Frontier Parent Newsletter

Dear Frontier Families,

We’ve got some exciting events coming up this fall, from our Election Day Bake Sale to our Fall Family Game Night and Dessert Auction on November 14th! These are wonderful opportunities for our community to come together, have fun, and support our school. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you there!

While we’re all excited about these events, I’m equally proud of the incredible work our students are doing in the classroom. They are not only meeting high expectations for their learning, but they are also building positive relationships with one another. At Frontier, we emphasize helping students develop their learner identity, and it’s amazing to watch them grow into confident, capable learners.

Each Friday during announcements, we talk about what it means to be a good learner. We focus on skills like knowing what to do when they’re stuck or don’t understand an assignment. Whether it’s seeking help, thinking through what they already know, or using their prior knowledge to find a solution, our students are becoming resourceful and resilient learners.

Our kids are amazing and bright, and it brings me so much joy to witness their progress each day. Frontier truly is a special place to be, and I’m honored to be part of this community.

As always, we appreciate your continued commitment to our shared mission of Navigating Excellence. Let’s keep working together to make this a memorable and successful year!

If you have any questions, or concerns please contact me at rutan.katie@westada.org or by phone at (208) 350-4190.

Sincerely,

Katie Rutan

Principal

The link below will be in each parent newsletter. It is an opportunity for you to share feedback with me directly. You can enter your name in the form if you would like a follow-up phone call. The form is anonymous unless you would like to identify yourself for a follow-up. Thank you to those that have already provided feedback.

Parent Platform

Costume Guidelines

On October 31st, Frontier will be hosting our Annual Halloween Parade and Party. We would love to invite our parents to come and enjoy the party with their children and see our Halloween Parade. The parade will begin at 3:00. Parents are encouraged to dress up and participate along with their children. All recess games are available if students wish not to participate in any of the Halloween themed activities.

Fall is in the air, and that means it's time to break out your aprons and start baking! We’ve got two exciting opportunities to help raise funds for Frontier Elementary, and we need your help. Whether you’re a baking pro or just love the smell of fresh goodies, there’s a way for everyone to get involved.

Election Day Bake Sale
Date: Tuesday, November 5th
Our community loves this tradition, and some even say they come to vote just for the treats! We’re looking for donations of individual baked goods like cookies, brownies, and cupcakes. Drop off your delicious creations at the office on Monday, November 4th or the morning of Election Day, November 5th. Let’s make this bake sale the talk of the town once again!

Fall Family Night Dessert Auction
Date: Thursday, November 14th
Fall is the perfect time to show off your pie-baking or cake-decorating skills! We need full-sized baked goods such as cakes, pies, and more for this silent auction. Bring your masterpieces to the office by 5:00 p.m. on November 14th, and help make this event a sweet success.

Don’t Bake? No Problem!
If you’d rather help in other ways, we also need volunteers to run the bake sale table on Election Day. Just a few hours of your time can make a big difference!

To donate baked goods or volunteer, please reach out to PTO at pto.frontierelementary@gmail.com. Thank you for supporting Frontier Elementary and making these events extra special!

Please join us Thursday, November 7th at 9:30 AM in the gym for our program. We have put together a group of patriotic and historic songs to honor those that have served this great country that we live in. Presented by 4th & 5th grade students.

If you have a family member that has or is currently serving in the United States Military, we would love to honor them in our program on November 7th. I will be putting a slideshow together featuring pictures of the heroes that our students know and love. If you have pictures of your family members that have served in any branch of the United States armed forces, please send them to Mrs. Kaldenberg by Friday, November 1st. You can email them or send a photo to be scanned and returned.

Kaldenberg.mindy@westada.org

Join us for a night of family fun at Frontier Elementary’s Fall Family Game Night on Thursday, November 14th from 5:30-7:00 p.m. This year’s event will be packed with activities for everyone! Get creative with rock painting, enjoy some friendly competition with yard games and board games, or cozy up in our reading forts in the library. Plus, don’t miss out on our fun-filled dinner conversation games, a chance to win in the book walk, and the highlight of the evening, our annual Dessert Auction.

And, of course, we’ll have pizza for a snack to keep everyone fueled for the fun!

It’s the perfect chance to relax, connect, and enjoy some quality family time. We can’t wait to see our Frontier families come together to make lasting memories. Come hungry for fun (and maybe a sweet treat or two)!

