Back to School 2024-2025

Dear Basehor-Linwood Early Learning Center Families,

Welcome to Basehor-Linwood Early Learning Center! It is with great pleasure and excitement that I extend my warmest greetings to you as the principal of our wonderful school. As we embark on this educational journey together, I want to introduce you to our school family handbook, a valuable resource designed to support children, families, and staff in creating a safe, nurturing, inclusive, and developmentally appropriate educational environment. We encourage you to read it thoroughly, as it contains essential information about our curriculum, daily routines, communication channels, health and safety guidelines, and much more.

At the ELC, our primary goal is to provide a positive and enriching experience for every child in our care. We are committed to fostering a love for learning and empowering our young learners to develop their full potential. Our dedicated and passionate team of educators and staff work tirelessly to create an engaging and stimulating learning environment where each child's unique abilities and talents are recognized, celebrated, and nurtured.

We firmly believe in the power of quality, comprehensive programming to lay a strong foundation for your child's future academic success. Our curriculum is carefully designed to meet the developmental needs of young learners, incorporating play-based activities, hands-on experiences, and inquiry-based learning. We strive to create an environment that promotes curiosity, critical thinking, creativity, and a lifelong love for learning. Through a balance of academic, social, emotional, and physical development, we aim to cultivate kindergarten readiness by preparing our students for a smooth transition to elementary school and beyond.

In our inclusive community, we embrace and celebrate diversity. We are committed to providing an inclusive educational environment that values and respects the unique backgrounds, experiences, cultures, and abilities of all our students and families. We believe that by embracing diversity, we foster a sense of belonging, promote empathy and understanding, and prepare our students to thrive in a global society.

We recognize that education is a partnership between home and school. We greatly value the involvement of families in their child's educational journey and encourage open lines of communication.

I am thrilled to have you as part of our ELC family, and I look forward to working collaboratively with you to create an exceptional educational journey for your child. If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me or our dedicated staff. We are here to support you and your child in every way possible.

Once again, welcome to the Basehor-Linwood Early Learning Center school family. Let us embark on this remarkable adventure together!

Warm regards,

Mrs. Jillian Porter

ELC Director/Principal

Mrs. Debbie Barta, Childcare Director

Mrs. Cora 'Reed' Copeland, PK4 Teacher

Ms. Maggie Vinduska, PK3 Teacher

Ms. Rachel Ulrich, Social Worker [GHES/ELC]

Ms. Brittney Huntington, Occupational Therapist

Ms. Yvonne Carey, Para Educator

Ms. Crystal Bowman, Para Educator

Ms. Bao Wood, Childcare Lead Teacher - Toddler

Ms. Kellea Neas, Childcare Asst. Teacher - 3-5 Yr

Ms. Julianna Rollo, Childcare Lead Teacher - 3-5 Yr

Your child's teacher information will be available in the Skyward Family Access at 5 PM on Wednesday, August 7th. Be looking for an email from your child's teacher as early as August 8th at 12:00 PM.

The first day of school is a big day for students and parents alike. While we would love to invite parents into the building on the first day of school, we are unable to do this due to the safety of our students and the amount of space available. We encourage you to find photo opportunities at the Sneak Peek event.

We are thrilled to welcome families to the ELC on Thursday, August 8th from 5:00-6:30. Here is what to expect:

• An opportunity for your child and family to:

• Visit our school and your child’s classroom.

• Meet your child’s teacher

• There is a very short time frame to meet the teacher at this event. We value open communication and acknowledge that this is not ideal. Teachers will have a method for you to request a phone call/follow-up in their for a later date/time available in their classroom. Thanks for your understanding.

• Drop off your child’s school supplies (If you pre-ordered supplies, they will already be distributed).

• Pick up a folder from your child’s teacher with important documents you will need for the start of school.

Items you'll receive at Sneak Peek from your child's teacher

Car signs: These are required to be displayed during dismissal/pickup.

Student name stickers: Place the sticker on your child for the first 5 days of school.

*Tip: Place on the back of their shirt, especially if they are a bus rider to reduce the chance of them pulling it off.

If you are unable to attend the Sneak A Peek, you can call our front office to arrange a time to pick them up on August 8th or 12th.

Other opportunities

Raptor Security: All visitors entering our building during the school year will have their government-issued identification scanned in the Raptor system. To simplify and save time for future visits, classroom parties, etc... we encourage you to please have your ID scanned in the main office while you are here for Sneak Peek. Please keep in mind that the system doesn't carry over from the previous school year and doesn't sync with other buildings in the district.

PTO: We have an outstanding PTO here at the ELC. Our PTO will be at Sneak Peek with information on how to join the PTO.

Class Dojo: Class Dojo is a building-wide communication app that has been LOVED by our families and teachers. Teachers will have information available to join your child's class. This information will also be emailed to families from your child's teacher.

We have scheduled the drop-in times for Sneak A Peek in two sessions to aid in parking availability. If the drop-in time you have does not work for your schedule, simply come between 5:00-6:30 whenever it works for you.

