Meadowlawn Middle School

4/27/25

Good Afternoon Lancer families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. We have had another outstanding week at The Lawn. Our Boys Flag Football team has advanced to the next round of playoff’s. We will have a home game here on Tuesday. Remember that tickets must be purchased through the go fan link. Our Girls team will also play an away game at Thurgood Marshall on Monday. Depending on the outcome of these games will determine the subsequent game dates and locations. Congrats to both teams.

This past Thursday our Chorus students participated in a joint concert at Northeast High. This was an amazing event, and we were very proud of how well they performed.

I want to thank our parents for encouraging their students to complete IXL & Edia at home. As a school we doubled our usage from the previous month. Way to go!

This week marks the beginning of our FAST assessments. We are starting with our 7th & 8th grade ELA on Thursday. Please encourage your students to get plenty of sleep, a healthy breakfast and to show up to school on time. We also recommend students bring a jacket or hoodie with them as sometimes the testing rooms are chilly.

Thursday also begins the window for our 8th grade activities. Students who are planning on attending the 8th grade events need to be on their best behavior and not earn a referral. Any processed referral will automatically prevent them from attending all events.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.

4.13.25

Good afternoon Lancer Families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. This past week our students took the writing FAST assessment. This test will not count for a grade but instead is used for a baseline assessment. We have a flag football game this week and it will be Tuesday at Azalea Middle School. Parents, a reminder that all tickets must be purchased on the Go Fan site; cash is not allowed to be used to purchase tickets.

This week our Algebra team will participate in the district challenge on Wednesday. We will also be sending two teams to the TZ Area Science Bowl. We are excited for our scholars to showcase their knowledge.

We will not have school on the 18th or the 21st of April. Students will return on April 22nd. Parents all our students enrolled in math need to be working on IXL and Algebra students need to work om Edia.

Parents, we have talked with our students and reminded them that they must use our bike racks to store their bikes during the day. They will no longer be able to lock their bikes to the railing out front. Students have been told that their locks will be cut if they continue to park there.

Lastly, the following events will be held for our 8th grade students: 5/9 – Gradventure, 5/22 Field Day, 5/27 Moving Up ceremony @ NEHI @ 6pm and our 8th grade dance is on May 28th from 2:30 – 4:00. Students cannot attend these events if they earn a referral during the month of May.

3.9.25

Good afternoon Lancer Families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. Parents we need your help in speaking with your students to follow the directions of all crossing guards. We are hearing that several students are not adhering to the rules and running across traffic on 58th Street. This is a serious safety issue for our students and for the drivers.

Parents of 8th graders, you received a message from Assistant Principal Forbes detailing the option of your student attending Gradventure on May 9th. This information is attached to this email and is also posted on the website. Seats are limited to 100 students and are sold on a first come basis. A processed office referral will automatically remove the student from the trip and refunds will not be issued. Please see the details and expectations that are outlined. There are several other 8th grade events planned for the end of the year. All events are based on students exhibiting the Lancer Way and any student receiving a referral during the month of May will forfeit their opportunity to participate in these activities.

This week our Algebra students will take their mock assessment. Our students enrolled in Civics will also take an assessment this week.

Flag football tryouts begin on Monday and run through Wednesday. They will be held afterschool from 4:20-5:30. Students must have a completed athletic packet on file to try out.

Our school will be closed for Spring Break from March 17- March 23rd. We encourage our students to do the many spring break challenges that the are held during this time. Students will receive a special prize for participating.

Parents we encourage our students to spend time on IXL every night. Students can access this through Clever and can be done on a phone or tablet.

Thank you for your support.

2/16/25

Good afternoon Lancer Families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. This week our Lancer Jazz Band performed at the ACE Principals breakfast. This was a huge honor to be asked to perform and the students shined. They also attended the Music Performance Assessment on Thursday and received a rating of Superior. Our school has not received this recognition since 2016. Great job to our fantastic students, teacher and family who support this group.

A reminder that yearbooks are on sale. They are currently $35 but will increase to $40 in March. You can find a link to purchase them on our website.

We have a track meet on the 25th at St. Pete High. Following this meet there will be Division championship meets on March 5th & 6th with District meets on March 12th. Please come out and support our student athletes.

Flag football season will be starting immediately after track season with a tentative tryout date of March 10th. If you want your student to participate, please make sure they have a physical and completed athletic package prior to that date.

Families we are selling snacks afterschool for $1 to support our PBIS program. This program supports our events throughout the year and our bigger events at the end of the year. We will have a dress down day on 2/28. Students may purchase a dress down pass for $2 during lunches.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.