As we transitioned this year from our school being fully funded for breakfast and lunch for all of our students, we were given a grace period for all students. Our grace period has now ended and student accounts will now be charged for any breakfast or lunch served. If you are looking to see if your family would benefit from support, please see the application below.

Free and Reduced Meals Application

Connect with your school through two-way, translated communication. Families receive a text in their preferred home language. They can respond in that language, and it is translated back into English for the teachers and staff to read. Our school uses Talking Points to let you know about school events, no school days, late buses, etc.

Talking Points Flyer - Ways to Access

I want to thank our parents for how well our families have always abided by our parking lot systems. We care about the safety of our students and getting them safely to their parents is part of the process of school safety.

Knowing we have new families, and it never hurts to review expectations, I want to ensure that everyone knows what our basic expectations are to support...

• An efficient pick-up and drop-off process
• A consistent flow of traffic
• And most of all... the safety of our students.

We have a small parking lot and our systems work very efficiently when we all work together to follow them. We can get most cars out of the parking lot within 5-7 minutes if we are working together.

I also want to share a big thank you to my staff that all come out at the end of the day to help ensure that students are safely transitioned and that we are efficiently helping our students get home. Please review the guidelines below for your once a year review! Thank you to all that put safety first!

To make sure your child is ready to get out as soon as you stop at the curb, make sure...

• Bags are packed
• Coats are on
• Shoes are tied
• Hugs have been given
• Plans for afternoon are clear
• Students know how to unbuckle from their car seat and open/close the PASSENGER SIDE door independently.

We need cars to stay in the right lane until they have unloaded/loaded and it is important to pull as far forward as possible...

• Mr. Thompson or another staff member will be waiving students along to our assigned pick up stations at the front of the building. Please be alert to this and move ahead if your student is being sent to a spot ahead of your vehicle.
• Please do not pull around cars and then move into the right lane. This is the cause of most near collisions and often ends up blocking BOTH lanes.

As soon as you stop AT THE FRONT OF THE BUILDING, students should independently...

• Unload/load...including being able to work the door and car seat buckle independently.
• This shouldn't take more than a few moments.

REMEMBER:

• All students should unload from the PASSENGER SIDE of your vehicle. Almost all of our near misses between vehicles and students are from kids exiting on the driver side near the through traffic lane!
• Students must wait until their pickup car is parked at the front curb and Mr. Thompson or a staff member as assigned them a specific loading number. We cannot have students walking through the parking lot or loading on the side of the building to get into their vehicle.

If your child needs more time or support we ask parents to use a parking spot in front of the school. Adults must walk their child across the parking lot to their cars.

It is very important that we are aware of any transportation changes that occur. If your child is being picked up, when they normally ride the bus or other changes to the normal method, please make sure your child's teacher and the front office is made aware. We also ask that you let us know before noon if there is a change to the schedule for that specific day. We need to hear of any changes from the parent/guardian by NOON in order to notify the appropriate adults. Students can sometimes get confused on changes, so unless we hear from a parent we use the primary method of transportation.

Front Office Secretary: schilli.michelle@westada.org

Classroom Teacher: Lastname.firstname@westada.org

You can now download Traversa App in order to see where your child's bus is on the route. This is a new feature the district has implemented this year. As more information comes out, I will communicate it's many features.

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday

Tardy Bell: 9:10am

End of Day: 3:55pm

Late Start Wednesdays

Tardy Bell: 9:25

End of Day: 3:55 pm

Please have students picked up by 4:05. Our office closes at 4:15.

November 5 - No School - Collaboration

November 14 - Picture Retake Day

November 25-29 - No School - Thanksgiving Break

December 20 - End of First Semester

December 23-January 6 - No School - Winter Holiday Break

January 7 - School Resumes

We will once again be collecting box tops for Frontier. Box Tops has moved to a digital way to collect those tops for schools. The process is to download the app, then scan your receipts and all box tops will go to the school you designate. Frontier has always had high participation in this program and we appreciate the continued support.

Below is a link to information regarding our Title I program at Frontier Elementary. Title I is a vital part to our success and it is important for us to be able to share information about this program to our families.

Please join us for monthly PTO meetings.

When: The first Wednesday of every month at 4:15

Where: Frontier’s Library

pto.frontierelementary@gmail.com

We were pleased to see such a wonderful turnout at our last meeting. All parents are welcome.

Email: rutan.katie@westada.org
Website: https://www.westada.org/Domain/17
Location: 11851 Musket Drive, Boise, ID, USA
Phone: (208) 350-4190
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/frontierfalconssoar