Bulldogs Newsletter October 2, 2023

Hello Basswood families,

It has been a fantastic week at Basswood! Today we had an all school assembly to kick-off the new school year. It was great to see all of the students together and to hear their excitement. It is going to be a great year!

SAFETY: Parent Pick-up / Drop-off: Student safety in the parent pick-up and drop-off lane is very important. We have student safety patrols and a number of staff members outside daily to assist with a safe and efficient process. I would like to review some key details related to parent pick up.

To help us ensure safety and efficiency, please be mindful of the following:

- Please focus fully on driving. (Keep waving to your child to a minimum and stay off your phone.)

- Please monitor your speed in the parent drop-off / pick-up lane.

- Make sure that all children exit out the passenger side of the vehicle.

- Adults must stay in their vehicles or park if you need to exit your car.

- Pull forward as far as you can to reduce back-ups on Vicksburg and Bass Lake Road

Front Door Change: For the first week, we welcome parents and students into the building. However, beginning Monday morning, students will enter the building on their own and be supported by our staff if they need help finding their classroom. Please wish them a good day at the front door and let them know they can enter independently.

Please reach out to the Basswood office team with questions.

In partnership,

Steven Schwartz

Basswood Principal

Do you love people? Would you like to serve the Basswood community?

We have an opening on our office team and are seeking someone that would enjoy welcoming families as an office assistant - Educational Support Person(ESP).

We will be interviewing soon. Apply today at www.district279.org/careers

Questions: Contact Steven Schwartz at schwartzsteven@district279.org

• September 10: Kindergarten Parent Information Night 6-6:45pm

• Week of September 16: Bus Safety Week
• September 17, 18, 19: Vision & Hearing Screening for 1st, 3rd, & 5th grades
  
• September 19: PTO Meeting 6:30-8pm
• September 20: PJammin' Day! Wear your jammies to school!
  
• October 4: Fun Run Event!!
• October 13: PTO Kindness in Chalk
  
• October 14: Picture Day (please note this date changed from 10/3 to 10/14)
  

• 2nd grade: 10:45 - 11:10am
• 4th grade: 11:15 - 11:40am
• 1st grade: 11:45 - 12:10pm
• 3rd grade: 12:15 - 12:40pm
• 5th grade: 12:45 - 1:10pm
• Kindergarten: 1:15 - 1:40pm

First bell rings at 8:40am letting students into the school. Second bell rings at 8:50am letting students know they should be in their classroom ready to start the day! At 8:50am, the front doors are shut and student will need to come through the office to get a late pass.

We welcome and encourage volunteers at Basswood. You can complete an online volunteer form and work with our volunteer coordinator, Lezlie Northagen. Volunteer information will go home the first week of school. Activities in a normal school year include being a classroom assistant, helping with classroom parties, helping with PTO sponsored activities (Carnival, Turkey Bingo, Book Fair, etc.) along with numerous other opportunities. We continue to follow state guidelines and adjust our volunteer program accordingly.

Every parent or guardian of enrolled students of Basswood Elementary is an automatic member of the PTO. We encourage you to join one of our next general meetings - or just send us a note if you have a question. You can find more information on our PTO website: https://sites.google.com/view/basswoodpto/home?authuser=1 or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BasswoodElementaryPto

Yes! You will be able to follow us on Facebook. Our first posts went live on September 5th. Please note that we are moving away from Twitter (@BWPrincipal279) for Basswood social media. Click here below to follow us.

The District Transportation department only allows students to ride their assigned bus to and from school. If you have questions, you can reach out to the Transportation Department at 763-391-7244 or transportationreques@district279.org.

If you are planning a family vacation or just time away from school, please remember to call your student's absence into the attendance line. You can call 763-494-3858 and press 1 to leave a message with your student's name, student's teacher, reason for absence, and dates that your student will be gone. We really appreciate your assistance!

Our district Community Education department offers a variety of after school classes. If you do sign your student up for one of these classes, please remember to let your student's teacher know about the class and when your student needs to stay after school.