Dear Meeker Families,

Wow! Our first week of school at Meeker was AMAZING! Students reconnected with each other, their teachers, and with learning. We spent a lot of time engaged in community building and get-to-know-you activities.

Our new school policy—No Cell Bell to Bell—is making a huge difference! We appreciate student, teacher, and family partnership in supporting this new policy, which is helping students to stay engaged and present in their learning and social environment.

Since pictures are worth thousands of words, this collection of photos gives glimpses into our first week of school. Activities included human bingo, a school-wide scavenger hunt in which every student had to find their name posted somewhere in the building, 30-sec impromptu speeches, finger counting energizer, peer interviews, and collaboratively deciding on a community class name.

We are so excited to see your Wolverine tomorrow and we look forward to another fantastic week!

In appreciation and in partnership on behalf of Meeker Middle School Faculty & Staff,  

Dr. Cherlyn Pijanowski, Principal & Taralynn Grau, Assistant Principal 

Upcoming Events

Monday	September 16	Session 1 Sports Start – Baseball (V), Girls Soccer (V), Boys Basketball (JV/V) Club B Starts: Cooking Club
Tuesday	September 17	Drama Production Auditions – Peter Pan Club B: Cooking Club, Drama Club, Outdoor Club
Wednesday	September 18	Late Start Wednesday - Classes Begin @ 8:40AM Viva Voce Retreat @ 2:30PM Club B: Cooking Club, VR Club
Thursday	September 19	Makeup Picture Day Club B: Cooking Club, Drama Club, Outdoor Club
Friday	September 20	Teen Late Night 5 – 9PM
Monday	September 23	Club B: Cooking Club
Tuesday	September 24	iReady Reading for ALL Students Club B: Cooking Club, Drama Club, Outdoor Club
Wednesday	September 25	Late Start Wednesday - Classes Begin @ 8:40AM Club B: Cooking Club, VR Club
Thursday	September 26	PTSA in the Wolverine Warehouse @ Lunches Club B: Cooking Club, Drama Club, Outdoor Club Back-to-School Night @ 6:30-7:30PM at Meeker
Friday	September 27	Pep Assembly – Wear Meeker Spirit Wear/Meeker Colors! Teen Late Night 5 – 9PM
Sunday	September 29	MOD Pizza PTSA Fundraiser 4:00 - 9:00PM
Monday	October 7	Glee Auditions 2:35PM Club B: Cooking Club
Tuesday	October 8	Glee Auditions 2:35PM
Thursday	October 10	PTSA in the Wolverine Warehouse @ Lunches
Friday	October 11	WATCH D.O.G. Friday Teen Late Night 5 – 9PM
Monday	October 14	Club B Session 2 Registration Opens
Tuesday	October 15	Picture Retake Day

To-Do’s:

⧠ Complete the Child Nutrition Eligibility & Education Benefit Application by October 1^st.

⧠ Update your ParentVUE account ParentVUE - Tacoma Public Schools (tacomaschools.org)

⧠ Login to My Ride K-12 to get up to date busing information for your student.

⧠ Download the Box Tops App and scan grocery store receipts for Box Tops eligible items to support Meeker’s ASB

⧠ Prepare your student for Makeup Picture Day on Sept. 19 if they did not get a picture taken at Wolverine Days

Back to School Night – Thursday, September 26^th

On September 26^th from 6:30—7:30PM we will host a Back-to-School Night for families to come meet their student(s)’ teachers, visit classrooms, take a family photo, eat an ice cream treat, and share your hope/wish for your student for the 2024-2025 school year.

Child Nutrition Eligibility and Education Benefit (CNEEB) Application Due by Oct. 1

Have you completed the CNEEB application? I’m asking all families to complete the application by Oct. 1: MySchoolApps - Select District. 

It’s important because it helps schools get additional resources for students, and it helps many families directly with benefits like fee waivers for school-related activities, such as a free ASB membership card.

It takes about 10 minutes to complete on a phone or computer. Feel free to take care of it at our school’s front office. Families can choose to translate the application in their preferred language.

Printable applications in additional preferred languages are also on our website.

Printable Applications

Questions? Contact our front office or email householdapplication@tacoma.k12.wa.us.

Update Your ParentVUE Account

The ParentVUE app helps streamline where you can find information and take care of school-related business. 

When you log into ParentVUE, you will be prompted to update and verify your contact information, your child's health history, and other important information.

During the school year, you can: 

• View attendance, schedules, and assignments
• Report absences
• Monitor your child's grades and academic progress
• Update your contact information
• Access MySchoolBucks and annual student forms  

If you haven't created a ParentVUE account yet, you will receive an email directly from Synergy with an activation link. 

Session 1 Sports Start Monday, 9/16!

Session 1 Sports starts tomorrow, September 16^th! This session is Boys Basketball, Girls Soccer, and Baseball. The following things must be done for your student to participate in sports:

1. Complete all sections of the FinalForms registration, including parent and student signatures.
2. Provide your student’s current physical paperwork whether by uploading it to FinalForms, or bring it to the school in person.
3. Purchase ASB Membership either in the office with Mrs. Kinney, or online through the MySchoolBucks App.
   1. Please note: Some students qualify to receive an ASB membership at a $0 cost. Please still “purchase” online or see Mrs. Kinney in the office to complete transaction and ensure ASB Membership.

Support our Meeker ASB with Box Tops!

Looking for an easy way to support Meeker’s ASB? Download the Box Tops app and scan any grocery store receipt for Box Top eligible items. Box Tops will then donate a check of all the Box Tops that were collected throughout the year.

