Viking Family Update
August 2024
Principal Update - Welcome Back!
Viking Friends and Families,
The time has come to welcome you to the the 24-25 school year. For those of you who are new to the Viking family please allow me to introduce myself! My name is LeeAnn Alfano, and I am the principal at Bonney Lake Elementary. When you see me on campus, my hope is that you will immediately recognize the joy on my face. I truly cherish my job!
This summer I spent time with my family. I celebrated my 26th wedding anniversary with my husband Kevin, hung out with my dad, and took a road trip with my youngest daughter Ella to move her in for her senior year of college at the University of Arizona. I also spent time here in the office with our new Assistant Principal Jill Dornan. She is amazing and I can't wait for you to meet her.
My hope is that you had time to make some special memories with your children and those you love.
Here at BLE we are getting ready to welcome your students! It is going to be an amazing year and we have MANY celebrations to share with you. As you begin to prepare for back to school, we encourage you to reestablish morning and evening routines at home. Spend time reading with your child and find ways to practice math—this can be done through fun, everyday experiences. For parents of younger students, we encourage you to practice tying shoes, buttoning shirts, zipping zippers, and opening food containers the students may find in their lunch. Refreshing these routines now will make for a smoother transition.
While some kids are excited and ready to start the new year, others might be feeling uneasy or worried about what the year might bring. Most students will have new teachers and classmates and each child may process these changes in different ways. While many students are excited about returning to school, some might express worry by acting out, becoming defiant, or even becoming sad. We encourage you to make space with your child to reflect on and process the forthcoming changes with you. Our staff members are also committed to thoughtfully supporting your student as they transition back to school.
Each month you will receive important communication from our staff via this newsletter. Please take the time to read the content and feel free to reach out to me if you have questions or ideas.
Our hope is that we can set sail into the 24-25 school year and embark on a rewarding journey toward high levels of learning for ALL of our students. Thank you for partnering with us in this endeavor.
See you soon,
LeeAnn Alfano
Principal, Bonney Lake Elementary
Back to School Night Information
Who will be my Student's Teacher?
If you have recently enrolled your student from another district we may not have placed your child in a classroom yet. We will do our best to have every student placed by Back to School night. Simply find an employee with a clipboard and they will point you in the right direction.
We have a many new staff at BLE that we have introduced this month via our Facebook Page.
Coming Soon - Kindergarten Connections Meetings
Silent Dismissal Car Pick Up
Silent Dismissal Procedures
Silent Dismissal is an end of day dismissal system that will continue to be in effect when we return to school. This program will allow the school the ability to dismiss students from inside the classroom, as their parent/guardian arrives for pick up. This greatly reduces the number of students in a designated area, while increasing safety and accountability. It is a secure system and we are very excited to continue using it.
Here’s how it works:
Parents/Guardians will be provided with 'parent car tags' to be placed on the passenger side dashboard. Each tag will have a code, unique to your family, including all students within that family. When families arrive for pick up (via car or on foot), a staff member will enter the number located on your dashboard tag. Notification of pick up will then appear in your child’s classroom, letting your student(s) know they are dismissed to go to the pick up area.
**Families that participated in Silent Dismissal last year are encouraged to pick up new tags. However, your designated pick up number will remain the same.
Here are the basic procedures for silent dismissal:
Parent/guardian arrives in the pick up loop access road.
Student/Family number is entered by staff into a mobile device.
Server processes information & routes to classroom(s) to notify student(s).
Student sees name projected /teacher notifies student of dismissal
Student leaves the classroom for the pick up loop.
Student leaves in the car with the parent/guardian.
Important points to remember:
Please have your car tag with you every day. If your child is going home with a different person or car, please make sure that you have notified the office and that the other person picking up has the car tag. We plan to print four tags per family. If you need additional tags please notify the main office.
If a car comes through the dismissal line or a parent arrives for in- person pick up without the tag, the driver will be obligated to park in the side lot and wait until dismissal has ended. At the end of dismissal, school personnel will check identification and verify Skyward permissions to manually release the student from the classroom. There will be no exceptions (even if you know your number). Students can not be picked up in the main office.
Please understand this program was purchased with the safety of our children in mind. It is imperative we are all on the same page and adhere to these dismissal procedures.
Car Tag Pick Up for All Families
Wednesday, August 28th from 5:00-7:00 pm at Back to School Night
Thursday, August 29th from 12:00-3:00 pm at BLE
*Any tags not picked up will come home in your child's backpack on the first day of school.
Car Drop Off Begins each day at 8:45
Car Pick Up Begins each day at 3:45
Transportation via Bus
Bus Routes are ready!
**Due to limited staffing and route availability students will not be permitted to get a gold bus permission slip and ride the bus home with a friend or relative this year. Please contact our transportation department if you have questions!
School Supplies! $25 Donation Requested - No need to shop! Pay online!
In order to provide some relief for family budgets, all elementaries in SBLSD have shifted to a supply fee donation. Please consider making your donation as soon as possible.
Instructions for Online Payment of School Supply Donation of $25 (this covers supplies for your student this year).
1) Log on to SBLSD at www.sumnersd.org (not Family Access)
2) Hover over SCHOOLS on the top banner
3) Click on grades K-12
4) Scroll down to elementary schools and click on BLE
5) Click on the dollar bill icon "Online Payments"
6) Click on the link "Direct payment Link Here"
7) Log in with your user name and password (same as family access)
8) Click on your student that you would like to make a payment for
9) Click on "Shop"
10) Click on "Items at Student School"
11) Click on item you would like to pay
12) "School Supplies" "Grade Level" "Donation"
If you are able to contribute more than $25 to support a child in need please feel free to increase your donation. If you are unable to make the full donation you may select a lesser amount.
