My name is Dr. David Saxberg, Principal of Century Elementary School. I believe Century School is a fantastic learning community because of our students, teachers, staff, and parents. The Century Community is extremely supportive of our school, and together we do it all for our students.

I have enjoyed over 30 years in education as a superintendent, elementary principal and elementary teacher, all in North Dakota. My wife, Rhonda, works at UND. I have two grown sons, and I am lucky as a parent that they both live close by, one in Grand Forks and the other in West Fargo.

I want everyone to know the Century Elementary School Staff will work every day to provide a

supportive, nurturing, safe, and stable environment for your children. Please know I am here

with the primary purpose of supporting and providing our students with an academically rich,

safe, caring, and inclusive environment. I am looking forward to a fabulous school year!

David Saxberg, Principal

dsaxberg180@mygfschools.org

X (formerly known as Twitter) @dsaxberg

Parking Lot

For our students' safety, I ask for patience, flexibility, understanding, and consideration for

others during morning drop off and afternoon pickup of students. The following are important reminders of our drop-off and pick-up procedures to help traffic flow safely:

1. Use the right lane closest to the school for drop-off and pick-up.

2. Use the left lane for drive through only- Do not park and leave your vehicle in the left lane.

3. Be considerate of others. Do not park behind cars parked in handicap spaces or park behind someone and leave your car.

4. Do not park on 34th Street, and do not cross in the middle of 34th St.

5. Stop at all crosswalks and stop signs

6. Watch for children and pedestrians at all times

7. Please be patient. We have more than 470 students who arrive and leave school in a short amount of time. At the end of the day, by 3:10, almost all students are on their way home in cars, buses, etc. It may seem like you are going to have to wait a long time when you are parked in the parking lot traffic jam, but remaining calm and patient one will see the flow of traffic does happen and most are on their way before 3:10.

8. Please be calm and kind to one another. Let's all be positive role models for our children.

9. Report to the police, and/or the school, people who are violating the safety of others,

blocking the handicap parking, or not stopping for children in crosswalk zones. Please write down the license plate number of the vehicle. However, please do not confront anyone.

Hello Century Patriots! I hope you have all had a relaxing and refreshing summer and that you're ready to get started with a fun year of learning. I am looking forward to seeing returning families and meeting our newest Patriots. I know this will be an exciting year for us! This will be my third year at Century and my nineteenth year in education. I can't believe how quickly time flies by! I am looking forward to seeing you all at our open house on August 26, but in the meantime, I hope you continue to enjoy the rest of your summer!

The Open house for Kindergarten and Grades 1-5 will be held on

Monday, August 26 from 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm. You are welcome to come anytime between 3:30 and 5:30 pm. You will have the opportunity to visit your child's classroom, meet their teacher, and drop off school supplies at that time.

Parents/Guardians received an email regarding their child's classroom assignment.

If you are unable to attend Open House, please bring your child's school supplies the first day

of school.

Please make sure your student has been registered in the PowerSchool Parent Portal for the

2024-2025 school year. If you have any questions, please call the office at 701-746-2440.

How do I get started?

Visit https://grand-forks.ps.state.nd.us/public/home.html and log into the PowerSchool Parent Portal. From the Parent Portal:

1 Select the student you wish to register along the top

2. Select the Registration 2024-2025 Icon on the left side of the screen.

3. Authenticate using your child's date of birth.

4. Agree to the terms and conditions

5. Click Begin Forms

I can't remember my login for the PowerSchool Parent Portal

If you aren’t able to retrieve your login credentials using the “Having trouble signing in?” link on the Sign In page, please call the school at 701-746-2440 for assistance logging into the Parent Portal.

What if I have more than one student in the district? Do I need to do this for each child?

Yes, you will need to provide information that is specific to each child. We recommend that

you complete and submit one form and then start another. This will allow you to “snap” (or

share) selected family information, which saves you time.

Due to an increased number of students with food allergies, we do not celebrate student birthdays with a “birthday snack” in the Grand Forks Public Schools. Parents are welcome to find other non-food items to send to school if they wish. For example, a book, game, pencil, or school supplies may be donated to your child’s classroom.

No food other than food sent from home is allowed during meal times. Please do not bring

fast food or soda to your child at school. Thank you for following the GFPS guidelines and

wellness policy.

If you plan to have lunch with your child, please call the school office at 746-2440 before 9:00

am to make a lunch choice. If you have not made a lunch choice in advance, you will only be

able to sit with your child during lunch.

https://www.gfschools.org/departments/child-nutrition/free-and-reduced-price-meals-information

All Grand Forks Public Schools are peanut and tree nut restricted schools.

Aug 26- Open House 3:30-5:30 pm

Aug 27- FIRST DAY of School

Sept. 2- NO SCHOOL- LABOR DAY

Sept. 6- PTO Fun and Freeze Pops- 6-7 PM Century Playground

Sept. 9- PTO Mtg 6 PM- Century Library

Sept 18- EARLY RELEASE 1:30pm

School dismisses at 1:30 on the following dates (please mark these dates on your calendar):

September 18

October 2

October 16

November 6

November 20

December 4

December 18

January 15

January 29

February 19

March 5

April 9

April 30

May 14

School begins at 8:25 (The first bell rings at 8:20) and dismisses at 3:00.

CENTURY ATTENDANCE LINE- 701-746-2443

If your child(ren) are going to be late or absent from school, please inform the school office by calling the attendance line number above before 8:25 am.

