The Maple Glen Gazette

Happy Thursday, Maple Glen Families - What a great week at Maple Glen! This week our 4th grade students started anchoring the school news, our kindergarten students showed courage and started walking themselves in from the bus and carlines, and our students continued learning new procedures and expectations for the year.

Some news from the lunch room - We currently have over 600 students in the building, many who eat a school lunch in the cafeteria. At every school across the district, our goal is to get students through the food lines quickly and efficiently. The faster we get them through, the more time our students have to eat and enjoy time with friends.

Currently, our students enter a 6 digit code to access their meal account. This method works but is timely. Paul Sherrer, WWS Director of Food Services, has worked with neighboring school districts to find a better solution for WWS schools. Starting at the end of September, we will switch to a finger scan system at lunch. Below is a letter from Paul explaining the process. His contact information is also listed.

Please feel free to reach out to me also with any questions.

PowerSchool should be updated and working for all students. I thank you for your patience as the district has navigated some difficulties with PowerSchool that has affected Talking Points and transportation. Please reach out to the office if you are still having difficulty.

I hope you all have a wonderful three day weekend!

Tiffany Buzan

buzant@wws.k12.in.us

317-896-4700

Dear Parents & Guardians,

In order to provide the most secure method available for identification of students through the cafeteria serving line, our school has recently implemented a biometric finger scanning solution. This solution will allow students to quickly identify themselves using their finger. A biometric solution is more secure than having students remember a PIN or carry an identification card. The finger scanning enrollment process works as follows for each finger that is scanned:

● The student scans their index finger three times.

● The computer software develops a grid of intersection points from the ridges and valleys of the scanned image.

● Only specific characteristics, which are unique to every fingerprint, are filtered and saved.

● These specific characteristics are converted to a binary number, which is a series of zeros and ones.

● The binary number is stored in the database as the encrypted biometric key.

No fingerprint image is stored. The only item stored in the database is the series of points which is determined from the ridges and valleys of the scanned image. This data can’t be reverse engineered to create a fingerprint. Once the student completes the enrollment process, they will be able to use their finger as the method of identification when receiving meals and a la carte items from our cafeteria. When the student goes through the line, they will scan their finger (either left or right index) a single time. The software will again build the specific characteristics from the ridges and valleys of the scanned image. These specific characteristics are then converted to a binary number, encrypted and used to search against the encrypted biometric keys in the database to determine a match. The finger scanning program software was developed by Focal Tech, Inc. of State College, PA. Focal Tech is also the developer of the LunchTime School Lunch Software System which is the cafeteria point of sale system we have implemented in conjunction with the finger scanning program.

You can visit the Focal Tech corporate site at http://www.focaltechinc.com and the LunchTime product website at http://www.lunchtimesoftware.com. The identification and matching process is extremely fast, secure and accurate. If you have any questions regarding the new biometric process we have implemented, please do not hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,

Paul Sherrer

Director of Food Services

sherrerp@wws.k12.in.us

317.867.8000 ext 10060

We are happy to announce that we will continue to offer food support again this year for families who can benefit from this assistance with the Back Sacks Program! Through this program, our goal is to help feed our kiddos on the weekends when school breakfast and lunch is not available. We are so thankful to Open Doors of Westfield and Merciful HELP in Carmel for helping make this happen.

At the end of each week, your child will receive a small sack of food in his or her backpack. The sack will have two small breakfast meals, two small lunch meals, as well as a couple of snacks and drinks. All foods are shelf-stable, which means they do not need to be refrigerated. Examples of items are cereal, granola bars, macaroni and cheese, spaghettios, dried fruit and crackers.

The food is collected and distributed by Merciful HELP and Open Doors. If you have a concern about allergies or the quality of a product, please remove the item from the sack and contact me. We will do everything we can to assist you.

If you would like your child(ren) to participate in the Back Sacks program, please fill out this GOOGLE FORM.

We look forward to having your child participate in the program! If you have any questions or choose to no longer participate, please contact me at 317-896-4700 ext 17006 or NewmanN@wws.k12.in.us.

Dear families,

This year I will continue to offer small skill-based groups for our students. Group counseling is an excellent way for children to learn new skills, develop self-confidence, become more aware of others’ views, practice new behaviors, and better understand how to deal with problems life presents. Groups will be based on skills that have been identified as a need, such as coping skills for anxiety, friendship skills, resilience, and regulation.

