten graduation on June 14th, and strategies to encourage all of our students to stay connected to their learning by doing a bit of reading and math every day over the summer.
  • Meridian Middle School: Mr. Torgeson will be sharing more details about middle school registration elective options, transition opportunities – both for the 5th graders joining MMS and for 8th graders joining MHS, summer school opportunities, and 8th-grade promotion plans.
  • Meridian High School: Mr. Forbes will be sharing details about summer school at MHS, encouragement for a strong finish to earn credit over the course of the semester, and details about graduation on June 9th – where tickets will be required.
  • Meridian Parent Partnership Program: Mrs. Siadal will be sharing details for MP3 families to confirm enrollment plans for next school year, allowing students to keep their devices over the summer, resources to help students continue learning through summer, and the end of the year drive-through “Luau in the Loop on June 14th.”

School Board Meeting Reminder
We are celebrating some incredible educators tonight at our May 26th board meeting. Please join us as we recognize Tiana Hawn and Janae Brewster from Meridian Middle School, David Brannon from Meridian High School, Glenda Elgersma from MP3, and Melissa Whitten, Hallie Whitsell, Mary Beth Van Dyke, and Jill Hammack from Irene Reither Elementary School. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm in our PD/Board Room. We also have an overflow viewing space in the MHS auditorium and are broadcasting the meeting over Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83152417224. We hope you can join us!