Owyhee Elementary

Hello Owyhee Families!

We had an excellent first couple of weeks of school! Students have begun to adjust to their schedules and settle into their routines. Our staff continues to encourage and provide classroom opportunities for students to make connections and feel a sense of belonging. Our staff believes that every child should feel valued, respected, and included within our school community. To achieve this, we will continue to foster positive relationships between students, staff, and families.

This year, our Leadership and Positive Behavior Support Teams are collecting ideas for our legacy projects that we will be doing throughout the year to support the transition for our students and staff. More to come, stay tuned! Also, if you missed the previous email from our district regarding the Owyhee transition, it is included in this newsletter below.

Our dedicated team will be working tirelessly to provide high-quality instruction, individualized support, and engaging learning experiences for all students. Currently, our team is administering benchmark testing. This information provides evidence of where students are currently after the summer break, so staff can best meet each student's needs.

We thank you for attending our Open House. If for some reason you were not able to make it, please do not hesitate to reach out to your student’s teacher for any additional information that is needed to support your child in having a successful year.

Summer construction for our building is almost complete, we are waiting on a new projector for our library, and some minor clean up in our custodial office. We are remaining positive that the heavy rains stay at bay and the new roofing materials arrive soon. We are so close... it is going to look amazing!!

We completed our first fire drill in late August and our students were on point. The drill was seamless. We will continue practicing our Safety Drills and teaching students the procedures they need to know so that they know exactly what they need to do in the event there is ever an emergency. In addition, here is a link to our Boise School District Emergency Response Procedure. I do encourage you if you have not done so to sign up for our district emergency text messaging system. In November we will work with the Boise Police Department to complete our first lockdown drill together. The purpose in partnering with the Boise Police Department each year is for them to help us identify any areas of improvement they see within our practices. We always appreciate their expertise.

Thank you for your continued support and trust in our school. The Owyhee Staff and I look forward to a successful and rewarding school year ahead.

Dr. David

Hello Owyhee Families!

We are off to a great start and so happy to see your students every day. To help our process go as smoothly as possible, we need your support.

If your student is going to be late or absent...please let us know! At 9:00, our office assistant starts making phone calls to parents/guardians of students who are marked absent. We would really appreciate it if you contacted us before then. You can either:

Call the school (leaving a message is ok!) at 208-854-5850 (or)

Send an email to our office assistant, Lety, who takes care of attendance.

Lety's email address is lety.fricke@boiseschools.org. Some parents like to email their child's teacher, which is great! But oftentimes, teachers aren't able to check their email until recess, so adding Lety to emails about attendance would help us out a lot.

Also, please feel free to email me (Tracy) any time with important info, or questions you might have. I am usually able to respond the same day. My email address is tracy.meunier@boiseschools.org.

I'm here to help! If I don't know the answer to a question you might have, I will find it.
Thank you! - Tracy

This school year, all children in the Boise School District will receive free breakfast. Additionally, our school is now participating in the USDA Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), qualifying for free meals, including lunch, for the next four years.

Key Points:

• No Applications Needed: You don't need to complete an application for free or reduced-priced meals for students at our school.

• Other Schools: If you have students at other Boise School District schools that are not CEP, applications may still be necessary for those students to receive free or reduced-priced lunch benefits.

• Complete Meals Only: The free meal benefit applies only to complete student meals. Additional items like milk or a second entrée require money on the student's meal account or cash payment.

For more information on meal prices, menus, and meal applications, visit Food & Nutrition Services at Boiseschools.org.

September 2 Labor Day - No School

September 3 Starbase Field Trip (5th grade)

September 3 Starbase Field Trip (5th grade)

September 10 Parent Meeting (our unofficial PTO) @ 4:30 PM Library

September 16-20 Environmental Field Experience (6th grade)

September 23 Girls Basketball Begins

September 27 Monthly Jet Award Assembly

October 7 Idaho Botanical Garden Field Trip (3rd grade)

October 8 Parent Meeting (PTO) @ 4:30 PM Library

October 8 Wagons Ho Field Trip (4th grade)

October 10 Individual Student/Staff Pictures

October 11 End of First Quarter - Elementary Pre K-6 No School

October 16 No School-Pre K Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00 - 7:30 pm

October 17 No School-Pre K-6 Parent Conferences 8:30 - 7:30 pm

October 18 No School-Pre K-12

October 25 Monthly Jet Award Assembly

Student School year calendar link 2024-2025

Girl's Basketball begins Monday, September 23rd. More information to come from Coach Walsh!

If you haven't had an opportunity to turn in your parental consent for health care form, you have a few options. You can either:

Call Owyhee and give consent over the phone:
Print out the form (below), fill it out and return it with your student: (or)
Come in to the school to get/fill out the form and turn it in to the front office or health office.

Information can be found in the letters below to both parents and staff from the Boise School District Health Services Department.

Thank you!

August 23, 2024

Dear Owyhee Elementary Families,

In the August 12th Board of Trustees meeting, the trustees approved the conversion of Owyhee Elementary School to an Early Learning Center for the 25-26 school year. We are writing to provide you with an update on our next steps as we plan for the 25-26 school year transition of your students from Owyhee to potentially one of three elementary schools: Hillcrest, Whitney, or Hawthorne Elementary Schools.

Transition Committee

You're invited to attend an informational meeting on October 22nd, 2024, from 4-5 pm at Whitney Elementary School.

• At this meeting, you will have the opportunity to learn more about the transition process and ask questions.
• The transition committee will be responsible for planning fun activities for students to commemorate the last year of Owyhee and for planning to get to know the students and staff at the new schools Owyhee students will attend in the 2025-26 school year.
• At the October 22nd meeting you can learn more and/or sign up to participate with the transition committee.

Boundary Process

In late September, the boundary committee will begin its process to draw new boundaries and determine which students will attend each of the nearby schools. The Boundary Committee will be a small, working committee comprised of:

• 3 Owyhee parents
• 1 parent from each of the potential receiving schools (Hillcrest, Hawthorne, Whitney)
• A member of the Hillcrest neighborhood association
• A member of the Vista neighborhood association
• A member of the Treasure Valley Safe Routes to Schools committee
• Principals from each school and district administrators

To ensure the process is transparent, thoughtful and comprehensive, the Boundary Committee's work will take approximately two to three months. Boundary recommendations will be finalized by November or December. Below, you will note the points in the process for public input:

• Introduced to the Board (Aug 2024)
• Establish Boundary Committee
• Boundary analysis and needs considered
• Small group discussion at each applicable school
• Communication of proposal(s)
• Comment period (2 weeks)
• Committee review of comments & next steps
• Recommendation to Board (approx. December 2024)
• Notice of approval or denial

Once the Boundary Committee has developed a recommendation for the new boundaries, they will be placed before the Board of Trustees for approval. Public comment will be encouraged both during the Boundary Committee's work, as well as at a Board of Trustees meeting. We are excited to make this a smooth and positive experience for your children. Your input will be crucial to that process.

Sincerely,

Boise School District Administration

Annual Notification Regarding Public Release of

Student Directory Information

The Boise School District complies with federal law (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) as it relates to the release of student directory information to the public. To learn more, log on to www.boiseschools.org and navigate to Parents & Patrons > Parent Information > FERPA Form. Or, please call the Clerk of the Board at 208-854-4123 to obtain a copy of the FERPA form.