Karen Acres Newsletter
Friday, April 19, 2024
Inclusive Swing
The Cloud 9 swing is an inclusive swing for students with mobility challenges. It also can seat multiple students who want to swing together.
Additional Swings
The current swings will stay in place. We will be adding additional swings including some that are more inclusive for all students. This was a request from both students and staff.
In celebration of Educator Appreciation Week, May 6 – 10, 2024, we’d like to invite UCSD students, parents, guardians, staff, alumni, and community members to share your thoughts about a current UCSD educator(s) who has made a positive difference in your life and/or your child’s life. Statements will be shared online (district website, newsletter, social media) during Educator Appreciation Week. (Note: Statements will be reviewed and anything deemed inappropriate will render the statement unusable in its entirety.) If you'd like to participate, please complete this brief form by April 12, 2024. Thank you for sharing a statement as a wonderful way to remind educators how much they are appreciated and valued!
The Urbandale Show Choir Experience is a summer camp dedicated to getting kids excited about singing and performing. It is a fantastic introduction to this crazy world of show choir, learning an entire show choir show in four days and presenting it to a live audience. We are working to make this one the biggest camp yet, and hope your budding performer can join us for the week! Camp runs July 8th-11th.
All singers who are incoming 4th-9th graders are welcome, not just Urbandale students. So, along with signing up your own singer, be sure to call family and friends from anywhere to let them know they can be a part of the experience as well!
If you have any questions, please email Jon Edgeton (edgetonj@urbandaleschools.com) or Ted Brimeyer (brimeyert@urbandaleschools.com). Financial assistance is available to those in need. Just contact the Community Ed Office.
Students need to register for school every year, and registration for 2024-2025 opens March 1st. It's very important that you click on the links and register to let us know your student will be returning to Karen Acres next year. We will begin working on our class lists this spring.
K-12 Returning Students
Kindergarten through 12th grade student registration for the 2024–25 school year begins online March 1, 2024. We’re excited to share our new online school registration system as it will make registration more efficient and convenient. You’ll find detailed instructions for registering your returning student(s) by visiting: urbandaleschools.com/register
K-12 New Students
UCSD is comprised of four elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, and one alternative high school. We offer a comprehensive Preschool Program and Adventuretime Before/After School Childcare Program. Families with elementary students are given the choice to either attend their neighborhood elementary school or attend our year-round elementary school (see below). If your student(s) is new to UCSD, click here for specific information about registering your new student.
Safety City is a week-long summer program for children entering kindergarten in the fall of 2024. Children will learn about traffic safety, fire safety, home, playground and other kinds of personal safety in an entertaining, positive environment. To make learning about safety fun, Safety City incorporates songs, story books, films, games, and artwork in addition to riding Big Wheels in a mock city setting. Safety City also provides the experience of riding on a school bus to the Urbandale Police and Fire Departments for tours. Safety City is taught by Urbandale Police Officers and staff who are assisted by a team of student helpers. If you have any questions or need financial assistance, please contact Officer Meagan Cowden at 515-331-6804 or mcowden@urbandle.org at the Urbandale Police Department. Fee includes t-shirt, bike helmet and daily snacks. Registration Deadline: May 24
We’re using the Urbandale app (powered by ParentSquare) to share news, updates, and alerts. Please take a few minutes to activate and set up your account. You can then search for 'Urbandale' in the App Store or Google Play & download the app. From there you can set your notification preferences.
What You Need To Know
You’ll receive news and updates (called 'Posts') from your school(s) and the district (and eventually from your teachers and coaches when Phase 2 begins this fall).
Posts can be received as an email, text, and/or app notification. They can be received instantly (as soon as they are sent) or as a 'digest' which means you’ll receive a summary of each day’s communications at 6:00 p.m.
You can enable/disable notifications by modality (email/text/app) and set your desired time to receive notifications (instant or digest). These settings only apply to 'Posts.'
Your preferences for receiving news/updates will not impact your ability to receive Alerts (e.g. inclement weather). Alerts will still be delivered via email, text, app, and voice depending on the situation. (Note: UHS students will not receive text/voice notifications as student cell numbers are not included in PowerSchool.)
**IMPORTANT** Please keep 'School Alerts' enabled (turned on) if you would like to receive inclement weather and other time-sensitive notifications. If this is disabled (turned off) you will not receive these important notifications.
Learn more about setting your notification preferences by viewing the video below or reviewing set-up instructions here. If you have questions or need help with ParentSquare, you’re welcome to complete our UCSD ParentSquare Help form.
On February 8, ParentSquare invitations were sent to all parents/guardians, staff, and UHS students. We’re using ParentSquare to share news, updates, and alerts. Please take a few minutes to activate and set up your account so you’ll receive news and updates based on your preferred method (email, text, and/or app) and speed of delivery (instant or a daily digest summary arriving nightly at 6:00 p.m.). Your preferences for receiving news/updates will not impact your ability to receive Alerts (e.g. inclement weather). Alerts will still be delivered via email, text, app, and voice depending on the situation. (Note: UHS students will not receive text/voice notifications as student cell numbers are not included in PowerSchool.) Search for 'Urbandale' in the App Store or Google Play & download the Urbandale app.
Review the following written and/or video instructions for setting up your ParentSquare account:
In addition, you can also review this doc that outlines how to set up your account based on various scenarios depending on roles (e.g. UCSD staff member with children in the District, UCSD parent who is a staff member in another District using ParentSquare, etc.). If you have questions or need help with ParentSquare, you’re welcome to complete our UCSD ParentSquare Help form.
The Urbandale Community School District welcomes and invites parents/guardians to visit schools during the school day. "Visitors" include parents, guardians, volunteers, contractors, students from other schools, UMS and UHS students visiting district schools (unless students are under direct supervision by a UCSD employee), student teachers, student teacher advisors, outside counselors/EFR, and members of the community. In order to maintain a safe and secure learning environment, visitors must report to the school’s main office, sign-in upon arrival, provide a U.S. government-issued ID for scanning into the Raptor system (or provide a legitimate photo ID and have name and date of birth entered into the Raptor system), and then receive a visitor’s badge/sticker which they will be required to wear during their stay in our schools. Visitors are required to sign-out and return the badge/sticker at the main office prior to leaving the school. (Note: Signing in via the Raptor system will not be necessary for individuals who drop-off or pick-up a student or materials in the main office.) Learn More
Dania Wilson, Karen Acres Elementary
Email: wilsond@urbandaleschools.com
Location: 3500 74th Street, Urbandale, IA, USA
Phone: 515-457-5700