• August 29th- Family School Back to School Playdate & Potluck from 5:30-6:30 at Washington Park
• September 3rd - Meet the Teacher from 2:30-3:00
• September 4th - First Day KINDERS ONLY (ALL Kinders!) 8:30 AM – 1:45 PM Dismissal
• September 5th - First Day for Grades 1-5, & Kinder Last Names A-L
• September 6th - School for grades 1-5, & Kinder Last Names M-Z
• September 9th - School for ALL grades
• September 11th - School for ALL grades
• September 12th - School for grades 1-5, NO SCHOOL FOR KINDERS
• September 13th - School for grades 1-5, NO SCHOOL FOR KINDERS
• September 16th - REGULAR SCHOOL SCHEDULE RESUMES
• October 10th-Picture Day

• Shift bedtimes 15 minutes earlier each day until routine is established.
• Practice getting up a bit earlier each morning and have them practice getting ready (it helps curb the “sleepies” and “grumpies” - aka power struggles).
• Talk about school with your child, emphasizing that they will get to:

1. Meet new friends, visit old friends, learn, play, and that you’re excited to hear all about their day when they come home. The grown-ups at school will be here to help them.
2. There will be other kids having the same feelings they do – excited, nervous, confused, joyful… and those feelings are all okay!
3. The big kids will also be there to help them out (find the bathroom, and make sure no one gets lost). That’s what we do at Family School!

• If being with your child a lot throughout the day is your summer usual, consider practicing short periods of time apart. When your child can spend time with another family member for short durations while you run errands or take appointments (maybe guardians need to practice too) they develop trust and confidence of your return. This can reduce separation anxiety and encourages the independence needed to step into their “student-selves.”

• Consider school lunches and snacks – talk with your child about school lunches, or home lunches Healthy snacks are never a bad bet either! You can absolutely mix it up depending upon the menu.

*We have a morning snack time right after recess. A community snack is prepared and distributed by the teacher and/or classroom volunteers. Guardians wishing to contribute snacks to their child’s classroom, or even a general classroom donation are welcome. We strive to be nut-free, but fresh fruits, veggies, goldfish or graham crackers, bagged & popped popcorn, or other snacks low on sugar are very welcome. A more extensive list is forthcoming. Allergies specific to classrooms (not students) will be shared by teachers soon. Thank you!

Link to 4J Healthy snack and parties guidelines: https://www.4j.lane.edu/4797_4

Be sure to come to our MEET THE TEACHER Open House on Tuesday, September 3rd from 2:30-3:00 PM. This a great opportunity for kids and parents to come in, see the school, find out where their classroom is and meet their teacher!

Class lists/assignment will be emailed to parents by the classroom teacher on Friday, August 30th by 3:00. All 4j schools will follow this format, class lists are no longer posted at the schools.

First day of school for Kindergarten is Wednesday, September 4th, 8:30 AM – 1:45 PM. This is for ALL Kinder students. Please refer to the Smart Start calendar for more details.

The first day of school for grades 1-5 is on Thursday, September 5th, 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM.

Students who want to have breakfast may enter the building beginning at 8:15 AM. Doors open at 8:20 AM for students who are not having breakfast. Students may enter through the office starting at 8:20 AM.

School Hours

Monday, Tues, Thurs, Friday 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM
Every Wednesday 8:30 AM – 1:45 PM

Doors open at 8:20 AM for students who are not having breakfast.

Breakfast/cafeteria doors open at 8:15 AM and close at 8:20 AM

please remain with your student in the car until we can supervise them at 8:15 AM

4J will provide FREE breakfast and lunch for all students. No application is necessary!

All schools in the district will have all students enter in their six digit number when going through the breakfast and lunch line. We understand this will take some time for students to get us to, staff will be available to help.

Families are welcome to send home lunches if you choose. For students with nut allergies, we offer a Nut-Free Table for students to eat.

MENUS & ALLERGENS: Available on LINQ Connect

Late Students to Office
Any students arriving at school after 8:30 AM need to check in at the office before going to class.

Dismissal Procedures

At the end of the day, students will exit the building with their teacher, using their designated entrance/exit doors. All students and dismissal staff will be out in the front of the school. Students biking or walking will be dismissed (parent permission needs to be on file or called into the office). Students waiting to be picked up will wait with their teacher in their designated area/front of the school. Please be patient as students and families learn the dismissal routine.
In order to make dismissal run smoothly and efficiently, it’s important families follow the parking lot procedures.

