Bulldog Paw Prints

Our first day of school is Friday, August 16. It is a full day, and we will begin our regular arrival procedures.

Students may arrive at Belle Aire School each day beginning at 8:05 a.m. when adult supervision begins. Students who arrive before that will not be under adult supervision, and that creates many safety concerns for us.

In order to assist with a timely and safe arrival process, the school playground will not be used by students before school. Upon arrival, students should head to their assigned door to visit with their peers and the adult supervisors. A bell will ring at 8:15 a.m. and students will begin to enter the building. Students who arrive after 8:15 a.m. should enter through Door 1, the main entrance.

The door that students are assigned to will lead directly into one of our coatrooms. Belle Aire doesn’t have any lockers or cubbies in classrooms, so each coatroom is used to stow student backpacks, lunch boxes, and coats during the day.

All staff members will be outside during arrival on our first few days of student attendance to help and support, but you can also check things out if you plan to join us for the for either the meet-the-teacher event or the PTA Back-to-School Bash on Tuesday, August 13.

Door 2: Ms. DeWitt, Mrs. Donnelly, Mr. McDermott

Door 3: Mrs. Barnick, Mrs. Cardinal, Ms. Latus

Door 6: Mrs. Fulton, Mrs. Steiner, Ms. Weist

Door 7: Mrs. Heun, Mrs. O’Hearn, Mrs. Stanton

Door 8: Mr. Linko

This map will help you identify the location of each entry door.

Join us for the beginning of the school year Chalk the Walk event! Chalk will be available for volunteers to decorate the sidewalks and the building (no artistic abilities necessary!). Ideas will be provided of what to write/draw. Help us to welcome back students and make their first day full of joy and inspiration. All are welcome (including kiddos) to join this fun event!

(MONDAY, AUGUST 12, 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.)

Use this link to help:

https://signup.com/go/pNUUwWo

Dear District 58 Families,

If your child is a bus rider, you may now access 2024-25 general education bus routes online at www.dg58.org/family-resources/bus-routes or on your PowerSchool parent account (instructions are on the bus route webpage). Families whose children use specialized bus routes will be directly contacted by the bus company/bus driver with their bus pickup and dropoff information starting Monday, Aug. 12.

Taking the bus is an exciting time for students, and we have worked hard to ensure our students are on a bus route and ready to go. However, there may be some students who recently registered or who did not select transportation during enrollment that may not have a bus stop assigned to them. We are working to update our records. If you signed up for general education bus service and your child’s bus stop is either missing or inaccurate on PowerSchool, please do two things:

1. Look at your school’s bus routes and determine the closest stop to your house. Your child should use that stop and will be allowed on the bus.

2. Please email or call your school office and let them know. We will be working with the bus company to update PowerSchool student accounts with the correct bus route and stop.

If your child rides on a specialized bus route and you don’t receive a call from the bus company or bus driver by Wednesday, Aug. 14 by 3 p.m., please contact your case manager or Special Services Secretary Amy Dunbar at adunbar@dg58.org or 630-719-5824.

District 58 requests that students please arrive at their bus stops a few minutes early during the first weeks of school. As bus drivers get acquainted with new routes, it is likely that some routes may run early or late, and we may adjust bus stop times as needed. Any student who arrives late due to a delayed bus will be excused. We appreciate your patience and flexibility!

Sincerely,

District 58

Again this year, we will be breaking into teams and heading out into our neighborhoods to visit the homes of our new students. Even those of you without new students are sure to notice our presence. We will have lights flashing, horns honking and music going as we stop by to extend our welcome and to leave a Bulldog yard sign in your lawn.

We look forward to meeting all of you and helping you see what a wonderful school this is.

This will take place on Tuesday, August 13, between 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Over the summer, our second-year teachers participated in a workshop centered on Shawn Achor’s two books, The Happiness Advantage and The Orange Frog. In these two books, Shawn Achor reveals how rewiring our brain for happiness helps us achieve more in our careers and our relationships (source: The Happiness Advantage). In The Orange Frog, the main character is a frog named Spark who turns “orange” among an island of green frogs. Spark is a positive outlier, adaptive with an optimistic mindset open to change. Spark provides social support for the rest of the team — not causing transformation per se, but guiding others to find it within themselves.

