Karen Acres Newsletter

Families who have not yet registered for 24-25: Please take a few minutes to register and let us know your student will be returning next year. We will begin working on class lists this spring. You’ll find detailed instructions for registering your returning student(s) by visiting: urbandaleschools.com/register

2024-2025 Bus Transportation Update: For those families who have already registered for next year -- if your student is eligible to ride the bus and you wish that service to continue, please log back into your parent portal (as you did for registration) and you will now find "Transportation" as an option under the Forms Section.

Please think about your friends and family who might be interested in exploring our school as an option, and share this flyer: Karen Acres Year-Round School

Dania Wilson

Principal, Karen Acres Elementary

wilsond@urbandaleschools.com

Building relationships to help both students and staff feel safe, appreciated and focused on learning.

Demolition of the concrete on the playground area began on June 4th. The construction team put up temporary fence to block off the areas so students and the community will not be able to access the current blacktop/concrete area.

All students who walk or are picked up by a parent will need to exit the front of the building for the remainder of the school year. Students who typically meet their parents behind the school at dismissal will need to exit the front of the building, but may walk around on the sidewalk at their parent's discretion.

Recess for the last 4 days of school will take place in the gym and/or at the front of the building.

We know this may cause some inconveniences, but are excited to begin work on our new play space!

This year's celebration was an all-school trip to an I-Cubs baseball game. Thank you to our generous and hard working Karen Acres PTO for covering the cost of admission for everyone!

Another thank you goes out to the Tilley family for help in recognizing KA students at the game: 3rd-5th grade KA students with exceptional school attendance were included in a drawing to get to represent Karen Acres in special activities throughout the game including

• Burger Race
• Taco Race
• Pony Race
• Announcer
• 3rd Base Change

It was a beautiful summer day and a great way to celebrate KA!

Thank you to all our volunteers who helped make our Field Day possible! It was a beautiful day, and everyone had loads of fun!

Our last day of school is Thursday, June 13th!

We will begin our celebration with an assembly for Kindergarten - 5th graders at 10:00am in the school gym. Parents are invited to join us starting at 9:45am. All families attending are asked to utilize the street or Aldersgate Church for parking. The Clap Out for our 5th graders will conclude the assembly at approximately 11:00am.

Our All-School Family Picnic begins immediately after the assembly with the following schedule:

• 11:15 5th grade
• 11:25 4th grade
  
• 11:35 2nd and 3rd grade
  
• 11:45 Kindergarten and 1st grade
  

Given the back of the building is closed due to construction, we will eat in the grass areas in the front of the building. The lunchroom will also be available for those who want a seat and/or to be inside. You are welcome to bring a blanket or chairs to put in the grass.

The option for family members to order sack lunches from our Nutrition Services Department closed on June 4. Families are also welcome to bring a sack lunch from home. Currently enrolled students who order school lunch that day will have their lunch accounts charged, or students may bring a lunch from home.

Awards for our 4th and 5th graders will be presented on Wednesday, June 12, 8:00-8:45am in the gym. Parents are welcome to attend this before school event, and all 5th grade families are encouraged to attend. Parents of 4th grade students who are receiving awards were notified last week and encouraged to attend.

Your feedback is important to us! At PTO on Thursday, June 6th we collected some additional information regarding the Panorama Parent Survey. Please take a moment to review the results and give us some additional insight to help us identify steps to continue to improve. Results and Feedback

Thank you to our families and PTO for a wonderful Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week! Our week started with PTO handing out flowers to students as they arrived at school to present to their teachers! This made everybody - students and staff! - smile! We celebrated all week long with lunch and treats and many gestures of appreciation and we are so grateful for all of you!

Here's this month's news from PE, Music, Art, Guidance, and Library: KA Related Arts News - May 2024

Every summer, ParentSquare archives content (primarily Posts) from the previous school year so when you login at the start of the new school year you won’t see content from the previous year. Similar to cleaning out a backpack for the start of a new school year, archiving helps to clean up the main feed of content and keeps content from getting outdated.

