_edited.png)
Falling into October
IMPORTANT DATES
Friday, October 2: Dollar$ for Duds (First Fridays!). Students can wear denim (blue jeans and a pink shirt) in honor of National Denim Day in support of Breast Cancer awareness for a $2 fee. Accounts will be charged. Funds collected will be donated to the Cancer Society.
October 4-10: Fire Prevention Week. Students will learn about fire safety and participate in fire drills.
Monday, October 12: National Heroes Day. Public holiday. School is closed.
Friday, October 16: Parent Teacher Conferences/Mid-Term Progress Reports - No school for students.
Monday, October 19-Friday, October 23: Mid-Term Break.
Monday, October 26: School resumes
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Important Dates • P. 1
Teacher Tribute • P. 2-3
Director's Challenge • P. 4
Superstars Swim meet • P. 5-7
GLAT Results • P. 8
Special Announcement • P. 9
The Village Clubhouse • P. 10
Important Reminders • P. 11
Life Skills Article • P. 12
DEAR MERIDIAN FAMILIES,
When September rolls around, it is reminiscent of a brand-new year. In a sense, it actually is, as both ring true with the promise of hope, a fresh start, and change. As educators, we must be open-minded as we welcome new students to our classrooms, and our school community at large. As parents, we embrace the fact that our little ones are growing up as they meet milestones in their development. In this case, change is good and as a philosopher once said, “the only constant is change.”
This year, we have had many positive changes! In the summer, our Director, Ms. Lisa, launched Edmentum, powered by Edmentum Exact Path, a powerful AI driven enrichment program in Upper Preparatory (Rising 5s) through Grade 6 and the Director’s Challenge, of which many of our students took part (read more about it below).
Our school uniform received a fresh new look this year, featuring blazers, Oxford shirts, ties, and monogrammed skirts and trousers. Our students looked smart, polished, and ready to learn as they proudly showed off their new uniforms on the first day of school.
Our new STEM lab now boasts state of the art equipment, and our students will be on the cutting edge of all that STEM has to offer in coding, robotics and more.
The Village Clubhouse, formerly After Care, has been completely revamped and we can’t wait for our students to explore exciting new activities.
Finally, we are getting ready for a huge reveal on our campus in the coming weeks that will change the way we approach outdoor play!
Change is good! However, what has not changed is our committment to your child’s education, safety and well-being. We remain dedicated to bringing out the best in your children and making this school year, the best one yet!
CELEBRATING GROWTH - MS. DEIDRE
For over twenty years, Ms. Deidre has poured her heart into the children entrusted to our care. Over those years, countless lives have been touched by her kindness, patience, dedication and genuine love for children. I am reminded of the time my 3 year old son (now 17) cried one evening during our nightly conversation before bed, as he could not understand why all the other children always wanted to hug "his" Ms. Deidre.
I am so grateful that all three of my children have had the opportunity to experience the warmth of her classroom. She has consistently welcomed families through our doors, supported colleagues, and given so much of herself to the life of our school.
This length of service is extraordinary, and with it comes something that simply cannot be taught—wisdom, experience and a deep understanding of what makes children and families feel truly cared for.
It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce Ms. Deidre’s promotion to our newly curated position of Community Experience Coordinator.
In this role, Ms. Deidre will help us to ensure that the warmth and care for which Meridian is known is extended throughout the school day and into the many experiences we create for our wider community including our After School Program, Summer Experiences and School Holiday Camps, while continuing to support our Preschool team when needed.
At its heart, her new role is about something very simple but incredibly important: making sure that every child and family who participates in the Meridian Experience feels welcomed, valued, cared for and part of something very special. And I can think of few people better suited to do that.
As part of our continued commitment to being accessible and responsive to our families, we would also like parents to understand that you always have someone to reach out to. If at any time you are unable to reach your child’s teacher, have a concern that requires attention outside of regular school hours, or simply need a little guidance or support, please do not hesitate to contact either of us. I can be reached at (242) 801-8951, and Ms. Deidre can be reached at (242) 525-6537.
We want our families to know that communication, care and connection do not end when the school day does.