District 58 has provided this workshop for a number of years now, and staff members who have participated in the summer workshops share that the work is transformational and that they are excited to spread their learning. They walked away from the training with the tools needed to change mindsets, spread joy and maintain a positive attitude. We are excited to see how this learning positively impacts our students--both socially-emotionally and academically.

Mondays will continue to be "Orange Frog Mondays" with district staff wearing orange as we unite our efforts in maintaining a positive mindset throughout the year.

Welcome to the 2024 - 2025 school year. I hope that this first-of-the-year newsletter finds you well and having had the chance to relax and make special memories with friends and family. The school office is open, and I am thrilled to welcome our students and staff back to our school. When our students return to school on Friday, August 16, our staff will be ready to greet them and provide new, exciting school experiences.

All signs point to another incredible and productive school year. Our staff is already planning and preparing for your child(ren). Our office team is registering new families, ordering needed materials and updating student files. Our custodians have spent the summer thoroughly cleaning our school. Our much-appreciated PTA is gearing up to welcome families, provide volunteer opportunities, and offer other exciting events and programs. We are indeed a caring community with the common goals of nurturing respectful, responsible, safe students and promoting high-level learning.

Belle Aire School is a special place to learn and grow, and we have high expectations for each and every student. Our students continue to be kind, compassionate and resilient, and we strive to make connections with them and to help the feel valued and accepted. We recognize that students may be feeling anxious with the start of school approaching, and we will continue to place a strong emphasis on social-emotional learning while focusing on building classroom community.

The staff and I look forward to our partnership with you. Together, I know we will make this school year one of growth and achievement for all children.

See you all soon,

Brent

There are a number of details that are still in the works, but I wanted to pass the basics to you. More information will come your way on these and other topics soon.

*This year's teacher assignments were released earlier today, August 2, and are available in your parent portal.

*Students attending seventh or eighth grade accelerated math in a different school will begin that on Wednesday, August 21. The district office will be updating the teacher name for you in the coming days.

*Students attending gifted education (Grades 5-6) will begin traveling to Henry Puffer for that program during the week of August 26. Grade 4 will also begin that week, and they will be staying at Belle Aire for their instruction.

*Please contact the school office (630-719-5820) with any questions as our first day approaches.

All Kindergarten and 6th Grade students need a current physical and updated immunizations no later than October 1st. The medical forms can be dropped off at school during office hours or you can email a readable photo to the nurse at mmcgarry@dg58.org

We will be inviting you to various events throughout the year. Some of these events will be at the very start of the school day, some will be at the end of the school day and some will be outside of school hours. We hope that you will attend them whenever your schedules allow.

I would like to invite all of you to our first all-family events that will be held on August 13, 2024.

The first event will be an open house and meet and greet and will offer you the chance to see the school and meet your new teacher. Please enter through the main entrance, and we'll help you get to the right place. This event is set from 2:45 - 3:30 p.m. This will be a great opportunity for all of our families to head to the school, meet with your new teacher(s), and start reconnecting with your neighbors and with us. Feel free to come and go as your schedule allows within those 45 minutes. School supplies can be brought to the classrooms on this day as well.

In addition to the meet and greet, we are tentatively planning a PTA-sponsored event that will take place outside of the school from 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. Please join us for some popsicles, mingling and music!

We have received the draft bus routes for the school year. We started checking over those today, and your family's updated stop and pick-up and drop-off times will be posted in the parent portal on August 9.

If your child is a bus rider, please make sure to check the parent portal for the bus number, the bus stop and the pickup/drop off time. Please have your students at the bus stop at least 5 minutes before the scheduled time to ensure they don't miss the bus.

Please contact our secretary, Amy D'Amico, if the August 9, update is missing or incorrect in your account at 630-719-5820 or adamico@dg58.org.

Please take a moment to read the procedures below, and be sure to share them with anyone who may be driving your students to school - parents, grandparents, caregivers, neighbors, etc.

There are two designated drop-off areas for those arriving by car. One is in our parking lot, and the other is Herbert Circle. Should you decide to park and walk your children to the entry door, you may park on the west side of Belle Aire Lane (so you're facing Ogden) or in an open parking spot in our lot. Parking next to the school's sidewalks or on the perimeter of the lot is prohibited as it blocks and disrupts traffic patterns.

