Matthews Elementary School

Where STUDENTS LEARN, ACHIEVE, and GROW

  • STUDENT SURVEY

     

     

    Parent Survey

    Fall Festival

    fall

    Thursday, October 18, 2018

    5:00-7:00pm

    Come join MES for food, prizes, and fun!

    Arm Bands $10.00 - play all stations and ONE time on the Game Bus.  Food, drinks, and snacks not included with armband price, but are sold separately.

    First Million Father March. We were one of 90 cities in the nation to participate in the National Million Fathers March where we invited fathers and male role models and presented an opportunity for dads, uncles, grandfathers, coaches, mentors, clergy, men's groups and organizations to show their commitment to the educational lives of our students. The March was also in honor of Sickle Cell Awareness Month in which, Jennifer Sherman, the Executive Director of the Sickle Cell Foundation of West Alabama, came and spoke to the public about sickle cell anemia and disease. The disease is prevalent among our minority population and being made aware of it enables the public to better understand and seek to support, give, and make others aware of the cause.    

Million Father March

  • Nutrtitious and Delicious Lunch

    A sincere thanks to MES CNP manager and the entire cafeteria staff for serving such a delicious yet nutritious lunch.

     
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  • Community Forums 9/13 at BWHS, 9/20 at TCHS, 10/1 at HCHS. Begin 6PM and End at 8PM Community welcome to share ideas.

     

     

    Tuscaloosa County School System invites all stakeholders, including parents, employees and community members, to participate in one of three upcoming Community Forums. The purpose of these forums is to gather input to help guide future planning for TCSS in various aspects of student learning. 

    Each forum will follow the same format. A brief welcome will be provided by TCSS staff. After that, a team of outside education professionals will divide participants into smaller groups and facilitate discussion within those groups. The team will compile responses and report the findings to TCSS. 

    Those unable to attend one of the forums may provide input through an online survey. The survey will be available September 13 – October 5 at tcss.net. Those able to attend one of the forums may also participate in the online survey.
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  • September is Attendance Awareness Month, and all month long, TCSS is focusing on just how important it is to be in school…every day! Chronic absence is defined by missing 10 percent or more of the school year – that breaks down to about two days per month – for any reason. The impact of this is serious. Here are just a few of the reasons why, according to research provided through the Attendance Works initiative:Attendance Month Graphic showing how if you attend today you cna achieve tomorrow

      • As many as 10 percent of kindergarten and first-grade students are chronically absent. These early absences correlate with poor attendance in later grades.
      • Chronic absence in early grades has been linked to lack of reading proficiency in third grade.
      • Chronic absence is linked to overall poor academic performance.
      • By sixth grade, research has shown chronic absence to be a strong indicator of whether a student will drop out of school.

      But, here’s the good news: research has also shown these trends to reverse, when attendance improves.

      Here are a few steps families can take to encourage good school attendance:

      • Build regular routines for bed time and mornings.
      • Permit missing school only when your child is truly sick.
      • Schedule medical appointments and trips for when school is not in session.                         
      • Keep a chart of your child’s school attendance at home.                                                                   
      • Develop back-up plans for getting to school when the unexpected happens.                                        

      Here’s another important reason to start this year with good school attendance: One study showed students who missed two to four days in September were five times more likely than other students to be chronically absent for the year.

      We’ll see you at school…every day!

    • Child Find

      The Tuscaloosa County Schools are attempting to find and identify individuals from birth to 21 years of age who have disabilities or are suspected to have disabilities and are in need of special education services.

      Child Find is a program designed by the State Department of Education and the Department of Rehabilitation Services to help those who are in need of special education services.

      Parents of disabled children or anyone knowledgeable of disabled children who may need special education services should contact the Child Find Coordinator in the Special Education Department (205) 342-2756 or call 1-800-392-8020 for ages 3 through 21 or 1-800-543-3098 from birth until 2 years of age.  For more information you may also contact the Alabama Relay Service at 1-800-548-2547.

     
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Academic Session 2018-2019 Registration

Announcements

  • Online Parent Tech Resources Brochure Online Tech

     
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  • Community Helpers  A special thank you to MES Community helpers for all that you do.