Morning Classes: 5:00-5:45

Afternoon Classes: 5:45-6:30

Our office is open beginning August 1st so if you have required enrollment documents that you need to drop off, please do so as soon as possible. You are also welcome to email any required documents to kbernal@usd458.org or upload them into your Skyward Family Access account. Please give us a call at (913) 662-7150 if you have questions.

Thank you for your patience as we work diligently to get fees & tuition fees entered into Skyward. We will send an email to all families as soon as they are available on your accounts.

Tuition needs to be paid by the 15th of each month. It is considered late, if payment is not paid in full by the 15th of the month (August - May). We will extend the due date for this month to August 20th to account for the delay in payment availability.

Payment options include Skyward, check, or money order. If you have questions or need to make special arrangements, please contact Kristen Bernal, Administrative Assistant, in the office.

If your child is eligible for the Kansas Preschool Aged At-Risk Program, you will be asked to complete a verification form by our office staff and should be contacted prior to the first day of school. If you have not heard from us by August 15th, please contact Mrs. Porter at jporter@usd458.org.

• Adults will stay in their cars during drop-off and pick-up. ELC staff will unload your child from the car during drop-off, place your child in their car seat, and buckle them in during pick-up. Please be sure to have an appropriate safety seat for your child as we cannot buckle your child in anything but an appropriate safety seat. In these cases, the staff in the car line are required to ask you to proceed to the front parking lot where you will enter the building to pick up your child (bring with you your car sign or photo ID).

• For safety reasons, you must wait for the car in front of you to pull forward before leaving the car line. Do not drive around the car in front of you.

• Car signs with your child's name are required for dismissal in the car line at all times. Some families used a pant hanger to clip to their sign and hang it in the window. This was very helpful! If you do not have your school-issued sign, you will need to park in the visitor's parking, request to enter the main office and show the secretary your photo ID. If you need a replacement for your car sign, please call the main office or email Kristen Bernal, kbernal@usd458.org.

Arrival:

• Car unloading begins at 8:05 for the morning session and 12:20 for the afternoon session.

• We will unload five vehicles at a time.

• Once the five vehicles are unloaded, staff will signal that group of vehicles to exit, and a new group of vehicles will pull up to the orange cones. This is to help keep everyone safe.

• Please place your child and your child's car seat on the passenger side of the vehicle to allow for a safe exit.

• Please keep your child seated safely inside your vehicle while waiting in the car line. DO NOT allow them to hang out of the car window.

• WALKERS: Families who walk their children to school will have them enter at the main entrance. Families will drop off their child(ren) with the ELC staff member at the front and not enter the building.

Dismissal:

• We will begin loading vehicles at 11:00 for the morning session and 3:15 for the afternoon session.

• Five vehicles will be loaded and then staff will signal that group of vehicles to exit and a new group of vehicles will pull up to the orange cones.

• Please be sure to have your car signs provided by the ELC in the front windshield or the front passenger window. If you do not have your car sign, please pull into the visitor's parking lot and enter the front office. You will show your driver's license and we will check our database to ensure the child is being released with a guardian or approved adult.

• WALKERS: Parents will designate if their child will be a car rider or a walker during the school year. We classify all students as car riders, unless you have contacted the front office to notify us otherwise. Any changes to their designation must be communicated to the front office at least 20 minutes prior to dismissal. Those picking up walkers will need to still carry their car sign for us to send your child with you.

Late Arrival:

• If your child is late for school. Please park in the visitor's parking and escort your child into the main office and sign them in. From there we will have a staff member walk your child to class.

Bus riders will be dropped off at 8:10 and 12:25 at the main entrance of the ELC. They will be picked up at 11:00 and 3:15 at the main entrance of the ELC.

If you have questions or need to reach the transportation department, the number is 913-724-5437(KIDS)

• Please screen your child for any signs of illness before sending them to school for the day. We are working very hard to keep everyone healthy at the ELC.
• If your child shows signs of illness or a fever, please keep them home and call the office as soon as possible to report their absence for the day. 913-662-7150

The BLAS Food for Kids Backpack Program provides a weekly bag filled with food for PreK-5 school children that are in need and who attend school in the Basehor-Linwood School District.

BLAS delivers the BackPacks to your child’s school at the end of each week to be distributed by school staff in the child’s backpack.

Please call our school nurse, Corey Quattlebaum, at 913-662-7150 if you would like to sign your child up for this program.

August 8th - Sneak A Peek - 5:00-6:30

August 8th - City of Basehor Civic Campus Park Ribbon Cutting (behind ELC) - 6:30

August 13th - First Day of School

August 20th - Tuition Due

August 23rd - No School; Screening (Employee childcare open)

August 30th - No School; Inservice & Collaboration (Employee childcare open)

September 2nd - No School; Holiday

September 5th - Fall School Pictures

September 15th - Tuition Due

September 27th - No School; Screening (Employee childcare open)