For all schools except Karen Acres, we’ll be archiving Posts on June 7, 2024. Karen Acres will be archiving Posts on June 27, 2024. Posts received before the archive dates will not be accessible once the archive completes. Posts received after the archive dates will be accessible for the duration of the summer and the upcoming 2024-25 school year.

At the PTO meeting on April 11th Mrs. Wilson shared the most up-to-date playground designs with the families and students present at the meeting. Additional information about the playground update is below.

With the help of parent volunteers and architects we were able to think about how to better use the space to maximize fun and variety of options.

This view shows how the space will be fully utilized will all the new features and uses of space. The synthetic turf field will allow for field activities to continue when the grass area is too wet for play. It will also give additional spaces for multiple activities can take place at a time.

This is a rendering of the play structures that will replace the two larger play structures currently in place.

The “UCSD Essential Tools: Quick Guide For Families” is a 1-page overview of key tools in use throughout the district. You’ll find the name of each tool (and corresponding logo), grade levels using the tool, the primary purpose of the tool, where to login, and resources for help using the tool. You’re welcome to review the Guide as a Google Doc or download the Guide as a PDF. We hope the Guide is a helpful resource for you!

Exciting news in the Box Tops world!! You can now connect your Walmart account to the Box Tops app and it will automatically give us credit!

Students need to register for school every year, and registration for 2024-2025 opens March 1st. It's very important that you click on the links and register to let us know your student will be returning to Karen Acres next year. We will begin working on our class lists this spring.

K-12 Returning Students
Kindergarten through 12th grade student registration for the 2024–25 school year begins online March 1, 2024. We’re excited to share our new online school registration system as it will make registration more efficient and convenient. You’ll find detailed instructions for registering your returning student(s) by visiting: urbandaleschools.com/register

K-12 New Students
UCSD is comprised of four elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, and one alternative high school. We offer a comprehensive Preschool Program and Adventuretime Before/After School Childcare Program. Families with elementary students are given the choice to either attend their neighborhood elementary school or attend our year-round elementary school (see below). If your student(s) is new to UCSD, click here for specific information about registering your new student.

We are working to keep everyone safe at all times. Please help us with keeping the parking lot safe for all. Here are things you can do to help:

1. Pull as far through the pick up/drop off line as possible so we can get as many cars off the street as possible.

2. Please stay in your vehicle. If you have to reach around to assist your child with buckling, pull forward as far as possible so other cars can safely move around and we can keep the flow of traffic moving.

3. Only use a singular lane closest to the curb.

4. Only pull around cars when directed by a member of the staff.

5. Drive at a maximum speed of 5 mph.

If you want more time at pick up and drop off, know that you are always welcome to park at Aldersgate church or on a side street and walk to meet your child.

We’re using the Urbandale app (powered by ParentSquare) to share news, updates, and alerts. Please take a few minutes to activate and set up your account. You can then search for 'Urbandale' in the App Store or Google Play & download the app. From there you can set your notification preferences.

What You Need To Know

• You’ll receive news and updates (called 'Posts') from your school(s) and the district (and eventually from your teachers and coaches when Phase 2 begins this fall).

• Posts can be received as an email, text, and/or app notification. They can be received instantly (as soon as they are sent) or as a 'digest' which means you’ll receive a summary of each day’s communications at 6:00 p.m.

• You can enable/disable notifications by modality (email/text/app) and set your desired time to receive notifications (instant or digest). These settings only apply to 'Posts.'

• Your preferences for receiving news/updates will not impact your ability to receive Alerts (e.g. inclement weather). Alerts will still be delivered via email, text, app, and voice depending on the situation. (Note: UHS students will not receive text/voice notifications as student cell numbers are not included in PowerSchool.)

• **IMPORTANT** Please keep 'School Alerts' enabled (turned on) if you would like to receive inclement weather and other time-sensitive notifications. If this is disabled (turned off) you will not receive these important notifications.

