May 24, 2024
We postponed Field Day to next Tuesday. Although it did not rain water droplets today, there was definitely a monsoon of cicadas. Sheesh! Hopefully, they won't be as bad next week.
We did have amazing Drum Circle performance this morning! Thank you to our students for sounding amazing. Thanks to our parents for getting them here before school each week. Big thanks to Mrs. Mitulski for leading this ensemble. And a huge shout out to our audience today!
Looking ahead to next week...this is just a reminder to make sure all library books are turned in, be prepared for Field Day on Tuesday, and bring a peanut free snack for the last day of school. It is a half day so dismissal will be at 1:00 PM.
REALLY BIG NEWS...we had our Preconstruction Kick Off Meeting yesterday and I have all of the updates below. It's a lot! For those of you newer to River Bend, this is a big project that was put on hold due to Covid. We are now moving forward with our 4 classroom addition, storm shelter, elevator, playgrounds, and fire sprinkler system. The work will take over a year, but the goal is to have everything completed by August 2025.
As you read through the highlights, you will notice there will be spaces not accessible for play over the summer.
Lastly, do you have any moving boxes? We have to pack up some classroom items for construction and we have teachers moving classrooms. If you have some, we will take them!
The baby of the family, Macie, graduates from high school tomorrow. I'm not sure that I'm okay:/
Enjoy the holiday weekend!
Each Child As My Own,
Jaime
River Bend Construction Update
Logistics:
- Construction could begin as soon as next Friday.
- There will be a construction trailer on the field close to River Valley Drive. This stays on site for the duration of the project.
- We will lose half of our track. They are pouring asphalt that will go straight through the middle of the field to give us half of a track.
- There will be orange safety fencing around all construction areas.
- All workers that are ever on site will have gone through a background check and have clear safety expectations.
- We have blocked out times of day to protect arrival and dismissal; no deliveries or moving of heavy equipment during those times.
- Blocked out times are 8:30-9:15 AM and 3:20-4:15 PM.
- The General Contractor is Poettker Construction.
Playgrounds:
- The kindergarten playground will be removed in the next two weeks.
- The big playground is having all equipment removed in the next two weeks except for the swings and the yellow climbing structure.
- They are installing new structures on the big playground; all will be ADA accessible.
- There will not be a kindergarten playground for a year until the kindergarten addition is complete.
- The big playground will have new structures installed before the beginning of the school year.
Elevator:
- They are building the walls for the elevator shaft that will be located where the current Tiger Lounge is. It will impede the width of our staircase. The elevator will not be completed until next summer (2025).
Sprinkler System:
- The upstairs will get all of the piping installed for the sprinkler system this summer (2024); Next summer (2025) they will complete the downstairs.
Kindergarten Addition:
- The wall between the existing kindergarten classrooms (by the office) is coming down and moved inward to create a corridor/hallway. That is the goal for this summer. The classrooms will still be functional and ready for students in August.
River Bend Elementary School
Email: jotto@parkwayschools.net
Website: https://www.parkwayschools.net/riverbend
Location: 224 River Valley Drive, Chesterfield, MO, USA
Phone: (314)-415-6650
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RiverBendParkway