August 9, 2024

Dear Lowell Families,

Welcome! We are very excited to meet our leopards and start the 2024-2025 school year. Please see below for updates and important information.

Class Assignments

Please check your Infinite Campus parent portal account for your child's classroom placement. That is available today. You will have an opportunity to meet your child's teacher on August 13th at our sneak peek from 3-4pm. We hope you and your child can make it!

Welcome to Our New Staff

Please join me in welcoming our new staff:

• David Miville Deschenes will be our new 1st grade teacher.
• Karine Maynard will be our new SLP.
• Kathy Mooney and Teo Solis will be joining our Excel classroom as behavior support specialists.
• Rian Garcia and Holly Perez will be joining our ERR classroom as paraprofessionals.
• Laurie Baker will be our new afternoon school support assistant.

Kindergarten Orientation

We are so excited for our incoming kindergarten class! Parents are invited to join us at our Kindergarten Orientation on Monday, August 12 from 4:30-5:30 to learn more about what to expect this year before our school year starts.

Back to School Night

I hope you can join us at Back to School Night for 1st-6th grade parents on Thursday, August 22. This is a parents only night. We will have a welcome session in the gym at 5:30 followed by teacher sessions from 6:00-6:30 and 6:30-7:00. This is a great opportunity to learn more about what your child will be learning at school this year, visit with their teacher, and learn more about how you can be involved in the PTSA.

Parent Student Handbooks

Please review the Lowell 24-25 handbook regarding important school and district information.

Field Trip Permission Forms

Please sign field trip permission forms that will be coming home the first week of school. Those are required in order for your child to participate in classroom field trips this year.

IC Updates

Please take a few minutes to complete the annual update in Infinite Campus. It is very important we have your accurate contact information to reach you during the day and health information allowing the health office to administer over the counter medication and best care for your child while at school. These forms must be completed each year. Thank you for taking the time to do this. (Infinite Campus > More>Annual Update)

Attendance Calls

Daily attendance is so important to your child's success at school. Please make every effort to have your child at school on time and present every day unless they are sick. If your child is ill, please call and report the absence to the office at (208) 854-5480.

Thank you for your support. As always, please reach out if you have any questions or concerns. I am looking forward to a great 2024-2025 school year!

Abbey Griffitts

Principal, Lowell Elementary

Check out the Lowell calendar for important dates and information.

If your child is not going to be at school, please email either mayra.crabb@boiseschools.org or carly.gates@boiseschools.org or call 208-854-5480 and leave a message. A child's absence is marked as "unexcused" until we hear from the parents.

If you need to check your student out for part or the rest of the day, please come to the front entrance, ring the doorbell, and present your ID. Ms. Carly or Ms. Mayra will call your child down to the office.

As school gets underway this year, we understand many of your children's extra-curricular activities may have to be rescheduled. We ask that you be mindful of your child's learning experience and try to hold off any sports or music lessons until school is out. Too many checkouts at the end of the day can interrupt teachers and can cause your student to miss important information.

Recurring appointments: If your child has a recurring appointment, such as counseling, and it's on the same day and time each week, please have the doctor's office give you a note with the date and time your student will be missing school. This way we can notate it ahead of time and it won't count against your child's overall attendance for the year.

Free Meals for Our Students!

This school year, all children in the Boise School District will receive free breakfast. Additionally, our school is now participating in the USDA Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), qualifying for free meals, including lunch, for the next four years.

Key Points:

• No Applications Needed: You don't need to complete an application for free or reduced-priced meals for students at our school.

• Other Schools: If you have students at other Boise School District schools that are not CEP, applications may still be necessary for those students to receive free or reduced-priced lunch benefits.

• Complete Meals Only: The free meal benefit applies only to complete student meals. Additional items like milk or a second entrée require money on the student's meal account or cash payment.

For more information on meal prices, menus, and meal applications, visit Food & Nutrition Services at Boiseschools.org.

