Gem Prep: Meridian

We're celebrating!
Our school charter was renewed without conditions. Idaho statute provides an accountability structure for public charter schools and authorizers. At the heart of this structure is a performance framework that includes the indicators, measures, and metrics used to evaluate each school’s performance outcomes in three categories: Academic, Operational and Financial.

WELL DONE, GEM PREP: MERIDIAN!

For more information on the process, see https://chartercommission.idaho.gov/standards-and-outcomes/performance-framework-guidance/

Some shenanigans are afoot at GPM on this St. Patrick's Day! Leprechauns visited many of our elementary classrooms and caused mischief! It is a good thing that our 1st and 2nd graders engineered and tested leprechaun traps this week. The PTO also surprised our staff with treats from the Shenanigans Cart.

We are so LUCKY for our amazing scholars, families and teachers here at GPM!

Yesterday, our 5th grade scholars had a blast on their field trip at SnowSchool at Bogus Basin. It was a beautiful day for our scholars to snowshoe through the Boise National Forest learning about snow science and winter ecology. Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area

Public Service Announcement for our communities:
Medicaid Protection was put in place at the beginning of the Public Health Emergency (PHE) pandemic and provided continued Medicaid coverage for individuals who may have otherwise been ineligible. People were able to retain their Medicaid coverage for the duration of the PHE even if they got a job, a new job, finances changed for the positive, etc. On April 1, 2023, the continuing coverage requirement ends. For more information and resources please see https://healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/medicaidprotection

We're enrolling grades K-12 for next year. Sign up for the lottery registration today, then meet us for an info session to learn more!
Apply at https://gemprep.org/gem-prep/apply/

Earlier this week, we hosted Math/STEM Family Night at GPM! Scholars had the opportunity to make their own lava lamps, get excited about coding, show their parents around Zearn, learn about the Science Bowl team, program a robot, build a circuit, and learn math games to play with their family at home. Thank you to Mathnasium of Meridian, FRC Team 5871 - The Chickadees, Code Ninjas and our high school, staff and parent volunteers for helping to make the evening a great experience for all!

Dear 2023-2024 High School Scholars and Families,

On Tuesday, March 7th, Miss Simmons and Mrs. Merrell will be doing a Pathways Presentation in which they will discuss the Gem Prep Mission and the different pathways scholars can take - either acquiring their Associate's Degree or getting at least 18 college credits!

This event will be through Zoom and will run from 6:30pm until 7:00pm. Check your email for the Zoom link or reach out to Miss Simmons or Mrs. Merrell with any questions.

Reminder: Tonight is the night for Student Council's fundraiser at Texas Roadhouse!

Dear GPM Students and Families,

We are excited to announce our fundraiser with Texas Roadhouse. As you know, our high school prom is just around the corner and we’re close to reaching our goal. On March 6th, we will have a Dine and Donate night at Texas Roadhouse. When you present the flyer to your server at Texas Roadhouse, 10% of the money made from your meal will be donated to GPM to help fund our prom as well as more events going forward. We’re excited to see all of you on the 6th to support our student council and your griffin pride.

Sincerely,
GPM Student Council and Advisers

Miss Clark's 6 & 7th grade scholars had the chance to join her at The Peregrine Fund's World Center for Birds of Prey Family Field Trip Day over the weekend. When Miss Clark isn't teaching, she can be found volunteering at the Birds of Prey Center as a Raptor Care volunteer. She loved the opportunity to introduce her scholars to some Avian Ambassadors as they start their Ecology Unit.

Something great happened over the winter break. We can't wait for you to see it when school resumes tomorrow.

Thank you to the Bower family for sharing your time and talents to make GPM a beautiful place to learn!

Join us for Math/STEM night at Gem Prep Meridian on Tuesday, February 28th from 5:30-7:30 pm. We will have games and prizes, with local vendors and STEM programs.
We hope to see you there!

Eighth grader finds his niche attending college

A great article about one of our GPN students.

"It’s not uncommon for a high school student to take an online college course, but a 13-year-old attending college in person is rare."

Eighth grader finds his niche attending college Jonah Layton’s family tried virtual classes, homeschooling, a charter school, and now attending the College of Western Idaho.

