MES Weekly Update

Hello Media Elementary Families!

This week we celebrated our August birthday friends! We had a fun lunch hearing about what our friends did over the summer and for their birthday.

We are looking forward to our annual PTG Block Party & Harvest Fair on Friday, September 25th on Barrall Field and Edgmont St. Check out volunteer sign-up for any activities that still need a helping hand. AND don't forget to stop by our staff table to purchase a tattoo for a "Tattoo a Teacher" fundraising event!

Did you order your mums yet? Our order deadline is September 22. Place your order here today!

Friendly reminder: Please remember to label your child's items (clothing, water bottles, hats, lunchboxes, etc...).

If you have questions, please contact Mrs. Stoddard at lstoddard@rtmsd.org or 610-627-6800.

Mustang Pride!

Mrs. Stoddard

September 21: No School

September 25:

• PBIS Kick-Off Assembly
• PTG Back to School Block Party/Harvest Fair on Barrall Field 5:00-7:00 PM

September 28: September Birthday Lunches

October 2:

• PTG Miller's Greenhouse Mums Fundraiser Pick-Up from 4:00-6:00 PM (ORDER HERE - more info below)

October 6: PTG Meeting via Zoom 7:00 PM

October 9: Grandparents/Special Friends' Day

• AMK, Grades 1-2...9:15-10:15 AM
• PMK, Grades 3-5...1:45-2:45 PM

October 13: Principal Advisory Board (PAB) in the MES Conference Room 8:30-9:30 AM

October 16: Early Dismissal for Teacher In-Service

• AM Kindergarten dismisses regular time at 11:25 AM
• Grades 1-5 dismissed at 12:20 PM
• No PM Kindergarten

October 20: PTG Goodies, Grown-Up & Kids in the MES Cafeteria 8:00-8:40 AM

• All families with the last name beginning A-I are welcome to join us for light refreshments.

The cafeteria will begin selling snacks the week of September 21.

Grades 1-3: Wednesdays

Grades 4-5: Thursdays

Snack choices: ice cream, cookies, Doritos and fruit snacks

There will be NO seconds offered on a grade level's snack day.

Our Equity Building Team will continue our "Snack Fund" donation drive to provide snack for students on free/reduced lunch. Please consider donating to this initiative. Send cash in an envelope labeled "MES Snack Fund". Thank you for your generosity.

For more information, visit the Elementary Progress Report page on our RTMSD district webpage.

Come on out to Edgmont St & Barrall Field for our annual PTG Back to School Block Party & Harvest Fair on Friday, September 25 from 5:00-7:00 PM. Get ready for dancing, games & food trucks!

Hope to see you there!

VOLUNTEER SIGN-UP - CLICK HERE!!

Support Media Elementary with our Mums Fundraiser! Fundraisers help support our events, teacher luncheons/dinners, assemblies, supplement field trips, etc...

Complete the order form by September 22 and pick up at Media Elementary on October from 4:00-6:00 PM.

Join us for a spook-tacular evening of fun at our Media Elementary School Trunk or Treat! On Friday, October 30th from 5:30 to 7pm, families are invited to the Media Elementary faculty parking lot for a safe, family-friendly trick-or-treating event. We are encouraging families with a K-2nd grader to come at 5:30 and those with 3rd-5th graders to come closer to 6:15 to stagger the trick-or-treating!

Families are invited to sign up, decorate their car trunks in creative Halloween themes, and hand out candy to our little trick-or-treaters! Our goal is to get 40 TRUNKS this year - so reserve your spot today and help make this event a hauntingly good time for everyone while supporting our school for this PTG sponsored fundraising event.

We'll be awarding prizes for BEST COSTUME and BEST DECORATED CAR, so bring your A-game and your Halloween spirit!

This year we are looking for Candy Donations - please send a bag or 2 to school starting October 19th to help us have enough for all the trunk-or-treaters!

Admittance is $3 per kid with a $5 per family maximum at the door in cash or venmo. For those bringing your decorated car, the child attendee fee will be waived. Please sign up here Trunk or Treat Sign Up! For questions, please email evp@mesptg.org.

Media Elementary yearbooks are on sale now! Get your early bird sale price through October.

Yearbook prices increase after October 31.

ORDER HERE

Does anything on this table look familiar? Mrs. Stoddard's goal this year is to keep our Lost & Found table to ONE table. You can help by labeling your child's items - sweatshirts, sweaters, t-shirts, hats, water bottles, lunch boxes.

Dear Families,

Rose Tree Media students in grades Kindergarten through fifth will once again participate in beginning of year growth assessments. These tests help to determine a child’s instructional level and measure academic growth throughout the school year. They provide teachers with additional information on student progress toward proficiency and mastery of academic skills. The test scores let teachers know where a student’s strengths are and if support might be needed in any specific area. Teachers use this information to help guide individual and group instruction in the classroom. As well, to promote student achievement in all our schools, the district uses these results to continue to improve teaching and learning. These assessments will be administered by members of the MTSS team in each elementary school as part of the regularly scheduled instructional day.

The following tests will be given September 8 - October 2, 2026

In grades kindergarten through 5th, DIBELS 8 (Dynamic Indicator of Basic Early Literacy Skills), a series of short measures for assessing the acquisition and growth of literacy skills.

In grades Kindergarten through first, Acadience Math will be administered which is an assessment used to measure the development of early numeracy skills.

In grades 2nd through 5th, the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) is used. MAP is an adaptive computerized test administered to assess growth in the areas of reading and math.

If you have any questions prior to testing, please reach out to your building’s MTSS teacher for support.