Our Lowell spirit wear store is open! The window to order closes on 8/31, so act fast! The prices are great and the shirts are so soft! Once the store closes, the turnaround time is about 3 weeks.

We are so excited to start the year with our new PTSA! Be sure to bookmark their awesome site and check out all the fun social media links too!

We are hoping to bring back another season of Girls on the Run. If you are interested in volunteering as a coach, please click HERE. To sign up your girls, use the QR code on the flyer below, or visit this website.

Lowell is looking for a crossing guard to help our kiddos reach school safely. Only 2 hours/day (8:20 - 9:20am, then 3:30 - 4:30pm) The pay starts at $16.01/hr. Applications can be submitted using the following path: Click THIS link > Classified > School Support Personnel. Please call Principal Abbey Griffitts with any questions.

We are also looking for great substitute teachers! Please click here, then click Substitutes, and follow the application process from there. We are so grateful for parents who pick up sub jobs. They help ensure our kids don't miss anything and substitutes also get paid for their time!

Dear Lowell Families

As you prepare for your student to start school this fall, please consider the following:

1. Health Conditions

• Please add/update all health conditions and medications in Infinite Campus

• Make sure to add permission to give an over-the-counter medication in the Health Office as needed

2. Medications at School

• If your child will need any medication(s) at school, complete the Medication Authorization Form

• Bring this form and the medication(s) to school on the first day

• You can also email this form back to me

3. Immunizations

• Ensure your child has their completed immunizations prior to the first day of school.

• Required list of K-6th grade immunizations

• Email or bring any updated immunization records to school on the first day

4. Helpful Resources

• Boise School District Health Office Site

  for more information including immunization information, health forms, screenings and the annual health services notification

• The Boise School District Illness Policy

For urgent questions, please call the main school line at 208-854-5480. The office will be open August 1st. The Health Office will be open August 12th.

Dani Boespflug, MSN, NPD-BC, MEDSURG-BC, SCRN

Lowell Elementary School Nurse

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Morning

208-900-7209

dani.boespflug@boiseschools.org

With all of the free time & more family-time in the summer months, parents can find it hard to set boundaries. We now know that setting firm boundaries will create stronger & more trusting relationships in our families, which in turn will help your kids flourish.

Below are some articles & tips that may make your summer days not only flow better, but also reduce conflict:

https://heartmindonline.org/resources/8-steps-to-set-compassionate-kind-boundaries-with-young-children

https://childmind.org/article/teaching-kids-boundaries-empathy/

Four ways to say no to your child link

Dave Sica, M.Ed.
School Counselor

Lowell Elementary School

Office: 208.854.5487 Fax: 208.854.5481

Lowell Elementary School Counseling Website

Community Resources

Virtual Peace Room

The Screenagers website is a great resource for parents who are looking for guidance in setting healthy boundaries with technology, or valuable information and tools such as how to help kids build skills for stress resilience.

You can also sign up for 'Tech Talk Tuesday' and receive an informative weekly email regarding kids & technology. Here is a recent Tech Talk Tuesday post you may find interesting:

Is Social Media Addiction a Real Thing?

Boise school families can get up to five FREE family counseling sessions through BPA. They are very excited about this program and want to encourage families to reach out and sign up for this great program. CLICK HERE for more info and instructions to sign up.

Please CLICK HERE for info about FREE parenting classes, or CLICK HERE to register.

Annual Notification Regarding Public Release of Student Directory Information

The Boise School District complies with federal law (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) as it relates to the release of student directory information to the public. To learn more, log on to www.boiseschools.org and navigate to Parents & Patrons > Parent Information > FERPA Form. Or, please call the Clerk of the Board at 208-854-4123 to obtain a copy of the FERPA form.

Abbey Griffitts - Principal

Carly Gates - Administrative Assistant

Email: abbey.griffitts@boiseschools.org
Website: lowell.boiseschools.org
Location: 1507 N 28th St, Boise, ID 83703
Phone: 208.854.5480