The first group I will offer is called F.I.S.H. for K-4 students who are coping with Families In Separate Homes. This group is geared towards students whose families have recently gone through a separation or divorce. We will discuss feelings related to family changes as well as connecting with others who have had similar experiences. The groups will run for 6-8 sessions, each lasting about 20 minutes during the school day at a time that works best for the teachers and students. If you would like your child(ren) to participate, please fill out this FISH Google Form by August 29th. Fill out one form per child.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Thank you,

Nicole Newman

NewmanN@wws.k12.in.us

Spell Bowl try-outs will be next Thursday, August 21st at 7:15 am in Mrs. Pate’s classroom, room 178. A list of 50 words that are on the Spell Bowl list this year were offered on Wednesday, August 13th. After calculating your scores, Spell Bowl members will be posted in the 4th grade hallway on Friday, August 22nd. If your child makes the team, practices will be before school, 6:45-7:40am on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

***If you are going to sign up for a committee or to be a room parent please make sure you have a Safe Visitor pass on file.***

Committee:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30E0D4BA8A62DA4FD0-57854057-2526

Rockathon shirts. ONE SHIRT PER ORDER.

https://mgerockathontees.itemorder.com/shop/home/

Apparel Store:

https://mapleglen25.itemorder.com/shop/home/?fbclid=IwY2xjawMKwr1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETF5TDJMdlZ1dDJtWG1wUTFaAR6_yRhySYLF-rdKEUDbnBmGtY8LjQuAM3PzzzekSoAQsYLggykOPXkAU2OG7g_aem_E2Qbfp5m9A1A_pcs7YPQUA

Room parent:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfStNpHqOe_nVa_tYeEoCDAM_L8eWhAYi4Hniy8N2-Os8jtmw/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=117430692988346743986

Are you a student, parent/caregiver, employee, or community member interested in helping Westfield Washington Schools prepare for next year's K-8 school rebalancing? If so, you're invited to serve on the Rebalancing Committee. Meetings are scheduled from 6:30-8:00 p.m. on September 3, 10, 17, and 24, and October 1 & 8. At each meeting, we will use the entire 90 minutes to dive into the details of the rebalancing process. You will receive information through short presentations, followed by interactive breakout conversations. You will have the chance to interact with school district leaders, ask questions, and provide feedback. Due to the amount of detailed information that will be covered at each meeting, we ask that you commit to attending all six meetings.

Please complete this form no later than August 22. Forms will be reviewed, and participants will be notified by Monday, August 25.

Dates

Wednesdays

• September 3, 10, 17, 24
• October 1, 8

Board Meeting Approval

November 11, 2025

Calling all 2nd through 4th grade students to join the fun and exciting FIRST Lego League Explore Program! FLL Explore is a great way for kids to learn engineering, design, and coding through playing with Legos. The program meets at Westfield High School and the fall session begins August 25. A winter session will also be offered later this year. Specific dates and more information can be found on the SHAM-ROCK-BOTICS website. The deadline to submit an application for the fall session is August 15. Capacity is limited, so apply soon!
https://www.shamrockbotics.com/fllexplore

If your child will be absent or late - Please call the attendance line and leave a message (317) 896-4700 ext 17001, or email mgesattendance@wws.k12.in.us

Please do this even if you let your child's classroom teacher know about the absence. This will ensure that our attendance secretary receives the information.

If you have a dismissal change, please let the front office know by 1:00pm. This gives the office enough time to notify your child is where they’re supposed to be at the end of the day! Please DO NOT leave dismissal changes on the attendance line.

To notify the front office of a dismissal change, call (317) 896-4700 ext 17011, or email:

mgesattendance@wws.k12.in.us

We can't wait to welcome lunch visitors this year! Watch this space for a Sign Up Genius link in Late August!

A new application must be completed each school year. The Application for Free or Reduced Meals and Other Benefits is now available on-line by clicking the button below. You can also come to the Administration Building between the hours of 7 am - 4 pm to complete an application on-line. Please feel free to contact Stacy Luedke, at (317) 867-8000 or email at luedkes@wws.k12.in.us.

In an effort to constantly improve and enhance school safety, we use a visitor management system at all nine WWS schools. This comprehensive system will enhance our school entrance security and better ensure that every visitor to our schools is permitted and authorized to be in our school buildings.

Background checks are good for four years at any school in the district. These background checks will cost $12.95 and can be acquired via the link below.

Westfield Washington Schools usesTalkingPoints to communicate with families! TalkingPoints allows for seamless multilingual two-way communication between teachers and families. Families can choose to receive messages via SMS text messaging or through the free FAMILIES | TalkingPoints mobile app for Apple or Android.

This platform has enhanced translation capabilities, so families can receive and send messages in their preferred language. Additional tools like speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and closed captioned videos make this program accessible to all of our Westfield families.

The most important thing you can do to ensure you are receiving messages from your child’s teacher is to make sure your contact information for the “Father” and “Mother” fields in PowerSchool is correct. When a teacher sends out a message, TalkingPoints will automatically use those two phone numbers. If you’d like to add additional contacts, please reach out to your child’s teachers.

Website: mge.wws.k12.in.us
Location: 17171 Ditch Road, Westfield, IN, USA
Phone: 317-896-4700
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Maple-Glen-Elementary-153896671714866/
Twitter: @shakeleaves