2.9.25

Good afternoon Lancer families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. Our track season is off to a great start. The Lancer Athletes were victorious in their meet this past week and took home the win. This week they have a track meet at Pinellas Park High School on Tuesday.

Our current 6th grade and 7th grade students made their elective course selections for next school year. If your student was absent and did not complete this, they will have the opportunity to meet with their grade level counselor to make sure this is completed.

This week our students will complete their portion of the annual district survey. Parents we ask that you complete this survey so our school and district can improve our practice.

Thank you to our families for making sure your students are not arriving prior to 9:10. We want to remind everyone that we do have free tutoring before and after school daily.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.

4/6/25

Good afternoon Lancer families,

Thia is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. This past week we celebrated our Concert Band earning a rating of Excellent and our Lancer Band earning Superior at the MPA’s. We also had the only student Conductor in the county, and he earned a rating of Superior. Congratulations to our band lead by Mr. Fox.

On Monday we will celebrate our Pride recipients at Ruth Eckerd Hall for their academic achievements in Writing, Math, Science, Social Studies and World Languages. We also have a home flag football game on Monday. Please purchase your tickets through the gofan link as we are no longer able to take cash for these games.

We are gearing up for testing in May. Our Civics teachers have created a Civics bootcamp event so be on the lookout for the invitations.

Lastly, we have less than 10 seats available for our Gradventure 8th grade trip. If you are interested in attending, please bring your money and paperwork in as these seats are sold on a first come basis.

Thank you for your support and have a wonderful weekend.

2.2.25

Good afternoon Lancer families

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. I want to start by congratulating our boys’ basketball team for an outstanding season. The fought hard throughout the season and showed such sportsmanship even in defeat. The team and their coaches made us proud. We have track season occurring and will have a meet on Tuesday against Mangrove Bay at 4:45. This meet will be held at St. Pete High School.

Guardians, of rising 7th and 8th grade students, on Wednesday, February 5 and Thursday, February 6, your student will be making elective course selections for the 2025-2026 school year. This process will be completed online, at school, with the guidance of their school counselor. While we make every attempt to honor selections, there are many factors to consider, and we cannot guarantee placement. All core content classes (math, science, English, social studies) are chosen for each student - selection is dictated by student performance on FAST Assessments, grades, and proper course progression.

Families can view course selection sheets on the school's webpage beginning Monday. If you have questions, reach out to your grade-level school counselor.

Our current 8th graders will have the opportunity to meet and select courses for high school at the end of the month. Please continue to view your selected high schools website for discovery nights and events.

For our families with incoming 6th graders, we will hold a discovery night on March 12th from 5:30-7.

Thank you for your support and have a wonderful weekend.

1.19.25

Good afternoon Lancer families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. A reminder that we do not have school on Monday, January 20th in honor of MLK day. We will have track tryouts on Tuesday and Wednesday after school from 4:10-5:30 . Students must have all completed paperwork with them prior to trying out. Information can be found on our school website. There is a change in our basketball game this week; the date changed from Tuesday to Wednesday and the game will be held at Pinellas Park Middle School.

Tuesday starts our assessment for all students enrolled in 8th grade science. Please make sure that your student is present the day of testing. Our students that took their Civics did an amazing job. Please talk with your students about both assessments.

Parents, we are seeing a lot of headphones (over the ear / Beats style) since we returned from break. These are not permitted along with any other electronic devices. Students need to make sure these and other headphones are in backpacks or left at home.

Report cards were posted to your students focus page on Thursday; please reach out if you have any questions.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.

12/8/2024

Good afternoon Lancer families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. We have had a successful week in our students taking their Math PM2 FAST assessments. Our students are soaring in the skills and making significant gains. We continue with finishing up math this week and beginning our ELA assessments. Parents, it is critical that all students are in attendance each day.

Our basketball teams will have an away game at Pinellas Park Middle on Monday and a home game on Wednesday. Please come out and support our student athletes.

This Tuesday we will hold our Winter Band Concert at Northeast High School. The concert will begin at 6:30. Our band students have worked hard to put on an amazing performance

12/2/24

Good afternoon Lancer families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. I hope everyone has had a wonderful week with time spent enjoying family. We return to school on Monday both of our basketball teams having an away game at Azalea middle and a home game on Wednesday. We will now have both boys and girls play on the same day; please see the new attached schedule.

Wednesday marks the start of our second round of FAST assessments. This assessment is a great indicator of the progress students have made thus far. Please ensure that all students are in attendance and understand the importance of this assessment. We will start the week with 6th grade math and proceed the following week with language arts. Results are posted within 24 hours in your student focus accounts.

