Dear ERE Families,

February is around the corner and Parent/Teacher conferences will be here before we know it. This is a very important time for you to be able to discuss your child’s progress with his/her teacher. Because conferences are being held before the end of the quarter, you will not be getting a report card. The purpose of this conference is to make sure your child is on track and any concerns can be addressed before the end of the term. We appreciate you using the online scheduler. Please be on the lookout for a note coming home from your child’s teacher regarding this the end of next week.

Thank you for making sure your child is here every day, on time and ready to learn.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dawn Campbell

We are regretfully saying goodbye and good luck to Ms. Yessie as she will be leaving us after this Friday for a new adventure. Unfortunately, Student Nutrition has not been able to fill the role for a new cafeteria manager yet which means we will have to pause our traditional meal service and switch to self-stable ready meals. During the time we have shelf-stable meals, students will not be charged for lunch. As soon as we are able to return to traditional lunch service, we will communicate that to our families.

With that being said, if you are interested in joining our team here at ERE as the cafeteria manager, you can apply by going to https://www.asdk12.org/workforasd!

As we start the new year, we'd like to take a moment and remind families how important it is for students to be at school and on-time to learn each and every day. As early as the first month of school, chronic absence (missing 10 percent or more of school days) can be an early warning sign of academic trouble, whether a student is in kindergarten or high school. Children who miss too much school in kindergarten and first grade often struggle to read proficiently by the end of third grade, and by sixth grade it becomes a key predictor that a student will drop out of high school, according to research information provided by AttendanceWorks.

We'd also like to remind families when a student is considered tardy, absent, or when absences can be excused. School begins Monday at 9am and Tuesday-Friday at 8am. Students are considered tardy if they arrive after school begins until an hour past start time. After missing an hour, students are considered absent for that part of the day. This means that if a student arrives after 10am on Monday or 9am Tue-Fri, they are considered absent and no longer tardy.

For whether or not an absence is excused, ASD board policies states that absences may be excused for health reasons, family emergencies, participation in religious activities, other other reasons that the Superintendent constitutes as good cause. Furthermore, ASD's Elementary Handbook states that families have three days to excuse an absence after it occurs. If your student will miss part of the day due to an appointment, we ask you provide the office with a doctor's note. All absences MUST be reported to the front office to be entered in the system; teachers do not have that access. This can be done by leaving a message on our attendance line before 9am or by submitting through the ParentConnect portal.

We have officially integrated our new Raptor Security system into our visitor procedure. Going forward, all visitors going past the office will need to sign into the Raptor system with a driver's license as well as physically sign-in on our visitor clipboard. Raptor is used for security checks with ASD, and our clipboard is used for the school in case of an emergency evacuations so we know who is in our building other than staff and students. Visitors who do not bring their license to sign in with Raptor will not be permitted past the office regardless of previous arrangements to volunteer.

The Eagle River Choir is looking for singers! We start rehearsals on January 27th. Rehearsals will take place in the Music Room on Monday & Wednesday, from 2:30-3:30. Because this is an after-school activity, students will either need to be picked up or have permission to walk home. Your support in ensuring your student arrives on time is greatly appreciated.

There are NO tryouts for this group!

All 3rd-5th grade students are welcome!

If your student would like to join, I am beyond thrilled to have him/her! Attendance at rehearsals is very important. I understand that students may occasionally be absent from school due to illness or a family related event. However, after three unexcused absences in a semester, I will invite your child to rejoin the group at the start of the next concert season (Fall or Spring). It is nearly impossible to make up for the missed music and ensemble collaboration. Please also note that students who are frequently absent also miss out on field trips and concerts. Thank you for understanding.

Email will remain Ms. Levy’s primary form of communication with Choir families. However, from time-to-time Ms. Levy will use the app Remind to communicate announcements or changes to our Choir rehearsal schedule. Choir families, please visit to sign up to receive messages and text notifications.

https://www.remind.com/join/egechoir1

With all of that said, please don’t hesitate to contact me with any concerns or questions. Please fill out and sign the accompanying permission slip. Your students can return it to me up until the first day of rehearsal, January 27th. I am so excited to see what the year has in store. Thank you so very much for your support!

It has been great to see all the students' smiling faces back at school once again. To start off 2025 we have been trying to improve our Native Youth Olympic skills. For those who are interested in competing against other students, there is a NYO competition at Ravenwood Elementary Saturday February 1st. Students from all over the Eagle River area will come to compete against each other in various games. The attached flier will have more information about which games are being played and what times they begin. We will also be starting our healthy future program back up again in February.

Unfortunately, with the lack of snow I have decided to cancel our cross-country ski club this year. I am hopeful that we'll get some snow sometime this winter so I can take the students outside to play in it. I will be starting up a climbing club though. Climbing club will take place on Thursdays from January 30th to March 27th. This club will be open to 2nd grade through 5th grade and will run from 2:30-3:30PM. Students who are being picked up after the club will meet their parents in the school parking lot. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns. Thanks!