Congratulations Science Bowl! In their very first year, they won regionals and will be going to nationals. Thank you Ms. Clark and Mr. Thomet for your dedication as club advisors and in your support of this awesome victory. Good job GPM Science Bowl!

GPM wishes you a Happy Valentine's Dress-up Day! On Tuesday, scholars can wear pink, red, purple, white, or Valentine-themed clothing.

*Secondary Only- has an extra Spirit Day on Monday, February 13th to celebrate Higher Ed Day. We would love to see that college spirit.

Today, our elementary scholars and staff celebrated the 100th Day of School! It was such a joyful day filled with activities and dressing up to celebrate 100 days of learning and growing together.

Student_Photo_Contest_ISBA 2023.pdf

K-12 STUDENT PHOTO CONTEST!
Theme: "Hometown Idaho"
Idaho School Boards Assn. is holding their 2023 student photo contest. Submission deadline is 03/01/2023. Check out the entry guidelines here:

Student_Photo_Contest_ISBA 2023.pdf

Do you know what really do? Spoiler alert: It’s a lot. This week, we’re celebrating Ms. Simmons' dedication to all our GPM scholars. Be sure to let her know we appreciate all she does.

Gem Prep Meridian | Gem Prep

The lottery for the 2023-2024 school year is open! We are excited to have our current scholars and families return and welcome new families to Gem Prep: Meridian.
Be sure to apply on our website!
https://gemprep.org/gem-prep/apply/

Gem Prep Meridian | Gem Prep FREE COLLEGE PREP CHARTER SCHOOL (K-12) Quick LinksSchool CalendarsView our 2022-2023 School Calendar View our 2023-2024 School CalendarSchool HandbookView the handbookSchool Supply ListsView our School Supply Lists.Lunch Order PortalLunch Order PortalCOVIDView Gem Prep ReOpening PlanTitle IXView ou...

Secondary scholars celebrated our Scholars of the Quarter and Honor Roll at our semester one assembly. 51% of secondary scholars made Honor Roll with a 3.5+ GPA, with 20 scholars having a perfect 4.0. Nice job demonstrating our EPIK values of excellence, perseverance, integrity, and kindness!

We love having scholars back in the building and having fun while learning! Our amazing 6th grade Genius Hour teacher, Mrs. Simpson had scholars participate in the marshmallow challenge. Teams had 18 minutes to use 20 sticks of spaghetti, one yard of tape, one yard of string, and one marshmallow to build the tallest structure with the marshmallow on the top.
While having fun, scholars are also building their Gem Prep College Competencies of strong communicators, collaborators, and creative problem solvers. Great job 6th grade!

We hope you had a wonderful New Year and a restful break! We look forward to seeing you when school resumes on Wednesday, January 4, 2023. This is a regular Wednesday schedule, with a 1 pm dismissal.

Staff Festive/Ugly Sweater Contest

Now it's time for the staff! Vote for your favorite staff sweater by liking the photo. The photo with the most likes by 3:00 pm will be the winner!

UPDATE: Congratulations to our winner, Mrs. Swift!

Gem Prep: Meridian PTO

Secondary Festive/Ugly Sweater Contest

Happy Festive Friday! Vote for your favorite sweater in 6-12 by liking the photo. The photo with the most likes by 3:00 pm will be the winner!

UPDATE: Congratulations to our winner, LJ!
Gem Prep: Meridian PTO

Elementary Festive/Ugly Sweater Contest

Happy Festive Friday! Vote for your favorite sweater in K-5 by liking the photo. The photo with the most likes by 3:00 pm will be the winner!

UPDATE: Congratulations to our winner, Noortje!

Gem Prep: Meridian PTO

Current and future Kindergarten families, we hope you will join us for the second Ready For Kindergarten Workshop at GPM on Thursday, January 19 from 5:00-7:00 pm. This workshop will focus on math and reasoning. Food and childcare will be provided. We are excited to see you there!

Register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScqhpTWbczUl1CQFgm9hZqQuYCtfj0AjE4oQVGHFGlG6owMJw/viewform

Good Morning Gem Prep Families!

We will be Closed for a Snow Day today, 12/12/22!