This is not simply a new position for Ms. Deidre; it is a wonderful new chapter in a journey that has already spanned more than two decades. We are incredibly fortunate that her experience, heart and commitment will continue to enrich our community in this new capacity.
Please join me in congratulating Ms. Deidre and, most importantly, in thanking her for her many years of service to our children and families.
We are so very grateful that her Meridian story continues.
With love and appreciation,
Ms. Lisa
DIRECTOR'S EDMENTUM SUMMER CHALLENGE
During our inaugural assembly, we celebrated the students who rose to The Director’s Challenge this summer and invested time in strengthening their skills ahead of the new school year. We are also extremely proud of every child who participated in the challenge.
Every completed activity and every new skill mastered represented an investment in personal growth.
Our summer challenge winners are as follows:
Upper Preparatory - Malaiyah Williams
Grade 1 - Jordan Thomas, Jordan Gibson and Zakari Telford
Grade 2 - Kyle Gibson
Grade 3 - Aria Milan Armbrister & Johanna Campbell
Grade 4 - Ruth Adams
Grade 5 - Taylor Smith
Grade 6 - Brody Curry & Lauren Smith
A very special congratulations goes to our Overall Summer Challenge Winner, Kyle Gibson, who mastered 19 skills. What an incredible demonstration of commitment, consistency and ownership of learning! Congratulations Kyle, we are so proud of you!
Just a reminder that The Director's challenge is ongoing. Our September winners will be recognised this week, as we celebrate their achievements and present their awards.
OUR PRESCHOOL SHINING SUPERSTARS
In our weekly Friday assembly, our teachers choose students from each class who exemplify the Meridian attributes modelled after the eight keys of excellence. These attributes are as follows: integrity, failures lead to success (having a positive mindset), speak with good purpose, make the most of every moment, commitment, ownership, flexibility and balance. Of course academic acknowledgement, demonstrating effort and enthusiastic participation are also celebrated. Congratulations and great job to our Preschool Superstars!
SEPTEMBER'S SUPERSTARS
From left, Zane Sands, Upper Preparatory; Alora Bowe, Middle Preparatory; Rhocket Rolle, Lower Preparatory; and Zuri Harris, Foundations.
From left, Lilyana Longley, Upper Preparatory; Liah Pratt, Middle Preparatory; Easton Hernandez, Lower Preparatory; and Koi Cooper, Foundations.
From left, Peyton Hepburn, Cailyn Williams, Upper Preparatory; Szarah Rollins, Foundations; Sienna Rolle, Lower Preparatory; Taryn Butler, Kody Wells, Middle Preparatory.
OUR PRIMARY SCHOOL SHINIG SUPERSTARS
In our biweekly assemblies, students are learning about the 8 Keys of Excellence. This month, they are focusing on the first key of Integrity!
We celebrate students who exemplify integrity, along with other notable attributes such as kindness, thoughtfulness, and helpfulness. We also recognize and highlight students who have made significant strides in their learning and work.
Congratulations to this month’s Superstars! We are proud to celebrate their positive choices, growth, and commitment to excellence. (Absent: Asriel Pratt, Grade 2 and Shiloh Pratt, Grade 6 - Prefects’ Choice).
MERIDIAN SHINES AT CISSA SWIM MEET
We are proud of our six Meridian swimmers — Madison Dean, Isabella Tirado Flores, Jada McKinney, Marley Wring, Mikhail Pratt and Landon Pratt — who represented our school at the Annual Primary CISSA Swim Meet Invitational on Friday, September 25 at King’s College. Overall, we secured three silver and three bronze medals!
The meet brought together primary school swim teams from across the community for a day of exciting competition. Our Meridian swimmers performed exceptionally well, earning top-three finishes in most of their individual races and proudly representing our school in the pool. The team was expertly led by Coach Yohancy, whose guidance and encouragement helped our swimmers give their best. Well done, our Meridian swimmers!
