"B" Informed

On behalf of Brunswick City School District staff, we welcome you to the 2024-2025 school year! The beginning of a new school year is an exciting, busy time. We hope the information provided in this newsletter will be helpful to you and your student(s) as you prepare for the upcoming year. In addition, be sure to visit each building's webpage and the District calendar on the BCSD website for information specific to your school. We look forward to another exceptional school year!

At the start of each academic year, we have a procedure in place with our families to obtain updated information for every student enrolled in BCSD. This information is crucial to various district departments, such as the main office, school nurse, and technology department. Please log in to your Final Forms account to ensure all details are current.

1st-12th Grade First Day of School: Monday, August 19, 2024

Kick-Off to Kindergarten: click HERE for more specific information

Kidder Preschool Preschool: Thursday, August 22, 2024

Open Houses offer students and their families the opportunity to discover the school and engage with teachers and staff.

Stay up-to-date on BCSD events by checking out our newly improved District Calendar.

Please refer to the approved calendar when making plans throughout the school year.

2024-2025 School Calendar

2024-2025 Brunswick (Kidder) Preschool

Our parent resources page on the BCSD website contains links to forms and information you need now and throughout the year. Click HERE to access it.

There are only a couple of weeks until the start of school! We hope our students had the opportunity to read a lot over the summer. Click HERE for summer reading information.

All schedules, including the elementary, will be available through ProgressBook. Principals will send information to all parents as soon as student schedules are available.

• If you are new to the district, you will receive an email with detailed directions, including login credentials to ProgressBook.

• If you forgot your password, click on the forgot password link (provided in the portal), and you will receive an email with directions to reset your password.

• If you do not have an account, please contact the building secretary, and they will be able to provide a key for you to create an account.

Beginning school in a new building can cause stress and anxiety for students of all ages, from kindergarten to high school. It's important that they feel at ease in their new learning environment. With this in mind, we have organized several orientation sessions to help students become familiar with the layout of their new school building.

BCSD will continue to provide breakfast and lunch for students in need. Students who qualify for free breakfast and lunch may also be eligible to have their school fees waived. Students who qualify for reduced breakfast and lunch for the 2024-2025 school year will receive free breakfast/lunch. Please click this LINK for more information about free and reduced meal applications, including how to apply. Should you have questions regarding this process, please contact the Food Services Office at 330-273-0370.

Over the summer, BCSD transitioned our lunch and student fee payment system to a new vendor, PaySchools. Click here for PaySchools Central to register and create your account. Please note that any balances on your student’s lunch accounts (from MySchoolBucks) have already been transferred to PaySchools and will be available immediately upon creating your account in PaySchools. Also, any outstanding student class fees have been transferred to PaySchools. You will also have the option to pay any Athletic and Marching Band Pay to Participate fees through your PaySchools account.

Please note: Students who qualify for free/reduced meals will also qualify for reduced school fees. Parents/guardians MUST SIGN the waiver section of the Free/Reduced meal application to have school fees reduced. Paper applications are available at the Board of Education and all school offices.

There are no fees involved when paying your student's fees online.

There will be a small transaction fee for the Meal Accounts. Parents/guardians who want to replenish meal balances by check will not be charged any fees.

• Credit/Debit Cards (Transactions less than $25.00) $1.65 per transaction

• Credit/Debit Cards (Transactions $25 to $49.99) $2.00 per transaction

• Credit/Debit Cards (Transactions greater than $49.99) 4.5%

• Electronic Check (All transaction amounts) $1.75 per transaction

Several PaySchool links are provided below. At the bottom of each informational document, you will find PaySchools customer service contact information. Feel free to reach out to PaySchools if you encounter a problem when creating your account.

If you have a district-related question regarding your fees please contact Tina Campbell, Administrative Assistant to the Treasurer, at tcampbell@bcsoh.org. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation with this transition.

PaySchools Parent Registration

PaySchools Free and Reduced Application

PaySchool Meal Account

School supply lists for students in kindergarten through 8th grade can be found under “Quick Links” on each building homepage of the BCSD website or by clicking HERE. Brunswick High School teachers will share their class-specific school supply lists on the first day of school.

The transportation department has been busy all summer developing bus routes to ensure timely and safe transportation of our students. In this effort, BCSD has partnered with TransFinder, a transportation management software company. More information about utilizing this platform as well as bus routing information will be shared soon by Assistant Superintendent Kathy Verhest. In the meantime, if you have any transportation questions please reach out to Lori Sinick, Transportation Coordinator (lsinick@bcsoh.org) or Kathy Verhest (kverhest@bcsoh.org).

It is the parent’s responsibility to notify the school when their child is not in attendance and the reason for the absence. Please be aware that tardies and sign-outs are counted as absences. See the Brunswick City Schools Student and Parent Handbook for more attendance information.

Board of Education policy 5320 states: In order to safeguard the school community from the spread of certain communicable diseases and in recognition that prevention is a means of combating the spread of disease, the Board of Education requires all students to be immunized in accordance with State statutes, unless specifically exempt for medical or good cause including religious conviction. This policy pertains to students currently attending school in the District and those eligible to attend. Click here to see specific details regarding each immunization needed for school attendance.

If someone other than a person(s) listed as an emergency contact will pick your child up from school, please remember that a phone call and update in Final Forms will be required. Please follow these simple steps:

• Call the school to request that a person not listed as an emergency contact needs to pick up your child. The building secretary will verify the number you are calling from as a number listed in our student system.

• You will need to update emergency contacts in FinalForms before someone new can pick up your child. Changes submitted are immediately viewable.

• The building staff will verify the identity of the person picking up the child; be sure the person picking up the child brings a driver’s license or a state ID.