     
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  •  Special Thank You to UA Gymnastic Coach Dana Duckworth an fellow gymnasts for visiting MES.     Dana Duckworth

     
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  •  

    Congratulations to Tanisha Strode on receiving the Nick Saban's Excellence in Teaching Award.Spencer

     
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  • Backpack ATTENTION PARENTS: IS YOUR CHILD CARRYING 20-30% OF THEIR BODY WEIGHT IN THEIR BACKPACK? According to Change.org (2017), it is medically proven that children carrying more than 10% of their body weight is damaging to their spines. "Just because you can’t see the internal damage, doesn’t mean it isn’t happening" (Sams, 2017).

     

    BECOME AWARE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF ENSURING THAT YOUR CHILD IS CARRYING NO MORE THAN 10% OF THEIR WEIGHT IN THEIR BACKPACK.   -VISIT Backpack Support FOR MORE INFORMATION.

     

     
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    • IMPORTANT 2017-2018 HEALTH ASSESSMENT DOCUMENTATION CHANGE:

    ANY STUDENT WITH  NOTED HEALTH CONDITIONS ON THE HEALTH PORTION OF INFOSNAP/ HEALTH ASSESSMENT FORMS WILL REQUIRE VERIFICATION/ DOCUMENTATION FROM THEIR PHYSICIAN, PRIOR TO THE DEVELOPMENT OR CONTINUATION OF A HEALTH CARE-PLAN.  PLEASE PROVIDE THE LATTER DOCUMENTATION TO YOUR CHILD’S SCHOOL NURSE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, PREFERABLY PRIOR TO STUDENTS' FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL.

     

      • A Physician's note will be required in order to confirm students' medical diagnosis.
      • This note will NOT be required on an annual basis; however, any medical updates on a student's condition should be provided to the school nurse annually. 
      • Any student whom we do not receive a medical diagnosis confirmation on from the Physician, will be placed in a 'disabled mode' in INOW. 

    All students prescribed daily and/ or 'as needed' medication, are already required to submit updated Physician orders each school year; therefore, these students will NOT require additional medical documentation

     
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  • announcement 2017-2018 MES Absence and Tardy Procedures

    2017-2018 Spanish MES Absence and Tardy Procedures

    2017-2018 Arrival and Dismissal Schedule

    2017-2018 Spanish Arrival and Dismissal Schedule

     
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  • Important to Know

    2017-2018 TCSS Parent-Student Information Guide
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  • colored rocks

    CNP "ROCKS," is a promotion by the TCSS CNP department to advocate an active lifestyle and healthy eating habits. The Tuscaloosa County CNP team work hard on a daily basis and are making a positive difference with our students.  Visit TCSS CNP on facebook handle @TCSSCNP to view the video about the CNP "Rocks" promotion and like the page to support for all of the amazing hard work the TCSS CNP staff does on behalf of our children.

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  • MES students put together backpacks for students in the Houston area that lost all due to Hurricane Harvey destruction.

    backpack   backpack

     
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  • Parent E-Tip!!  Policy and Procedures on Student Absenses and Tardies

    PBIS Procedures:

    -All excessive check-ins or check-outs (more than twice per/week or missing more than 2 hours of class time per/week) should be addressed by the teacher. If the student has excessive unexcused check-ins and check-outs, it will their grade since missed classroom work cannot be made up. The teacher should address this with the parent and student.

    -If a student is absent 3 or more days in a week, teachers should call the parent/guardian to check on student. Teachers should remind the parents that they have 2-days to return an excuse for the student’s absence(s) or the absence(s) become unexcused and late work cannot be made up or accepted.

    Tardy Procedures:

    1.) After the student receives 6 late check-ins (tardies), administration will assign the student 1-day of in-school intervention (ISI).

    2.) After the 8th tardy, the administration will assign the student 1-day of ISI.

    3.) After the 10th tardy, the administration will assign the student 1-day of ASD.

    4.) After each addition tardy, the administration will assign the student a day of ASD in addition to a mandatory parent conference.

     
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  • Parent Volunteer Registration (click here)

     Volunteer Programs

    Background Screening

    In order to best address the issues of screening/background checks for Volunteers in the Tuscaloosa County School System, we need to clearly define the different levels of volunteer work.  Some of our volunteers help with clerical work, assist teachers with bulletin boards, tutor students, provide teachers with duty-free lunch, serve as chaperones on field trips, and assist with extracurricular programs. Some volunteers have minimal contact with students and are always under the supervision of a teacher, while other volunteers have direct contact with students with minimal supervision from a certified school employee.  Consequently, the spectrum of volunteer work at the local school can be extremely broad. Three categories of volunteers were identified.

