Back to School 2023-2024

Dear Basehor-Linwood Early Learning Center Families,

Welcome to Basehor-Linwood Early Learning Center! It is with great pleasure and excitement that I extend my warmest greetings to you as the principal of our wonderful school. As we embark on this educational journey together, I want to introduce you to our school family handbook, a valuable resource designed to support children, families, and staff in creating a safe, nurturing, inclusive, and developmentally appropriate educational environment. We encourage you to read it thoroughly, as it contains essential information about our curriculum, daily routines, communication channels, health and safety guidelines, and much more.

At the ELC, our primary goal is to provide a positive and enriching experience for every child in our care. We are committed to fostering a love for learning and empowering our young learners to develop their full potential. Our dedicated and passionate team of educators and staff work tirelessly to create an engaging and stimulating learning environment where each child's unique abilities and talents are recognized, celebrated, and nurtured.

We firmly believe in the power of quality, comprehensive programming to lay a strong foundation for your child's future academic success. Our curriculum is carefully designed to meet the developmental needs of young learners, incorporating play-based activities, hands-on experiences, and inquiry-based learning. We strive to create an environment that promotes curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, and a lifelong love for learning. Through a balance of academic, social, emotional, and physical development, we aim to cultivate kindergarten readiness by preparing our students for a smooth transition to elementary school and beyond.

In our inclusive community, we embrace and celebrate diversity. We are committed to providing an inclusive educational environment that values and respects the unique backgrounds, experiences, cultures, and abilities of all our students and families. We believe that by embracing diversity, we foster a sense of belonging, promote empathy and understanding, and prepare our students to thrive in a global society.

We recognize that education is a partnership between home and school. We greatly value the involvement of families in their child's educational journey and encourage open lines of communication.

I am thrilled to have you as part of our ELC family, and I look forward to working collaboratively with you to create an exceptional educational journey for your child. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or our dedicated staff. We are here to support you and your child in every way possible.

Once again, welcome to the Basehor-Linwood Early Learning Center school family. Let us embark on this remarkable adventure together!

Warm regards,

Mrs. Jillian Porter

ELC Director/Principal

Mrs. Kristen Bernal, Administrative Assistant/Secretary

Ms. Theresa Von Colln, School Psychologist [ELC/BES]

Ms. Anissa Day, School Social Worker [ELC/BES]

Ms. Jill Koertner, Behavior Coach

Mrs. Katelyn Lee, Special Education Support Coach

Ms. Teri Pandino, Para Educator

Ms. Amanda Mason, Para Educator

Ms. Erica Zamora, Para Educator

Ms. Michelle Sherley, Childcare Floater

Ms. Mackenzie Rogers, Childcare Floater/Closer

***We are also excited to welcome Mrs. Pam Maughmer, a long-term substitute in our childcare toddler room until late October. Mrs. Pam is a retired early childhood teacher from Basehor-Linwood who regularly substitutes at our center, so she's a familiar face to many. Welcome, Pam!

Your child's teacher information will be available in the Skyward Family Access at 5 PM on Wednesday, August 9th. Be looking for an email from your child's teacher as early as August 10th at 12:00 PM.

We are thrilled to welcome families to the ELC on Thursday, August 10th from 5:00-6:30 to tour the school, visit your child's classroom, meet your child's teacher, and drop off school supplies.

Items you'll receive at Sneak Peek from your child's teacher

Car signs: These are required to be displayed during dismissal/pickup.

Student name stickers: Place the sticker on your child for the first 5 days of school.

*Tip: Place on the back of their shirt, especially if they are a bus rider to reduce the chance of them pulling it off.

If you are unable to attend the Sneak A Peek, you can call our front office to arrange a time to pick them up on August 11th or 14th.

Other opportunities

Raptor Security: All visitors entering our building during the school year will have their government-issued identification scanned in the Raptor system. To simplify and save time for future visits, classroom parties, etc... we encourage you to please have your ID scanned in the main office while you are here for Sneak Peek.

PTO: We have an outstanding PTO here at the ELC. Our PTO will be at Sneek Peak with information on how to join the PTO. Information for spirit wear orders will be available as well!

Class Dojo: Class Dojo is a building-wide communication app that has been LOVED by our families and teachers. Teachers will have information available to join your child's class. This information will also be emailed to families from your child's teacher.

We have scheduled the drop-in times for Sneak A Peek in two sessions to aid in parking availability. If the drop-in time you have does not work for your schedule, simply come between 5:00-6:30 whenever it works for you.

