Lake Agassiz Back to School

Welcome back to the 24-25 school year at Lake Agassiz! We hope you had a great summer and are excited for you to join us for another year of learning and fun. Our teachers and staff are looking forward to welcoming your children back. Our staff have been busy preparing their rooms and planning our first few days back. As your building leaders, we could not be more proud of our staff and their commitment and dedication.

We are committed to creating a safe, welcoming, and supportive environment where every student feels like they belong. We believe that when students feel connected and valued, they can do their best. As we start this year, let's work together to make sure every student has the opportunity to grow, make friends, and discover new things. Thank you for being part of our Lake Agassiz community. Let's make this a great year!

Please read through this newsletter for important updates regarding the year.

Join us on Monday, August 26, for our Open House at Lake Agassiz Elementary! This event will run from 3:30 PM to 5:30 PM, and families are encouraged to choose a convenient time to attend. Please enter through doors 9 or 10 and meet in the gymnasium before heading to the classrooms. This is a great opportunity to meet our teaching staff, counselor, and social workers, and to receive information about intramurals, lunch account support, registration support, and Chromebook insurance. Classroom lists will also be available. Please note, we will not have school supplies tables out this year. We look forward to seeing you there and helping you and your family prepare for an exciting new school year!

If you are new to Lake Agassiz, please attend the 3:30 pm session to hear a short info session presented by Mrs. Jonasson.

❗Save yourself TIME❗

❗Items you can take care of BEFORE Open House! ❗

• MY SCHOOL BUCKS: You can pay for all of your child's extracurricular fees, device insurance, and lunch fees through the My School Bucks app. Using this app saves you a great amount of time and prevents loose cash or checks from getting lost between home and school - It is definitely worth the time of setting up the app! *My School Bucks links to Powerschool, so your fees are adjusted for free/reduced status and also gives you access to pay for all of your children in the GFPS school system, regardless of school.
  
  
• Apply for Free & Reduced Lunch (Click HERE)
  
  
• Purchase device insurance for your child's Chromebook or ipad (MySchoolBucks)

• School Supplies purchased (list HERE)
  

CLASS ASSIGNMENTS

Your child's classroom teacher will be finalized in PowerSchool Thursday, August 22. Teachers, specialists, and administrators thoughtfully drafted class lists and have since reviewed and revised these lists. Much time and effort have gone into making class assignments, therefore once class assignments have been posted, changes will not be made. Thank you in advance for not calling to request that changes be made after class lists have been completed.

2024-25 SCHOOL SUPPLY LIST

Grand Forks Public Schools is using TeacherLists to share the 2024-25 school supply lists! This free internet tool allows families to find and shop for their child's supply list easily with the convenience of one-click shopping or in-store pickup from several national retailers, including Walmart and Target. Click here to find your child's supply list.

FAMILY SUPPORT

If you have needs for your child or family, please reach out to our LA School Social Worker: email Kenzie Holm or call our school at 701-746-2275 and our office will connect you. Our social worker is here to help make school a successful place for your child. Check-in at the office or talk to Mrs. Holm directly via email or phone. She will have a table set up at Open House on August 26th as well.

BUSSING TO AND FROM SCHOOL

If you need bussing transportation to and from school this year, make sure this is marked in your PowerSchool registration for your child(ren). Valley Bus creates the routes based on your information in PowerSchool. Make sure to make these adjustments as soon as possible to secure a stop and seat on our buses.

You can review our bussing routes and Valley Bus information at this site on our district webpage.

PARENT AND VISITOR SIGN IN

All doors will be locked by 8:30 am each day. If you would like to visit or pick up your child, you will need to use door #1 located on Stanford Road by the flagpole. After 8:30 am, all visitors will need to be "buzzed" in by the Main Office.

A note about our Push to Talk system: When you come to Door 1 during the school day, you will be asked to state your name and the reason you are here. This can be frustrating sometimes, but please keep in mind:

• Sometimes we have other staff covering the office that may not know you
• With a lot going on in the office, we may ask you to repeat yourself.
• We are very diligent with the safety of our students and staff, please be patient with us as we check you in.
• Make sure not to let anyone "piggyback" in with you (come in with you after you have given your name and reason for visit). Each guest needs to buzz in individually.
• See our images below of the signage at Door 1.

The Good: We are one of the GFPS schools with a pick-up lane!

The Not-so-Good: our pick-up lane is congested and can be frustrating if you are in a hurry.