Learn more about setting your notification preferences by viewing the video below or reviewing set-up instructions here. If you have questions or need help with ParentSquare, you’re welcome to complete our UCSD ParentSquare Help form.

On February 8, ParentSquare invitations were sent to all parents/guardians, staff, and UHS students. We’re using ParentSquare to share news, updates, and alerts. Please take a few minutes to activate and set up your account so you’ll receive news and updates based on your preferred method (email, text, and/or app) and speed of delivery (instant or a daily digest summary arriving nightly at 6:00 p.m.). Your preferences for receiving news/updates will not impact your ability to receive Alerts (e.g. inclement weather). Alerts will still be delivered via email, text, app, and voice depending on the situation. (Note: UHS students will not receive text/voice notifications as student cell numbers are not included in PowerSchool.) Search for 'Urbandale' in the App Store or Google Play & download the Urbandale app.

Review the following written and/or video instructions for setting up your ParentSquare account:

• ParentSquare Account Set Up (English)

• POSTAVLJANJE RAČUNA ZA ParentSquare (Bosnian)

• ParentSquare အကောင့် စနစ်ထည့်သွင်းခြင်း။ (Burmese)

• ParentSquare Account Tuah Ning Cang (Hakha Chin)

• CONFIGURACIÓN DE CUENTA DE PARENTSQUARE (Spanish)

• Akaunti Ya ParentSquare (Swahili)

In addition, you can also review this doc that outlines how to set up your account based on various scenarios depending on roles (e.g. UCSD staff member with children in the District, UCSD parent who is a staff member in another District using ParentSquare, etc.). If you have questions or need help with ParentSquare, you’re welcome to complete our UCSD ParentSquare Help form.

This week we tried to have recess outside, but the ice foiled our plans. The building and grounds crew have been working dilliengetly to get all surfaces cleared and safe enough for use so that we can play outside next week. In order to play in the snow students need to have boots, snow pants, coat, hat and gloves or mittens.

A reminder to our families:

The Urbandale Community School District welcomes and invites parents/guardians to visit schools during the school day. "Visitors" include parents, guardians, volunteers, contractors, students from other schools, UMS and UHS students visiting district schools (unless students are under direct supervision by a UCSD employee), student teachers, student teacher advisors, outside counselors/EFR, and members of the community. In order to maintain a safe and secure learning environment, visitors must report to the school’s main office, sign-in upon arrival, provide a U.S. government-issued ID for scanning into the Raptor system (or provide a legitimate photo ID and have name and date of birth entered into the Raptor system), and then receive a visitor’s badge/sticker which they will be required to wear during their stay in our schools. Visitors are required to sign-out and return the badge/sticker at the main office prior to leaving the school. (Note: Signing in via the Raptor system will not be necessary for individuals who drop-off or pick-up a student or materials in the main office.) Learn More

Tuesday-Friday: School hours are 8:50am - 3:40pm

• Breakfast Opens 8:35-8:50 AM
  
• Supervision Starts 8:35-8:50 AM
  
• Doors Open 8:40 AM- 3:40 PM
  

Monday Late Start: School hours are 9:55am - 3:40pm

• Breakfast Opens 9:40- 9:55 AM
  
• Supervision Starts 9:35-9:55 AM
  
• Doors Open 9:45 AM
  

Our Nutrition Services Department has lots of information regarding how our program works, how much meals cost, Free and Reduced, and more! Clicking on this page from the Urbandale Schools website will provide answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about student meals.

Karen Acres uses Google Calendar to keep track of school “happenings”. This provides subscribers updates to school news and announcements as they occur.

Dates for your calendars this year:

KA PTO Monthly Meetings: 6:30pm in the Media Center

• May 9 - Specials presents
  
• June 6 - Art Show

Music & Band Concert Dates:

• Band and Chorus Spring Concert - Monday, May 13th @7:00pm
  

Email: wilsond@urbandaleschools.com
Location: 3500 74th Street, Urbandale, IA, USA
Phone: 515-457-5700