Dear Barnard Students and Families,

What a great first week back to kick off the year! It was wonderful to see everyone again, especially all the smiling faces of the students and to hear some of their fun summer adventures. Classrooms were certainly busy this week, settling into routines, establishing classroom contracts, engaging in team building activities, and meeting new friends.

I was so impressed with how the students handled outdoor recess on the drop off loop during our construction of the playgrounds. It didn't phase them a bit as they jumped right in to creative play from sidewalk chalk, to bubbles, to hula hoops, to parachutes, and of course still finding a spot for football and basketball. Thank you for your continued support and optimism as we all anxiously await the completion of the new playgrounds, hopefully this week!

Please take time to read below all the start of school reminders, with the addition of some new flyers and events to make note of. I'd like to highlight the reminder that free breakfast begins this week, no need to sign up this year, all students will have access to participate in a grab and go breakfast when they arrive in their class. Options are similar to last year, a fruit and muffin/bar/grain of some sort. Please remember to add money to your child's lunch account (details below) for a la cart items.

With that, I wish everyone a wonderful and safe Labor Day Weekend, we will see you back on Tuesday!

Warm regards,

Karen Bush

Principal, Barnard Elementary School

kbush@troy.k12.mi.us

248-823-4320

Important Dates Coming Up:

• Friday, August 30-Monday, September 2nd- NO SCHOOL- Labor Day Weekend

• Tuesday, September 3rd- School Resumes- Full Day

• Wednesday, September 4th- Curriculum Night - Flyer Below with Details-

• 3-5 Presentations 6:00-6:45pm; K-2 Presentations 7:15-8:00 pm; 5th Grade Camp 7:15-8:00
• Monday, September 9th- @ 7:00 pm- PTO Meeting in the Media Center
• Monday, September 9th- FUN RUN KICK OFF!!!! Registration Begins!
• Thursday, September 19th- Troy Public Library Traveling Book Mobile visits Barnard 5:30-6:30 pm
• Monday, September 25th- Red Cross Blood Drive- 1:00-7:00 pm- Sign Up Below!

• Wednesday, September 25th- Half Day- Dismissal at 12:59 *PM Staff Professional Development

• Thursday, September 26th- Troy Public Library Traveling Book Mobile visits Barnard 5:30-6:30 pm

• Friday, September 27th- Fun Run K-5- *More details to come!

Meet the new PTO Board for the 24-25 School Year

• Co-Presidents- Brandy McMillion and Annie Fritz
• Vice President- Steve Roadknight
• Secretary- Charlene Nagy
• Co-Treasurers- Jeff Zendler and Jeremy Vinyard

Please join us for the first PTO Meeting of the year on Monday, September 9th at 7:00 pm!

Please call the school office absence call-in line at 248-823-4301 if your child will be absent from school. The absence line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please leave the following information on the absence line: Your name, student’s name, illness or reason of absence, length of absence, and teacher’s name. If your child will be late to school, please notify the attendance line as well.

The school secretary will call the home of those children who are absent from school but who have not been reported absent by a parent. If the secretary cannot reach a parent at home, emergency contacts will be notified.

AM Tardy Times: 9:09-10:39- Please note your child will be marked absent in the AM if they arrive between 10:40-12:44 PM. PM Tardy Times: 12:55-2:25 PM- Please note your child will be marked absent in the PM if they arrive between 2:26-4:07 PM.

Specials will start on Wednesday, August 28th. Please check communications your child's teacher has sent out with important information about your special rotations. Wednesday, August 28th is a C day; Thursday, August 29th is a D day. Following Labor Day weekend, Tuesday, September 3rd is a B day.

During school hours from 9:20-3:40, the drop off loop will be blocked off for our students to use as a recess area during the final stages of playground construction. Students will use this area during their scheduled recess time outside of lunch recess, as lunch recess will be indoors. Due to multiple grades overlapping during lunch recess, students will be monitored by our noon-aides in classrooms, just as they would on an indoor recess for rainy days. If you need to visit the school during the school day, please plan to park in the lot and walk into the building. We apologize for this inconvenience, but appreciate your cooperation in helping to keep kids safe, during this short window of time.

