Welcome to Indian Meridian School. This handbook is a guide for the current school year. Please read through this carefully and keep as a reference. Click on the topic you wish to learn more about. We hope this handbook is a helpful tool.
Pre-kindergarten and Kindergarten enrollment are in the spring. All new student enrollment is in the fall before school begins. All students must be current on all shots required by the state of Oklahoma. They must have a current gas or electric bill in the parents name for proof of residence in our district. We need a copy of the student’s birth certificate and social security number. IME ENROLLMENT REQUIREMENTS
Ø Please do not park in the parking lot and then send your child across the traffic lanes alone. This is just too dangerous with all the traffic.
Ø Please either pull through the drop off lane or park and walk your child across.
Parents will not be allowed in the building to pick up their child. The only exceptions that will be made are for students who have prior appointments such as dentist, doctor, ect. If your child has special needs and you need to come into the building, please notify the office. If you are turning left on Indian Meridian please be in the outside lane (closest to the parking lot). If you are turning right on Indian Meridian please be in the inside lane (closest to the school).
Ø Students will come to the 1st Grade Hallway at 3:10. A teacher will be on duty with them.
Ø Please try not to pickup your child prior to that time as we teach as close to 3:10 as possible. Early dismissal may cause your child to miss some instruction.
Ø Parents should place their child’s name in the window of their car and pull into the pick-up lane.
Ø Parents please remain in your vehicle so that the traffic flow is not interrupted.
Ø Drivers need to pull as far forward as possible so more than one student may be loaded and to alleviate the traffic congestion.
Ø A teacher will radio in to the building when we see your child’s name and will then load them into your car. This will better ensure your child’s safety.
Ø Students will not be allowed to cross the traffic lane without an adult.
Parents will not be allowed in the building to pick up their child. The only exceptions that will be made are for students who have prior appointments such as dentist, doctor, ect. If your child has special needs and you need to come into the building, please notify the office.
Students will line up near the awning on the south side of the school by the library at 11:20 a.m. and 3:05 p.m. A teacher will be on duty with the students.
Please try not to pick-up your child prior to that time. Early dismissal may cause your child to miss some instruction.
Parents should place their child’s name in the window of their car and pull into the pick-up lane on the south side of school. We will have one lane with the teachers and aides on duty. Please be very careful when exiting the lane to ensure the safety of our children.
Parents need to remain in their vehicles and pull half way around the turn around lane. The teachers and aides will bring your child to your car.
Report Cards and Progress Reports
Students will receive a Progress report for each nine weeks. The Progress reports usually go home the fourth week of each nine weeks. Report cards go home every nine weeks. The semester grades are the grades that are placed in the student’s cumulative folder.
The honor roll assembly for the first semester is in January for 2nd and 3rd grade. The honor roll in the spring is on the last day of school for 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. Students are on the Principal’s Honor Roll if they have all A’s and B’s for the semester. Students are on the Superintendent’s Honor Roll if they make all A’s for the semester. Pre-K and Kindergarten have promotion the last week of school in May.
Parent Teacher conferences are in the fall and spring. We encourage teachers and parents to be in constant communication. If you need to talk with your child’s teacher please call and set up a conference or leave a message and the teacher will call you back during their planning time that day.
Indian Meridian does not have school-sponsored sports during the school day. We do have many sports organizations - football, basketball, baseball, and softball that send information home with the students concerning sign ups for each sport. These organizations do use the school’s facilities after school hours.
The Parent Teacher Organization at Indian Meridian is an important part of the school. Anyone can be part of P.T.O. for a $1.00 membership fee. The P.T.O. sponsors the golf tournament, fall carnival, spring fundraiser, and penny drive. All the money earned is put back into the school to make improvements. P.T.O. meetings are twice a year, once in the fall and then again in the spring. Volunteers are always needed to make each event a success. Please contact the office if you would like to volunteer.
The discipline policy at Indian Meridian is handled on an individual bases. Each incident is handled appropriately with the circumstances. Love and Logic is a method that is practiced which educates the students on making choices and the consequences. Love and Logic Website
Warrior Wakeup or Rise and Shine is a student assembly that happens every Monday morning at 8:55 p.m. Anyone is welcome to attend. The assembly is performed by a different 3rd through Kindergarten class in the building. The teacher will send a note home with your child’s part and the performance date.
