Welcome Leslie Bell Families

☀️ I hope your summer was perfect

🙉 And now it's time to head back to school!

Staff members have been working hard throughout the month of August to welcome our students back on Wednesday, August 21st! Everyone is excited to see you soon! 👋

Welcome to the start of the 2024-2025 school year at Leslie Bell Elementary! We are excited to welcome everyone back! I hope you are enjoying the last few days of summer. I also hope you are relaxed, recharged and ready to start a new school year. I am so delighted that you are part of our amazing learning community. I welcome and value your positive energy and dedication to excellence in education, and I look forward to working with you and your children again this year.

All signs point to another incredible and productive school year. Our devoted staff is already planning and preparing for your child(ren). Our office team has been working through our new student information system and enrolling students into the district. Our hard working custodians and maintenance have spent the entire summer thoroughly cleaning the facility and preparing to welcome families on Monday, August 19th for our Open House from 5:00-7:00 p.m.

Below are important reminders from our Parent/Student Handbook, important date information, and exciting news happening at Leslie Bell. While August's newsletter is quite lengthy, it has pertinent information to read through for families and students to be prepared to begin the school year.

Morning Drop Off on First Day

- On the first day of school, you may walk your child to their classroom. You must check in at the front office prior to entering the building. Please make this a short and sweet drop off to allow for teachers and students to start their day and keep the parking lot clear. All parents must be out of the building by 8:00 a.m.

Parking on the First Day

- Parking at Leslie Bell is tricky on busy mornings. There is NO parking in the bus lane. See photo below to view where the bus lane is located. Park in the designated north parking lot. There is also NO parking on 20th street.

First Day Dismissal

- Dismissal during the first week always takes a little longer. Please be patient with the car rider line the first week of school. Buses also take longer to load and leave Leslie Bell. Our staff priority is always student safety!

Communication between school and home is an essential component of your child's success at school. Additional to our monthly Leslie Bell Elementary newsletter and classroom newsletters, our school district has launched a new website and student information system.

To access our new website visit www.lexr5.org. In addition to our website, download our school district app. For both Apple and Android, search Lexington School District. The Minutemen logo will be shown.

Teacher Ease is accessible from both the district website and through an app on your phone.

Apple devices, download TeacherEase - Parents/Students.

Android devices, download Teacher Ease.

Attendance is essential for learning. By law, all children must attend school from the age of 7 until the age of 17. Parents/guardians are accountable for the attendance of their child. The District will inform parents/guardians of their student’s absence and support families when attendance becomes a concern. It is the responsibility of the student to make up work due to an absence. Students who wish to participate in school-sponsored activities must attend school the entire day on which the activity occurs, unless the principal has pre-approved the absence based upon special circumstances.

Absences

An absence for any reason will be counted as an absence. No distinction will be made to determine if the absence was excused or unexcused, however there is a distinction between verified (V) and un-verified (A). Verified absences will have a note from a doctor, court, etc. Parent notes are not accepted to verify an absence. School activities are not calculated in the hourly percentage of attendance. Both verified and unverified absences are calculated in the hourly percentage of attendance. Students will be required to maintain a 90% hourly attendance rate. Disciplinary actions could follow if a student does not maintain this rate. This will be determined by the building principal. Students who miss twenty (20) consecutive calendar days will be dropped from enrollment. Lex La-Ray students who miss ten (10) consecutive calendar days will be dropped from enrollment.

It is the responsibility of the student to make up work with teacher support when a student is absent. The timelines for turning in make-up work will be one day for each day missed. Students who do not complete missed assignments in the time stated may be required to attend tutoring outside of the regular school day. Parents must report a student’s absence by 9 a.m. on the day of the absence. The school will contact parents who do not report a student’s absence by the designated time. When a student is released early from school to a parent or guardian, it constitutes an absence. In general, prior notification is required when a student is dismissed early and the student must be checked out through the office.

Late Arrival/Tardiness

A late arrival or tardy occurs when a student arrives after the expected class period has begun, as determined by the District. The District will count tardiness in the hourly attendance percentage. Tardies become an absence if the student is more than 10 minutes late. When an elementary student arrives late, the student must report to the office with an adult. Do not drop your child off at the door. Parents must sign their children in at the office when tardy.

Attendance Incentives

Attendance incentives are designed to encourage consistent and punctual attendance among students in achieving academic success. The Lexington RV School District believes that attendance is fundamental to the learning process and essential for academic development. As such, each building will offer various incentives to reward students who demonstrate exemplary attendance records. These incentives may include recognition ceremonies, awards, privileges, or participation in special events.

Staff will be at Leslie Bell from 5:00-7:00 on Monday, August 19th anxiously awaiting to meet their new students!

Classroom teachers are listed on Teacher Ease where your enrollment was completed. Please be patient with Teacher Ease as it is a new Student Information System for both families and staff. If you are unable to see your child's teacher, please call the Leslie Bell office for assistance.

This is an amazing opportunity to meet your child's new teacher, tour the building, turn in any missing paperwork to the office, and drop off your child's school supplies before the first day of school.

After visiting with your child's teacher please head to the cafeteria for additional information!

In the cafeteria you will find...

- Lunch envelopes to add money to your child's lunch account

- Free and Reduced Lunch Forms

- Country Crossroads

-Compass Health Network

-PTO

-Boy Scouts

PTO will meet the first Wednesday of every month. The first meeting for the year will be on Wednesday, September 6th at 6:00 p.m. in the Leslie Bell library.

