Coyote Connection

• March 4: PTO Meeting at 5:30 in Staff Room
• March 5: No School (Professional Learning / Collaboration)
• March 6: Papa Murphy's Fundraising Night
• March 14: Reed's Dairy Fundraiser 4-10PM
• March 17-21: No School (Spring Break)
• March 17-21: Spring Break Bingo
• March 26: Popcorn Money Due
• March 28: Popcorn Money
• April 17: Multicultural Night
• April 25: Jog-a-Thon

Happy March!

What a great month we had in February! We had our incredible clubs organized by Ms. Rainbow begin and it seems like everyone has been having a lot of fun. Thanks to our families and staff members who have had a hand in making it such a great success.

We hope that as we move in to March, we can continue our work towards high levels of learning for all. Spring break is a great time to get excited about a new book and reading for 20 minutes every day.

We have some great events coming up like our Reed's Dairy fundraiser, our Multi-Cultural night, and our Jog-a-Thon. Thank you to all who continue to support these events and make Desert Sage a very fun and exciting place to be.

Finally, I wanted to give a big shout out to the parent volunteers we had for our Gift of Time assembly and activities on Friday, February 28th. Thanks to you we were able to gift our teacher some well deserved time in their classrooms to prepare and organize to best support our students.

Mr. Dahlgren

Upcoming Activities and Important Reminders

Can you believe it? It is almost March, and the school year is flying by! Here are some important upcoming activities and reminders:Spring Book Fair
Mark your calendars for the Spring Book Fair, which will take place from March 31 to April 4. A big thank you to Lindsey Coy for bringing DSE another wonderful book fair!

Roaring Readers Program

Earlier this year, I distributed the Roaring Springs reading log packets to teachers. Students should fill in their reading times to earn their Roaring Springs admission tickets. Please remember that there is a deadline to submit these logs, and I will not accept entries after this date. I will need a week to enter every name, the 600-hour reading requirement, and teacher name/grade into the database, which is a lengthy process during my spring break. Please review the form with your student.

Overdue Books

I have sent slips to many teachers regarding students' overdue or lost books. Please assist students in locating these books and returning them to the library promptly. I will be entering an inventory phase at the end of the school year, and it's crucial to account for all books to complete this process.

That's it got now. Just remember three plus weeks to spring break!!!!!

Thanks to everyone that was able to come out for our 1st paint night with Angry Easel and spending time with your family and friends. Everyone had a great time painting their spring picture and we look forward to the next time we can all paint together.

Please come join us...

We are looking forward to a year of fun for students and staff. We are looking to hear from parents with ideas of what they would like to see this year. We are needing help to make our ideas of fun for students and staff come to life. Our meetings are for an hour each month. We would love to have people join us. We understand if the time does not meet everyone's schedules and would still love any extra help that we can have for our events and planning. Our next meeting is March 4th at 5:30 PM. If you have any questions, please email us at desertsagepto25@gmail.com

Looking Forward...

Papa Murphy's Fundraising Night:

Take a night off from cooking dinner and grab a pizza from Papa Murphy's.

Reed's Dairy Spring into Something Sweet:

Please join us in getting something sweet from Reed's:

Spring Break Bingo:

Spring Break Bingo flyers are coming home with your students. Mark those boxes off with fun activities throughout the week. Bring your Bingo sheet back on March 26th and 27th to earn a prize for any Bingo. Blackout Bingos will earn you the chance to pie one of our staff.

Popcorn Friday:

March 28th is Popcorn Friday. Money will be due back Wednesday, March 26th. Each bag of popcorn is $0.50 with a limit of 2 per student. Keep an eye out for the form to come home for payment and ordering. This will be one of our last Popcorn Friday's of the year so don't miss out. You can also click here to access the order form: https://www.westada.org/o/desertsage/page/pto-parent-teacher-organization

3rd Annual Jog-A-Thon

We will be hosting our 3rd annual Jog-A-Thon on April 25th from 4:30-7:00 PM. It's an evening of jogging, fun and food trucks. We will be sending home the fundraising papers at the beginning of April. Fundraising will earn you a chance at winning some of our great prizes. All students are welcome to participate in the Jogging (even if they have not been able to fundraise). Some of the donations we have for prizes are a Zoo family pass, 2 Summer Unlimited Bogus tickets, and Children's Museum day passes. We need some more parent volunteers to help with the night. Please reach out if you are available to help by emailing desertsagepto25@gmail.com

Know someone who should be getting our emails but hasn't signed up yet? Send them this link: https://forms.gle/6b7B4s85wbN4B7AB6

• K-5 (M/T/Th/F): 8:45-9:05am*
• Wednesday K-5: 9:00-9:20am*
• AM Preschool (M-Th): 9:00am
• PM Preschool (M-Th): 12:55pm

*There is no adult supervision outside of these drop-off times. Please do not drop off students before the indicated times. Students are to go to the playground and line-up when the bell rings. If a student arrives after the drop-off times, they will need to enter through the office.

