Lester Park School Newsletter #21

Lots of great info in this newsletter! Thank you for taking the time to read it 😊

Here are some things to look for in future emails and/or newsletters:

• 2024-25 School District Calendar (not posted yet)
• Information on Parent/Teacher Conferences

~ Tracy Thompson

Lester Park Admin Asst

• Jan 15...NO SCHOOL (MLK JR Day)
• Jan 22...NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS (Grading Day)
• Jan 26...Report cards viewable on the Parent Portal after 3:15pm
• Jan 27...PTA Family Skating Party (12:30-3:30)
• Jan 30...PTA Meeting
• Early February...Parent/Teacher conferences (watch your email)
• Feb 19-23...NO SCHOOL (Winter Break)
• Mar 7...Grandparents' Day!
• Mar 11...5th Grade to Starbase
• Mar 21...Kindergarten Meet&Greet

Lester Park School Calendar is on our website HERE.

The Specialist (Day 1-4) Calendar can be found HERE.

People have started parking illegally in our handicap parking spots again. These parking spots need to be available for families picking up their children with disabilities, and for anyone else who has a disability.

Last year, our School Resource Officer gave out parking tickets because of this continuing issue. So if you do not have appropriate Handicap identifications, please do not park in a handicap spot. This is the law.

While waiting in the drop off/pickup lines...please try not to block the crosswalks at the corner of 52nd Ave & Glenwood St when crossing guards are trying to cross students. Thank you for helping us keep our walkers and crossing guards safe!

Per Minnesota Department of Health and our school district:

For health tracking purposes...if your child has a fever 100 or greater with a cough or sore throat, or he/she is vomiting or has diarrhea, please include this information in your attendance email or phone call to their school.

Scroll down for more Attendance and Health information.

It looks like we are finally getting some true arctic air. Therefore, it is time to remind families of the cold weather policies. These can also be found in our Family Handbook mentioned below.

• We will have "inside" recess and no crossing guards when the wind chills or actual temperatures are colder than -15 degrees.

• Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather: a warm jacket, snow pants, mittens/gloves, hat, boots, etc. Students do great outside during their 20 minute recess, but they need to be dressed for it!

Students will be outside for recess most winter days. Therefore, it is important they come to school with the appropriate outdoor attire. This includes: a warm jacket, hat, mittens/gloves, snow pants and winter boots.

Now that we have snow on the ground...only students with boots and snow pants can use the field. Students without boots may be limited to just the sidewalk.

Just a reminder that we are not marking a student tardy if the parent/guardian was stuck in a long drop off line. We also take this into consideration when roads are slick from the weather...like this morning.

Each morning, the office staff is watching the line after 7:40am. If it looks like the line is running slow, we do not mark those students late that were in this line, but students arriving later will be marked tardy. You may see us writing the students' names down to keep track of who came in after 7:45.

Hi! Do you have a 4th or 5th grader that would be interested in being a morning crossing guard? It would be every other month, or more if they choose.

Please email tracy.thompson@isd709.org for more information. Thank you!

There is so much information shared in our weekly newsletters and in other emails, and we know it can be hard to remember all of the school policies. This is why we have a Lester Park Family Handbook. You can find it by clicking HERE. We will also continue to add it in our weekly newsletters.

Some topics you can find in the Lester Park Family Handbook:

• School hours & contact information
• Attendance policies
• Illness guidelines
• Cold weather & snowstorm guidelines
• Parent Portal
• Bus procedures & cancellations
• Breakfast/Lunch information
• Birthday Treats/Invitation policies
• Cell Phone & Smartwatch policies
• How to Volunteer

As you can see the Family Handbook is such a great school resource!

We will have our 2024-25 Kindergarten Meet & Greet from 4pm-6pm on Thursday, March 21, 2024. More information about what the Meet & Greet is will be in next week's school newsletter. For now, please save that date!

