USD 490 eNews

USD 490 schools were awarded nearly $54,500 in grants from this year’s Tim Underwood Memorial Golf Tournament. Teachers can request grants each year to purchase materials, furniture, or to help fund events that enhance student learning but exceed their classroom budget.

Visit our website to read more: https://www.usd490.org/article/1730772

This year El Dorado Middle School is embracing the district theme, "Take the Lead," with an Olympic twist. Students have been inspired by what it takes to achieve Olympic dreams—drive, determination, and the power to fail forward without giving up. Here are some snapshots from the first few days. Staff kicked off the year with a fun-filled Minute to Win It Olympics, while students were grouped into countries, creating flags for their assigned nations. The festivities culminated in a Parade of Nations down the main hall. It's been a fantastic start to the 2024-2025 school year!

Click here to see the video.

Grandview fifth grade students raced into fifth grade for the first day of school! Thank you to Oz Events for donating medals and t-shirts to students for completing their race on the first day of school.

The Grandview Kindergarten teachers dressed up as mad scientists to make learning fun for their students.

Visit Grandview's Facebook page for more photos: https://www.facebook.com/GEGatorsUSD490/posts/pfbid0284wyCRfwwC8K1ebm8wk395JkfcAhhM2Zxu1ZRPaRpR6iUypbx4X2PQcWSfaUEJEl

A big thank you to Rick Smith from HF Sinclair for visiting Grandview Elementary! Rick spent time with staff and students on Friday, August 23, 2024, sharing insights about the refinery and the many exciting careers in the industry. He even brought gifts for all of the students, making Friday extra special. We are so grateful for the support and dedication to our community!

Skelly's first College and Career Wear Wednesday of the year was on August 21, 2024. They learned about the military and multiple colleges and universities that day. Schools across the district will be doing this on the first and third Wednesday of each month to start conversations with scholars about their futures.

Mr. Hinton and some fifth grade students created a video to explain how to safely play Gaga Ball in the new Gaga Ball pit at Skelly.

Click here to watch the video.

Join PIE's great sponsors in supporting the students of USD 490, El Dorado Public Schools, by participating in the 11th Annual PIE Sporting Clay Fun Shoot on September 7, 2024, at Michael Murphy & Sons.

The event will include lunch, soft drinks, and door prizes. Plus, awards for the High Overall Score, Best Junior, Best Ladies and Best Team.

For more information, visit our website: https://www.usd490.org/article/1715961

El Dorado has a rich history of fine arts. To help students engage with instrumental programs, they host a Musical Instrument Display each fall. Companies bring a variety of instruments for students to explore and share information on buying or renting one for the school year. This year's display took place on August 22, 2024.

Looking for some extra work or a way to support student athletes? We need extra duty workers as #PartOfThePride to help with home games for many sports! Visit our website to check out all of our openings and to apply today: https://www.usd490.org/page/employment

Looking for safe, quality, affordable after school childcare? The YMCA would like to offer Key Academy at Skelly Elementary for after school childcare. In order to make the program viable, they need at least 10 students to register. Learn more and register online: https://ymcawichita.org/.../child.../before-and-after-school

Do you ever feel overwhelmed by the different ways communication is shared from the schools and district? Hopefully, this chart will help you know where to look for different kinds of communication and highlight the multiple channels that will be sharing the same information so if you miss it in one place you can still catch it in another one.

The district has switched from the School Messenger messaging platform to ParentSquare for the 2024-2025 school year. Parents should have received an email or text message to verify their account. If you have not, please contact your child's school office to make sure they have accurate contact information for you.

Elementary schools will still be utilizing Class Dojo to start the year, but will transition to ParentSquare by next school year.

All individual athletic and activities Facebook groups/pages and communication apps such as Remind or Band are also being discontinued and consolidated into the ParentSquare platform to give families a one-stop information hub.

Our tech team is working to pull student email and phone numbers for secondary students (grades 6-12) into the platform so coaches and teachers have a safe and secure way to easily communicate with their students as well. ParentSquare will be monitored by administrators and the system will archive all conversations. We will send out more information about this piece when it is ready to roll out.

School building and the District Facebook and other social media pages will still be active and individual group celebrations will be shared via those channels as well as in ParentSquare.

The information in ParentSquare is pulled nightly from PowerSchool. Here are a couple of tips for troubleshooting:

• If your contact information is incorrect, please notify your school office so they can correct it in PowerSchool.
• If you are unable to see a class or group your child is involved in, please check with your child's school office.
  
• If you are unable to see one of your children in ParentSquare, please contact your child's school office.
  
• If you would like additional training or information on navigating the platform, there is a link on our website under Parent Resources to some great training materials. Please start there. If you need additional support, please reach out to your child's school office. If you still have questions after speaking to them, please contact Kimberly Koop (kakoop@usd490.org).
  

Please join us for the Back to School Jamboree at BG Stadium TONIGHT, Aug. 30, at 6:00 PM. There will be food trucks, fun, and free admission! Come celebrate being #PartOfThePride and meet our fall athletes.

Join us to celebrate the unique role grandparents play in students' lives!

September 2 No School; Labor Day

September 6 EHS Grandparent Breakfast, 9:00 a.m.; GE Grandparent Celebration, 2:00 p.m.

September 9 Grandparents' Day

September 9 EXT Grandparent Breakfast, 8:00 a.m.; EMS Grandparent Social, 9:00 a.m.; BE Grandparent Celebration, 1:30 p.m.; SE Grandparents' Tea, 2:00 p.m.

September 9-13 Arts in Education Week

Meet the Teacher Night at Blackmore, 5:00 p.m.

September 16 No School; Staff Professional Development

September 17 Constitution Day; IT Professionals Day; EMS Family Night, 6:00 p.m.

September 27 All Schools Dismiss Early; Homecoming Parade, 2:00 p.m.

Email: usd490@usd490.org
Website: www.usd490.org
Location: 124 West Central Avenue, El Dorado, KS, USA
Phone: (316) 322-4800
Facebook: facebook.com/eldorado.schools
X/Twitter: @eldoradousd490