Parking Lot Procedures/Guidelines
It’s important to follow the guidelines and be patient for a smooth and safe drop off and pick up routine. Please note the following rules for the parking lot:

- Please follow the Curbside Pause-Parking (Loading and Unloading ONLY)
In the mornings, students may be dropped off along the curb. At the end of the day, drivers can pause-park along the curb to pick up their students when they come out at dismissal. Please note the following rules for pause parking:
• Drivers must remain in their cars at all times.
• Drivers should pull forward as space becomes available.
• Drivers should NOT stop in marked crosswalk areas.
• When getting in or out of a car to load/unload, students must use the door on the sidewalk side. Students should never get in or out of a car on the driver’s side. It’s unsafe for the student and it slows traffic.

Additionally,
- Please refrain from using your phones while you are in the pick up line.
- Students and families should never cut across the driveway.
- Students should wait to be escorted across the crosswalk. Only students are allowed beyond the crosswalk at this time.

The Importance of Attendance

Numerous studies on school attendance, as well as our own district data, show a direct

connection between coming to school every day and learning. For some folks that’s an

obvious statement, yet in the aftermath of COVID shutdowns, many schools around the

globe are seeing relaxed emphasis placed upon daily attendance. There are lots

of very real reasons for that, as we gradually went back into public spaces.

Still, attendance isn’t what it was prior to COVID, but it’s getting stronger. In fact, Family

School had the highest increase of all elementary schools in the district at 20.5% increase overall (it was one of our goals) and we are proud of that. We are not yet caught up with attendance rates from pre-pandemic times, but we can celebrate a little bit...

Our rate of improvement was the highest of 18 elementary schools in our district!

Similar improvement was experienced across all demographics.

FYI!

Relationship between Student Attendance and Grades in High School

(Grades are not measured the same way in elementary schools)

· In 2023-24 there was a very strong relationship between attendance and grades in high school: students attending 95% of the time or more received passing grades 99% of the time in semester 2, while students with attendance below 80% only received passing grades 71% of the time.

What this tells us is that there IS a connection and in-person instruction matters.

For elementary school students, educators see:

· Though we do our best to catch kids up after excused absences, it’s hard to recapture exactly what was missed.

· Kids sometimes come back after absences (or if they arrive late) to their peers using new vocabulary, or a new process, or being “in-the-know,” which makes them feel behind whether they actually are or not. That can lead to anxious feelings, or strong desire not to return.

· That can create a spiral of anxiety, resistance or frustration at home.

What can we do about it?

· All teachers will have a process for missed days, that allows kids access to what they missed, and that will be clearly communicated to them, with where they can get copies of any assignments.

· Teachers can often grab a few minutes during the day for a quick review, and if it requires more than that they may reach out to parents to arrange more time outside of the school day. We will work with our families.

· Parents can reconsider travel plans that occur during the school year.

· Contact the school in advance of planned missed days, and let us know as soon as you can if something urgent comes up and the family will be going out of town.

Our school uses our district attendance system, which will automatically call home when a student is marked absent by the teacher. Depending upon the business of the office in the morning, we might get to phone messages a little later than usual, and calls occur by error. Please have patience – when we know it’s in error it can be fixed! Life happens – we are here to help with the school part!

We LOVE seeing kids’ faces each day and we love to see you too!

YMCA After School Program

Be sure to check in with the YMCA for openings for their after school care program here at Family School. Please click here to visit their website for more information or to register for the Fall.

Before care will be provided if there is enough interest from Family School families.

Teachers/ Family School staff will ensure your student gets to YMCA afterschool program if your student is enrolled for that day/week of YMCA.

School Supplies

4J will supply basic school supplies for every K-5 student. Teachers may ask for specific supplies after the school year starts, but on the first day the only things kids need to bring are a backpack*, water bottle, a change of clothes to keep in the bottom of their back pack as our playground does get wet and muddy, and accidents happen! The office/school is asking for donations of facial tissue.

*If your child needs a backpack for the school year, please contact the office.

Health & Safety Protocols

For safety reasons, our front doors will remain locked at all times. Visitors and volunteers are still limited to essential purposes. There will be an intercom to communicate with our office staff and a “buzz in” system for essential visitors and volunteers. Essential visitors can include families who need to register, pre-arranged meetings, other paperwork, guest speakers, presentors, social workers, delivery personnel, etc. Volunteers are pre-approved through classroom teachers and the administrator for specific needs and must complete the required background check.