Some of you are eager to start enrolling your children for the 2024-25 school year. We love that but you are going to need to wait a few more weeks. The school district will open the online registration on February 1st. More information on that also in next week's newsletter.

Has your child had Early Childhood Screening? If not, please read this:

• Early Childhood Screening...MN State Law requires a developmental and health screening for each child prior to enrollment in kindergarten. ISD 709 provides free screening most weeks during the months of September through April, with one additional date scheduled each month from May through August. Arrange an appointment or call 218-336-8816 or email ecscreening@isd709.org. An equivalent screening can be accepted from another agency or health care provider.

Here is important information:

* Order Deadline is March 8.
* You may order them online now at https://ybpay.lifetouch.com and use the school ID code: 10952324. You can also click HERE or use the QR code to the right.

* We have only a few hardcopy order forms left. You can view the digital copy HERE.

* Ordering online prevents lost order forms! Plus there are more options available online!
* Standard softcover yearbooks are $20. You can upgrade to a hardcover for $5 more.

* Check should be made payable to LESTER PARK SCHOOL

* Yearbooks will be distributed after Memorial Day. A limited number of extra yearbooks will be available at this time on a "first come, first served" basis, and sometimes sell out.

Starting Tuesday, January 23, we will no longer use Infinite Campus Messenger for communicating with families. What is Campus Messenger? That's what we used to send you this school newsletter.

Starting January 23, we will be using a new form of school-to-home communication at Duluth Public Schools called ParentSquare. This unified communications platform is designed to keep parents and guardians informed and encourage greater engagement and connection with Duluth Public Schools.

It provides a safe way for district administrators, school principals, teachers, staff, and parents to:

• Send and receive school and class information

• Share pictures and files

• See calendar items

• Sign up to volunteer

• Schedule parent-teacher conferences

• and much more . . . all in one centralized place!

Parents—Getting Started Video

Padres: vídeo de introducción

All district and school, grade level and classroom information will now be sent to your computer or phone via email and/or text. For even more convenience, download the ParentSquare app (available for free for iOS and Android devices).

Have questions? Click the question mark in the top right corner of the desktop version or the Help tab on the app (tap the triple bar icon at the top left) to find answers to most of your questions.

Please watch your email for more updates from the school district. Thank you!

For Positive COVID Results or Symptoms:

please click HERE for more information.

What do I do if my child is going to be absent from school?

• Email lesterattendance@isd709.org (the office & nurse will both see these emails)
  

• or call attendance line 336-8875 then “3” to leave a recorded message

• Please list specific symptoms, especially: fever (and how high), sore throat, cough, vomiting and/or diarrhea.

• Teachers may have a preferred way for you to report an absence to them.

• If the office does not know why a student is absent, an automated phone call and an email message will be sent out at sometime between 8:30-9:00. This is for safety reasons.

Some helpful links:

• Is My Child Well Enough To Go To School
  
• You can also call our school health office at 336-8875 x2654

Many of you filled out the OPTIONAL Student Directory form this past fall. We will share the student directory with families in the Infinite Campus message that provided this newsletter link. Please save the link from this email.

If you didn't fill out the online form but would like to have your child's contact information in the directory, please email ptalp709@gmail.com.

A huge thank you to our PTA for making this directory possible. While the Lester Part PTA helps collects the data, they are not the source of the information, therefore has no control over its accuracy. They will remove information from the directory upon written request, but this process may take a few days due to the volunteer nature of our organization. Parents/Guardians who submit their contact information acknowledge that they have read the terms in the form, and understand that the Lester Part PTA is not responsible for misuse of any information you choose to make public through this directory.

Duluth Little League

Previous Community Flyers can be found HERE.

Lester Staff Directory (firstname).(lastname)@isd709.org

Email: lesterpark@isd709.org
Website: https://lesterpark.isd709.org/
Location: 5300 Glenwood Street, Duluth, MN 55804, USA
Phone: (218) 336-8875
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lester-Park-Elementary-1900216436910729