The last Friday of the month students are recognized at the Caught Doing Good Assembly. Students have the opportunity to receive the Citizenship award from their class. They have to display good citizen qualities all the time and be noticed by their teacher. Also, birthdays are recognized at the assembly. Each grade level has a Caught Doing Good box where students put their Caught Doing Good coupons they earn from teachers. Each grade level gets three students drawn each month and that student gets a bag of treats. Everyone is welcome to attend the Caught Doing Good Assembly each month.
There is a Fall party, Christmas party, and Valentine party in the school year. Each party will begin in the afternoon at 2:00 p.m. or 10:45 a.m. if your child is in morning Pre-K or Kindergarten. Parties will last 30 minutes. Items that are brought to the parties have to be store bought. There are no home made items allowed.
Due to students getting their feelings hurt, please do not send any birthday party invitations to school. Store bought birthday treats are welcomed. Please notify the teacher the day before if treats will be brought for a birthday.
If you would like to eat lunch with your child, you may bring lunch with you. Please be sure your child does not order a lunch that day from the cafeteria. If you would like to order a lunch from the cafeteria please write your child’s teacher a note or call the office. If you have any questions please contact our cafeteria manager Belinda Webb.
Individual school pictures are in the fall and the spring. Class pictures are in the spring. Yearbooks are available to purchase in the month of February.
Students are able to check out two library books at a time. If you would like your child to be able to check out more books at a time, you have to write the librarian a note. Reading Counts is a computer program that encourages students to read their library book for comprehension. The books that are Reading Counts have a bright green circle sticker on the book. Students can take a test on the computer after they have read a Reading Counts book. The student must answer ten questions and pass the test. The students earn points for each test they pass. After each ten points the students get their name announced at the Caught Doing Good assembly and they receive a prize. At the end of the year the students with the most Reading Count points are recognized at the Honor Roll Assembly. If you have any questions please contact our librarian Mrs. Joseph.
Students will attend many special classes. Music and P.E. are offered every other day. Please be sure your child wears tennis shoes on P.E. days. Library classes are offered every week with our librarian. Counseling classes are attended every other week with our counselor. Students in 1st -3rd grade attend the computer lab weekly.
We do not take request for teachers; however Mrs. Vaeth and Ms. Doughty, the school principal and assistant principal will meet with you for fifteen minutes to discuss your child’s personality and needs. Then they will match up students and teachers according to their personalities and needs. The parent meetings are in the spring. Please watch for notes on when the meeting will begin.
Music programs are performed by grade level. Pre-K and Kindergarten teach music in the classroom since they are a half day program. 1st-3rd grade are taught music by Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Wright organizes each program. The performances are at 1:30 and 7:00 p.m. in the gym. 3rd grade performs in October, 2nd grade performs in February, and 1st grades performs in April. If you have any questions contact Mrs. Wright.
Attendance and Tardies/Early Dismissal
A student must attend school at least 80% of the time each nine weeks in order to receive passing grades. Students arriving at school after 10:00 a.m. or leaving prior to 2:00 p.m. will be counted absent one half day. Three tardies and/or early dismissals will be considered and absence.
It is the responsibility of the parent to notify the school when their child is absent and to be aware of the number of absences the student has. If the student is absent for a doctor's appointment please send a doctor's note with your child when they return to school.
All students entering school after 9:00 a.m. must report to the office before going to class. Students that need to leave early, need to be checked out through the office.
PTO hosts a Fall Carnival the end of October. This is the main fundraiser for our school in the fall. The carnival allows us to supply all the nice things for our school. It last form 5:30 till 9:00. The carnival consists of carnival games, inflatable games, concession, and silent auction. There will be a sign up sheet in the lounge for the time and event you want to work.
Silent Auction:
Each teacher chooses a theme to create a basket for the auction. Some examples of baskets in the past are OU, OSU, spa, baby, game night, children’s books, Barbie, and Hot Wheels. The teacher will let each parent know the theme for their basket and will need the parents to help donate items. Many volunteers are need to make the carnival a success please watch for notes and sign up for a way to help.