Visitors & Volunteers
We are once again able to welcome essential volunteers into the building on a teacher-directed basis and administrative approval. If a teacher has a need for volunteers in their classroom, they will notify parents and the office. We'll work together to make sure a volunteer background check is in place. If you are interested in volunteering, please click here to access the Volunteer Background Check application. It takes time to process the paperwork so please make sure you complete that well before the time you need to volunteer.

Update Your Child’s Health Information
Ensure your child’s health records are current. Linked here is the Asthma Assessment Form and the General Medical Profile Form (attached below) , which you can email to front office staff.

Frequently asked about student illness

Children should be kept home when:

• They have a fever (students must be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school).
  
• They have a severe cough-uncontrollable cough (hard for your student to focus in class).
  
• They have a rash that has not been seen or treated by a doctor.
  
• They have diarrhea and/or vomiting or have not been free of these symptoms for more than 24 hours.
  

If you haven't completed the 24/25 annual notices, please refer to the link below. Please return these form to stubbert_b@4j.lane.edu , the school office or your students homeroom teacher. If you are unsure if you completed ALL the forms, please take a look at the link below. The annual notice address directory information, field trips, state testing, etc. Paper copies can also be requested to be sent home with your student and available in the front office.

Teresa Martindale- Principal

Brittany Stubbert - Secretary/Office Manager

Lyndsey Arnold - Kindergarten

Becky James/Sarah Davis-1/2/3

Chelsea Norris(Scouten)-1/2/3

Todd Aydelott-4/5

Lori Hamilton-4/5

Erik Cropp-SPED Teacher

Sarah Davis - Title

Stephen Thompson - Music

(Coach) Ben Dechter - PE

TBA - Librarian

Scott Pierce - Counselor

Abby Nehls-Lowe - Speech

Heather Chiappisi - OT

Maggie McGill - Psychologist

Cyndi Norwood - TSS-Technology

Dolores Gardner - EA

Ally Kramer - EA

Kristi Contant - EA

Jenn Ng-EA

Tamara McIlenny - EA

Shannon Hayes - Behavior Specialist

Ryan Parcell - Maintenance Coordinator

Ken Frojen- Night Maintenance

Krystle Rodriguez- Nurse

Trish Coaizzi- Health Aide

Becky Weatherford- Kitchen Coordinator

Stefanie Napier- Food Service Assistant

Free LTD student pass program here

4j Student Insurance

Re: Student Injuries and Insurance

2024-2025 School Year

Dear Parent/Legal Guardian:

The safety of our students is of critical importance to all of us and we want to protect them from injury. Even so, accidents do happen (at school and elsewhere) and required medical care can be expensive. Please know that your school does not assume responsibility for such costs but does offer you access to several student accident insurance plans for voluntary purchase. Details can be found in the attached brochure/enrollment form.

Options are available to cover your child 24/7, anywhere in the world or you can limit coverage to school-related injuries only. The plans do not restrict your choice of doctors or hospitals. However, you’ll also have access to an extensive network of providers with discounted fees. Seeking care through contracted providers may further reduce your out-of-pocket costs, particularly if your child needs surgery or hospitalization.

Also offered is the pay-as-you-go Student Accident & Sickness Plan which covers sickness as well as injury, in and out of school. The Dental Accident plan can be of particular value with younger students as final treatment to injured teeth often needs to be deferred until after they mature.

Common emergency benefits – Regardless of the benefit level selected, all of the accident medical plans and the Student Accident & Sickness Plan will cover eligible charges for Ambulance, Emergency Room and Emergency Room Physician at 100% of Usual, Customary and Reasonable charges (UCR) up to plan limits.

Enhanced benefits for qualified concussions – If an insured student suffers a concussion while participating in any covered activity and is consequently removed from play from his/her interscholastic sport per the school’s formal concussion protocols, then any deductible or inside limit features of the plan are waived and eligible charges for the evaluation and treatment of the concussion are paid at 100% of UCR subject to remaining policy terms and conditions.

Interscholastic Sports – Please know that all plans offered (other than the Dental Accident Plan) may be used to comply with applicable state and local insurance requirements for participation in interscholastic sports (coverage for high school tackle football is offered on a stand-alone basis).

You are strongly encouraged to carefully review the information provided. If your child already has health coverage, the student insurance plans offered can also be used to expand your choice of providers and help cover the high deductibles and 30% to 40% cost sharing obligations imposed by many health plans today.

