Greatness Update (Parents)

The next regular Board of Education meeting will be on January 22, 2024, at 6 p.m. at the PLCS Central Office. All the PLCS Board of Education meetings are streamed online through YouTube and viewable on the District website at www.plcschools.org/BoardMeetingsLive.

• Congratulations to our newly elected Board of Education officers:
  

  • Marcus Madler as President

  • Valarie Fisher as Vice President

  • SuAnn Witt as Secretary

  • Brian Lodes as Treasurer

During the board meeting on January 8, 2024, BCDM shared plans for the 2023 Bond construction projects at two PLCS elementary schools: Parkview Heights and Hickory Hill. Projects for Trumble Park and Tara Heights are scheduled for discussion at the January 22, 2024 meeting. BCDM provided an overview of how each project, including the proposed Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP). Hickory Hill's GMP from Sampson Construction is $7,128,560, staying within budget. Construction is set to kick off in spring, aiming for completion by August 2025. Parkview Heights, partnering with Boyd Jones, has a $7,562,283 GMP, fitting the budget. Construction is scheduled to commence in late spring, with a target completion date of August 2025. The Board will take action on these two projects at the next meeting.

If you live in PLCS and you want to attend a school different from the one assigned to you, you must follow the Internal Transfer Guidelines. In an effort to manage growth and maintain low class sizes, the ability to allow students to attend a school other than their assigned school becomes limited. Therefore, transfers between schools are approved based on specific guidelines. If you are thinking that you may want your child to attend a school other than the school where you live, there are some important reminders below:

• The application must be submitted by February 1, 2024, if you want to request a transfer for the 2024-25 school year. Late paperwork is NOT accepted.
• There are currently two elementary schools that are closed: Ashbury and Prairie Queen. No transfers into these closed schools are approved.
• If you move out of a closed school and you have attended that school for the equivalent of a semester, you can finish the current school year only. At the end of that year you will need to move to your new school where you reside.
• Transfer requests at all other elementary schools are approved based on space available.
• There is limited capacity available at the middle school level. Transfer requests are approved based on space available.
• Transfers between the two high schools are approved with the goal of maintaining balance between the two schools. Priority is given to in-district transfers over transfers from students who live outside of the school district.
• If you live in an area where boundaries were changed and the Board of Education approved a Boundary Transition Exception (BTE) for your area, you still must complete the transfer application. If you want to use your BTE, you MUST complete the transfer application. Applications only need to be completed once. This would include:
  * North Shore, Granite Falls North, Granite Lake, and other areas which were assigned to Monarch with the 2018 high school boundary change.
  * The Rumsey Station Elementary area from the middle school and high school boundary change in 2008.

If early morning weather could negatively impact morning commute road conditions, we might use late start to make sure everyone stays safe while not missing out on learning time. If we decide to do a late start, it means school will begin at 10:05 a.m. for elementary students and 10:00 a.m. for middle and high school students. If you have questions about how this works, visit the Late Start Information page on our website.

Call 402-514-3243 today for more information or to schedule a screening. Incoming students must turn 4 years old by July 31, 2024, and reside within the PLCS school district.

Kindergarten Round-up will begin soon and we need to know if you have a kindergarten student for next school year. Please get them enrolled. Go to http://bit.ly/3q6Tk46 to begin the process. Once enrolled, you and your child will be invited to attend Kindergarten Round-up at their school.

Help your friends and neighbors - please share the importance of enrolling incoming Kindergarten students with others! We need to know ASAP for staffing and other purposes how many kindergarten students may be attending in the fall.

Show Your School Spirit and Support Cancer Awareness!

The PLHS gymnasium will be a sea of colors as the Monarchs take on Millard West in the 16th annual "Color of HOPE" basketball games on Saturday, February 3rd at Papillion La Vista High School. The girls' game will be at 3:30 p.m. and the boys' game will be at 5:15 p.m. Thank you all for always supporting this cause. Until we beat cancer, we keep fighting the good fight. Millard West will also be joining us in the fight against cancer.

Order Your Shirt Today $15. Shirts Delivered to Your School!

"Color of HOPE" shirts are currently on sale online! Each of the different colors of shirts represents a different type of cancer; this year's theme is "For all who have fought or are still fighting." All shirt orders are due by Thursday, January 17th. You must select which school you want your shirt shipped to on the drop down menu when ordering. 100% of proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. If you have questions, contact Michelle Mathison at Michelle.Mathison@plcschools.org.

The Standard Response Protocol (SRP) is a way to respond to different situations, focusing on general actions rather than specific events. Similar to the Incident Command System (ICS), SRP has its own set of terms, but it's flexible in how you apply them. It's straightforward: there are five actions to take during an incident. "Hold" is one of them, and it means following the directive to stay in your room or area. This is especially useful when we need to keep hallways clear.

Students are trained to:

• Clear the hallways and remain in their area or room until the “All Clear” is announced
• Do business as usual

• Close and lock the door
• Account for students and adults
• Do business as usual

Some examples scenarios when this command might be used is if there is an altercation in a hallway; a medical issue that needs attention; or an unfinished maintenance operation in a common area during class changes.

Click here to learn more about the Standard Response Protocol and how each unique command conveys different information.

Use the QR code on the sticker shown here (or click here) to share why you're grateful for a PLCS staff member. Who would you like to give a little encouragement and thanks to today?

Please join us! With this opportunity you will be able to meet and ask questions of our HR Department, get more information, and even do an on-site interview if you are interested.

PLCS needs Special Education Paras!

Special Education students in PLCS need YOU. Join the PLCS team as a special education para to make a difference in the lives of students while working the same hours as your kids - no weekends or holidays!

Work in PLCS in a variety of ways:

• Paraprofessionals ($15.42-16.27 / hour)
• Custodians ($17.50-17.60 / hour)
• Van Rider ($16.27 / hour)
• Van Driver ($17.60 / hour)
• Food Service ($15.42-16.35 / hour)