Morning Classes: 5:00-5:45

Afternoon Classes: 5:45-6:30

Our office is now open so if you have required enrollment documents that you need to drop off, please do so as soon as possible. You are also welcome to email any required documents to kbernal@usd458.org or upload them into your Skyward Family Access account. Please give us a call at (913)-662-7150 if you have questions.

Thank you for your patience as we work diligently to get fees & tuition fees entered into Skyward. We will send an email to all families as soon as they are available on your accounts.

Tuition needs to be paid by the 15th of each month. It is considered late, if payment is not paid in full by the 15th of the month (August - May). We will extend the due date for this month to August 20th to account for the delay in payment availability.

Payment options include Skyward, check, or money order. If you have questions or need to make special arrangements, please contact Kristen Bernal, Administrative Assistant, in the office.

If your child is eligible for the Kansas Preschool Aged At-Risk Program, you will be asked to complete a verification form by our office staff and should be contacted prior to the first day of school. If you have not heard from us by August 15th, please contact Mrs. Porter at jporter@usd458.org.

• Adults will stay in their cars during drop-off and pick-up. ELC staff will unload your child from the car during drop-off and will place your child in their car seat and buckle them in during pick-up. Please be sure to have an appropriate safety seat for your child as we are not able to buckle your child in anything but an appropriate safety seat. In these cases, the staff in the car line are required to ask you to proceed to the front parking lot where you will enter the building to pick up your child (bring with you your car sign or photo ID).
• For safety reasons, you must wait for the car in front of you to pull forward before leaving the car line. Do not drive around the car in front of you.
• Car signs with your child's name are required for dismissal in the car line at all times. Some families used a pant hanger to clip to their sign and hang it in the window. This was very helpful! If you do not have your school-issued sign, you will need to park in the visitor's parking, request to enter the main office and show the secretary your photo ID. If you need a replacement for your car sign, please call the main office or email Kristen Bernal, kbernal@usd458.org.

Arrival:

• Car unloading begins at 8:05 for the morning session and 12:20 for the afternoon session.
• We will unload five vehicles at a time.
• Once the five vehicles are unloaded, staff will signal that group of vehicles to exit, and a new group of vehicles will pull up to the orange cones. This is to help keep everyone safe.
• Please place your child and your child's car seat on the passenger side of the vehicle to allow for a safe exit.
• Please keep your child seated safely inside of your vehicle while waiting in the car line.

• If you do not arrive via the car line (i.e., walkers) you will need to bring your child into the front office. Do not drop your child off via the car line.

Dismissal:

• We will begin loading vehicles at 11:00 for the morning session and 3:15 for the afternoon session.
• Five vehicles will be loaded and then staff will signal that group of vehicles to exit and a new group of vehicles will pull up to the orange cones.
• Please be sure to have your car signs provided by the ELC in the front windshield or the front passenger window. If you do not have your car sign, please pull into the visitor's parking lot and enter the front office. You will show your driver's license and we will check our database to ensure the child is being released with a guardian or approved adult.

Late Arrival:

• If your child is late for school. Please park in the visitor's parking and escort your child into the main office and sign them in. From there we will have a staff member walk your child to class.

Bus riders will be dropped off at 8:10 and 12:25 at the main entrance of the ELC. They will be picked up at 11:00 and 3:15 at the main entrance of the ELC.

If you have questions or need to reach the transportation department, the number is 913-724-5437(KIDS)

• Please screen your child for any signs of illness before sending them to school for the day. We are working very hard to keep everyone healthy at the ELC.
• If your child shows signs of illness or a fever, please keep them home and call the office as soon as possible to report their absence for the day. 913-662-7150

The BLAS Food for Kids Backpack Program provides a weekly bag filled with food for PreK-5 school children that are in need and who attend school in the Basehor-Linwood School District.

BLAS delivers the BackPacks to your child’s school at the end of each week to be distributed by school staff in the child’s backpack.

Please call our school nurse, Corey Quattlebaum, at 913-662-7150 if you would like to sign your child up for this program.

August 10th - Sneak A Peek - 5:00-6:30

August 15th - First Day of School

August 25th - No Preschool (Employee childcare open)

September 4th - No School; Holiday

September 5th - Staff Inservice - NO Preschool (Employee childcare open)

September 7th - Picture Day!

September 19th - ELC Open House (More information to come!)

September 29th - No Preschool (Employee childcare open)