*** Not included - headphones or earbuds, backpack, lunchbox - if you need help with these items please let us know.
Thank you for supporting BLE! We will also accept payments of the supply donation during our Back to School Event!
Attendance Matters: Planning for Success
STRONG SCHOOL ATTENDANCE MATTERS!
Encouraging regular school attendance is one of the most powerful ways you can prepare your child for success- both in school and in life. When you make school attendance a priority, you help your child get better grades, develop healthy life habits, avoid dangerous or risky behavior, and have a better chance of graduating from high school.
Your child can start building this habit in preschool, so they learn right away that going to school on time and every day is important.
DID YOU KNOW?
Starting in kindergarten, too many absences (excused or unexcused) can cause children to fall behind in school
Missing 10% of the school year is considered chronically absent. That's only two days a month or 18 days in a school year.
Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.
Students who miss as few as one to two days a month can fall behind. This increases the chance that they will not read or master math at the same level as their peers. Missed days= missed learning!
By 6th grade, high absenteeism is one of three signs that a student may drop out of high school
By being present at school, your child learns valuable social skills and has the opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with other students and school staff.
Absences can be a sign that a student is losing interest in school, struggling with schoolwork, dealing with a bully, or facing other potentially serious challenges.
OUR PROMISE TO YOU
We know that there are a wide variety of reasons that students are absent from school, from health concerns to transportation challenges. There are many people in our school prepared to help you if you or your student face challenges in getting to school regularly or on time. Please contact your school if you need support.
We promise to track attendance daily, to notice when your student is missing from class, communicate with you to understand why they were absent, and to identify barriers and supports available to overcome challenges you may face in helping your student attend school
As you plan ahead for the 24-25 school year, we want to share some key dates with you so that you can plan travel or other important dates. Our goal is for students to be at school over 95% of the days because we know that when students miss school, they are not getting important instruction as well as critical social and emotional learning. Please support your child's growth by working to have them at school on time, every day.
Sept. 3: First Day of School (Grades 1-12)
Oct. 4: BLHS Homecoming Game
Oct. 18: No School, Staff Training Day
Oct. 25: SHS Homecoming Game
Nov. 11: No School (Veterans Day)
Nov. 14: Middle/High School Early Dismissal: Conferences
Nov. 20, 21, 22, 26: Elementary Early Dismissal: Conferences
Nov. 27-29: No School (Thanksgiving Break)
Dec. 2: No Elementary School: Grading Day
Dec. 23-Jan. 3: No School (Winter Break)
Jan. 16: BLHS Curriculum Showcase
Jan. 20: No School (Martin Luther King Jr Day)
Jan. 23: SHS Curriculum Showcase
Jan. 27: No Middle/High School: Grading Day
Feb. 14: Emergency Make-Up Day (if needed)
Feb. 17: No School (Presidents Day)
Feb. 22: STEM Fair & Art Show
Feb. 25: All-District Choir Festival
March 26, 27: Elementary Early Dismissal: Conferences
April 7-11: No School (Spring Break)
April 26: Community Cultural Celebration
May 15: Lakeridge Middle School Night (incoming 6th graders)
May 20-21: Mountain View Middle School Night (incoming 6th graders)
May 22: Sumner Middle School Night (incoming 6th graders)
May 26: No School (Memorial Day)
May 27: Emergency Make-Up Day (if needed)
June 9: Victory Tour
June 17: Last Day of School
June 18: Emergency Make-Up Day (if needed)
June 19: No School (if still in session): Juneteenth
Pre-Arranged Absence Form
Pre-Arranged Absence Form
The Pre-Arranged Absence Form has been developed by Sumner Bonney Lake School District to inform schools about a family planned activity lasting more than (2) days. Please use this document to let us know ahead of time if you have any trips planned that will cause your child to miss 2+ days of school.
Monday Late Start
Breakfast and Lunch Service at BLE
Child Nutrition Services
All schools serve breakfast and lunch daily. We offer a variety of student favorites that feature:
- A selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, many of which are sourced locally
- Entrees with healthy proteins and whole grains
- Low-fat milk and 100-percent fruit juices
This year breakfast and lunch are FREE for all students at BLE!
Free and Reduced-Price Meal Applications:
All families are encouraged to apply for free or reduced-price meals - It is important that you fill out this form each year so that we can continue to serve free breakfast and lunch!
Applications must be resubmitted each year within the first 30 days of school. Qualified
students receive the benefit for the full school year, even if the family’s financial situation
changes.
Families receiving Basic Food, TANF, FDPIR or Medicaid may be Direct Certified for free or
reduced-price meal benefits. These families will receive a letter in the mail from Child Nutrition Services notifying them of their student’s meal eligibility by mid-August. If a family receives such a letter, they do not need to submit an application.
Applications may be submitted online through Family Access. Start by selecting your student’s name, then Food Service, then click the Applications button, then Add Application. The system will walk you through the process and is very easy to use. Once Child Nutrition has processed the application, you will receive a notification letter by mail or email.
Printed applications are also available at each school and online here.
Lunch Menus:
Monthly print menus, and the link to our interactive online menus are on the Child Nutrition
Services website here:
If your child has a special dietary need, please contact our child nutrition office.
Contact Information:
Please contact the Child Nutrition office at (253) 891-6450 if you have questions about our meal programs, payments or free-reduced applications; we are happy to help! We are also available via email at child_nutrition@sumnersd.org, and follow us on Twitter @Sumnersdlunch.
Quick Links
Bonney Lake Elementary
Email: BLE@sumnersd.org
Website: sumnersd.org/ble
Location: 18715 80th Street East, Bonney Lake, WA, USA
Phone: (253) 891-4450