THE MEYER PARENT LEADERS ARE SEEKING VOLUNTEERS FOR SOCKTOBERFEST! The PTO's Meyer Parent Leaders group (MPL) is looking for two volunteers to lead Meyer’s Socktoberfest scheduled for the end of October. Help plan our Socktober celebration at Meyer, which includes a dance party, games, crafts, face painting, and food. The PTO will assist with volunteers and provide funding. Please contact the MPL at [email protected] or Meyer school at [email protected] if interested. Thank you!

During the month of October, Meyer School will celebrate Socktober. We will be collecting new socks to be donated to the Niles Township Clothing Closet. Students can bring in NEW socks of any size, which will be donated at the end of the month. Last year, we donated over 1,000 pairs of socks!

We want to show our Meyer Shining Stars that even the smallest acts of love, like donating a pair of socks, can make a big difference in the lives of our neighbors in need. We will begin collecting socks on Wednesday, October 1st.

Students can also show their support by celebrating Wacky Socks Wednesdays! Get your wacky socks ready to wear on every Wednesday in October!

Ms. Lancioni’s and Mrs. Mpistolarides’s classes are taking part in an exciting nationwide project to bring the alphabet to life! They have partnered with 26 other kindergarten classrooms across the country to be ABC pen pals. Each class is assigned a different letter, and students create a craft and letter to share with each of their penpal schools. In return, our students will receive a letter, and by November, they’ll have a full alphabet created by friends from all over the country.

At Meyer, we learn about the ZONES OF REGULATION, a program designed to help children identify and self-regulate their emotions. We learn about four different zones: blue, green, yellow, and red:

• When you are in the blue zone, you may feel sad, bored, tired, or sick.
• When you are in the green zone you feel calm and happy. When you’re in the green zone, you do your best learning.
• When you are in the yellow zone you might feel scared, silly, worried, excited, or frustrated.
• When you are in the red zone, you might feel mad or out of control.

We also teach students to pick a calm down strategy to help them get back to the green zone, so that they are calm and ready to learn.

It is important to note that everyone experiences all of the zones and that the blue, red, and yellow zones are not “bad” zones. All of the zones are expected at one time or another.

At home, you can help your child gain awareness of his or her zones and feelings by pointing out when you see them experiencing feelings at home. “It looks like you are feeling sad and in the blue zone because you are frowning.” You can also have your child choose a strategy that they can use at home to return to the green zone, if they are ever in the blue, yellow, or red zone.

Students at Middleton are working to earn 1,500 Pride Paws as a building! Students earn a Pride Paw shout out card for demonstrating Respectful, Responsible, and Ready Bulldog Behavior around school. When a student earns that Pride Paw, their homeroom teacher keeps a tally, and sends the card home with the student so they may share their positive contribution to our school community with you at home.

Our 5th graders will soon be taking a survey to select the next whole-school incentive we are working towards. Stay tuned!

McCracken Picture Day is coming on Thursday, October 9th! You can place your order on mylifetouch.com using Picture Day ID EVT2TF2JG. Order before midnight on Picture Day to get FREE shipping!

Your child can also bring their completed flyer with cash or check on Picture Day. Orders after Picture Day must be placed online only on mylifetouch.com.

Here at McCracken, we are proud to offer a variety of student athletic and enrichment programs. These programs allow students to exercise their strengths, tackle areas of growth, and socialize with peers. Be sure to sign your student up for one of our great extracurricular clubs or activities at McCracken! Updated registration and fee information is now available. Please view the fall presentation and access the McCracken Extracurricular Brochure below.

• McCracken Extracurricular Brochure 2025-2026
• McCracken Extracurricular Fall Presentation 2025-2026

McCracken offers an activity bus for our students who participate in after-school activities. Some important notes about our activity bus:

• The activity bus runs every day after school.
• On Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, the activity bus boards at 3:55 p.m. in the bus alley.
• On Tuesday (early 2:00 p.m. release day), the activity bus boards at 3:00 p.m. in the bus alley.
• The activity bus runs a limited route that will differ from the morning and afternoon routes and stops. Families can view the stops HERE. All students riding the activity bus need to know what stop is the closest and best stop for them. Students should review this route plan with their families before riding the activity bus.
• Many of our clubs/activities end at 3:55 p.m. Some of our activities run beyond 3:55 p.m. and students participating in these activities should not plan to take the activity bus home. Please arrange for alternate transportation home.
• There is an annual $25 Activity Bus Fee for students to ride the activity bus. Payment is due no later than October 15th. Payments can be made through RevTrak. Once the payment has been received, students will receive an activity bus pass.