Bulldogs Newsletter October 2, 2023

Hello Basswood families,

It has been great to see many of you at conferences! I want to give a big thank you to our Basswood community for providing wonderful dinners for our staff and a delicious assortment of desserts as well. Your care for the staff here is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

Thank you for your investment in Basswood through the Fun Run Fundraiser. The Booster team provided a great experience for our students and the Fun Run generated nearly $64,000 dollars. This is the primary source of the PTO General Budget and these dollars will be used to support the programs we provide at Basswood. Thank you to the Basswood community and also to those who supported the Fun Run from 40 different states and several different countries. Thank you!

Finally, I want to thank our community for contributing to the PJammin' event. We recently sent a check for $3,379.74 to American Childhood Cancer Organization from Basswood Elementary School. Thank you!

With gratitude,

Steven Schwartz

Basswood Principal

Basswood Fall Conferences will be held during the dates/times listed below:

Monday, October 7 - 7:30am-8:30am and 3:40pm-6:40pm

Wednesday, October 9 - 7:30am-8:30am and 3:40pm-6:40pm

Monday, October 14 - 7:30am-8:30am and 3:40pm-6:40pm

Parents will be scheduling conferences through their ParentVUE accounts. Conference scheduling will open on Sunday, September 29, and will close the evening of Sunday, October 6.

Please schedule your conference with your homeroom teacher. If your student is receiving EL services, you can schedule a conference with Mrs. Borman or Ms. Pluzhnik as well as with your child’s homeroom teacher.

If you need an interpreter during your conference, please contact the Basswood office at 763.494.3858 or email at iaconot@district279.org after you have scheduled your conference.

You can log into your ParentVUE account through the Basswood website or at:

https://mn-oas-psv.edupoint.com/PXP2_Login_Parent.aspx?regenerateSessionId=True

If you do not have a ParentVUE account or have forgotten your password, please call the Basswood Office at 763.494.3858 for assistance.

October is National Bullying Awareness Month. PTO would like to cover the Basswood sidewalks with messages of love, peace, hope, and acceptance! Next Sunday, October 13, from 3pm to 5pm, come and draw with chalk and spread some smiles! Buckets of chalk will be available for all to use.

Kemmetmueller Photography will be at Basswood on Monday, October 14, to take student pictures. A flyer went home this past Wednesday with all the details. They will be taking 3-4 images in multiple poses. You will receive an email from Kemmetmueller Photography 7-10 days after picture day with a link to your student's personal gallery. From this email, you can order photos and choose the picture of your student that you would like in our yearbook. Once your order is placed, they will be directly delivered to your home with 5-7 days. You can contact Kemmetmueller Photography with questions at 952-473-2142 or info@k-photography.com.

Over the next several months, elementary and middle school attendance boundaries will be reviewed to determine needed changes. These adjustments will reassign the elementary and/or middle school some households are zoned to attend. Our community’s support of Building a Better Future in 2023 is helping to minimize the extent of the changes.

Community involvement matters: There will be multiple ways for staff, students, parents/caregivers and community members to be involved throughout this process. The first opportunity is to share what considerations should be adhered to during the review via this ThoughtExchange. Please note any responses you provide are anonymous and can be completed within minutes. The provided feedback will help the team create draft attendance boundary scenarios. Staff, students, parents/caregivers and community members will then be able to provide feedback on each of the possibilities presented.

Timeline: This first feedback opportunity is open until Oct. 9. Scenarios will be created mid-October through December using the considerations shared. These scenarios will be presented shortly after winter break. Edits may be made based on that feedback, and again presented with the opportunity to share comments. The overall process is expected to wrap up in the spring. The new attendance boundaries will go into effect fall 2026.

Stay tuned: Detailed information will continue to be shared on the district website, district279.org. Any questions or concerns should be directed to BetterFuture@district279.org or 763-391-8990.

• October 13: PTO Kindness in Chalk - 3pm to 5pm
• October 14: Picture Day
  
• October 14: Conferences
• October 16: Spirit day: Wear Orange to show Unity!
• October 17 & 18: No School
• October 25: Spirit Day: Wear Green for Dwarfism Awareness Day

• October 23: Evacuation drill at 2:35pm
• October 25: Dwarfism Awareness - wear GREEN to show we care!
• November 5: No School
• November 8: Turkey Bingo 5:45-8pm
  

First bell rings at 8:40am letting students into the school. Second bell rings at 8:50am letting students know they should be in their classroom ready to start the day! At 8:50am, the front doors are shut and student will need to come through the office to get a late pass.

• 2nd grade: 10:45 - 11:10am
• 4th grade: 11:15 - 11:40am
• 1st grade: 11:45 - 12:10pm
• 3rd grade: 12:15 - 12:40pm
• 5th grade: 12:45 - 1:10pm
• Kindergarten: 1:15 - 1:40pm

We welcome and encourage volunteers at Basswood. You can complete an online volunteer form online at apps.raptortech.com/Apply/Nzg0OmVuLVVT and work with our volunteer coordinator, Lezlie Northagen. Volunteer information will go home the first week of school. Activities in a normal school year include being a classroom assistant, helping with classroom parties, helping with PTO sponsored activities (Carnival, Turkey Bingo, Book Fair, etc.) along with numerous other opportunities. We continue to follow state guidelines and adjust our volunteer program accordingly.

Every parent or guardian of enrolled students of Basswood Elementary is an automatic member of the PTO. We encourage you to join one of our next general meetings - or just send us a note if you have a question. You can find more information on our PTO website: https://sites.google.com/view/basswoodpto/home?authuser=1 or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BasswoodElementaryPto

Yes! You will be able to follow us on Facebook. Our first posts went live on September 5th. Please note that we are moving away from Twitter (@BWPrincipal279) for Basswood social media. Click here below to follow us.

The District Transportation department only allows students to ride their assigned bus to and from school. If you have questions, you can reach out to the Transportation Department at 763-391-7244 or transportationreques@district279.org.

If you are planning a family vacation or just time away from school, please remember to call your student's absence into the attendance line. You can call 763-494-3858 and press 1 to leave a message with your student's name, student's teacher, reason for absence, and dates that your student will be gone. We really appreciate your assistance!

Our district Community Education department offers a variety of after school classes. If you do sign your student up for one of these classes, please remember to let your student's teacher know about the class and when your student needs to stay after school.