We hope that your student has experienced a smooth, joyful transition into our new school year. Arrival and dismissal routines have improved each day this week (as is typically the case)! While we realize that there may have been a few challenges with bus pick-up times, Skyward information, and Dismissal Manager this week, we have worked diligently to communicate and confirm student arrival and dismissal information. Both bus and car arrival and dismissal are flowing much more smoothly now. Please review bus pick-up times in Skyward as many were tweaked just before school started on Wednesday.

We noticed that there were many more car riders after the first day of school. I encourage you to use bus transportation as this still remains the most efficient way to get to school. Today, we had approximately 15 cars dropping off students after our 7:40 start time, and traffic backs up onto Lantern Road when we have a high number of car riders. Classroom instruction starts at 7:40 so if your child is late, they are missing important welcome information, morning routines, and the start of instruction. Thank you for partnering with us to get your student to school on time!

This week has been a full of building relationships, inspiring wonder and curiosity, and establishing rituals and routines for learning and safety. Students have been engaged in a variety of learning experiences and laughter and JOY have filled our building.

Don't forget that our grades 1-4 Meet the Teacher (for parents/guardians) is this Monday, August 8th from 6:00-7:15. There are two sessions:

• 6:00-6:30p.m.
• 6:45-7:15p.m.

This is a time to meet the teacher, receive important classroom information regarding routines and expectations, and get a preview of some of the learning experiences that may occur throughout the year. Our PTO and a few community partners will be in attendance. We hope to see you there!

We look forward to partnering with you this year to support your child in learning and growing at high levels!

Sincerely,

Lori Mankin

Please remember to update your child's default dismissal routine in Dismissal Manager (DM) by using this link and the code that was sent to your email. All families must update their student's "default" to either bus (including bus number), car rider, YMCA, or other specified day care provider.

SDM allows you to report absences, early dismissals, and even schedule recurring dismissal instructions for after-school activities in advance or for the current day. You can also create recurring exceptions (ex. YMCA every Tuesday and Thursday) to help with various dismissal options that may occur. We ask that you make dismissal changes by 1:00pm the day of a change. If you need help updating your information in DM, please call the office at 317-594-4130.