You will not speak directly to anyone, it is a message line only. Please leave student's name,

teacher and reason for absence. All students absent or arriving late because of an

appointment of any kind will need to have a written excuse from the doctor's office in order for the absence or tardy to be excused. Medically excused absences do not count against a

student's absences if a note is provided by the medical provider.

Communication between home and school ensures students safety. If the school does not

hear from you, we will give you a call to make sure your child is safe. If you are taking your

child out of school early for any reason, please call the office in advance or come to Door #1

ring doorbell. We will call them to the office from their classroom and bring them to Door #1

to the parent.

Attendance is very important. If your child is not in school, he/she is missing out on very

important learning. We monitor student attendance closely and follow the Grand Forks Public

Schools "Stay in School" policy.

Breakfast - only students eating breakfast will enter doors #3 and #9 for breakfast. Breakfast begins at 7:40 am. Please do not drop your student off any earlier as we do not have supervision until breakfast begins.

Students not eating breakfast at school will enter the building at the door assignments below. Please arrive no earlier than 8:15 am. No Students will be allowed in the building before 8:15 AM except for breakfast.

Kindergarten - Door 1

Grade 1 - Door 13

Grade 2 - Door 12

Grade 3 - Door 10

Grade 4 - Door 3

Grade 5 - Door 2

Students arriving after 8:25 am will need to enter Door #1 (Main Office Door). Parents will ring the doorbell and students only will be allowed to enter.

Students are dismissed at 3:00 pm at the same assigned doors listed for morning drop-off. Students must be picked up promptly. Students will meet parents/guardians outside at their assigned door. Older siblings may meet their younger siblings to be picked up at the youngest sibling's assigned door.

Students are not allowed to go play on the playground after school unless with parents/guardians for supervision.

At 3:10 PM, students still waiting to be picked up will be brought to the office to be picked up at the lobby outside the office.

Traffic can become quite congested during drop off and dismissal time each day. Please use

extreme caution when driving and abide by the city ordinances.

Here are some important reminders:

-Please be patient and considerate of others.

-Use the right lane closest to the school for drop-off and pick up. Use the left lane for drive

through only.

-Park in the parking spaces and DO NOT park your car and leave it unattended in drive through or drop off lanes, behind parked cars, or between orange cones.

-Please do not park on either side of South 34th Street. The police department may give out

tickets for this.

-Please do not park in handicapped parking unless you have a handicap permit. Also, do not

park behind a handicapped parking spot.

-Stop at all crosswalks when driving. Please STOP at the stop signs. Cross only at crosswalks

when walking. Do not cross in the middle of South 34th Street.

We do have crossing guards who assist our students safely across at the intersections.

Please help keep our child(ren) safe.

Please keep the school office up-to-date on any address, phone number, and email changes. It

is very important that we have all the current and correct information on file. We need updated

emergency contact information in the event of an emergency.

All visitors must sign in at the school office when coming to the school. All doors remain

locked during the school day for safety and security purposes. Please utilize the push-to-talk

system located at Door #1 to gain entrance into our school and proceed to the office to sign-

in and get a visitor pass. Please do not go directly to the classrooms when the school day

is beginning or during instruction. If you need to visit with your child's teacher, call and make

an appointment or request that the teacher call you when they are not teaching. Teachers do not always have time to check their emails throughout the day so you may not receive an immediate response. Your child's safety is our number one priority1

If your child will be taking a prescription medication during school hours, there is a form which

needs to be completed and signed by the physician and parent. If your child is taking over-the-

counter medication (Tylenol, etc.), the form needs to be completed and signed by the parent

only. Please call the office at 701-746-2440 or Michelle Miller (School Nurse)

to get the forms needed. Medications will need to be dropped off before the first day of

school.

https://www.gfschools.org/Page/8858

Pets or animals are prohibited on school grounds during school hours due to potential safety and health concerns.

Safe Kids is happy to offer a Multi-Sport Helmet Fitting and Sale.

They are offering all students the opportunity to purchase and be fitted for a helmet at a reduced price. Click the link below or scan the QR Code!

Century Elementary School's excited to continue our schoolwide Postive Behavioral

Intreventions an Supports (PBIS) them: Growing the Leader in Me.

Based on the book, The Leader in Me by Stephen Covey, our teachers and students will be

learning bout the 7 Habits- a set of leadership and life skills- via class meetings and

schoolwide initiatives.

We truly believe every child at Century can be a leader and aim to help out students focus on

peronal goals while getting more done.

A tree symbolizes growth, Growth starts with the roots and moves upwards. It is our hope that you will ask your student how he or she is growing as a leader throughout the school year. Having your student re-teach the 7 Habits to you at home will deepen understanding and give both of you an opportunity to learn together! Keep an eye out for monthly newsletters describing each habit in greater detail.

Here's a sneak peek of the 7 Habits:

1. Be Proactive- You have to be in charge of you.

2. Begin With the End in Mind- Set goals.

3. Put First Things First- Get your work done first, then there is time to play.

4. Think Win-Win- Look for compromise in all situations.

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood- if you want to work with others, you have

to listen and try to understand the other perspective before promoting your own agenda.

6.Synergize- Work together

7. Sharpen the Saw- Find what you love and take time for it.

Thank you and we look forward to growing along with your students this year!

Sincerely,

The PBIS Team at Century

Email: sbrandt180@mygfschools.org

Website: www.gfschools.org/Century
Location: 3351 17th Ave S, Grand Forks, ND, USA
Phone: 701-746-2440
Twitter: @CenturyGF