Coyote Connection

• September 2: No school (Labor Day)
  
• September 4: Picture Day
• September 6: PTO Otter Pop & Cotton Candy after school sale
• September 10: First PTO meeting at 4:30 in the staff room
• September 18: No school (Professional Development)
• September 25: PTO Popcorn money due
• September 27: PTO Popcorn Friday
• October 9: Rusty Dog Food Truck 4-6:30
• October 9: Evening Parent-Teacher Conferences
• October 10: No school (All day Parent-Teacher Conferences)
• October 11: No school (end of Quarter)

Hello Desert Sage Families!

Our 2024-2025 school year is in full swing, and we hope that our community, families and students are getting used to being back in the school routine.

You may have heard your student talking about the Desert Sage Way from time to time. This year to help us with our mantra of high levels of learning for all, we have a monthly focus for our Learner Powers and Dispositions. Students have been reviewing these traits in their morning meeting for the last two weeks. Now, for the month of September, we are focusing on Safety. Please speak with your students about what safety looks like at school, in the neighborhood, and in the broader community. We want all of our students to feel like school is a safe place for them.

We hope everyone has a really safe September!

Mr. Dahlgren

Are you looking for our assistant principal, Mrs. Carbajal? On Mondays and Wednesdays, Mrs. Carbajal will be working at Hillsdale Elementary School, but you can find her at Desert Sage on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. You can also reach her via email at carbajal.sylvie@westada.org or call the office and leave her a message.

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.

Again, we thank you for your patience as we iron out this system. I know that it slows down the process of getting students to adults, but it increases the our ability to make sure students get to where they need to be safely, and safety is our priority over speed.

Welcome back Desert Sage Coyotes!!!!!!

Welcome back to a new school year! The year has started wonderfully with lots of smiles and hugs. Earlier this month I sent home the yearly student library contracts for both you and your student to sign showing you both agree to the checkout/in process and understanding book care policies. If you have not signed this contract, I need them back ASAP! I have explained to your student once I have their forms I can check a book out to them.

Book fair is coming up in August. I will be sending home a link through your student's teacher to access Sign-up Genius for volunteers to help run a successful book fair. If you do wish to help their are forms to fill out in the office that needs to be done before volunteering in the school.

Coyote pride,

Laura Thompson

DSE Librarian

Welcome to PE! Brooke Royce and Dawn Seatz are the health and PE teachers at Desert Sage Elementary. We are starting off the year with fitness stations and going right into soccer. During every class, we will be doing lots of running so it is super important to make sure you wear proper attire—especially shoes. Please know what days your son or daughter has PE so they are prepared. Regardless of what they wear, they will be participating in PE. Water bottles are important as well. I have a table inside the gym that they can place their water bottles, so they are not leaving the gym to go get drinks. I encourage them to bring it with them so as not to waste time. ​

Thank you

Brooke Royce (royce.brooke@westada.org)

Dawn Seatz (seatz.dawn@westada.org)

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 first meeting is September 10th at 4:30 PM. If you have any questions, please email us at desertsagepto25@gmail.com

Looking Forward...

Otter Pop & Cotton Candy After School Sale:

September 6th will be our next Otter Pop and Candy Cotton Sale After School. It is $1 for an Otter Pop and $2 for Cotton Candy. Keep an eye out for these sales all year long!

Popcorn Friday:

September 27th is Popcorn Friday. Money will be due back Wednesday, September 25th. 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.

• 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

• 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/