This is a list of some of the assemblies that are held at Indian Meridian throughout the year.
Safety Assembly- This assembly will be held sometime the first week of school to go over the safety procedures of the school.
Warrior Wake-up-This assembly is held every Monday morning in the gym at 8:55.
Caught Doing Good-This assembly is held at the end of each month in the gym.
Music Programs-Students in grades 1st –3rd perform a music program. 1st grade’s program is in April, 2nd grade’s program is in February, and 3rd grade’s program is in October.
Declamation (Poetry)-This assembly is a contest for the top 3 students from every room recite a poem.
Read Across America-This assembly is held around March 2nd of each year in celebrations of Dr. Suess’ birthday.
Honor Roll-This assembly is held after the fall semester for 2nd and 3rd grade, then again after the spring semester for 1st-3rd grade.
Kindergarten Promotion-This assembly is held the last week of school for the kindergarten students to present a program to the parents and receive certificates.
Talent Show-This assembly is usually the last day of school. Students and teachers perform.
Donuts with Dads/Mornings with Mom
Doughnuts with Dads is hosted by the school in the fall to encourage dads to spend time with their child. The school provides doughnuts and juice. The butterfly garden at the south side of the school makes for a lovely environment for dads to bring a blanket or lawn chair and enjoy breakfast. If weather is bad the event is moved to the gym. Any student who doesn’t have a dad attend will be called down to the location after morning announcements and will receive a doughnut and juice.
Morning with mom is the same activity just in the spring.
Family Reading Night is in conjunction with our fall PTO meeting. Family Reading Night starts at 6:30 after the PTO meeting and lasts 30 minutes. Families are encouraged to come and read with their child in the gym. Books should be easy to access in the gym from your teacher. They can bring blankets and make themselves comfortable. 100% participation is our goal.
At least one field trip is taken a year by students in grades 1st-3rd. Pre-K and Kindergarten do not take field trips due to them being half day programs. Parents will receive a note explaining the procedures for each field trip and the cost. Parents are welcome to attend the field trips with their child.
Students who have Native American heritage can receive tutoring. Students do not have to have a tribal roll card. Parents need to be able to identify which tribe the student is from. If you would like to set up for your child to start Native American tutoring, please get a form from the Native American Coordinator Mrs. Barlow. Parents have to sign and return the form. Tutoring is during school once or twice a week which students are pulled out of class for 15-30 minutes. After school tutoring is also available two days a week. Parents have to arrange for someone to pick up student after school.
Read Across American is a celebration of Dr. Suess’ birthday on March 2nd. Read Across America is an assembly held on or around March 2nd . The assembly starts at 8:55 in the gym like a Warrior Wake-up. Since it is in honor of Dr. Suess we wear read and black and encourage cat in the hat attire if available. The Read Across America committee organizes a reader from the community for every classroom. A student greeter following the assembly escorts the reader to each room. Magic 104 radio station broadcasts live from IME. Visitors we have had in the past include OKC zoo, racecar drivers, OU/OSU athletes, and many more. After the reader has read to each class they are escorted to the library for refreshments. Some readers will bring things for the students to visit in the parking lot (race cars) or in the butterfly garden (alpacas). Classes in the afternoon have a special reader come to their rooms too. Many volunteers are needed to help make this exciting event successfully. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer please contact Mrs. Farmer.
The PE teacher organizes Super Kid's Day. Super Kid’s Day is in May. Each class is assigned to attend Super Kids Day either in the morning or the afternoon. Super Kid's Day is set up in centers with activities for students to complete at each place. Each student will have a partner to complete all the activities with. Students will get a checklist of every station. When the students complete the station the volunteer will whole punch their checklist. Every student will get a free snack and drink. A concession stand will be available for students to purchase snacks. Many volunteers help make Super Kids Day a success. If you have any questions or would like to volunteer please contact our PE teacher Mrs. Tesio.
All visitors and volunteers need to check-in at the office. There are many ways to volunteer at Indian Meridian. If you would like to volunteer please contact your child's teacher.
If you ever have any questions or concerns please fill free to call us anytime.
Indian Meridian Elementary
1865 S. Indian Meridian
Choctaw, OK 73020
Phone 390-8585 or Fax 390-2218