- Coach Spencer Fullmer

Parents or Guardians of 5th Grade Students:

During the 2nd semester, the Elementary Health curriculum, The Great Body Shop, will cover Human Growth and Development and Diseases.

These topics will be covered:

• Unit 5 Growing Up

• Lesson 1 Hormones and Your Body

• Lesson 2 Puberty: Growing and Changing

• Lesson 3 Hygiene and You-- Keeping Clean

• Lesson 4 Growing Up With a Healthy Attitude

• Unit 8 - About Blood and Disease

• Lesson 3 HIV, Enemy of the Immune System

For more information about lesson topics, student issues and videos, please visit the preview folder:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1zTuTxyXfvva8JXUNPqjgYJgmiVUCp7xS?usp=sharing

Additionally, an OPTIONAL In-Person Parent Preview opportunity is scheduled for:

Wednesday, February 5th, 2025

2:45-5:15 in the main office.

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Spain

Eagle River Elementary

Health Contact

spain_jennifer@asdk12.org

We have been working hard during our PLC time! It has been incredibly valuable to have this time each week to have collegial conversations and to collaborate to develop our mission and vision as well as our collective commitments for our students here at ERE! I am proud of the work our staff is doing and an excited for where we are headed.

Mission Statement: At ERE we will provide a safe and positive learning environment for the success of all our students, accomplished through engagement, motivation and perseverance.

Vision Statement: ERE will strive to create successful, happy, lifelong learners.

Our Collective Commitments:

• ERE is committed to strong core academic skills focused on math literacy and reading comprehension.

• ERE is committed to ensuring students learn conflict resolution, emotional regulation skills, and to take personal responsibility.

• ERE is committed to helping students develop a growth mindset, to focus, persevere, and problem solve.

School Colors: Blue and gold

Motto: “From eaglets to eagles, we soar on the wings of knowledge!”

Below is Eagle River Elementary's usual schedule. Our schedule is subject to change without warning, but we will do our best to communicate any unanticipated, sudden schedule changes.

Monday:

• School doors open at 8:45 for students and school begins at 9:00. Students arriving before 8:45 will be directed to the MPR aka lunch room where they will wait until 9:45 with the option of sitting quietly or reading a book.
• Breakfast begins at 8:50 and is eaten in the classroom.

Tuesday through Friday:

• School doors open at 7:45 for students and school begins at 8:00. Students may not be dropped off early to wait.

• Breakfast begins at 7:50 and is eaten in the classroom
• 11:00-11:50 Recess then lunch for Dyches, Jones, Cano, & Dente
• 11:00-11:50 Lunch then recess for Sorensen, Reynolds, Hatmaker, & King
• 12:00-12:50 Lunch then recess for Hahn, Spain, Long, & Seebold
• Dismissal is at 2:30 each day

School grounds are closed from 7:30 to 3:00. After dismissal, students must go home first and then are welcome to return after 3:00 to play on the playground.

We have created a dashboard of quick links (shortcuts) to help our families find what they are looking for quickly and easily! More links will be added as different events happen throughout the school year. If there is a link you think would be helpful, please let us know! We want this to be a user-friendly tool. Please bookmark the Family Dashboard. It can also be found in the parent resources folder and on our school website.

It only takes a few minutes to sign up and choose Eagle River Elementary. This is a great way to earn funds to support student activities!

-Arrival:

• On Monday, school begins at 9:00am instead of 8:00am. If your student arrives before 8:45am on PLC Mondays, they will be brought into the building and students will sit in the MPR/lunchroom and sit quietly until 8:45am when the bell rings. Our breakfast service will start at 8:45 am.

• On Tuesday through Friday, students will be let in at 7:45am. There will be no supervision until then. Students will not be allowed to wait before 7:45am. Please time your child's arrival so they're here no earlier than 7:45am. We appreciate your help with this so we can make sure students are supervised and safe!

• Student Drop-off will be at the stop sign at the front corner of the building and students will enter the front door. Students will not be allowed to be dropped off until 7:45am. All students enter through the front door. Students will enter the building and sit on the floor outside their classrooms where they will be supervised by staff until the 7:50am bell (Kindergarten students will sit in the front hallway.)

Eagle River Elementary's policy for late drop-off is that families must come in and sign late students in. Students who arrive after the final bell are considered tardy and must be signed in by their adult before going to class.

-Dismissal (please see farther down for preschool): To help students understand how/where they will leave the building at the end of the day, Eagle River Elementary uses three groupings to differentiate dismissal routines: parent pick-up, walkers, and bus riders.

• If your student will be picked up in a car, then they are considered parent pick-up. ERES uses a car tag number system and each family is assigned a specific number. Please hang your car tag on your rear-view mirror so staff in the parent pick-up area know what students go to each car. Pick-up will take place in our main parking lot. There will be two lines- if you turn left out of the parking lot after picking up your student(s), then you will need to join the left lane and join the right lane if you turn right.

• If your student walks home or you will meet them in front of the building, they are considered walkers.

• Students that ride a school bus or go to Taekwondo are considered bus riders. Bus information is available on ParentConnect for stop location and pick-up/drop-off time.

