Reardan Weekly

This week's Reardan Weekly is being sent on our first (and hopefully last) weather-related school closure of the year. If you did not know already, we have a robust procedure that guides this decision-making process (included here). These are always difficult decisions, and it is not lost on us that this has an impact on our families. Please also note the video which is somewhat of an "oldie but a goodie".

Reardan-Edwall School District

Inclement Weather Procedure

2023-2024

STEP ONE - PROACTIVE

1. The Superintendent and Transportation Director study the weather forecast daily to have foresight on any upcoming weather events.

STEP TWO - ROAD CHECKS

1. The Superintendent and Transportation Director consult the night prior to a forecasted severe weather event.

2. The Transportation Directorcand or Mechanic commences driving school district roads at 1:30am.

3. The Transportation Director calls the Superintendent at 4:00am to discuss conditions.

1. The Transportation Director may ask for support in driving the roads.

2. If the report is severe enough the Superintendent will make the call as early as 4:30am.

3. The Superintendent may ask the Transportation Director and or Mechanic to continue driving and/or consult with local school districts to see what they are seeing (Davenport and Medical Lake).

4. The Superintendent may ask the Transportation Director to call County Officials to inquire about the road clearing timeline/schedule.

STEP THREE - DECISION

1. The Superintendent will make a decision based on student and bus driver safety first and foremost.

2. The Superintendent may call a 2 HOUR DELAY or SCHOOL CLOSURE based on the weather forecast for the day and/or road conditions.

3. The Superintendent will make this decision PRIOR to 6am when at all possible to do so.

4. NOTIFICATIONS:

1. School Messenger system

2. Facebook

3. Parent Email

4. Local News receive our communication

5. PARENTS: Questions or feedback on the decision? Please call the Superintendent at (509) 796-2701.

PLEASE NOTE:

• Breakfast will not be served on a day with a 2-hour delay

• “Snow Routes” may be used in unique circumstances

• We have a relatively large school district. On top of general road conditions we are looking for:

• Drifting snow in the south and northwest portions of our district.

• Maintenance of the hills in the north portion of our district.

Check out our Middle School band students playing at the HS Pep Assembly! Mr. Taylor has done a fantastic job working with our students, and they are sounding SO polished!! Some of these students will be participating in the Bi-County Honor Band and Choir concert which is coming up March 22nd–it’s on a Friday night this year.

As we find ourselves in colder weather, please talk with your students about the possibility of considering wearing warmer clothing, especially if your child would like to go outside for recess. Students in Middle School have a choice on cold days: they can either dress appropriately for the weather in pants of some kind and at least a hooded sweatshirt; coats, hats and mittens are lovely but not actually required, OR they can sit in the commons after lunch until the bell rings. Students without proper outdoor clothing will need to stay inside. We generally have four adults supervising, so either choice works for us.

We appreciate parents using permanent ink to put their students’ names on their belongings. This would be especially helpful for those Stanley water bottles. Items with names that are left in classrooms or common areas are always easy to return. Our lost and found has numerous expensive items in it–but no Stanley cups.

Thanks also for getting students to school on time. We are having students serve lunch detention when first period tardies are over 5 in a semester unless students have a dentist/doctor excusal. It is so important for students to be present for all of their classes each day and we appreciate your support with this! I will always call home to discuss excessive tardies prior to issuing lunch detention.

Finally, we have scheduled a bowling and pizza party in January for the 66 middle school students who have not had to attend the “lunch bunch” this semester and also had no major office referrals. This is really something worth celebrating! 59% of our middle school students have NEVER let their grades slip below a “C” and that is fantastic! Look for permission slips coming soon for that as well as the Superintendent’s Outdoor Adventure Club’s Ski Trip in February. February’s PBIS focus is being on time to class, and we will have a video and card game extravaganza for those students who aren’t marked tardy for the month of February and who don’t have major office referrals.

The end of the first Semester is Friday, January 26.

Grades will be sent home on February 5.

The HS will have a PBIS celebration next Friday with a movie that was voted on by the students and early release at 11:30

Pep Assembly for the Wrestlers before Senior Night 1/18

Parents,

Exciting news. Bark Phones are now contract- free and free phone. Bark phones have monitoring alerts and tamper- proof parental controls. What is Bark?

• Bark is a parental controls company that helps parents protect their children online and in real life.

• Bark monitors your child’s texts, email, YouTube, and 30+ apps and social media platforms for issues like cyberbullying, adult content, sexual predators, profanity, suicidal ideation, threats of violence, and more.

• Parents receive text or email alerts only when something potentially problematic occurs online. You won’t have full access to everything on your child’s phone — just the things you might need to know about. This saves you countless hours of scrolling through every online interaction your child has while allowing you to build trust and maintain an open line of communication with your child.

• Bark's screen time management features help families set time limits and create schedules for when their children’s devices can connect to the internet (through both cell service and Wi-Fi).

• Our website blocking feature lets you select which apps and websites are appropriate for your child to access on their devices. You can block specific sites or even whole categories like streaming services, online gaming, sexual content, and more.

• Bark's location sharing features include both location alerts and check-ins. Through location tracking alerts, you can get notified when your child arrives at or leaves a specific place. With check-ins, you can see exactly where your kid is at a given time.

For more information on Bark and Bark phones please check out:

https://www.bark.us/faq/#phone

& To start a free trial

Brad Eylar

Director of Security/ Emergency Manager

Reardan- Edwall School District

Autumn Wagner, daughter of Jarod and Natalie Wagner, was awarded a certificate and $25.00 from the Veterans of Foreign Wars for placing first among Spokane and Reardan area third graders with her Veterans of Foreign Wars essay titled "What the Word Veteran Means to Me". Good job, Autumn!

Wrestling

1/20 @ Quincy

1/23 @Colfax

1/23 @Newport-girls

Middle School Boys Basketball

1/22 VS. NWC Smith Gym

1/25 @ Liberty

High School Basketball

1/20 @ St. George

1/23 VS. Davenport

Cheer Camp Performance Moved to Next Week: Please note that the cheer camp performance date has been moved to Tuesday, January 23rd during the girls varsity game at halftime. Practice will be held on Tuesday, January 23rd before the evening performance.

After School Care: We currently have room for five (5) additional students in our After School Program. After school care is available each school day except Tuesdays. The cost is $15/day. Please reach out to Natalie Wagner at nwagner@reardansd.net for details or to get your child on the list.

Mrs. Nelson's Class Investigates As To Whether or Not Bubbles Freeze

· HS Softball Head Coach

· MS Baseball Head Coach

· MS Softball Assistant Coach

· HS Head Volleyball Coach

· MS Football Head Coach