• October 3: Duello Dash Assembly

• October 8: Picture Day!

• October 14: Late Start

• October 17: PTA Red Robin Night

• October 18: Early Release (1:15 p.m. dismissal) & Trunk of Treat

• October 21-25: Red Ribbon Week

• October 29: Parent Teacher Conf. (PM)

• October 30: Parent Teacher Conf. (AM & PM)

• October 31: No School PK-12

• November 1: No School PK-12

• November 4: No School PK-12

• November 5: No School PK-12, PD Day & Presidential Election

Our school fall party day is Friday, October 18! Please be on the lookout for details from your classroom teacher, but I wanted to share some information regarding costumes. Costumes are allowed, however we do have some guidelines to help ensure we are being school appropriate.

Here are some suggested categories from which children could choose costumes:

❖ Animal characters: bear, cat, dog

❖ Historical characters: pioneers, mountain men, famous people

❖ Storybook characters: Snow White, Cat in the Hat

❖ Objects: robot, fruit, crayon box

❖ Careers: doctor, ballerina, nurse, firefighters, police

❖ Native dress: foreign country

❖ Traditional characters: ghost, scarecrows

In an attempt to maintain a positive climate at our school, we are trying to avoid the following

items:

❖ Blood or weapons (plastic knives, guns, ninja sticks)

❖ Face painting

❖ Inflatable costumes

❖ Low cut tops or tight-fitting leotards unless other clothing is worn over the leotards

❖ Mask that would be frightening to younger children (if unsure, please talk with Dr. Hooton)

❖ Suggestive sexual dress or offending dress

❖ Roller blades, roller skates, high heels, or skateboards

❖ These costumes may be appropriate for Halloween night, but not for school.

Students can wear their costumes to school. Students should not bring small costume accessories because they get lost rather easily. Students may only wear their masks during the party times.

Due to our need to keep a watchful eye on food allergies, please also remember that all food and drink provided at parties must be pre-approved by the classroom teacher. Food or drink not approved by the teacher will not be served.

We thank you for choosing a school appropriate costume for your child. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at 636-327-6050.

With Mustang Pride,

Dr. Hooton

We are so excited to implement our first ever Duello School Store. The store will be open before school from 8:05-8:30 a.m., for one full week each month, with each day devoted to a specific grade level. To ensure instructional time is protected as well as to limit crowds, students will only be allowed to visit the store if they have money/coins (no browsing). Please do not send your student to school with more than $5; also please note that the school store only accepts dollar bills and/or coins. Our student leaders will have to ask students who do not follow these guidelines to go back to class and they will not be able to make a purchase. Our Spirit Leaders and Service Club members are busy working on stocking the store and creating products for the store. They are excited for the grand opening the week of October 7. See the schedule below:

October 7: Kindergarten

October 8: First Grade

October 9: Second Grade

October 10: Third Grade

October 11: Fourth & Fifth Grade

More information to come but utilize this link to sign your families Veteran up to attend!

If your 4th or 5th Grader is interested in a competitive book club, then fill out the form below!

Please read the revised and updated document at this link from our Student Services department. This can also be found on our district website.

This fall, teachers and reading interventionists will be conducting reading assessments with all students. These assessments help us plan lessons and identify students who might benefit from extra reading support. In addition, our building reading specialists will work with small groups of students. These flexible groupings are not the same as Reading Intervention, families will be contacted directly by their child's teacher if he/she qualifies for Reading Intervention. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to your child's classroom teacher.

The WSD will once again be providing supervision for K-5 students who need to be dropped off at the regular start time on scheduled Late Start Days in the 2024-25 school year. This is separate from our Before Care Program through Chautauqua, so if you are registered for Chautauqua, please DO NOT register for Late Start Supervision. Late start day supervision will be available beginning at 8:05 a.m. on Late Start days (School start time 10:20 a.m.). Please visit our Late Start page on our District website for more information.

Would you like to volunteer at your student's school? Would you like to attend field trips? Please read the information at this link for more information, and to sign up to volunteer!

Car Riders

• Make sure your car rider pick up signs are visible on your dash. If you do not have your sign when you arrive then you will need to show proper identification.

Walkers

• If your child is a walker, please communicate with the office and teacher so we know which students to release as a walker. If a child is not on our list as being a walker, we will need to call home to verify or send them on the bus or as a car rider. This is solely for safety purposes. We don’t want to release a child as a walker if we have not received permission from a parent. Also, we asked that you don’t drive a car up to school and then have your child dismissed as a walker. This creates an unsafe situation for students and adults. The parking lot is not a designated crosswalk and is extremely dangerous for students to walk through unattended. Please do not bypass the carline for convenience and put your child and others in danger. We truly appreciate your help with keeping everyone safe!

Morning/Afternoon Schedule

• Doors open at 8:05 am
• Breakfast from 8:05 am-8:20 am
• Dismissal begins at 3:15 pm

Regular Day Lunch Times:

Kindergarten: 11:00-11:20

First: 12:15-12:35

Second: 10:35-10:55

Third: 11:50-12:10

Fourth:11:25-11:45

Fifth: 12:40-1:00

Late Start Lunch Times:

Kindergarten: 11:00-11:20

First: 11:25-11:45

Second: 10:35-10:55

Third: 11:50-12:10

Fourth: 12:15-12:35

Fifth: 12:40-1:00

Early Release Lunch Times:

Kindergarten: 10:20-10:40

First: 10:45-11:05

Third: 11:10-11:30

Second: 11:35-11:55

Fourth: 12:00-12:20

Fifth: 12:25-12:45

Regular school attendance is critical to your child’s success at school. In the event that your child should need to be absent from school, please notify the office at (636) 327-6050 and press 1 to report that absence. Please leave your name, your child’s name, and grade, the teacher's name, and the reason for absence. You may also email attendance changes to attendance.duello@wsdr4.org

This is an important reminder of the drop-off and pick-up procedures that we will enforce for the safety and efficiency of the students and parents at Duello. Staff supervision and student drop-off begin at 8:05 a.m. If you arrive early, please wait with your child(ren) until 8:05 a.m. to assure that they are supervised. Parents should not drop students off in the parking lot in order to avoid the drop-off line.

Walkers- Walkers are defined as students who walk or ride their bike home. These students will be dismissed and will either travel home alone or meet their parent/guardian. The parking lot is not a designated crosswalk and is extremely dangerous for students to walk through unattended. Please do not bypass the carline for convenience and put your child and others in danger.

Car Riders- Car Riders are defined as students who will have parents/guardians who will utilize our car rider line to drive through and pick their child up. This is the most efficient way if a parent is coming to pick their child up. The line might look long but it moves quickly.

A smooth and efficient procedure takes all of us working together. I appreciate and expect all parents to follow the outlined procedures.