The Darden News
Parent Newsletter
Message from the Principal
Welcome back to school! This summer has brought many wonderful changes to our community. I'm please to welcome teacher, Pam Wright, to our 4th grade team! Other new additions include Sally Carlin as our Cognitive Intervention Specialist and Barb Sequin as our Digital Integration Specialist within our Title I team. Jennifer Linarello will be Darden's full time social worker. There have also been some internal moves as Jacob Hochstetler will be teaching 5th grade, Katheleen Khalil will be teaching 3rd grade and Mike Beasley will be our PE teacher.
This summer 80 volunteers who attended the Notre Dame Alumni Association Family Camp completed four "Done in a Day" projects. One group spruced up our outdoor learning pond area by painting picnic tables, weeding and laying mulch. Another group painted our playground equipment and lines on our blacktop. They also created a walking/running path for our new Milage Club beginning this year. They also built our new Darden sign for our art teacher, Kate Engles, to paint. Lastly the group painted benches and book shelves our favorite color, purple.
Our front beds were removed to reduce the amount of yard maintenance for our building engineer, Will Piaecki. Darden will beautify the front landscape by planting trees in the front this spring. Our grass located just north of the playground has been left to natuarlly grow into a prairie reducing resource consumption and increasing free time. The Darden learning community will be getting involved this school year in restoring the prairie.
Our school hours are the same as last year. Students maybe dropped off at 7:30am and school is in session from 8:00am-3:00pm. Door 20 will open at 7:30am to allow students into the gym to read or cafeteria to eat breakfast. Use the west parking lot to drop off students and the east parking lot to pick up students. Please look over the detailed procedures for drop off and pick up to ensure everyones safety.
Our students will enjoy more experiential learning field trips this year thanks to our PTO for leading the efforts to raise funds for each grade level.
Yours in Education, Go Darts!
Patty Karban, Principal
UPCOMING DATES & EVENTS
Become active in the Darden PTO!
Picture Day
Labor Day- No School
Back to School Night!
SBCSC ONE HOUR DELAY DAY
All SBCSC students will begin school hour later on September 4th. This delayed start time will allow teachers time to collaborate and plan.
Book Fair
Students can purchase books Sept. 16th -20th during school hours at the book fair in the small gym.
Chili Dog Dinner
Attend our FREE Darden family fun event and learn about how you can be involved in the PTO on September 19th, 6:00pm-7:30pm.
DROP OFF AND PICK UP PROCEDURES
How is your child getting home?
Kindergarten Parents and Guardians
School Attendance = Academic Success
Darden Elementary School
Website: http://darden.sb.school/
Location: 18675 Janet Drive, South Bend, IN, United States
Phone: (574)393-2900