Irmo Elementary Family Updates

Dear IES Families,

It was so wonderful to see our building filled with love again at our 2024-2025 Hive Homecoming Meet Your Teacher Event on Tuesday. The smiles and hugs filled us up! I hope you enjoy a few of the memories captured in the pictures on social media and within the newsletter.

Our first day for most students was on Friday, August 9th. However, for half of our kindergarten students, their first day is on Monday, August 12. For our families that are just beginning on Monday in kindergarten, please review the information below, if you would like to walk your bee in on the first day!

Important: OpenGate (weapon detector) Information for Bee Families:

As we continue to refine our safety procedures, all D5 schools use the OpenGate Weapons Detection System. All visitors seeking access to the building will be screened through the OpenGate devices. For the first day of school, those parents wishing to enter the building to walk their child to class, must be screened prior to entry. This will be set up in the front office area.

To facilitate and expedite this process, please limit what you carry on your person and in your pockets. We highly recommend limiting items to car keys and a cell phone to take pictures. All other items/bags should be left in your car. If you have school supplies, you can leave them labeled with your child's name and teacher's name in the front office for us to deliver. These items could cause delays in passing through the OpenGate system and we do not want to create a backup of parents and students in the front office.

We appreciate your patience as we are implementing this safety procedure to protect our bees. If you choose to walk your child in, you may experience longer delays. We also have the option listed below for families.

Hug & Wave Option For Our First Day Of School Kindergarten Parents on 8/12:

For parents that choose not to enter the building, you may park in our large staff parking lot off of Fork Avenue. You will walk children to the designated entrance, take a photo at the multiple photo stops provided, and give a big hug, smile, and wave as students begin their first day of school.

Staff members will welcome students at the designated entrance and assist them in finding their classrooms. Parents will not be able to enter the building from these locations. You can only enter from the front of the school.

For all families, we encourage you to begin letting your child walk into school on their own to gain independence after the first day.

Shannon Fincannon

Principal

#HeartoftheHive

8/12 First Day for Some Kindergarten Students

8/16 Begin Spirit Wear Friday (Students wear an IES shirt or black/yellow)

Lunch in the Hive:

• All visitors are required to sign in through our Ident-a-Kid system using their state issued ID in the front office and walk through the weapons detectors (please leave all extra items in the car outside of your keys and cell phone)

• For the safety of our children, please keep your Ident-a-Kid sticker visible while you are visiting.

• Parents who wish to come in for lunch need to notify the homeroom teacher at least a day before (24 hours) so that we are able to offer a more accurate lunch count to our cafeteria. This helps ensure that enough food is prepared to cover students and guests.

• Lunch visitors will wait in the sitting/standing area and hallway across from the media center for their child’s class to pass through. For safety reasons and a priority on instruction, families should not wait outside their child’s classroom or stop by the classroom.

• Parents & their child will sit at designated bistro tables during lunch times. This is a special time for you and your child and our bees love the bistro tables and the one-on-one time with you. Other students will not sit with you at the bistro tables.

• You can bring in outside food for you and your student to enjoy at the designated bistro tables if you would like to or you could purchase a cafeteria lunch to enjoy!

Visitors in the Building:

• To honor instructional time, classroom visits should be preplanned. We love having visitors for scheduled guest readers, volunteering in the classroom, guest speakers, volunteering for schoolwide events and more as appropriate to the individual needs of the classroom and grade level. Please reach out to your child’s teacher for specific details for how you can support the heart of the hive!

• All visitors are required to sign in through our Ident-a-Kid system using their ID/driver’s license in the front office and walk through the weapons detectors (please leave all extra items in the car outside of your keys and cell phone)

• We encourage independent learners at IES. Parents typically walk their children to class on the first and second day of school in August. After that time, students follow our typical protocol of being dropped off through the car rider line or by bus transportation unless they arrive tardy to school in rare cases. If your student is tardy, you will come to the front office to sign them in. Thank you for supporting our bees with this process.

Thank you for your patience as we start a new year with the car line. It will move faster once we all learn the routines! You must have your car tag to pick up in the car line. If you do not have your car tag, you will be asked to go the office where they can check your ID. This is for the safety of the students.

Morning Car Line: WE NEED YOUR HELP (PLEASE READ AS SUPPORT POINTS HAVE BEEN ADDED)

• If you are at the top/front of the line, please pull all the way to the orange cone. DO not stop at the towers.
• Parents should not get out of their car to support their child. Staff on duty can assist if needed but we do want each child to learn to exit without assistance for independence. They can do it but we can help them while they are learning.
• Please have students ready to exit as you reach the first tower (bookbag, lunchbox and water bottle ready to go). The lines moves more efficiently when students are ready to exit when you stop.
• Two lanes enter off Fork Ave and "zipper" into one line at the top of the hill.
• Please allow teachers into the teacher parking lot.
• For safety, students must exit the passenger side of the car.
• If your child is having a tough morning (upset), please let staff members support them exiting the car. We have experienced this before. It makes it easier for both you and your child if you let us support versus you. When you try to support, the child often is more emotional.
• Students may begin exiting the cars at the first tower and then proceed to the main tower door on the school side of the yellow line. This allows the line to move faster.

Afternoon Car Line

• One lane enters off Fork Ave and the line goes through the teacher parking lot.
• You must have your car tag or you will have to pick up your student from the office. This is for your student's safety.
• Please assist your student(s) in learning your car tag numbers as this helps keep the line moving efficiently.
• If your child is using a car seat, please work with them on buckling and unbuckling independently. If they still need help, please pull forward to the Lake Murray Blvd. gate as not to block the car line from moving OR you can pull down to the basketball courts to assist them until they learn to do this on their own.