BG eNews
July 29, 2022
Notes from Mrs. Klueppel...
1st Day of School:
Wednesday, August 10, 2022.
School Hours:
Students are in attendance from 8am-3pm. Doors open at 7:45am. Students may not exit their cars until 7:45 am or until morning supervisors are visible.
Early Release:
One Wednesday per month, students will have an early release and dismissal will occur at 2:10pm. Please refer to the district calendar for Early Release dates.Breakfast, Lunch, and Pushcoin:
Bell-Graham will serve Breakfast and Lunch again this year. However, the grant that has provided free breakfasts and lunches to our students during Covid has expired. Therefore, your child will be charged, via Pushcoin, for breakfast, lunch, or ala carte drinks when purchased.
Our BG Weekly eNews will be sent to families on Friday afternoons at 3pm.
Supply Drop Off - 8/8
Supply Drop Off will be held on Monday Aug. 8, from 4-6pm. All students and their families are invited to attend. This year it will be a “drop in” event, meaning, families may come to BG to drop off school supplies when it is convenient for their schedule between the hours of 4-6pm. All families are asked to enter and exit the building through the front main doors. An internal building map will be available at the front doors to help you locate your child’s classroom.
If you are unable to attend Supply Drop Off, simply have your child bring their school supplies with them on the first day of school, Wednesday Aug. 10.
1st Day of School - 8/10
We are excited to host everyone on the back playground to kick off our school year. All students and staff will gather starting at 7:45am to participate in a whole school Welcome Back to School event. Parents are welcome to join us as well. Students who ride the bus to school will be ushered off their bus and to the playground. Students who walk or ride their bikes to school should go through the front doors and head directly to the playground to find their class. Students who will be car riders should exit their cars, go through the front doors, and head to the playground as well. Parents who are able to join us should park in the lot, or on the berm if the lot is full, and walk around to the back.
Teachers will be waiting on the playground to greet their students at their class line (ex: 1P, 2G, 3M, etc). Mrs. Klueppel will begin her welcome address around 8am. Shortly after the welcome, Mrs. Klueppel will call each grade level to proceed into the school to begin their first day. Parents will not be permitted into the building once students begin coming into the school.
1st Day of School Inclement Weather Plan:
In the event of inclement weather on the first day of school, students will enter the school and go directly to their classrooms. We will not gather as a school for a Welcome message
Arrival & Dismissal
ARRIVAL
In the morning, buses will unload in the bus circle. No cars are permitted in the bus circle. If your child is a car rider, we ask that you utilize the drop off lane. Parents are discouraged from parking and walking their children up to the school. Students will be expected to safely walk on the sidewalks from their drop off spot (whether they are exiting a car or walking from the bike racks) to the front of school. Staff will be stationed along the sidewalk and in the front of the building to assist students as needed.
All students should arrive between 7:45- 8:00 and will enter the building through the front doors. Doors open for arrival at 7:45 am. Please do not drop your child off or let your child out of the vehicle prior to this time. In the event students arrive after 8:00 am, parents will need to walk their child up to the front entrance to sign their child in.
DISMISSAL
Buses will be loading in the front of school in the bus circle again this year. Therefore, the bus circle will not be available for parking at dismissal.
Parents who are picking up their children (car riders) are asked to not get out of their cars at the front of the school. This includes parking in the lot and getting out. We do not want additional adults waiting on the sidewalks. Students will be supervised in the car line by staff members until they get into their cars.
Last year we started a Visor Tag System for car riders. Families are provided a Visor Tag with their name on it. This tag is to be displayed on your passenger visor, visible to BG staff as you pull through the pick-up line. Visor Tags will be given to all families by Friday Aug. 19. If you need additional visor tags please let the front office know. The use of the visor tag helps to expedite our car pick-up line, as it allows staff members to get the students ready as the cars arrive.
If a child is a walker/biker/scooter and meeting an adult to walk home, the designated walker meeting spot is the bike racks near Carl Sandburg Road and Fox Mill Blvd. Parents will not be permitted to walk up to the front of school for dismissal.
Kindergarten and First Grade students will be provided backpack tags. If you still have your backpack tags from last year, please feel free to return any extra backpack tags to the Front Office.
Home Access Center (HAC)
Your child's bus route information will also be posted in HAC the week before school starts.
You can also click here to login to e-Link to view bus route information. You need to know your child's ID number (listed in HAC) to login to e-Link.