Sincerely,

Christa A. Consadene

Director of Curriculum & Instruction

Ann Squires, MTSS at Glenwood Elementary

Katie Sandiford, MTSS at Indian Lane Elementary

Erin Schievert, MTSS at Media Elementary

Amanda Spinogatti, MTSS at Rose Tree Elementary

PRESIDENT: Nader Ali-Hassan

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT: Megan Moore

SECRETARY: Kortney Hyslop

TREASURER: Josh Young

Our Parent Teacher Group (PTG) is an integral part of our school made up of parent volunteers who support our students, staff and families. We meet each month to discuss upcoming events, fundraisers, and school happenings. All families are invited to attend to learn more about volunteer opportunities, better understand how the PTG supports MES and have open discussions.

KINDERGARTEN: Allison Porter

GRADE 1: Brittany Leight

GRADE 2: Ivan Carter

GRADE 3: Jen Reinert (also SAB rep)

GRADE 4: Emily Link

GRADE 5: Lydia Jeffress (also SAB rep)

TEACHER REPRESENTATIVES: Mrs. Connell & Mrs. Amoroso

Our P.A.B. is made up of seven parent volunteers and two teachers who meet four times a year with Mrs. Stoddard to discuss topics brought up by parents on how to support and improve Media Elementary. Prior to each meeting, a parent input survey will be shared in the MES Weekly Update for parents add agenda items for discussion.

We, the PTG, are looking for volunteers to chair, co-chair or volunteer for events at Media Elementary. This is a great way to get more involved with events and activities happening at MES! These events happen all year long which require different levels of commitments. We need your help in order to make this year a success. Take a look at this form to volunteer for one or more opportunities to become involved with your child's school!

MES 2026-2027 PTG VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES

DESCRIPTION OF EVENTS & VOLUNTEER RESPONSIBILITIES

Here are a few reminders from, Mrs. Lauren Porter, our new school nurse:

The RTMSD Contact and Nurse Form is now available online. Please complete the form by August 31, 2026. Completing it is essential so our nursing staff can provide appropriate care for your child and the school has current contact information in case of an emergency.

Please carefully review all phone numbers. A primary phone number is now required for every contact.

How to Complete the Form

Choose one of the following options:

• Option 1: Use your personalized snapcode link. You will be asked to sign in to an Enrollment Online account. If you have not previously created one, you will need to create an account using your email address or cell phone number.

• Option 2: Access the form through HAC - A Home Access Center (HAC) account is required. Newly enrolled students will receive HAC credentials during the first week of school.

1. Log in to your HAC account.

2. Select the Registration icon from the menu.

3. Select the Update Enrollment tab.

4. Click Start next to the Contact and Nurse Form.

5. Verify date of birth to access the form.

MEDICATIONS: If your child has any prescribed emergency medication (Epinephrine, Albuterol inhaler, seizure medication), please ask your child’s primary care provider to complete the blank action plan that went home from school on the last day with your child’s emergency medication.

ATTENTION 3rd grade families: The Pennsylvania School Health Regulations require that all 3rd grade students receive a dental examination. Thank you to all the families who have already returned their child’s dental examination form. If you have an upcoming exam, please ask the dentist to complete this Family Dental Report. Examinations must have been performed after September 1, 2025 and can be sent to Mrs. Porter via US mail or dropped off at MES by Friday, September 11, 2026.

Contact Mrs. Porter 610-627-6805 or lporter@rtmsd.org with any questions.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Lauren Porter

School Meals Information – 2026–2027

• Breakfast: Free for all elementary students (begins Monday, August 31, 2026)

• Lunch: $3.55 per meal

• Free/Reduced Meals: Families may apply online through the district website. Students receiving Direct Certification do not need to apply.

• Menus: Available on the district homepage under the Meals tab

• Meal Accounts: Funds can be added through MySchoolBucks.com, or by sending cash/checks to school (change is added back to the student’s account).

For complete details, please see the attached letter from Food Service Supervisor Jenni Lee.

In order to volunteer at any school events, all volunteers at MES must have clearances on file with the district. All clearances must be updated every 5 years. Once you receive all three clearances, copies can be dropped off at the main office.

• PA Criminal Background Clearance
• PDE FBI Clearance
• Child Abuse Clearance

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Boyer at 610-627-6802 or email dboyer@rtmsd.org.

GUEST AND VOLUNTEER CLEARANCE INFORMATION

Leading Edge provides before and after school care for the students of the Rose Tree Media school District. Media Elementary's Leading Edge program is located in our cafeteria.

More information can be found on this Leading Edge Kids page.

What is PBIS?

• PBIS is our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports system to promote our school wide expectations.
• We use direct instruction to explicitly teach students the expectations in all areas of the school.
• Happy Horseshoes are given to students who exhibit our 3 R's (Ready, Respectful and Responsible). AND this year we are practicing a 4th R - RESILIENT!
• Golden Horseshoes are given for our monthly focus areas.
• Each grade works toward a goal of earning a specific number of Happy Horseshoes which leads to our school earning a whole school reward. Grade levels vote on their grade reward when they reach their goal. The whole school votes on a school wide reward when we reach our school goal.
• Media Elementary PBIS Matrix - review this document to learn more about our school expectations.

Grades 1-5

Student Arrival: 8:40 - 8:50 AM (**Any student arriving after 8:50 must enter through Front Street doors and will be considered tardy.)

Student Dismissal: 3:30 PM

AM Kindergarten

Student Arrival: 8:40 - 8:50 AM (**Any student arriving after 8:50 must enter through Front Street doors and will be considered tardy.)

Student Dismissal: 11:25 AM

PM Kindergarten

Student arrival: 12:55 PM

Student Dismissal: 3:30 PM

Media Elementary School

Principal: Mrs. Lisa Stoddard

Email: lstoddard@rtmsd.org

Website: Media Elementary School

Address: 120 E. Front Street Media, PA 19063

Phone: 610-627-6800