The Jim Plain Insider

We hope you are having a wonderful summer break! Our new to Plain teachers started on Tuesday, and let me tell you -- they are ROCKSTARS! We are so lucky they chose JPE! All staff return tomorrow and will be working to prepare for our Pride to start back to school on August 14th!

Heads up -- this newsletter is a long one! Please be sure to take time to read through all the information we have to share about upcoming events and information for returning to school. We can't wait to see you all soon!!

🖤 Mrs. Ulatoski

24-25 Academic Calendar

August 7

• New family orientation 6:00 pm

August 12

• PreK Family Day
• PreK families be on the lookout for a sign up genius from your child's teacher to pick a time to visit JPE and meet your teacher!
• Open House (PreK-5th Grade)
• 5:00 - 5:45 pm - Last names A-L
• 5:45 - 6:30 pm - Last names M-Z

August 14

• First day of school!

This night is for first year Jim Plain families or families with incoming kinder kiddos.

Students will be split into grade level groups to do activities and get to know the school while parents join administrators in the cafeteria to learn all about JPE.

Incoming Kindergartners:

If you have been at Plain with your older children, you will not necessarily be receiving any new information, but you are welcome to bring your kindergartner to get familiar with our teachers and our school!

Teacher introduction emails coming Monday, August 12!

If you bought school supplies through Bright School Kits and had them delivered to JPE, supplies will be delivered to your child's classroom prior to Meet the Teacher. You are encouraged to bring school supplies if you purchased on your own. Need the school supply list? Click here!

Last Names A-L arrive at 5:00 p.m.

Last Names M-Z arrive at 5:45 p.m.

The official school day is from 7:30 am - 2:45 pm.

The doors will open to students at 7:10 a.m. Students have a 20-minute window to arrive to school and eat breakfast by the 7:30 Tardy Bell. Instruction begins promptly at 7:30. Your student is missing valuable time with the class if they are late. We know it is difficult to get kids going this early, but please make every effort to be on time. Students arriving after 7:30 will have to check-in at the office before making their way to class.

This year the attendance snapshot time will be 8:45. Any student off campus at that time will be counted absent for the day.

Dismissal begins at 2:40. Please check out any students needing to leave early for the day by 2:15 p.m. Doors lock at 3:20 p.m.

Our building is open for students starting at 7:10 am. It's crucial that you only drop students off at 7:10 am or later as there is no adult supervision before that time. Early drop-offs can compromise the safety of your child and disrupt our school operations. The systems we have in place prioritize student safety. We strive for our systems to be as efficient as possible. Please drive carefully & follow our arrival guidelines so we can keep all our Plain Pride children safe when coming to school.

Please see the map above for student drop off options. We strongly encourage the car rider line if you are driving your child(ren) to school. We have a great system and when cars pull all the way forward, we can get approximately 8 students out at a time. Your student(s) can walk right into the building, and you can stay in the comfort of your vehicle! Win, win!

Should you need to park and walk your child to the building, please park in the area in front of the school on S. Brook. The front parking lot is not for dropping students off at arrival unless you require the use of handicapped spaces. Do not move or drive around the barricades. If the spaces on S. Brook are full and you park on Coulee, please use the sidewalks and crosswalks in the front of the school and avoid walking through the parking lot and bus lanes.

Students and families walking to school will also use the front entrance on S. Brook. There are bike racks in the front of the building for bike riders. Only bus riders may use the school entrance near the bus lane, and only car riders may use the entrance near the car rider line. Do not drop off students in the bus lane or staff parking lots. This creates a safety concern for children who are unsupervised in these areas.

Students MUST be picked up at 2:45 pm. We do not have staff available to provide care for students after dismissal. If an emergency arises, please call our office so that we can help plan to support and care for your child until you arrive.

We begin dismissing students at 2:40 pm. To make the process more convenient for all, we use a dismissal system called School Dismissal Manager.

Be on the lookout for a special School Dismissal Manager edition of the Insider later this week! You will need this to set your child's regular transportation, make transportation changes, and pick up your child if you use the car rider line.

If you will be meeting your chid at the front of the building, please allow Pre-K and Kindergarten families to meet their child(ren) under the awning in the front of the building. First-fifth grade families can meet their students in the grassy front area of the school. Again, please use the crosswalks and follow instructions from our crossing guards.

Should you need to park and walk to the building, please park in the area in front of the school on S. Brook. The front parking lot is not for picking students off at dismissal unless you require the use of handicapped spaces. Do not move or drive around the barricades. If the spaces on S. Brook are full and you park on Coulee, please use the sidewalks and crosswalks in the front of the school and avoid walking through the parking lot and bus lanes.