Consensus:

• Pick-up is at 3:00 pm: Our parking lot is a congested area, especially in our first days of school. . We ask for your patience and that you follow the guidelines in our school map for driving through our lot at pick-up. Parents should not be leaving their cars unattended-- this creates a traffic jam and holds everyone up behind you from keeping this flow going. If you need to talk to your child's teacher in person, park on the street and cross the lot at the crosswalk to find your child's teacher.
• The furthest left lane is for continuous driving. Drive in this lane to exit or continue driving in this lane if you can't find a 'pull up' spot. Loop around and work to get into a spot on your second lap around.
• When you find a pull-up spot in Lane 1 or 2-- pull up as far as you can and continue to pull up to make room for those behind you.
• While our pick-up can seem chaotic, if you follow the procedures it makes it much more manageable. Our lot is nice and long and three lanes wide--more than most schools, so we CAN do this!!
• Note that coming at 2:40 doesn't necessarily get you a prime spot-- you may still have to wait. Your best bet may be to pull up at 3 pm or even 3:05 when early families have already left.
• We will continue to have staff out there waving people through--thank you for your understanding and kindness to the staff members
• Giving reminders. If you know, you know! :) But we are trying to help educate everyone, as not all are reading these long directions :) And sometimes a friend or someone new is picking up a student. Those individuals do not know our procedures--so please consider that and help others if you see them unsure of what to do!
• Teachers remain outside with their class until 3:10, if you arrive after that time, you will need to pick your child up at the office.

SCHOOL ARRIVAL:

Doors 12 and Door 1 only!

Students will enter the school at Door 12 or Door 1, all other doors will be locked.

Breakfast begins at 7:40 am and runs until 8:20 am.

First Bell - 8:20 am

Tardy Bell - 8:25 am

Door 12 opens at 7:40 am, but only for students eating breakfast at school. Student safety is of great importance to us, so please do not drop your kids off or allow them to get to school before 7:40 am. Children not eating breakfast should not arrive until 8:20 am.

SCHOOL DISMISSAL

3:00 pm Daily

Students are dismissed at 3:00 pm and must be picked up promptly, walk straight home after school, ride the bus, or go to Encore. Students will meet parents and guardians outside at their designated door (see map below). Older siblings may meet their youngest sibling at their assigned door for dismissal. Due to safety concerns, students should not stay and play on the playground. The safety of our students is top priority. As per district policy, schools will have parents meet their child(ren) at a designated location outside the school at dismissal time.
Door Assignments:

• Kindergarten - Door #1
• 1st grade - Door #12
• 2nd grade - Door #11
• 3rd grade - Door #10
• 4th grade - Door #9
• 5th grade - Door #9
• Older siblings meet the youngest sibling at the youngest sibling’s assigned door.
  
• Bus/Daycare van students will walk through the school to Door #2 to board their bus or van.
  
• Please follow the directions as painted on the North parking lot as you maneuver through this lot at drop-off and dismissal. The two lanes closest to the door are for pick up and the farthest lane is for looping around the parking lot. Cars should not be stopped in the far left lane, nor should parents leave cars unattended in the middle or outer left lane.
• Our Bus lane on the south side of the building is for buses and daycare vans only.
• Review the image above of our dismissal plans.

Children as Passengers in Vehicles:

• Did you know that there is now a state law that all passengers need to be in a seatbelt, regardless of where they are sitting? You can be pulled over and even ticketed if your child is not in a seatbelt.
• Did you know that children in elementary school should not be seated in the front seat? Height and weight are not the factors that make a child safe in the front seat... children younger than 13 do not have the bone growth and skull fusion/development to be safe from powerful airbags and windshields. Please make sure your child is seated in the back seat of your vehicle.

GETTING IN TOUCH WITH YOUR CHILD'S TEACHER

Phone calls: Our office will direct you to your child's teacher if you call during their planning time. During instruction, all phone calls are directed to voicemail to not interrupt instruction. (if you need to call about an absence, you can leave a message on our Attendance line- 701-746-2277).

Emails: Your child's teacher will share his/her email address with you at Open House.

Seesaw: You can message privately with your child's teacher(s) in the SeeSaw app.

To promote a healthy work/life balance for our teachers and staff, we have set times for their work and have encouraged our staff to limit their communication to be completed during their working hours. Because of this, you may not receive a reply immediately. We do all we can to be prompt with families, however, when teachers are with students, they are unable to take phone calls or check email. If their prep or after-school time was allocated to a meeting or training, you may have a delay in your response. We appreciate your patience with a staff member returning an email or phone call to you between their contracted hours of 8 and 4 pm. Thank you.