If families are picking a student up before the end of the day, then they must come to the front office to sign students out. The office staff will not call students down before an authorized pick-up person is physically in the front office. Please be sure to bring valid identification to pick up your student. After 2:15 pm, we will not call students down from the classroom for early pick-up.

It is incredibly important that any changes to how your student is getting home are communicated to the office before 2:00 pm. The end of the day is one of the busiest times in the office. Please be sure to communicate same-day dismissal changes directly to the office and not your student’s teacher.

Thank you for helping us to get your student home safely!

Any long-term or permanent changes to how your student will be going home need to be communicated to their teacher as well as the office.

Preschool: Dismissal for preschool is 12pm each day. At the end of the day, preschool families will park in the bus lane for pick-up. Please pull all the way forward to the end of the bus loop (not around the turn), park, turn off your vehicle, and stay seated inside your car until you see the preschool students exit through the middle doors. Once the preschool students have exited the building, families may then come to pick up and sign out their student. Families are required to sign their student out with the preschool staff each day.

Eagle River Elementary serves breakfast and lunch each school day for students that would like to purchase meals at school. Breakfast is served starting at 8:50am Monday/7:50am Tuesday-Friday, and is eaten in the classroom. Families may view the breakfast/lunch menu by going to schoolcafe.com/anchorage, clicking “Guest Account”, and using the drop-down menu to select our school. For any food allergy concerns,, please contact our school nurse Jennifer Brusehaber by calling (907) 742-3000.

For students who bring their lunch to school, please be sure your student is able to open their lunch. There are lunch supervisors to assist and monitor students, but assistance is limited when there are over a hundred students in the lunchroom. It is important, especially for the younger students, to practice opening their lunch boxes, containers, and food packaging to be independent and successful during their lunch time. Eagle River Elementary does not offer microwaves for student use.

Did you know you may qualify for free or greatly reduced lunch prices? To apply for the free/reduced lunch program, families will need to go online to schoolcafe.com/anchorage and click "Apply for Benefits" after creating an account if you do not already have one. Paper applications may be mailed in to ASD Student Nutrition department or dropped off at the school/Student Nutrition Center. For more direct instructions please visithttps://www.asdk12.org/Page/13246.

Families may add funds to a student's account by logging into ParentConnect/Q, clicking on their student's name, clicking "ASD Quick Links'' and then "Online Payments". For direct instructions, please visit https://www.asdk12.org/Page/13241

Breakfast Cost: $4.00, $0.30 reduced; Lunch Cost: $5.75, $0.40 reduced

Here at Eagle River Elementary, our two main partners are Subway and Two Brothers Auto Detail and they have greats deals to share with our families. At Subway, you can save 10% on sandwiches and other yummy items. While you enjoy your meal your car can get some much-needed care at Two Brothers where you will save $10.00 on services. All you have to do is mention that your student goes to ERES! So, spread the news and stop by or call Subway of Eagle River and Two Brothers Auto Detail today!

Subway of ER: (907) 696-7526 || Two Brothers Auto Detail: (907) 694-2277

We LOVE our volunteers! To volunteer with any school in the Anchorage School District, each interested person must complete an online application every year. Volunteer applications may be submitted online by going to asdk12.org/volunteer and clicking “Online Application and Waiver” or by clicking the link below. Applications take on average approximately 7-10 business days to process and must be approved before participating in any school-sponsored activities.

For more information about the volunteer process, please visit https://www.asdk12.org/volunteer . To figure out what volunteer opportunities there are at Eagle River Elementary, please reach out to your student's teacher to let them know you are interested in volunteering. Otherwise, look for communication from the school and/or your teacher for open volunteer opportunities.

Students who arrive after the 8AM bell are considered tardy and will need to stop in the office to get a tardy pass before being admitted to class.

Please call the main line and press "1" for the attendance line if your child will be absent. Absences must be reported by 9:00am to ensure your student's attendance is entered. Families may also submit attendance requests through Q/Parent Connect. Automatic attendance calls alerting for unexcused absences go out at 9:45.

When leaving an attendance message for your student please leave these important details:

1) Student Name

2) Date(s) of absence

3) Reason for absence

4) Teachers Name

5) Grade Level

Many messages are left saying the student will be out but do not leave a reason. Without a reason, the student is automatically marked unexcused. When you know you will be on an extended absence like a family vacation, we can put a prearranged unexcused absence in the system so you do not get a daily phone call.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call the office at 742-3000.

Here are the District Guidelines for Attendance:

AM (starts at 8:00 am)

• Tardy - up to 60 minutes after school starts

• Absent (.5 day) – If a student misses more than 60 minutes.

PM (starts at 12:15 pm)

• Tardy – arrives at or before 12:15pm

• Absent (.5 day) – student misses more than 60 minutes

Please reach out to your child's teacher before sending/bringing in treats and they can fill you in on any classroom requirements including food allergies or sensitivities. Some teachers may prefer individually packaged items. In general, birthday treats must be store bought and pre-packaged (sealed store cupcakes for example).