Lester Living

Friday, August 23, 2024

Hello Lester Families,

It was so nice visiting with many of you at the Back to School Bash! Thank you to our incredible PTA for organizing the event so that families could get together to celebrate being back at school.

This week, students participated in fall Benchmark testing. While most testing has been completed, there are still makeups to complete next week. We will be holding data meetings in September and October to review the data and determine best ways to meet the needs of our students.

It was a successful first week of school and we are so proud of our students. Staff worked hard to review all expectations with students. We will continue to remind students of expectations on a regular basis. In addition, Dr. Smith and I will be visiting each classroom over the next couple of weeks to share safety reminders.

We hope you will join us on Tuesday for curriculum night. If you are able to attend, please plan to attend 1 session with your child's classroom teacher. This event is an adult event for parents to hear about what to expect this school year. Each classroom teacher/grade level will be presenting the same presentation twice so that if you have children in multiple grades, you can attend the time that works best for you. Grades K,1, & 2 will be presenting at 6:00 and again at 6:30. Grades 3, 4, 5, & 6 will be presenting at 6:30 and again at 7:00.

Looking forward to another wonderful week at Lester!

Enjoy your weekend :)

Katie Novosel

Principal

knovosel@dg58.org

Lauri Smith

Assistant Principal

lsmith@dg58.org

District 58 Instrumental Music

The District 58 Instrumental Music teachers are excited to launch a new school year in BAND and ORCHESTRA and begin making music together again soon! We look forward to seeing returning students and also are thrilled to continue our work with the over 300 beginner instrumentalists who started their musical journey during our summer jumpstart program!

In-school lessons will be starting at each elementary school the week of Sep. 3rd. Once we have established this routine, students will also participate in weekly after-school rehearsals to prepare for their concerts! Please watch for an email from your student’s orchestra or band teacher with details about lesson and rehearsal schedules. Click here to meet your band and orchestra teachers - we look forward to seeing you soon!

Heat Relief in District 58 (as seen in Communicate 58)

District 58's successful 2022 referendum provided funding to install air-conditioning at the 11 elementary schools that lacked a centralized cooling system. This summer, crews upgraded electrical systems and installed air-conditioning at the four Phase I elementary schools and partially installed it at the two middle schools.

In the meantime, several schools are not fully air-conditioned, and schools can get hot. To alleviate the heat, our schools use their resources and building spaces wisely to provide heat relief for students and staff on hot days. Please click here to learn some of the ways our schools keep students and staff cool on hot days.

A Peek into Lester Life

DATES TO REMEMBER:

Monday, August 26: First day of 4th grade Gifted (at Lester)

Tuesday, August 27: First day of 5th grade Gifted (at Henry Puffer)

Tuesday, August 27: Lester Curriculum Night 6:00- 7:30

Friday, August 30: First day of 6th grade Gifted (at Henry Puffer)

Monday, September 2: NO SCHOOL- Labor Day

Monday, August 19- Friday, September 6: Fall Benchmark Testing

Friday, September 27: Fun Lunch (More info to come from PTA)

REPEATED ITEMS BELOW:

Our wonderful staff created some quick videos to introduce themselves to you. We are excited for a wonderful 2024-2025 school year! Please know that we are all here for you!

KINDERGARTEN team video

Specialists team video

Food service in District 58

Elementary School Food Service

Elementary schools provide pre-ordered boxed lunches for students, through www.MyMealOrder.com. Lunches cost $4.60. Click here to learn more. Elementary boxed lunches will be offered starting the week of Aug. 26. Orders must be submitted by Aug. 22 to receive boxed lunch the week of Aug. 26.

In addition, elementary students may sign up to receive daily milk for $53 (which is 30 cents per day). Families should complete this Elementary Milk Order Form to sign their child up for milk. This is separate from the boxed lunch option. The $53 milk fee will be posted to the student's PushCoin account next month.

Free and Reduced Meals and Milk

District 58 provides free and reduced-cost meals and milk to students who qualify and apply. These meals will be provided starting the first day of school.

Please visit District 58's Food Services webpage for more information.

Fee waiver form ENGLISH

Fee waiver form SPANISH

DROP OFF/ARRIVAL PROCEDURES

We have 3 official drop off locations.

DROP OFF ZONE #1- Indianapolis Avenue

DROP OFF ZONE #2- through the parking lot off of Indianapolis Avenue

DROP OFF ZONE #3-Lincoln Avenue

*The locations are marked on the map.

There are two options for drop off:

OPTION #1

You drive up to one of the drop off zones, have your child exit the vehicle on the school side of the vehicle, & drive away to keep traffic moving.

Staff members will be on duty to assist until school starts.

OPTION #2

If you want to walk your child to his/her line, we ask that you park on a side street (not Lincoln or Indianapolis). These two streets become congested and we would like to keep traffic moving on these two streets.

PLEASE NOTE:

We do have staff on duty outside with all grade levels at 8:05 am. These staff members will assist with ensuring your child gets to their class line if you are dropping off through our drop off zones.

Students need to use the crosswalks when crossing streets. In addition, please be sure to follow all traffic safety guidelines to ensure student safety.

Please be mindful of student patrols. We ask that you follow their guidance as well.

Students may arrive at Lester School beginning at 8:05 a.m. each day when adult supervision begins. In order to assist with a timely and safe arrival process, the school playground will be closed before school. Upon arrival, students should line up in their assigned classroom teacher line location by their assigned door. Students will be directed to enter the building at 8:15 am. Anyone arriving after the lines of students have entered & doors have been closed should enter through Door 1 (front office).

***We appreciate everyone's help and cooperation as we organize safe drop off and pick up procedures for our students. Thank you!

PICK UP/DISMISSAL PROCEDURES

Students will exit the doors they entered for arrival. Students will be dismissed at 2:00 pm on Mondays & 3:00 pm on Tuesdays through Fridays.

Once outside the building, students will do one of the following:

Meet FAMILY at a previously designated location on school grounds

Walk/bike home as they normally would

Walk to a designated pick-up area for a parent to pick up in a car (Please refrain from parking in these pick up zones for families who will be driving up, picking up students, and driving away)

Please communicate this information to your child(ren) so the Lester staff can assist in guiding students to the family’s pick-up location.

The east blacktop area will be opened up for parent pick-up at dismissal time.

Following daily dismissal at Lester School (2:00 p.m. on Monday and 3:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday), all students who are not scheduled to remain in the building must leave the school grounds and check in at their destination as there is no supervision on school grounds after the school hours. We want to ensure the safety of all students.

RAPTOR SECURITY SYSTEM REMINDER!

For those of you who are new to Lester, please be sure you read the following letter. Lester's doors remain locked and closed at all times. Only school staff and students are able to enter the building through outside doors other than Door 1. Any adults who are not staff members as well as children who are not Lester students must enter through Door 1 and go through our Raptor system. Thank you for taking the time to review this important information to keep our school safe.