September Upcoming PTO Dates:

Wednesday, September 4th-- PTO Meeting

Friday, September 27th-- FundRun Event-- schedule for volunteers will be forthcoming

Your child's teacher will be communicating with you weekly about the events in their classrooms, standards and units that are being covered, and helpful information about how you are able to help at home throughout the school year to increase the success of your child's academic growth. The communication may be both electronic and/or paper copy. Please check your child's backpack daily and ensure that your child's teacher has the most up to date email that you check regularly.

Staff are contracted each day from 7:30-3:15. Families and staff are encouraged to communicate during this time frame. If the time is after hours, staff will respond during the next school day. All staff emails are listed on the school district website.

Our staff does not only have a commitment to helping students reach their maximum potential but strive to continue to partner with families to assist and encourage success of all students.

Per our District Parent/Student Handbook:

School hours- 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Students may enter the building starting at 7:35 a.m. Staff will be on duty beginning at 7:35. The school day officially begins at 8:00 a.m. Students will be released at 3:00. Please note the first few days of school take a little longer to load vehicles and buses. Our staff is working incredibly hard inside the building to ensure all students exit safely and efficiently.

Car rider students may only unload and load at the south end of the building at 20th and Monroe in the car rider line. Parents are expected to stay in their vehicle during drop off and pick up times and not park. Car rider drop offs or pick ups are not allowed at the crosswalk or in the bus lane.

Buses will drop students off in the bus lane beginning at 7:35 and pick up students at 3:00. Cars drop offs and pick ups are NOT allowed in the bus lane for student safety purposes.

Walkers will exit the front door of the building at 3:00. All students are expected to walk on the sidewalk and use the crosswalk with staff assistance if needed as traffic on 20th street is quite busy in both the morning and afternoon. Parking in the alley across 20th Street is discouraged because of the safety concern with students walking through the alley to get home. Students are not allowed to be dropped off at the crosswalk. Car drop offs may only occur in the car rider line.

If your child arrives late to school, an adult must accompany the student to the office and sign them in.

As a reminder per our District Parent/Student handbook, the Leslie Bell office must be notified of any changes to your child’s dismissal procedure by 2:15 p.m. This is a safety measure put in place to ensure staff is informed in plenty of time to prepare for dismissal and ensure your child goes home the proper way.

Student Breakfast

Full Pay- $ 2.40

Reduced- $ 0.30

Student Lunch

Full Pay- $ 3.10

Reduced- $ 0.40

Lunch money may be turned into the LBS office. The school has lunch money envelopes to designate the amount to put on your child(rens) lunch account. We are encouraging all families to complete a free and reduced lunch form. These forms will be available at all buildings throughout the district and will be available at Open House. Only one form is needed per family.

Please help welcome our new staff members this year!

Kylie Aversman-- 2nd Grade

Shelby Rogers-- Music

Heidi Kloeppel-- Special Education

McKayla Randolph-- Recovery Room Paraprofessional

Allison Aversman-- Special Education Paraprofessional

Nichole Witte-- Special Education Paraprofessional

Haleigh Chappell-- Title I Paraprofessional

Kaylee McMillan-- Title I Paraprofessional

Same great face with new places!

Alyssa Hunsaker-- 1st Grade

Lora Alexander-- Art

Danielle Werle-- Special Education

Renee Gonzalez-- Special Education Paraprofessional

Leslie Bell Elementary proudly promotes our Positive Behavior Support initiative through explicit teaching of expectations in our building, social emotional curriculum, and student celebrations. Leslie Bell staff was recognized this summer by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with a Positive Behavior Support Tier 2 Award of Excellence.

Positive Behavior Support is a process for creating a safe and effective learning environment to enhance the capacity to educate students. Our process focuses on teaching and supporting positive behaviors for all students. Additional to Positive Behavior Support lessons in the classroom, school-wide lessons are also taught in the hallway, cafeteria, playground, restroom, and for assemblies.

Leslie Bell has a building--wide matrix of positive expectations and each classroom also develops a matrix of expectations to help all students be respectful, responsible, safe, and kind. Students will continue to earn "tickets" as a reward for positive behavior and have the opportunity to earn quarterly parties/incentives.

This school year, Leslie Bell students will have the opportunity to participate in monthly Positive Behavior Support assemblies. Additionally, Leslie Bell students and staff will kick off a brand new initiative to support positive behavior this school year. All Leslie Bell students and staff will be a part of a Leslie Bell Family.

What is a Leslie Bell family? A family is a community of students and staff kindergarten through 4th grade. Families will meet monthly beginning in September. Each family will be identified as a color. During family meetings, students will learn about our monthly character word, be apart of positive student recognition, and build relationships with various teachers and students. Students will be learning more about LBS Families as the school year gets started and into the month of September!

This school year, Leslie Bell Elementary staff and students will continue to particulate in Zones of Regulation. The goal of the curriculum is to teach children about self-regulation and how to strengthen their self-regulation skills. Self-regulation can go by many names, such as self-control, self-management, and impulse control. Self-regulation is an essential skill in life, and in all learning environments. Children who can regulate their own emotions and attention are better ready to learn and thrive.

Zones of Regulation groups all the ways that children feel and act into four “Zones”.

• Blue Zone — when your body is running slowly, such as when you are tired, sick, sad or bored. Green Zone — when you are ready “good to go.” You feel happy, calm and focused.
• Yellow Zone — when you feel your engine running high, such as when you are frustrated, overwhelmed, silly, wiggly, excited, worried, anxious, or surprised.
• Red Zone — is when you have “flipped your lid.” You have extreme feelings such as terror, uncontrolled anger, aggression, or elation.