EXAMINATION RESULTS: CELEBRATING SUCCESS IN GLATS & IOWAS
Grade 3 GLAT Results
A comparison of our Grade 3 GLAT results from 2025 and 2026 shows positive overall progress, with particularly strong growth in Mathematics. Language Arts remained a strong area, with more students moving into the B range and fewer students performing in the D range or below. Mathematics showed the most notable improvement, with the number of students achieving an A doubling from 2025 to 2026.
Grade 6 GLAT Results
Our Grade 6 results also reflect positive academic progress, particularly in Science and Social Studies. In both areas, fewer students were in the lowest performance bands, while more students achieved higher grades.
Language Arts continues to be a significant strength. All students who completed the Reading Comprehension paper achieved an A or B. The Language Arts results cannot be compared directly across all components because students did not complete the Listening and Writing papers in 2026 due to rescheduling of the exams while students were off island on their senior trip, However, the Reading Comprehension results provide encouraging evidence of strong literacy skills.
Mathematics is an area of focus as we provide targeted support and instruction to help students build their skills and progress toward higher levels of achievement.
Overall, we are proud of the progress our students have made and remain committed to supporting continued growth and academic success.
The Iowa Assessments
These standardized achievement tests provide an external measure of student progress in key academic areas, including Language, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies.
We are pleased to celebrate this year’s results, which reflect strong academic achievement and meaningful student growth across Meridian.
In May of 2026, 126 students across seven cohorts were assessed. Of the reported subject-area class averages, 87.5% met or exceeded grade-level benchmarks, with approximately 79% exceeding expectations. All seven cohorts exceeded expectations in at least one subject area, while five of the seven cohorts met or exceeded expectations across every reported subject area.
These results provide encouraging evidence of strong teaching, student growth, and our continued commitment to academic excellence.
Click here for the results!
(See attachment in case you are unable to access)
SOMETHING BIG IS COMING TO THE MERIDIAN SCHOOL
Introducing The Deck
We have been keeping a rather exciting secret. Although some of the mysterious pieces now appearing around campus may have already given us away! We are thrilled to introduce The Deck, an incredible new 4,000-square-foot imaginative and physical play experience being created especially for our children.
The Deck has been designed as so much more than a playground. It will be a place where children can climb, explore, imagine, create, challenge themselves, build friendships and simply experience the joy of being children. With multiple levels and spaces for active and imaginative play, we envision it becoming one of the most exciting parts of life at Meridian.
We had originally hoped to have The Deck fully installed during the summer holidays, and we apologize that this did not happen as planned. Our shipment was scheduled to arrive at the beginning of July; however, global shipping delays meant that the equipment only arrived in The Bahamas last week.
So, over the coming days, you may notice various sections, boxes and rather interesting-looking “bits and pieces” appearing in and around the campus. Please bear with us; they are all part of something wonderful! We are currently working closely with the supplier to determine the safest and least disruptive installation plan. Our intention is to complete as much of the work as possible during weekends and outside of school hours, ensuring that our children's regular school day remains safe, calm and uninterrupted.
We cannot wait to watch The Deck come to life, and even more importantly, to watch our children make it their own. Thank you, as always, for your patience, enthusiasm and trust as we continue building something very special for our Meridian children.
P.S. The picture above gives you a little sneak peek of what’s coming… and yes, it is going to be FUN!
THE VILLAGE CLUBHOUSE - BRAND NEW OFFERINGS!
We’re turning up the fun at The Village Clubhouse this month with a fantastic new rotation of activities designed to get our children creating, experimenting, competing, laughing and trying something new!
Every afternoon has its own personality and because the activities rotate, there will always be something different to look forward to (see our flier attached).
MESSY MONDAY: Mad Science Lab! Mondays are getting wonderfully messy! Each week we’ll alternate between Elephant Toothpaste and Rainbow Volcanoes as our young scientists mix, fizz, foam and discover. Expect BIG reactions, colourful experiments and plenty of “WOW!”
TASTEBUD TUESDAY: Little Chefs at Work! Aprons on! Tuesdays will alternate between our Mini Pizza Studio, where children create their own personal pizzas, and Dessert Lab, where they’ll experiment with delicious, sweet creations. Learning tastes much better when you can eat it!