We are so excited to celebrate our very first graduating class. This group of 6 Seniors has earned over 320 credits so far, and more to come next semester. That is a savings of over $45,000 for Gem Prep scholars and families. Congratulations Class of 2023!

It has been a great week of college visits for our high school students. On Tuesday, 10th-12th graders visited The College of Idaho; while 9th graders visited Boise State University on Friday. They learned about the schools' different programs, plus campus living.
This is just one example of how we are working towards our Gem Prep mission of college preparedness.

We had over 50 scholars and their families join us for GPM's Family Literacy Night last week! Scholars and families enjoyed socializing over a cup of hot cocoa, decorating bookmarks, selecting a free book to enjoy, and shopping at the book fair. We love seeing our scholars and families investing in a love of reading.

Congratulations to our door prize winners- Dennis, Bridger, Sophia, and Peyton!

We encourage all families to check out these compiled resources to help support your scholar's reading at home: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nkJND84lR2woo3IunIkKWvBgSS-fKXHz/view?usp=sharing

We had so much to celebrate in the month of November at our monthly K-5 assembly today. Congratulations to Mrs. Bennett's class for winning the Dance-Off, Mrs. Collins for earning Teacher of the Month and to these amazing scholars who were recognized as Scholars of the Month. These griffins were chosen for being skilled-communicators and overall EPIK scholars!

Join us on Thursday, December 1st from 5:30-7:00 pm for our Family Literacy Night. We hope to see you there!

GIVING TUESDAY 2022!
If you're looking for a meaningful gifting opportunity this season, please consider supporting Gem Prep's Scholarship Fund. Our students work hard and graduate high school with 5X the number of dual college credits than the Idaho average.

Help them continue with their goal of college completion by giving to our scholarship fund.

https://www.studentquickpay.com/gemprep/MyAccount/Main.aspx?webitemid=160

Last week, Mrs. Warburton challenged each class to collectively finish the sentence "We are thankful for..." Here is what they shared:

Ms. Peavey’s class is thankful for being a Griffin.
Mr. Bishop’s class is thankful for everything they have.
Mrs. Porter’s class is thankful for their teacher.
Mrs. Semon’s class is thankful for family.
Mrs. Sanders’ class is thankful for friends (and so much more).
Miss Wilson’s class is thankful for Miss Wilson.
Ms. Pollock’s class is thankful for all the Griffins in their class and at GPM.
Mrs. Garrett’s class is thankful for everything and everyone.
Mrs. Collins’ class is thankful for family, friends, freedom and love.
Mrs. Bennett’s class is thankful for Mrs. Bennett.
Ms. Jaggar’s class is thankful for their families and school.

Mrs. Swift's 1st Grade class enjoyed a Friendship Feast (complete with butter they made together!) during which they focused on gratitude and all they are thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving to our wonderful GPM community! We are so thankful for all of our staff, families and scholars.

Dear Gem Prep Families, we are thankful for you! Have a grateful break and we will see you on Monday, November 28th.

Congratulations to the SEC College House for winning the inaugural College House Dodgeball Tournament. Houses competed against each other over the past three weeks for the title of Dodgeball Champion.

This past Saturday, our Girls on the Run scholars in grades 3-5 participated in a 5k race with friends and family members cheering them on or running alongside them. The race was the culmination of their hard work this fall. This season, the girls worked with their coaches to set goals, build connection as a team and strengthen their confidence through physical activity and life skill development. Congratulations to these Griffins for this accomplishment! We are proud of you!

Girls on the Run Idaho - Treasure Valley

Thank you, Veterans! Gem Prep was honored to recognize and celebrate our veteran community today for Veterans Day. Elementary started the day with the posting of the flag with the help of Mr. Bishop and a few secondary scholars. We had guests in Mrs. Porter's, Mrs. Collin's, and Mrs. Jagger's classes. Secondary scholars wrote letters and created art projects to be delivered to veterans in a local nursing home. Every class engaged in activities in learning about and honoring veterans on this special day.

Check out these scientists at work! The 7th grade scholars in Ms. Clark's class applied their knowledge of cells and organelles while examining plant and animal cells through microscopes last week.