This week also is the midpoint in the grading period. Please look at your students focus accounts for their grades and reach out to our counselors if you would like to set up a parent conference. Tutoring is also available daily.

A quick reminder that as our weather gets cooler students’ jackets and hoodies must follow our dress code policy. Our colors are white, grey, blue, black and yellow. All outerwear must be solid in color and refrain from any logos larger than 3 inches.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.

11.17.24

Good afternoon Lancer families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. This week  our students in math will be taking their IXL diagnostic assessment. This assessment is a measure of what they have learned so far this year and helps us determine what benchmarks need to be reviewed. We want all students to take every assessment seriously and do their best.

Our boys and girls basketball teams won their first game. Both games were exciting and the Lancer spirit was promoted by our amazing cheerleader team. We have a boys home game Monday and the girls play away at Pinellas Park Middle. Games are $3 and start at 4:45.

On Friday we will have our Staff vs Student volleyball game starting at 3:10 pm. Students may purchase a ticket by using their PBIS points. 

I want to remind our families that we have tutoring available every morning except Tuesday  and afternoon except Friday. We encourage all students to attend. Also, a reminder that students should not be on campus prior to 9:10.

A reminder that we are closed for thanksgiving break from November 25-29th. School will return to regular session on December 2^nd. 

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend. 

11.10. 24

Good afternoon Lancer Families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update.  Our students have done a great job with tryouts and teams have been formed. Our first game is on Wednesday the 13^th. The girls’ team is at home and our boys team is away at Mangrove Bay. Our games will start promptly at 4:45. 

This week we will have picture retakes on the 12^th. This is for new students or students who were absent on our original picture day.  We also will have the Great American Teach In on Wednesday. We look forward to our students having an opportunity to learn about different careers. If you have a special career and would like to join please reach out to Mrs. Dang. 

Parents, I want to remind all that students are not to be on campus prior to 9:10 unless they are attending tutoring. This is a safety issue as there is no adult supervision in these areas.  Also, as shared previously, all parents must use the carline when picking up their students at dismissal. Parents parking in the front causes a safety issue and causes traffic jams because of backing out of spaces. Lastly, we stop parent pick up at 3:45. These are policies that have been in place for several years, but we have noticed an increase in these occurring. We appreciate your continued support in honoring our processes. 

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.

11.3.24

Good afternoon Lancer families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. On Monday we welcome Mr. Forbes as our new 8th grade Assistant Principal. Mr. Forbes has worked as an Assistant Principal within Pinellas County for several years and we are thrilled to have him as a Lancer.

This week we have tryouts for the basketball team on Wednesday. Our girls will tryout in the morning from 8-9 and the boys will be afterschool from 4:30-5:30. Students must have a completed athletic packet prior to trying out. This includes a participation packet and current physical. You can find a link to these documents on our website.

Picture retakes are on Tuesday the 5th. You can find a link to the picture packets on our website. We also are still taking pre-orders for our Yearbook. Yearbooks are $35 during presale and will be $40 once this special offer ends.

Coming up, we have a SAC meeting (online) at 5pm on the 6th. Please click on the link if you are interested in being a member of SAC. https://us05web.zoom.us/j/83894727503?pwd=UF1Whiy6NSbi8bhrVqwbO3nZWjKswL.1

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.

10.27.24

Good afternoon Lancer families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. This week we are wrapping up our volleyball season with the playoffs at Largo High on Monday. Our Basketball season begins this week. We are holding open gym for both teams with girls in the morning from 8-9, and our boys in the afternoon from 4:30-5:30. Tryouts will be the following Wednesday. Students must have all of their athletic paperwork in prior to trying out. This includes a participation packet and current physical. You can find a link to these documents on our website.

Quarter one is complete. All grades will be posted to your students Focus page on 10/29. Please reach out to the grade level counselor if you would like to set up a parent conference. Our students that received Honor Roll and Principal’s list will celebrate their accomplishments on Friday.

On Wednesday we will have a “Pink Out” day in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness month. Thursday is Halloween, students may wear orange and black regular clothes (no onesies) or a school appropriate Halloween shirt. Students are not permitted to wear costumes to school.

Coming up, we have picture day on November 5th and a SAC meeting (online) at 5pm on the 6th. If you are interested in being a part of SAC please reach out to me.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.

10.6.24

Good afternoon Lancer families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. This week our students did a great job getting back into the routine of school. Quarter one ends this Friday. Teachers will be finalizing grades with report cards being visible through Portal on October 24th.

I want to reinforce our dress code policy. All students should be arriving to school in dress code every day. The two areas we need to work on are slides are not permitted, especially during gym and hoodies. Sweatshirts must be solid in color with a logo no larger than three inches and be one of our approved colors: blue, black, grey, yellow or white. At this point anyone in violation with have their attire confiscated and be returned to parents.