To enroll, please visit www.myers-stevens.com; instructions for enrollment are available on the website. While your child is eligible to enroll at any time, one-time-pay rates for the accident medical plans and Dental Accident Plan are the same regardless of enrollment date. As such, you are encouraged to consider enrollment now in order to include coverage for this summer and the full 2024-2025 School Year. Once processing is completed, an ID card verifying coverage will be mailed home to you.

If you have any questions concerning the coverages available or need help with enrollment, please call Myers-Stevens & Toohey at (800) 827-4695. Bilingual representatives are available for parents who need assistance in Spanish.

Sincerely,

Lane County School District 4J

Re: Seguro Medico de Accidentes Para Estudiantes

Año Escolar 2024-2025

Estimado Padre/Guardian legal:

La seguridad de nuestros estudiantes es de vital importancia para todos nosotros y queremos protegerlos de lesiones. Aun así, los accidentes ocurren (en la escuela y en otros lugares) y la atención médica requerida puede ser costosa. Tenga en cuenta que su escuela no asume responsabilidad por dichos costos, pero le ofrece acceso a varios planes de seguro contra accidentes para estudiantes para la compra voluntaria. Los detalles se pueden encontrar en el folleto o formulario de inscripción adjunto.

Disponemos de diferentes opciones para la cobertura de su hijo las 24 horas del día, los 7 días de la semana en cualquier parte del mundo, o puede limitar la cobertura solo a lesiones que ocurran en la escuela. Los planes no restringen su elección de médicos u hospitales. Sin embargo, también tendrá acceso a una amplia red de proveedores con tarifas con descuento. La búsqueda de atención a través de proveedores contratados puede reducir aún más sus gastos directos, en especial si su hijo necesita cirugía u hospitalización.

También se ofrece el Plan de accidentes y enfermedades para estudiantes de pago por uso, que cubre enfermedades y lesiones dentro y fuera de la escuela. El plan de Accidentes dentales puede resultar especialmente útil para los estudiantes más jóvenes ya que a menudo se posterga el tratamiento final de los dientes lesionados hasta que los estudiantes se hacen mayores.

Beneficios de emergencia comunes: independientemente del nivel de beneficio seleccionado, todos los planes médicos de accidentes y el Plan de accidentes y enfermedades para estudiantescubrirán los cargos elegibles para ambulancia, sala de emergencias y médico de la sala de emergencias al 100% de los cargos usuales, habituales y razonables (Usual, Customary and Reasonable, UCR) hasta los límites del plan.

Beneficios mejorados para conmociones cerebrales calificadas: si un estudiante asegurado sufre una conmoción cerebral mientras participa en cualquier actividad cubierta y, en consecuencia, es retirado de la participación en su deporte interescolar según los protocolos formales de conmoción cerebral de la escuela, entonces se renuncia a cualquier deducible o característica dentro del límite del plan y los cargos elegibles para la evaluación y el tratamiento de la conmoción cerebral se pagan al 100% de los cargos UCR sujeto a los términos y condiciones restantes de la póliza.

Deportes interescolares: tenga en cuenta que todos los planes ofrecidos (que no sean el Plan de accidentes dentales) pueden utilizarse para cumplir con los requisitos de seguro estatales y locales aplicables para participar en deportes interescolares (la cobertura para fútbol americano de escuela secundaria se ofrece de forma independiente).

Se le recomienda encarecidamente que revise de forma detenida la información proporcionada. Si su hijo ya tiene cobertura de salud, los planes de seguro estudiantil que se ofrecen también pueden utilizarse para ampliar su elección de proveedores y ayudar a cubrir los deducibles altos y las obligaciones de participación en los costos del 30% al 40% impuestas por muchos planes de salud en la actualidad.

Para inscribirse, visite www.myers-stevens.com; las instrucciones de inscripción están disponibles en el sitio web. Si bien su hijo es elegible para inscribirse en cualquier momento, las tarifas de pago único para los planes médicos de accidentes y el Plan de accidentes dentales son las mismas independientemente de la fecha de inscripción. Como tal, se le recomienda considerar la inscripción ahora para incluir la cobertura para este verano y el año escolar 2024-2025 completo. Una vez que el procesamiento se haya completado, se le enviará a su hogar una tarjeta de Id. que acredita la cobertura.

Si tiene alguna pregunta sobre las coberturas disponibles, o necesita ayuda con la inscripción, llame a Myers-Stevens & Toohey al (800) 827-4695. Disponemos de representantes bilingües para los padres que necesiten asistencia en español.

Sinceramente,

Lane County School District 4J