    1. Volunteer/visitors (level 1)who enter a school or one-time event of the school and have little or no direct unsupervised contact with children.  Examples might include non-classroom assistants, PTA/Booster Club functions, guest speakers, Grandparent lunch day, etc.
    2. Volunteers with classroom exposure (level 2)who work with children as room parents, lunchroom monitors, classroom tutors and are always under the direct supervision of certified personnel.
    3. Volunteers with restricted exposure (level 3)to children and may be indirectly supervised by school staff. This may include student volunteers, interns, one-on-one tutors, overnight chaperones and extracurricular program volunteers.

    Level 1            (RAPTOR SCREENING)       

    1. Be sponsored or approved by a school or district employee.
    2. Provide some form of current government issued photo ID.
    3. Sign in on a “Volunteer/Visitor sign-in Program” at the school office
    4. Required to display a volunteer/visitor ID badge provided by the school

    Level 2 

    1. All level one requirements 
    2. Complete a volunteer orientation program with the building Principal/designee (at most schools, will be the teacher/club sponsor/coach coordinating the activity).
    3. If required, extracurricular program volunteers must comply with any applicable rules and/or regulations for that particular program (ie. AHSAA).

    Level 3

    1. All level one and two requirements
    2. A complete background check through Employment Screening Services ($15.00 and completed online). Each school should have a link to the online program on its homepage. A completed background check is emailed to the principal/designee at the school. Volunteers may receive a TCSS volunteer badge with a principal’s approval.
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  • School Messenger Parent Notification System

    The Tuscaloosa County School System is continuing its partnership with School Messenger to provide communications to our students, parents and employees.

    Parents wishing to receive SMS TXT Messages from the School Messenger System must opt in.

    To receive messages please send a TXT Message with the text of Y to 68453.

    If you wish to opt out at any time please send a TXT message with the Text N to 68453.

     
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  • UA Football players Bo Scarbrough and Rashaan Evans visit MES fifth grade students, offering fantastic mentoring.

      UA Football Players    UA Football Players

     
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  •     Award           Award Congratulations to Matthews Elementary Educators.  Pictured, from right to left, Mr. James Smith, winner of Tuscaloosa County Support Employee Award; Ms. Andra Craig, Nominee for Jacksonville State Hall of Fame Teacher of the Year, and Mrs. Laurie Presley, Nominee for Alabama Teaccher of the Year and winer of the Tuscaloosa County School System Representative for Alabama Teacher of the Year; Principal Dr. Tripp Marshall. 

    Award

     
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  • Tuscaloosa Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi mentors school 5th grade students on the art of tying a tie. Pictured mentors are Rev. H.P. Thomas, Rev. Greg Morris, Daboris Lanier, and David Hood.

    Ties Ties Ties Ties Ties Ties

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  • Libby Listens   Libby Listens  

    "Libby Listens" program. This is a motivational and learning activity in which 2 very tame and trained rescue dogs, Libby and Levi, come out and let the children read to them. Libby Listens The children were excited to meet the dogs, learn about the Metro Shelter, discover the difference between a tame dog and a wild dog and READ! Libby Listens

     
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  •  Books and Balls    Books and Balls      Books and Balls    Books and Balls    Books and Balls program, directed by William Tunnell, presented each student with a book and a ball.  A special visit from Santa Claus was quite a treat for all.  Our very own Lathum Cheatum played a soulful rendition of Away in A Manger, with Miss Geralyn Conner at CCA emcee.

    Books and Balls   Books and Balls    Books and Balls   Books and Balls    Books and Balls   Books and Balls   Books and Balls    Books and Balls   Books and Balls  Books and Balls   Books and Balls

     
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  •     Students at Matthews Elementary who exemply the 7 Leader In Me Habits were rewarded with a Positive Behavior Talent Show....

    Talent Show  

        Talent Show    Talent Show

     Talent Show   

    Talent Show     Talent Show

     Talent Show     Talent Show  

     Talent Show

     

            Talent Show

     
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    Call 342-2654 for more information.

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