Bulldog Paw Prints

We are so excited to have the students back with us, and we are excited to introduce them to a couple of new staff members.

Sarah Johnson: Mrs. Johnson is joining our team as a resource teacher. She will be with us five days each week.

Chris Coster: Mr. Coster is joining our team as our music teacher. He will be with us on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Julie Scheffer: Mrs. Scheffer is joining us as our new, part-time secretary. We are excited to bring her on board starting Monday, August 19, and we are sad to see Marybeth leave after an amazing 10 years. We are going to miss her so much as she enters an early retirement!

They are fantastic additions to our community, and I'm looking forward to them partnering with you!

District 58 offers meal options for elementary and middle school students.

Elementary School Food Service

Elementary schools provide pre-ordered boxed lunches for students, through www.MyMealOrder.com. Lunches cost $4.60. Click here to learn more. Elementary boxed lunches will be offered starting the week of Aug. 26. Orders must be submitted by Aug. 22 to receive boxed lunch the week of Aug. 26.

In addition, elementary students may sign up to receive daily milk for $53 (which is 30 cents per day). Families should complete this Elementary Milk Order Form to sign their child up for milk. This is separate from the boxed lunch option. The $53 milk fee will be posted to the student's PushCoin account next month.

Free and Reduced Meals and Milk

District 58 provides free and reduced-cost meals and milk to students who qualify and apply. These meals will be provided starting the first day of school.

Please visit District 58's Food Services webpage for more information.

Our fall benchmark window will open on Monday, August 19. Students in our primary grades will be working through Aimsweb (fluency) throughout the week, and MAP testing (for reading and math) will be assessed on the following dates:

KH: 8/22 and 8/28

KO: 8/22 and 8/28

1S: 8/22 and 8/28

1W: 8/22 and 8/28

2L: 8/22 and 8/28

2S: 8/22 and 8/28

3F: 8/22 and 8/28

4C: 8/22

4L: 8/22

5DE: 8/22

5DO: 8/22

6B: 8/22

6M: 8/22

I know our students will continue to take their time and do their best on these assessments, and it will be great to see how much growth to see how much they capture this year. A solid breakfast and words of encouragement really go far!

We began building routines with our students today, and recess was one of the topics in focus. Students reviewed expectations for safely using our playground structures and they learned which playground areas will be available for play during the school day.

Recess equipment was also a topic of conversation and review as we moved through our first day. PTA provided funding for a large order of balls and other equipment for students to use during the recess times, and the students enjoyed using that toward the end of the year. Because of that, there is no reason for students to bring any of their own balls/games/equipment from home for recess use. Please keep those types of personal belongings at home, as we don't want anything to happen to those items here at school.

PTA also provided funding for some large bins to store that equipment outside so its easily accessible and easily stored. We will get those installed outside as soon as they arrive.

As a Belle Aire team, we wanted to share a document with families so you can better understand the ins and outs of how we promote positive behaviors and how we respond to mistakes when mistakes are made. There is a lot of information in the document, so I will break things down for you over the coming weeks.

For this week, please focus on our "Beliefs About Behavior," Guiding Text," and the "District 58 Board of Education Policy," sections. These sections will give you the background/foundation of the work we do and how board policy guides the decisions we make.

We will focus on additional sections of this document next week.

Link To Document

Families received and signed off on District 58's Family Handbook during registration last winter. As a new school year begins, we encourage families to carefully review the handbook again with their child(ren), as it offers an overview of the District’s policies, procedures, resources and student expectations.

2024-25 District 58 Family Handbook

2024-25 Manual Familias del Distrito 58

Please note: we updated the handbook this month to reflect recent policy updates and other minor updates. We added an addendum to the last page that outlines all recent updates.

Art and library specials started today, and music and PE will be in the mix starting next week. Students have been doing a great job of learning their new schedules and transitioning. Once PE begins, students will be participating in a wide variety of physical activities, and it will be important to wear proper footwear to avoid injury. Please help us by reminding them to wear gym shoes on their PE days. Thank you!

Please take a moment to read the procedures below, and be sure to share them with anyone who may be driving your students to school - parents, grandparents, caregivers, neighbors, etc.

There are two designated drop-off areas for those arriving by car. One is in our parking lot, and the other is Herbert Circle. Should you decide to park and walk your children to the entry door, you may park on the west side of Belle Aire Lane (so you're facing Ogden) or in an open parking spot in our lot. Parking next to the school's sidewalks or on the perimeter of the lot is prohibited as it blocks and disrupts traffic patterns.

Main Parking Lot Drop-Off Zone:

There are two turn-in lanes available upon entering the school's parking lot. The first, most southern lane should only be used if you intend to park your car in an open spot. Parents who are dropping off students should use the second entrance (the one after the small median), which directs you to the circle drive in front of the school.

We treat the drop-off zone like the curbside drop-off at the airport, and it can be dangerous because of moving traffic. The circle drive splits into two lanes at the sidewalk. The right lane nearest the sidewalk is where students should exit vehicles; the left lane is for passing/moving traffic exiting the lot. Students are the only ones who exit the vehicle in this area. Adults who exit the vehicle in this area are putting themselves in danger and disrupting our drop-off procedure for all families behind them. Please be aware of your surroundings, check your mirrors and stay off of your cell phones.

When entering the drop-off zone, pull as far forward as possible at all times. We need to use the entire drop-off zone as a unit. If you are the first/only car in the zone, we ask that you still pull up all the way so that cars that arrive behind you are able to drop-off as well.

Students should only exit the vehicle from the passenger side and when the vehicle is next to the sidewalk.

Herbert Circle Drop-Off Zone

Vehicles should follow the typical, counter-clockwise traffic pattern of entering and exiting the circle. Students should exit the passenger side of the vehicle and walk along the guardrail until they reach the path to the school. Student walkers must use the paved path (outside of the guardrail) to enter campus rather than walking through Herbert Circle.

Please do everything you can to prepare your children to exit the vehicle quickly and always on the passenger side.

If you need to exit your vehicle to assist your children for any reason and/or for any amount of time, please use the parking spaces and not the circle drive drop-off zone.

Here is a short video to help you see our entry/departure areas.

All students who are not scheduled to remain in the building at the end of the day, will leave campus at dismissal--2:00 p.m. on Monday and 3:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

Bus-riding kindergarten students will be escorted to their assigned bus at the end of the day, and Champions will escort any of their kindergarten students to the gym each day. Students who are meeting parents will be exiting the same coatroom door that they enter each day, and any walkers/bike riders will exit the same door that they enter each day to head home. Students who are being picked up in the main parking lot's circle drive will exit their coatroom door and wait for you on the front sidewalk area. Parents who are picking up students in the circle drive should not exit the vehicle. Instead, please pull forward as cars in front of you leave.

Please do all you can to make sure your child understands your family's dismissal plan each morning (meeting outside of the door, meeting at a specific location on the property, being picked up in Herbert Circle, taking the bus, being picked up in the main parking lot, going to Champions, walking home with brother/sister, etc.). This step helps keep student anxiety low and supports a smooth dismissal process.

Students may return to the playground after school hours and/or on the weekends. This will be done at family discretion, as our district playgrounds also function as community parks outside of school hours.

Monday, August 19: Early Dismissal, 2:00

Wednesday, August 21: Transportation for accelerated math (Grades 7 and 8) begins

Friday, August 16: First Day with Students (Full Day)

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August 27: Curriculum Night (details and schedule to come)

September 2: No School

I've attached an additional copy of this year's calendar:

2024 - 2025