Main Parking Lot Drop-Off Zone:

There are two turn-in lanes available upon entering the school's parking lot. The first, most southern lane should only be used if you intend to park your car in an open spot. Parents who are dropping off students should use the second entrance (the one after the small median), which directs you to the circle drive in front of the school.

We treat the drop-off zone like the curbside drop-off at the airport, and it can be dangerous because of moving traffic. The circle drive splits into two lanes at the sidewalk. The right lane nearest the sidewalk is where students should exit vehicles; the left lane is for passing/moving traffic exiting the lot. Students are the only ones who exit the vehicle in this area. Adults who exit the vehicle in this area are putting themselves in danger and disrupting our drop-off procedure for all families behind them. Please be aware of your surroundings, check your mirrors and stay off of your cell phones.

When entering the drop-off zone, pull as far forward as possible at all times. We need to use the entire drop-off zone as a unit. If you are the first/only car in the zone, we ask that you still pull up all the way so that cars that arrive behind you are able to drop-off as well.

Students should only exit the vehicle from the passenger side and when the vehicle is next to the sidewalk.

Herbert Circle Drop-Off Zone

Vehicles should follow the typical, counter-clockwise traffic pattern of entering and exiting the circle. Students should exit the passenger side of the vehicle and walk along the guardrail until they reach the path to the school. Student walkers must use the paved path (outside of the guardrail) to enter campus rather than walking through Herbert Circle.

Please do everything you can to prepare your children to exit the vehicle quickly and always on the passenger side.

If you need to exit your vehicle to assist your children for any reason and/or for any amount of time, please use the parking spaces and not the circle drive drop-off zone.

Here is a short video to help you see our entry/departure areas.

All students who are not scheduled to remain in the building at the end of the day, will leave campus at dismissal--2:00 p.m. on Monday and 3:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

Bus-riding kindergarten students will be escorted to their assigned bus at the end of the day, and Champions will escort any of their kindergarten students to the gym each day. Students who are meeting parents will be exiting the same coatroom door that they enter each day, and any walkers/bike riders will exit the same door that they enter each day to head home. Students who are being picked up in the main parking lot's circle drive will exit their coatroom door and wait for you on the front sidewalk area. Parents who are picking up students in the circle drive should not exit the vehicle. Instead, please pull forward as cars in front of you leave.

Please do all you can to make sure your child understands your family's dismissal plan each morning (meeting outside of the door, meeting at a specific location on the property, being picked up in Herbert Circle, taking the bus, being picked up in the main parking lot, going to Champions, walking home with brother/sister, etc.). This step helps keep student anxiety low and supports a smooth dismissal process.

Students may return to the playground after school hours and/or on the weekends. This will be done at family discretion, as our district playgrounds also function as community parks outside of school hours.

LUNCH

We will be hosting three lunch periods this year.

Students in Grades K and 1 will eat lunch at 11:20 a.m. each day.

Students in Grades 2, 3, 4 will eat lunch at 11:40 a.m. each day.

Students in Grades 5 and 6 will eat lunch at 12:00 p.m. each day.

Students will need to bring a lunch with them to school each day, or families can take advantage of the elementary school meal program. This link will help you better understand that if you are not familiar. As a bonus, the PTA hosts a fun lunch (pizza and chicken strips/hot dogs) roughly twice each month. More details and ordering information can be captured when your family registers for the PTA.

SNACK

Students also have the option to bring a daily snack to school. Snack breaks should consist of nutritious food choices such as fruits, vegetables, and other portable snacks (items that are finger-held for consumption). This aligns with Policy 6:50. The health and safety of our students are our highest priorities. Therefore certain snacks or foods may be prohibited in your child’s classroom due to food allergies. The health office and I will communicate out any food items that are prohibited in a given classroom or grade level. A daily snack can be provided for students who qualify for free/ reduced lunch.

All staff members will be outside during arrival on our first few days of student attendance to help and support. I'll have door assignments and a school map that shows which classrooms will be using which doors in the next newsletter.

Tuesday, August 13: Teachers' First Day (Professional Development);Meet and Greet (2:45 - 3:30 p.m.); PTA, Back-to-School Party (3:30 - 5:00 p.m.)

Wednesday, August 14: Teachers' Second Day (Professional Development)

Friday, August 16: First Day with Students (Full Day)

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August 27: Curriculum Night (details and schedule to come)

September 2: No School

I've attached an additional copy of this year's calendar:

2024 - 2025