Here’s more information on how to get set up:

1. Find the pink Box Tops app in your phone’s app store.
2. Fill out requested information.
3. Enter our schools zip code of 98422.
4. Select Meeker Middle School as your school.
5. Start scanning your grocery store receipts for items that have a Box Top!

Once in the app, you can find products that are Box Top eligible, as well as look at bonus offers, which change every month. Box Top has made it easy for families to support their student’s school by no longer collecting physical box tops. All it takes is a scan of a receipt of groceries you were already planning on purchasing. The app will tell you how much you have earned for Meeker after you submit your receipt. If you invite your friends and family to get involved, you will be offered more rewards/bonus points.

This could help Meeker raise up to $5,000 for fun student activities and opportunities for all students!

6th Grade applications for Meeker's Executive Board

6th graders interested in helping serve on Meeker's ASB Executive Board, please email or contact Mrs. Kuravackal for an application, or complete the application below. We meet 2-3 times a month after school, speak at assemblies, vote on money to be spent and activities to happen, and often we have very tasty snacks. All applications and videos are due by midnight Saturday, September 21st!

Meeker Exec Board 2024-25 Application

Korean ChuSeok Festival – Free Family Event!

The 4^th Annual APCC Korean ChuSeok (Korean Thanksgiving) Festival will be held on Saturday, September 21^st, from 11:00AM – 4:00PM at the Skansie Brothers Park and Netshed. Address is: 3211 Harborview Dr. Gig Harbor, WA.

Come out for a fund day celebrating a traditional Korean holiday with:

• Korean poem Sijo winner’s reading
• Traditional ChuSeok rice-cake making and taste
• K-Beauty know how
• Face painting with Korean motifs
• Traditional performances on stage
• Lotus lantern making
• Your name in Korean calligraphy
• Traditional Korean foods for purchase
• Everyone can join in for the Final performance

It’s going to be a great day to celebrate!

Login to My Ride K-12 for Busing Information  

With a new school year, and a new school start time, bus stops have changed slightly. To stay up to date, please login or create and account to My Ride K-12 to get accurate busing information. We want to ensure students are getting to and from school safely every day.

Students Enter through the Commons

This is a friendly reminder that ALL students need to enter through the Commons doors prior to school starting. Students will not be let into the front doors before 7:40AM on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Friday, or before 8:40AM on Late Start Wednesdays.

Schedule Changes End 9/20

Schedule change requests, and schedule changes will come to an end on Friday, September 20^th. As enrollment fluctuates this time of year, schedule changes may still occur if class sizes need to be balanced.

No Outside Organization Food Deliveries

This is a friendly reminder, all TPS schools are closed campuses, therefore, food deliveries from third party companies such as UberEATS, DoorDash, etc. is not permitted. If a parent would like to deliver lunch to their student, you may drop it in the office, and staff will get it to your student. This is to always ensure student safety. Thank you for your partnership.

A Word from our Metro Parks Partners

Thank you for your trust and partnership this summer, we hope teens had a great time in our program! Please help us improve our program by providing feedback with your teen on what they loved, what they would like to see differently and an evaluation of the general program at the Mason and Meeker locations, we hope to see your teen again this fall, every Friday, starting September 20th at our varying locations that are to be confirmed later this week, thank you.

Feedback Survey

NEWS from Meeker’s PTA

JOIN MEEKER PTA TODAY!

The new school year is here, and we're thrilled to bring you a year filled with exciting programs and events! To make this year a success, we need your support—consider joining the PTA today. Stay connected with weekly updates in the Meeker Memo and follow us on social media @MeekerMiddlePTA on Facebook and Instagram for the latest news. Visit our website at MeekerMiddlePTA.com to join and explore all the valuable resources available.

MOD Pizza Fundraiser 9/29/24

Enjoy a back-to-school pizza night and support Meeker PTSA programs at the same time! MOD Pizza in Federal Way (2104 S 320th Street, Federal Way, WA 98003) will donate 25% of fundraiser sales to support Meeker PTSA on Sunday, September 29th. Just mention fundraising code MODGIVES25 for in person orders or order online using the code. It's a simple, delicious way to support our school!

Save the Date: Meeker Family Fun Night – 10/25/24

Mark your calendars and plan to join us for a night of family fun! Food, games, raffles, and more!  We hope to see you there to gather as a community and support our PTSA at the same time!  

We will be raising funds to support PTA programming during our 2nd Annual Family Fund Night and are looking for donations for fun raffle and auction prizes! Sports tickets, gift certificates, family fun items, all make great raffle and auction prizes. If you have an item you would like to donate or if you are interested in joining a committee to help procure and package items, please email us at meekermiddlepta@gmail.com with your contact information and we will be in touch.

NE Tacoma Healthy Kids Coalition

Volunteers Needed! The NE Tacoma Healthy Kids Coalition needs volunteers this month to unload food deliveries, pack weekend meal bags, and deliver to our area schools. If you are able to help, please sign up below!

To find out more about the Healthy Kids Coalition, please visit our website: www.nethealthykids.com.

Sign Up to Volunteer with NETHKC

Worth Repeating:

New Meeker Office Hours:

The Meeker Office will be open from 7:00 AM – 2:45 PM on school days.

Back to School Information on the Website!

Visit our one-stop-shop webpage to get most frequently asked questions answered! Visit the link below to find more information.  Back to School Information

Car – Pickup

Please ONLY use the entrance at 44^th St NE on Nassau Ave to drop off/pick-up students. To keep everyone safe, cars cannot enter the lot used by our school buses. In the morning, students who are dropped off by car will walk around to the lower Commons entrance. Thank you for supporting school safety!