Breakfast is served starting at 8:45am every day except for Wednesdays when it is served starting at 9:00am.

All West Ada elementary schools are closed campuses, meaning parents and community members are not allowed to enter campus without checking in at the front office when students are present. Parents are asked not to access classrooms and hallways for the first two weeks of school as we build routines for students. Therefore, please be sure to drop off your child outside of the campus gates that access the playground or in front of the school.

For the elementary school bell schedule, click here: Bell schedule

Thank you for bearing with us and being patient as we work to cleanup our after-school procedures to ensure students are exiting campus safely, and are finding the appropriate adult! As you have likely noticed we have made some shifts to the parent waiting areas and have adjusted where older students exit the playground area to reduce the amount of foot traffic going through one gate. This has already helped us do a better job ensuring that our younger students are getting to their adult.

• 5th Grade will continue to exit through the West doors. They should then be walking outside to their destination (bus, bike racks, all the way around the back to parent pick-up etc.).

• 4th Grade will continue to exit through the side hallway doors (north and south) to get to where they need to be (bus, bike racks, all the way around the back to parent pickup).

• 3rd Grade will continue to walk around the back of the school to access the bike racks and bus. If they need to go to parent pick-up, they will exit through the back daycare gate.

• 2nd Grade will continue exit the East/West Hallway doors unless they need to go to the bus. They will walk through the center of the hallway to the bus doors.

• PreK-1st will continue transitioning to parent pick-up, bus, etc. with a teacher escort.

• Any older siblings will wait for/gather their younger siblings by the portables. They will then exit through the daycare gate, or back around to the other side.

• Parents of Kindergarteners and 1st Graders will wait in the designated areas by the barriers as shown in the attached picture. Parents of Preschool students will wait off to the West Side of the gate to gather your students.

• We will not be able to check out students from the front office after 3:45 PM due to the busy nature of the last few minutes of the school day. If you need to pick up your student early, please arrive before 3:40 PM. After 3:45 PM, checking ID, calling the teacher, and preparing the student for departure will take as much time as waiting for the last bell.

• All roads surrounding Desert Sage are 20 mph speed limit.
• On school grounds, speed limit is 10 mph or slower as traffic allows.
• Use the loop at the front of the school for drop-off and pick-up of students. The back of the school building is reserved for staff parking and school buses only.
• There is no double-parking or double drop-off/pick-up. Students must be dropped off and picked up at the curb. All drivers need to stay in the line and continuously pull forward so as not to leave any gaps in the line. Other cars will follow in line and move forward as the line moves.
• Do not pass other cars in drop-off/pick-up area. Please wait patiently in the line until the car ahead of you moves.
• Do not block crosswalks.
• Have student ready to exit the car immediately.
• If you need to get out of your vehicle, please park in the marked spaces in the parking lot. Do not park in the loop or in the daycare line.
• Unless your vehicle is clearly defined as being qualified to use the handicap parking, please be aware and refrain from parking or sitting in your car in these spots. Signs are posted as a reminder.
• Keep the area directly in front of the gate at parent pick-up clear so students can exit the gate and navigate to their parent/guardian.
• Please cross at the crosswalks.
• When conditions are wet/snowy/icy, please slow down and plan on additional time.
• Please refrain from using/checking your cell phone while in the drop-off/pick-up line.

We appreciate your help in keeping our students safe!

If you are visiting the school during school hours (including the playground), volunteering in a classroom, or picking up your child before the school day ends, you must enter through the front doors and check in with the office. When checking in, you will be required to show photo identification (Driver's License or state-issued photo id). As part of our visitor check-in procedures, office staff will need to scan your id.

We also want to make all of our families aware that pets are not allowed on campus when students are present.

Thank you for helping us keep our students safe!

Before volunteering, we kindly ask that you read the volunteer handbook and complete all forms. Even if you have completed this process last year, volunteer forms need to be updated every school year. You can stop by the office to complete the forms or download the forms below and submit them to the office once completed. Thank you for your patience and cooperation!

• 23-24 Volunteer Handbook Just need to read
• Volunteer Application Requires signature
• Volunteer Disclosure Statement Requires Signature
• Volunteer Acknowledgment Statement Requires signature

If your child will be absent from school, we ask that you please call our attendance line at (208) 350-4021 by 9:30am and leave a message with your child's name, date(s) of absence, and reason for absence.

If, on a particular day, there is a change from how your child typically gets home, please notify the office before 3:00pm at (208) 350-4020. We will make sure to get a message/reminder to your child before the day ends. Please don't only notify the teacher.

Website: https://www.westada.org/desertsage
Location: 9325 West Mossywood Drive, Boise, ID, USA
Phone: (208) 350-4020
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/desertsageelementary/