The school staff are often involved in meetings and preparing materials for the school day before classes begin. Supervision of students is available starting at 8:55 am. For your child's safety, please do not drop off students any earlier as we do not have adult supervision for those who arrive early. When students arrive, they should report to their assigned waiting area. Students waiting area is outside their exterior classroom doors. The Safety Patrol is on duty 10 minutes before school and 10 minutes after school. The first bell will ring at 9:04 am for students to enter the building. The second bell will ring at 9:09 am.

Please have your child ready to quickly exit the car on the curbside of your vehicle. We make every attempt to have adults assisting students out of the car.

• Cars will remain in a single-file row, along the curb, as they approach the designated Drop-Off area. Drivers remain inside the vehicle.
• Remaining in a single-file row, pull up as far as possible before stopping to allow your child to exit. As a driver, do not exit your vehicle, this is a drop-off only lane.
• Cautiously re-enter the flow of cars when you are ready to pull away from the curb.

• For Kindergarten, please park your car and escort your child from the parking spot to the outside classroom door. If your Kindergartener has an older sibling, they may escort them their classroom door. We encourage students in grades 1-5 to be dropped off at the curbside whenever possible due to limited parking spaces.

• The pick-up lane next to the curb is for a quick pick-up. Drivers must remain in the vehicle.
• Cautiously re-enter the flow of cars when you are ready to pull away from the curb.
• Stay in the circle driveway, following it around the perimeter of the parking lot.

• If you are picking up your child at the end of the school day, you may meet your child at a designated spot on the sidewalk in front of the building. Use the crosswalk to escort your child from the front sidewalk to your parked car.
• There should never be a child crossing the parking lot without being accompanied by an adult.

IMPORTANT REMINDER TO PLEASE UPDATE your information in PowerSchool. This must be done before school starts tomorrow. Click the link below to access your parent portal.

Contact the Troy School District PowerSchool support staff by emailing your student's name, grade, school, your first and last name, and relation to the student to: pssupport@troy.k12.mi.us. One of our staff members will reach out to you.

Timeline for completion of the Barnard playgrounds:

• Playgrounds fully restored by 9/3- New adjusted date based on progress.
• During this time, lunch recess will be indoor recess.
• Individual grade level/class recess time will be in the front loop with details above.

Please understand this is a projected timeline, weather permitting, that TSD is working very closely with our installers to meet.

The Troy School District has transitioned from SchoolPay to MySchoolBucks this school year for Food Services payments only. Your child can now easily pay for a la carte items online with MySchoolBucks!

If you have an existing MySchoolBucks account, you can simply log back in or create your free MySchoolBucksMySchoolBucks account to get started. And not to worry, any existing funds in your SchoolPay account will be automatically transferred into your MySchoolBucks account.

With MySchoolBucks you’ll be able to view cafeteria purchases, check your student’s balance, receive low balance alerts and pay for school snacks from anywhere! *Remember, LUNCH IS FREE, A LA CARTE items are not (water and juice).

Get Started Today:
1. Go to myschoolbucks.com or download the mobile app.
2. Create your free account or sign in with your existing MySchoolBucks account.
Note: To reset your password, click the “forgot my username or password” link from the login page
3. Add your students using their school name / student ID.
4. Add funds using your credit/debit card or electronic check.
Note: For each transaction, you will be charged a program fee of $1.00
5. Set up automatic payments and never forget to send in lunch money again.

We appreciate you using this online option as a way to help reduce the amount of physical cash and check handling that would typically happen in the serving line.

If you need assistance with your account, you can find helpful how-to videos and answers to commonly asked questions by visiting myschoolbucks.com. Or, you can contact MySchoolBucks directly by logging into your account to start a chat conversation or give them a call at (855) 832-5226.

Phone: 248.823.4320

Email: kbush@troy.k12.mi.us
Website: barnard.troy.k12.mi.us