For the 24-25 school year, all bus riders need to register for bus transportation. Please follow this link to register your child for bus transportation!

Please see below for information for the first days of school:

• Parents Welcome: For the first three days of school, all students will be allowed to be walked to class by a parent. Our teachers are eager to connect with their students, so please limit the time to a quick hug and drop at the door. This is NOT the time to discuss things with the teacher - their priority is greeting each and every student. Send an email or schedule a meeting if you need to chat with them.
• Staff Support: We will have several staff members up front and around the building ready to help students find where they are going and help with the first week jitters!
• Visitor Policy: To ensure the safety of all our students, all visitors must leave the building by 7:30 AM. This ensures that our school day can start promptly and safely. Knowing your child is in good hands, please limit your visit to a quick and sweet goodbye at their door.
• Door Opening Time: Doors will open at 7:10 AM.

We encourage families to begin their usual mode of transportation on day one; however, we recognize that this might be the first time you and your child have been on campus, and we will have multiple staff members out and about to support our students in getting to their classes and home. We are committed to doing whatever we can to help your child feel comfortable on day one.

We also encourage a gradual transition where students begin entering the building on their own. Starting on Monday, August 19th, parents will not be allowed to walk their children into the building. Gradually helping students with this the first few days- especially those who are nervous - will make the transition easier on Monday!

We will dismiss school 10 minutes early on August 14th, 15th and 16th.

Normal arrival and dismissal times & procedures will begin on August 19th.

Please make sure you do the following to ensure you are receiving timely information from us:

• Make sure your email addresses are correct and up-to-date in Home Access Center
• Subscribe for email and/or text delivery of Reminds - Remind is how we send the Plain Insider to all families each week as well as other campus information! Remind makes it easy to choose how you receive these messages. Please make sure you are set up and that notifications are turned ON so you don't miss anything!
• Read the Plain Insider (this newsletter) every Friday for communication on events as well as instructional updates (comes via Remind!)
• Follow Plain Elementary on Facebook
• Read all weekly emails from teachers
• Bookmark the Plain website for additional information and events

Leander ISD will now use MySchoolBucks for cafeteria purchases.

To Get Started:
1) Go to myschoolbucks.com or download the mobile app
2) Create your free account and add your students using their school name/student ID

3) View cafeteria purchases and add funds using your credit/debit card or electronic checkclick on REGISTER or LOGIN to create and go to your student’s account. You will need to select the application "My School Bucks", then Get Started to add your students. If applying for free/reduced lunch please start a meal application.

Prices

• Student Free Breakfast: $0.00
  
• Student Reduced Breakfast: $0.00
• Student Paid Breakfast: $1.50
• Student Free Lunch: $0.00
• Student Reduced Lunch: $0.40
• Student Paid Lunch: $2.90
• Guest Breakfast: $3.00
• Guest Lunch: $4.25
• Elementary A La Carte Pricing

Free & Reduced Meals

LISD provides free and reduced-price (F&R) meals for children approved for the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). To apply for this program, submit an application online, or download, print and submit one of these forms:

• F&R Application in English | F&R Application in Spanish
• Letter to Households in English | Letter to Households in Spanish
• F&R Meal Application Directions in English | F&R Meal Application Directions in Spanish

Setting up Snack Limits

There are several snack items students may purchase that are not part of the breakfast/lunch meal and have extra associated costs. These items range in price from $.50 to $3.50. If you would like to limit the amount your child is able to spend out of their account, you can set up an account through My School Bucks, add your children to your account, then set your own spending limits.

Menus

Bookmark this link OR download the Nutrislice App on your phone to see what's for breakfast and lunch each day!

We show our Plain Pride spirit by wearing our Plain school shirts on Mondays! Our PTA will be setting up at our back to school events where you can join the PTA and/or buy a new school shirt!

This year we will also celebrate Future Fridays -- wear a DMS, LMS, or GHS shirt to celebrate our future LISD schools, wear your favorite college t-shirt, or wear a future career, company, or military shirt to show off our BRIGHT futures!

We love our JPE PTA! They work together to create incredible experiences for our students, staff, and families. Interested in joining or learning more? Find out more about out JPE PTA here and be on the lookout for the PTA table at our back to school events!

Volunteer opportunities are everywhere! Take a moment to complete your volunteer application for 2024-25 if you have not had the chance to do so already: https://www.leanderisd.org/volunteering/