Magnet School
Welcome to our 2021-22 school year. I hope you've all had a great summer break and are starting to get ready for our new school year. I have several reminders regarding the start of school.
· Our first day of school for grades 1-5 is Tuesday, September 7th. As I hope you already know, our start time has been pushed back 5 minutes so we will now open the school for breakfast at 8:45AM. Students must be in the building by 9:00AM to be considered on time for school.
· Our kindergarten students will begin school on Monday, September 13th. We will hold our kindergarten screenings Sept 7 – 9. If you do not yet have an appointment, please contact our office to schedule one. Kindergarten classes will be created based on our screening information and parents will hear from the kindergarten teachers on Friday, September 10th.
· Students in grades 1-5 have been placed into classrooms. You can find your child's teacher by logging into the Parent Portal on Powerschool.
· All students and staff will need to wear masks in the school building. This is a state requirement. A reminder that we do not allow gators, valve masks, or bandanas.
· We will continue to use social distancing when feasible and will practice frequent hand-washing and cleaning of high-touch areas.
· We will offer a virtual "Classroom Sneak Peek and Meet the Teacher" time on Friday, September 3rd at 2PM. The links for each classroom will be posted on our website.
· Don't forget to bring your reading challenge sheets at the start of the year. If you need a copy to complete, please visit our website.
· A reminder that you must send in a note for any changes to transportation. If your child will be a parent pick up for the whole year, you can send in one note at the start of the year. For your child's safety, transportation changes must be in writing.
· Attendance is very important for your child's learning. We encourage parents to send students to school every day as long as they are healthy and do not have illness symptoms. Parents are always welcome to call our school nurse if there are questions about your child's health or attendance at school. Also, please remember to send in a note after your child's absence. State law requires us to collect written notes within 10 days of an absence.
· Water fountains will not be available to drink from this year. Please have your child bring a water bottle to school each day. Please only send in water in the water bottle—no soda or fruit drinks. Students may refill water bottles from the fountains.
· Students should have a good backpack. Please note that backpacks with wheels often do not fit into our cubbies and lockers.
· At this time, our school is limiting visitors to those who support our curriculum. Other visitors and volunteers are not allowed at this time.
· A reminder that our school is a peanut and tree nut free school. All school lunches are peanut/tree nut free and we offer designated peanut/tree nut free tables in the cafe. Food from home is not allowed for in-class celebrations. Our Food Services department does offer In-Class Healthy Snacks for a reasonable price. Please visit the Food Services page on the district website for these options.
· Food services posts monthly menus online. Please visit the Food Services page on the district website for these menus. All students will receive free breakfast and lunch this year.
· We will use the same parent drop off and parent pick up procedures this year. Both drop off and pick up are in the Parent Drop Off/Pick Up circle. Please drop off your child on the sidewalk—do not drop them off and have them cross the driveway. We will use car numbers for Parent Pick Up. Students will be called to the sidewalk when you arrive. Our dismissal will begin at 3:18.
· All students will be in for face-to-face instruction. Distance Learning will only be used for students who are in quarantine. We will use the same learning platforms for distance learning, but will not look the same as last year. Teachers will not live stream lessons. Instead, teachers will post assignments and designated staff will check in with students and be the liaison to the classroom.
· For our young students, it is often helpful to have a change of clothes in the student's backpack in case of accidents. While some students have the occasional bathroom accident, it is also common for students to drop a bowl of cereal at breakfast, spill their drink, or get into muddy areas at recess.
We are very excited to have all of our students back in the building. We are looking forward to a great year of learning that is on the path to "normal", and hopefully even better. We recognize the pandemic still has some impact on our daily operations, but we will continue to keep our students' safety and learning at the forefront.