The Home Access Center (HAC) offers parents the ability to view a daily summary, attendance information, student schedule, and more all in a password protected environment.
To create an account, you must have a current and valid e-mail address on file with your child's school. As you create your account, here's the most important thing to know:
- When you fill in the field with the name of your city, the city names MUST be entered abbreviated, without punctuation, and must be entered as follows: St Charles, S Elgin, W Chicago.
- You will be registering with your information, not your student's information. This way you will gain access to all students you are the parent/guardian of. Students can have their own logins to get to their own information.
Parents can now change their phone numbers and email address on HAC in the Registration area.
You can only change your own information and your student's information. You cannot change the information regarding emergency contacts however, as they could be linked to other students in the district.
Please do not remove your Home/Primary number on yourself or your student.
Why do we need your Home/Primary phone number?
- Your phone numbers are used for the Parentlink calling system for emergency information regarding your students, school closings, or absence information
- If you are the emergency contact for other students, there is no longer a way to contact you in case of emergency for these students either
Pushcoin
CUSD 303 uses PushCoin for all types of financial transactions. You can add money to your student's "wallet" to be used to purchase lunches, school store items (high school only) or to purchase items from the webstore like: field trips, summer camps, community events and to make donations.
REMINDER: The last day to take advantage of the early bird discount for fees is TODAY, 7/29.
When you are billed by your school for things like registration or monthly tuition you can easily pay those by using the "pay fees" button. You can also use money in your student "wallet" to pay your student's school fees. Additionally, you may print your student's fees statement.
All transactions can be done using an eCheck, for no additional cost, or you can choose to use your credit or debit card for a 2.79%. There is a $35.00 minimum deposit amount, however you can deposit an amount to one student and transfer portions of the deposit to all of your students at no additional cost.
Read this instruction sheet to get you started in PushCoin and to help you navigate once your are signed in.
Free & Reduced Meals (Scroll down to Free & Reduced Meal Heading)
New Family Breakfast - 8/19
Back to School Picnic 8/25
Bell-Graham PTO
How to Report Absences
Picking up your child early?
How to Report Baker Station Absences
If your child will be absent on a day they would normally attend Baker Station, you need to email your site directly bellgraham@stcparks.org or email Angela Coppola, Baker Station Coordinator at acoppola@stcparks.org , ALL absences must be reported by 12:30pm on the day of your child’s absence. The St. Charles Park District and Baker Station staff does not receive this information from the individual school sites.
Picking Up from Baker Station?
Please call the phone number posted on the Baker Station sign on our front doors.
Health Office Email Address
Parents, please send any communication or test results to
bel-nurses@d303.org to ensure that all of our Bell Graham nurses receive this important information pertaining to your student(s)
Food Service Information
Free & Reduced Meals (Scroll down to Free & Reduced Meal Heading)
Want to Volunteer?
If you are interested in volunteering more than once at BG this year, please complete the following steps as soon as possible. All paperwork must be completed before you will be approved by the District to be a volunteer. Fingerprinting through the District is good for 5 years.
No COVID specific documents are required to be a volunteer; however, volunteers must not be exhibiting symptoms or be in schools on days 0-5 following a positive COVID test result. A well-fitting mask is recommended for parents/families returning to volunteer in schools on days 6-10.
District 303 Protocol for Volunteers:
Please complete the VLF (needs to be completed annually) AND Consent forms ASAP and return to the BG office along with a copy of your Driver’s License or State ID.
Once we send the form to D303 HR and it is returned, we will contact you to pick up your Authorization Form, so you can make your appointment to be fingerprinted. D303 will waive the $40 fee if you follow this process.
You can make an appointment through the following link. You must have the Authorization Form in order to be fingerprinted.
Once you have completed the form and the fingerprinting process, our D303 HR Department will notify BG when everything is finalized. the BG office will communicate this with you.
In the case you have already been fingerprinted through the ROE (as a sub, or for any other purpose), please indicate that on the Consent form. We will confirm with HR that the status is still current and does not need to be repeated.
Bell-Graham Resources
Bell Graham Elementary School
Website: bellgraham.d303.org
Location: 4N505 Fox Mill Blvd St. Charles, IL 60175
Phone: 331-228-2100
Facebook: facebook.com/BellGrahamElementary
Twitter: @BellGrahamD303