In volleyball news, our teams are away @ Tyrone on Monday and at Pinellas Park on Wednesday.

Our 8th grade students have an amazing opportunity to take the PSAT on 10/15. Studies show the more opportunities a student takes standardized tests the greater their score will be. This test will be administered in the morning and is approximately 3 hours long. Results will be shared with parents and students once they are received.

Parents, we had placed our fundraiser on hold but are restarting it on Monday. We encourage all students to participate as it supports PBIS and Athletics Programs. Each Domino’s card is $20 and can be used through July of 2025. Please click on the links in this website to register your student. https://dash.dominos.cards/45220

After registering, share your child’s link via email, text, and social media! When a customer clicks on your link it will take them directly to your child’s store to purchase a card and we will send the card directly to them. Using your personalized link will ensure your child is given credit for the purchase.

Student packets were distributed earlier but we have additional copies if you need. You may also access social media posts through the website. The top 5 sellers in each grade level will also receive vouchers for a dress down day. School pictures are ready! To order, log in to your account on mylifetouch.com or create an account using your student's student ID number. All families can also log on and order a FREE Digital SmileSafe card.

9.15.24

Good afternoon Lancer families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. This week the majority of our students completed their ELA FAST assessment. I could not be prouder at their focus and drive to do their best. This coming week our students will take their Math FAST assessment. Please make sure your students are in attendance every day.

We have a lot of activities this week starting with our volleyball games. Our Lancers are away at Azalea on the 16th and away at Baypoint on the 18th. The athletes have done an outstanding job at demonstrating teamwork. We also have “Starts with Hello” week. This week encourages students to make new connections with other students and to create a school climate that welcomes all students. Please see the attached flyer for more information.

Parents there is a great opportunity for your student to apply for a Take Stock in Children scholarship. This scholarship can change your student’s future with a paid college education. Please see the flyer for details and feel free to reach out to our counselors for assistance.

Tutoring is underway and we encourage all students to take part in this free opportunity. See our website for dates and times. On Monday we have a new club starting for any student interested in being on out yearbook committee. This club will be Monday and Wednesday afternoons in room 5-115.

Thank you for your support and have a great weekend.

9.1.24

Good afternoon Lancer families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. Volleyball season is here and we will have our first game on Wednesday @ Lealman. The cost is $2 and games will begin at 4:45.

This week we will have our first SAC meeting on Wednesday at 5pm. This meeting will take place online. If you are interested in becoming a member of SAC or PTO please reach out to me and I will send you an invitation to the meeting.

Parents I want to make you aware that the first round of FAST assessments will begin on September 9th and continue through the end of this month. It is critical that students take this seriously. The information gathered will help us in closing any deficiency gaps as well as enriching curriculum for our students. Students that stay a level 3 or above or make a bucket gain from last year in ELA will receive a free dress down day. For our students taking the math assessment we will be looking for those that are using their planning sheets and showing their work to achieve a free dress down day.

Picture day is coming and will be on October first. Be on the lookout through our weekly messages or school website for additional information.

Please enjoy your extended weekend and we look forward to the students returning on Tuesday.

August 18, 2024

Good afternoon Lancer families,

This is Principal Athanson calling with your weekly update. We have had a fantastic week at the Lawn. Our students have been remarkable in learning their new schedule, understanding and following expectations and working with one another. As shared before we are a pilot school for incorporating a targeted learning program. This program is to increase students’ sense of community and engagement. Our students will be taking a survey to choose what activity they want to participate in for the semester. The choices include intramurals, origami, Disney club, board games and much more. We offer this class on Wednesdays and Thursdays. To accommodate this, we have created a modified block schedule on those days.

Parents of 6th grade students we need your help in making sure your student has their lunch pin memorized. This will allow our cafeteria lines to move in a more efficient manner.

Next week on the 22nd we will have Open House for 7th & 8th grade students. The event will begin in the cafeteria at 5:30.

Volleyball season is here. Tryouts are Monday through Thursday from 4:15-5:30. All students interested must have a completed athletic packet and current physical prior to trying out. Please see the attached flyers for more information. Cheerleading tryouts will begin the following week and details will be included in next weeks message.

We have our school yearbooks on sale for $35. Please see the attached flyer and get your order in early.

I want to thank our parents for doing a fabulous job in the car line. It is moving at a great pace, and we are getting students out in a safe manner. We ask that you put a sign in your window with your student’s name. This will allow us to call for them as you pull up to further expedite the process.

Thank you and have a wonderful weekend.