I hope each of you enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! As I mentioned in my last newsletter, it was just my family of four, but I still insisted on cooking a whole turkey! Leftovers are finally gone and turkey stock is in the freezer. I've turned my attention to holiday baking and planning our Christmas celebration. Good thing the weather has been nice to allow for lots of walking and running!

While we miss the grandparents and extended family, we will again follow public health advice and keep our winter celebrations small. Prime Rib for days! Thank you to those who have made similar sacrifices to keep our school community safe.

Huge thanks to those of you who took a moment to express your gratitude for our teaching staff. If that was on your to-do list but you didn't get to it... it's never too late! Click here for a staff list in case you don't have the names you need...

In particular, we are adding titles from more diverse authors/illustrators and those that have characters or themes that are more representative of our community. Previously, there were not many quality children's picture books that represented the diverse cultures in our district, but as more are now available, this grant will enable us to make some new purchases. The title of our grant application reflects what we believe... "Every Child Should See Themselves in Books!"

Thanks for your support of the Blue Valley Educational Foundation!

If you find that your family is in need of this kind of help at this time, please make a confidential contact with DeLynn Jenkins, School Social Worker, by clicking here or calling 913-624-2900 and asking for DeLynn.

If you would like to offer your support for this organization, click the image to visit their website.

I have been so pleased with how easily you have all adapted to our new arrival/dismissal procedures. Thank you for making this such a success! This is a much safer practice that allows us to minimize exposure between students from different parts of our school.

A few helpful hints that will make a smoother process for all:

• We prefer for all families to use our driveways to avoid congestion around our entryways.
• Thanks for keeping your car tag visible, even as you stand with your child.
• We appreciate that you are leaving your masks on throughout the arrival/dismissal process.

I'm especially grateful that nearly everyone has respected our time window for arrival and dismissal. This ensures that staff can remain focused on their duties before, during, and after those windows, including careful cleaning of the classroom between sessions. If you know that you will be late, please call ahead, and then let us know when you arrive by calling 913-624-2900. We will free someone up to come out for/with your child.

Thanks for traveling carefully around our campus among the many other vehicles including BVRC patrons, BV district staff, school buses and another transport vehicles. I'll try to make you aware when I know that we'll have other times of increased traffic, such as advanced voting or student testing in the Conference Center.

• we continue to experiment with clips or other ways to keep masks handy if they slip off -- stay tuned!
• since they are being worn for longer durations, thanks for washing masks daily, or at least every other day.
• thanks for all you are doing to support and promote mask wearing -- it makes a difference!

Want an overview of the Pyramid Model we use? Click here!