Tuesday Talk with Dr. Dain
August 9th, 2022
Dear Pirate Nation,
Checking in with my Pirates! First full week of school in full effect; everyone surviving?
I have a fun fact to share—and I hope you do not think I am totally gross for this—please just let me share a disclaimer that I was in total survival mode…
When my kids were little and I was working as a building principal, mornings were THE WORST part of my day. At the time, my husband was an English teacher and head football/track coach and so he would leave the house every day around 5 AM to go into work to grade papers, do lesson plans, etc. because his evenings and most of his weekends were tied to his coaching commitments. This then left me flying solo on mom duty with my three children every morning to get them ready for daycare/school and then get myself to work on time. One morning at work, I was talking to a teacher after a really rough morning with my kids and she told me what she did when her kids were little…after bath time, instead of dressing her kids in their pajamas for bed, she instead put them to bed in their clothes every night so when they woke up, they were already dressed for the next day. #GENIUS #AMAZING!!!!! Being a very quick learner, I implemented her strategy the very same night. It worked! There was no fighting in the morning about what to wear because we had negotiated the night before. All we had to do was brush hair, teeth, put on our shoes and we were out the door! Eventually, as my kids got older, more responsible, and quite frankly weren’t into wearing jeans to bed anymore, we migrated back to pajamas at night. 😊
I share this because I want you to know I get it! Heading back to school can be rough for the whole family. Handling the morning routine can be rough for the best of us. With that said, we are so happy to have your children back in school and I hope everyone is adjusting well to the 2022.2023 School Year!
Proud to be a Pirate!
Dr. Jessica Dain
Superintendent of Schools
Late Arrival Fridays Begin This Week
As a reminder, we are launching our District-wide Late Arrival Fridays this week so that teachers can focus on professional development collaboration, practices, and strategies to drive their instruction in the classroom. The following are the school start times on Late Arrival Fridays:
- Piper Early Childhood
- Morning-Only and Full Day Classes - 9:00 a.m.
- Afternoon-Only Classes - 1:10 p.m.
- Piper Prairie Elementary - 9:10 a.m.
- Piper Creek Elementary - 9:00 a.m.
- Piper Middle School - 8:10 a.m.
- Piper High School - 8:10 a.m.
Bus Transportation Information
Thank you for your understanding and patience as we have worked over the last several days to fine-tune all things busing related. After the first day of school, some of the routes needed to be modified. Additionally, 3 new routes were added into the mix based on continued increasing enrollment. At the current time, Skyward has been updated with the correct bus numbers, bus stops, and pick up/drop-off times for all elementary students. By Wednesday morning, Skyward will be updated with the same information for our secondary students. Please check Skyward for your child(ren)’s bus information and then contact Kathy German, Director of Transportation, at 913.721.9019 if you have questions.
Piper PTA (Parent-Teacher Association)
The Piper School District has a strong PTA that is extremely dedicated to caring for the students, teachers, and parents in the community. They currently are not requiring formal membership for PTA - anyone and everyone is welcome to participate regardless of paid membership. The goal is to diminish the pressure that can be perceived by "joining" a PTA. They want the community to attend their monthly meetings and find it to be a safe and inviting place to have involvement in their child's school and community.
To that end, PTA would like to share with you their monthly Open House Meetings; all parents are welcomed and encouraged to attend. The meetings begin at 6:30 PM and take place in the Piper Prairie Library. The dates are as follows:
- September 13
- November 8
- January 10
- February TBD
- March TBD
- April 11
- May 9
Questions? Please contact PTA President, Morgan Rentie, at piperpta203@gmail.com
Safety & Security Updates
Safety and Security is of the utmost importance to the Piper School District. The district continues to focus on preparedness, education, and communication with students, staff, parents, and the community. To that end, please find a link here to our website page that outlines the safety and security measures that are in place in all district buildings.
COVID-19
We will continue to have COVID-19 tests available should your child become ill at school, and you wish to provide consent for them to be tested. If your child is exhibiting 2 or more COVID-19 symptoms, our nursing staff would highly recommend having them tested. As always, best practice is to keep your child home if they are feeling unwell.
Should your child test positive for COVID-19, we will be following CDC recommendations for exclusion. The date of the test will count as day zero and your child will need to remain home for five additional days beyond the date of the positive test, assuming symptoms are resolving. Upon return to school, it is recommended that your child continue to wear a mask for 5 additional days.