Lincoln Family Newsletter

Our BPS Mission: "Empower every learner to thrive."

Our BPS Vision: "Together, our strong relationships build inclusive, collaborative, and innovative environments that create agency and inspire a passion for learning, excellence, and discovery."

Our BPS Values: Inclusion, Excellence, Innovation and Leadership

We are looking forward to Parent Teacher Conferences on Monday, October 14th and Tuesday, October 15th from 3:30 - 7:30 on both evenings. Parent-teacher conferences offer great opportunities to deepen your working relationship with your child's teacher. Parent/school partnership is important in the success of all our students.

Lincoln Elementary is using PTCFast.com to make sign-ups as convenient as possible and that link to schedule your conference has been sent and it is also posted on our Lincoln Elementary website.

We do have a couple of teachers who have conflicts with our scheduled PTC evenings and will be providing an alternate date(s) to ensure you have a chance to engage in a conference regarding your child. Those changes will be noted in their schedules and the teachers will also be communicating with you as well.

Another way to be informed on your child's progress is through Powerschool. If you do not have an online parent access account set up, please contact our office at (701) 323-4310. This resource allows you to check in on your child's progress any time throughout the school year.

As we wrap up the first full month of school, I wanted to take a moment to share how much I’ve enjoyed getting to know our students, staff, and families. It’s been a wonderful start to the year, and I’m so grateful for the warm welcome I’ve received. I look forward to continuing to support our school community and seeing all the great things we will accomplish together. The positive energy here makes every day a joy!

At the top of our newsletter, you will find a button for Staff Shout Outs. A big thank you to those of you who have taken the time to recognize a staff member for their great work! The messages we receive are shared in our weekly staff newsletter, and they have truly lifted the spirits of our entire team.

We are incredibly grateful for our amazing staff who work with your wonderful children every day. Together, we are building a strong and supportive community, and we appreciate each and every one of you for being part of it!

Thank you for your continued support!

To minimize disruptions during the school day, please consider the following guidelines:

• Prior Arrangements: Whenever possible, make arrangements with your child regarding after-school plans before the school day begins.

• Emergency-Only Interruptions: Students and teachers will not be interrupted for non-emergency phone calls. Messages will be taken and delivered in a manner that does not disrupt learning. Please note that while staff will do their best to deliver messages received in the last 30 minutes of the school day, this may not always be possible.

• Student Phone Calls: Students must receive permission from a teacher or office staff to make a phone call. Requests for phone calls related to social plans after school will be denied.

• Cell Phone and Smartwatch Use: Students are not permitted to use cellphones or smartwatches during the school day.

Students are not allowed to use cell phones, smartwatches, or personal electronic devices during the school day. These devices may be confiscated if used inappropriately or if they disrupt the learning environment. If this occurs, a parent or guardian may need to retrieve the device from school. Continued misuse of personal electronic devices will result in the student losing the privilege to bring them to school. Students must adhere to the Responsible Use Policy when using district-owned or personal technology devices. As with any personal possession, students are responsible for the care and security of their devices. The school is not responsible for lost, damaged, or stolen personal electronic devices on school grounds or during transit to and from school.

As a school we are focused on continuous improvement and use data regularly to make important school-related decisions. From our comprehensive review of data, we have noticed an area in which our concerns have grown, regular school attendance. Lincoln, along with the other schools in the BHS feeder, have put together an initiative to bring awareness and education to families about the importance of attending school. The video link HERE explains information related to attendance. You will also see our school’s attendance data in the video. We encourage you to take five minutes to watch so you can understand why we have chosen this as a goal we are trying to achieve.

In the next day or so, you will receive the first of a monthly attendance progress report for your child, a report that will be emailed to you in the same manner as academic progress reports. Most parents indicate that frequent or regular reports of their child’s attendance will help them to stay on track. Our goal is for every student to have 95% (or better) attendance rate. We hope you can support Lincoln Elementary School in our work to improve student achievement through regular attendance.

Build the Habit of Good Attendance Early

Parents, please remember that our front doors open at 7:30 am. We’ve noticed that some students are being dropped off before 7:30 and are sitting outside the building unsupervised. This is a safety concern as there is no adults present, and with colder weather approaching, the risks to students’ health will increase.

We understand that many parents working in Bismarck need time to get to work, and for that reason, we open our doors earlier than required and provide supervision starting at 7:30 am. However, for the safety of all students, we kindly ask that you do not drop your children off before this time.

Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our students safe!

We’ve made an important adjustment to our dismissal process, specifically for our bike riders, to ensure the safety of all students. With Kindergarteners exiting to the west of the main entrance and first graders to the south, we are asking all bike riders to WALK their bikes from the front doors to the sidewalks on the exterior of the school campus. This will continue until they reach the sidewalks parallel to the street.

We shared this update with students last Friday and will continue to remind them until it becomes a smooth and consistent practice. Thank you for your support in helping keep all of our students safe!

Scherling Photography will be at Lincoln on Tuesday, October 15th to retake school pictures. If you would like your child's photo retaken or they were absent on the first photo day, they can do so on the 15th.

Please attend this month's PTO meeting TONIGHT October 1st at 6:30 p.m. The meeting will last one hour (or less) and will take place in the Lincoln Elementary Collaboration Room. Come in door 1 and take a right. The door to the collaboration room is immediately around the corner! See you there!

Tonight Mr. Brad Barnhardt will be in attendance to go over the District Transportation Presentation.

October 1, 2024 Meeting Agenda

Below you will find a flyer for Red Ribbon Week (October 28 - November 1), created by a work group of district counselors. This week presents a wonderful opportunity for us to come together with our students to focus on making healthy choices and learning how to refuse decisions that may not be the best for us.

Our school counselors address these important topics through their "I Can" statements, which are tailored to be age-appropriate and align with the American School Counselor Association’s Mindsets and Behaviors. These valuable lessons help guide students toward making positive decisions.

We also hope you will join in on the fun by participating in our Red Ribbon Week dress-up days! Let’s work together to make this a week of learning, growth, and celebration.

October

1 - PTO Meeting (6:30 - 7:30)

4 - BHS Demons Homecoming vs. Century (7:00 Community Bowl)

14 - Parent Teacher Conferences (3:30 - 7:30)

15 - Parent Teacher Conferences (3:30 - 7:30)

15 - School Picture Makeup Day

17 - NO SCHOOL (Administrator's Conference)

18 - NO SCHOOL (Administrator's Conference)

26 - Trunk or Treat

28 - Red Ribbon Week - Red Day

29 - Red Ribbon Week - Jersey Day

30 - Red Ribbon Week - Super Hero Day

31 - Red Ribbon Week - Flannel and Denim Day

November

1 - Red Ribbon Week - Wear Peace Signs or Tie Dye

5 - Election Day (Gym will be utilized for voting - All staff MUST park in the main parking lot)

8 - No School (Parent Teacher Conference Day Off)

11 - No School (Veteran's Day)

14 - 4th Grade (Karch, Merriman & Olson) Music Performance 6:00

14 - BPS School Board Meeting (5:15)

25 - BPS School Board Meeting (5:15)

28 - No School (Thanksgiving)

29 - No School (Thanksgiving)

Email: melissa_hurt@bismarckschools.org
Website: www.bismarckschools.org/lincoln
Location: 3320 McCurry Way, Lincoln, ND, USA
Phone: 701-323-4310
Facebook: facebook.com/LincolnElementaryBismarckPublicSchools

Any third party non-school district events in this newsletter

are not sponsored/endorsed by Bismarck Public Schools.