WILD CARD WEDNESDAY: Expect the Unexpected! One week it’s an UNO Knockout Tournament with Matching Games Tournaments for our littles and the next, it’s our Mystery Challenge Box. The best part? They never know what’s inside! Children work in teams, open the box and discover their surprise mission. They might have to build something from mystery materials, solve a challenge or head off on a scavenger hunt. No clues, no preparation, just teamwork, imagination and quick thinking!
THROWDOWN THURSDAY: Game On!
Thursdays are all about movement, teamwork and friendly competition. We’ll alternate between Dodgeball Remix with new twists on the classic game and Capture the Flag. Lots of running, strategy and team spirit!
FRIDAY LIVE!: The Biggest Afternoon of the Week! Fridays are for celebrating! We’ll rotate between Laser Tag, a Glow Party, and Color Wars high-energy team challenges where children represent their colour, compete for points and have an absolute blast. Because at The Village, Friday isn’t just Friday… it’s FRIDAY LIVE!
Our goal is simple: to give children a place to play, discover, create, build friendships and belong—and to make the end of every school day something they genuinely look forward to.
The Village Clubhouse
Where children grow, belong & shine.
IMPORTANT REMINDERS
DRIVEWAY ETIQUETTE & SAFETY
As we work together to keep our students safe during morning drop-off and afternoon pick-up, we kindly ask all parents and caregivers to follow our driveway procedures:
• Please do not park along the sides of the driveway during drop-off or pick-up unless directed to do so by a staff member.
• Please avoid making U-turns in the driveway. This helps keep traffic moving and reduces the risk of accidents.
• Please remain mindful that students may be walking behind the ropes, and younger students may be getting in and out of vehicles at any time.
These procedures are in place to help us maintain a safe and orderly flow of traffic and, most importantly, to protect our students.
If you need to come inside the school, please park in the gravel lot opposite the school and walk up rather than leaving your vehicle in the driveway.
We appreciate your cooperation and partnership in keeping our school community safe.
PRIMARY SCHOOL DISMISSAL TIME
We would like to kindly remind you that primary school dismissal is at 3:15 p.m. We have noticed that a number of students are being picked up before this time, sometimes as early as 3:00 p.m. When students leave early, they often miss out on important classwork, time to complete or review assignments, and essential end-of-day reminders. This can place them at a disadvantage academically and may affect their overall learning experience. Our intention in sharing this reminder comes from a place of care and concern for your children’s success. We truly want to ensure that every student benefits fully from the instructional time provided each day. We kindly ask for your cooperation in adhering to the 3:15 p.m. dismissal time, except in cases of emergency or prior arrangement.
HEALTH AND WELLNESS
As we approach flu season, we kindly ask for your cooperation in keeping our community healthy. If your child is feeling unwell, has flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, sore throat, body aches etc.), or has been in close contact with someone who is sick, please keep them at home to rest and recover. This helps prevent the spread of illness and ensures that everyone stays safe and healthy. Thank you for your understanding and support in maintaining a healthy environment for all our staff and students!
LUNCH DELIVERY & CHECK IN AT THE OFFICE
We kindly ask that all lunches being dropped off arrive on time or before your child’s scheduled lunch period. Timely delivery helps ensure students are able to eat, enjoy their playtime, and return to class smoothly with their peers. Below are the scheduled lunch times for your reference. We truly appreciate your cooperation and support in helping our school day run smoothly for all students.
Pre School & ION Classes: 12:00 p.m.
Grades 1-3: 11:45 p.m.
Grades 4-6: 12:15 p.m.
For the safety and security of our students and staff, all parents and visitors are kindly asked to check in at the main office before proceeding to any classroom once the school day has begun. We appreciate your cooperation in helping us maintain a safe and secure learning environment for everyone.
HELPING KIDS WHO STRUGGLE WITH EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS
by Rachel Ehmke
Success in school involves more than knowing the answers. Children also need to know how to plan, organize, manage their time, stay focused, remember important information, and follow through on tasks. These abilities are known as executive function skills, and they play an important role in both academic success and everyday life. In this article, read on to find how you can use certain tools to help you teach your kids these important life skills.
Click here to read the article!
Comments