DIGITAL NEWSLETTERS

All monthly newsletters will be sent out electronically to each parent's email on file. Please make sure we have your most current email address on file in the office. We will have paper copies of the newsletter in the office for families who need a paper copy; simply call Miss Connie and let her know to send you a printed copy each month.

"SUNDAY NEWS"

Each Sunday, families will receive an email from the Lake Agassiz office with any reminders for the upcoming week. We will only update you on things for that week. It will be short and sweet, but hopefully helpful for busy families.

PARENT/GUARDIAN AND EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION

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 contact information in the event of an emergency. It is also required that parents give us an Emergency contact in case we are not able to reach you during an emergency situation with your child.

SCHOOL EVENTS

Don't forget to visit our Lake Agassiz website for calendar information. Important dates, as well as intramural and chorus schedules, will be posted on our online calendar. Hopefully, this helps families review dates whenever they need to. We will add a link to the calendar in our Sunday News as well. Calendar

COMMUNICATION FOLDERS

Every student at our school will bring home a purple communication folder. Please help your child build the skill of having a routine each day to check their folder at home, complete any homework, give any letters to you, and return necessary items back to school the next day. This is a great skill for students to learn and a habit that can begin in Kindergarten and strengthen each year after.

BLACKBOARD CALLS/EMAILS/TEXT MESSAGES

Grand Forks Public Schools uses a program called Blackboard for mass communication. This is a communication system that allows principals or the Grand Forks School District to relay information to families in a timely manner. If you see a call from GFPS on your caller ID, please pick it up and listen to the message. This is especially important if you don't have voice mail or an answering machine. Oftentimes parents do not answer our call and then call our school to find information about the message. This overloads our phone lines which causes us to miss other calls coming to our office at that time.

TELEPHONE CALLS

Our office receives many telephone calls from parents who want to leave messages or make different after-school arrangements for students. We ask that you limit these calls to emergencies only. As a school, we limit announcements and interruptions so student learning is not interrupted. Please remind your child in the morning before they leave for school about rides, appointments, etc. If you do need to make changes to your child's after-school arrangements, please call before 2:45 pm as our phone lines and office needs are very busy from 2:45 pm to 3:00 pm. This makes it hard to answer all calls and get the information to students before they are dismissed. The sooner you can let us know, the better! Your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

SOCIAL MEDIA

We love to share school happenings on social media. Please follow us on Facebook and Instagram for fun photos!

LAKE AGASSIZ ATTENDANCE LINE 701-746-2277

Any message you leave after hours or early morning hours will get to Miss Laurie. You don't have to wait for our office to open to call our attendance line. As a busy parent (and possibly with a sick kid) this can be very helpful! And it saves Miss Laurie from spending a large amount of time trying to connect with families when a student's absence has not been communicated with us.

If your child will 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 (so you can call at any time). Please leave your child'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.

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.

The application period for the 2024-2025 school year will open on July 1, 2024. Families that do not fill out the application, or do not qualify for free or reduced-price meals, will be charged for meals beginning in August 2024.

The importance of this application cannot be overlooked; it is more than just a meal application. It:

• Results in free or discounted fees to participate in or attend school activities,

• Provides discounted fees for academic tests like the SAT, ACT, and AP courses. It may also qualify students for discounted rates associated with college applications, and

• Provides additional funding for state and federal programs and services at your school.

Please visit our website (LINK: https://www.gfschools.org/domain/27) for more information. Thank you!

Regular Encore is now closed. If you would like to be put on a waiting list please contact Kayla Erickson with Encore at 701-215-8041 or kerickson250@mygfschools.org

For Encore & Early out Waiting List registration go HERE.

School dismisses at 1:30 on the following dates

(please mark these dates on your calendar):

• September 18th
• October 2nd
• October 16th
• November 6th
• November 20th
• December 4th
• December 18th
• January 15th
• January 29th
• February 19th
• March 5th
• April 9th
• April 30th
• May 14th

Monday, August 26th

• Open House 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.

Tuesday, August 27th

• First Day of School

Monday, September 2nd

• No School - Labor Day

Wednesday, September 18th

• Early Release - School is dismissed at 1:30 p.m.
  

Wednesday, October 2nd

• Early Release - School is dismissed at 1:30 p.m.

Thursday, October 3rd

• Caulfield School Picture Day in the morning