The Pathfinder administrative team is taking shape as Emily Miller, current Pathfinder Elementary 4th Grade Teacher, has been named Pathfinder Elementary's Assistant Principal starting with the 2022-23 school year, following Dr. Anna Bohn's move to Principal.Mrs. Miller's new assignment will be confirmed after board of education approvial in May. She is entering her 4th year at PCR-3 and 9th year in education. Prior to joining Pathfinder, she worked in the St. Joseph School District teaching 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. Emily is from the Kansas City area, receiving her Bachelor's degree from Missouri Western University in Elementary Education, Masters from Arkansas State University in Reading Education, and an Education Specialist degree from Arkansas State University in Leadership. She has been able to hone her leadership skills as a teacher leader at Pathfinder and throughout the district, serving on the ELA curriculum team, phonics team, and as Pathfinder’s 2022 Summer School Principal. Emily was recently recognized for excellence in classroom teaching by the Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce. She understands the value of real world learning and offering meaningful experiences to our students, as well as the importance of relationships with students, staff, and families. Emily resides in the Platte County area with her husband Jeff and young son Wesley, is an avid reader, and enjoys the outdoors. Mrs. Miller is honored to be the next Assistant Principal at Pathfinder and can’t wait to work closely with Pathfinder families and staff to create a positive educational experience for all.

All of our Student Leadership Teams met on Wednesday and did some great work for our school and community. Please take some time to look at the acitivities our teams were involved in for the day!

During our April Student Led Assembly on Wednesday the top 10 APEX fundraisers got to slime their principals! Thank you Pathfinder families and our community for helping us raise over $20,000 to benefit school activities. Wow....the students really got into this portion of the assembly and worked together to start the chant..."dump the bucket!"

Congrats to our April Quality Students who were nominated by their classmates for displaying the 7 Habits of Happy Kids. These students were able to participate in our April Leadership Social where we had Fox 4 Meteorologist Karli Ritter present about her leadership role at Fox 4. Mrs. Ritter shared with us her broadcasting experience, but also dug deep into how she predicts and studies the weather. I think we definitely have some future meteorologist in the making from the questions they were asking. Mrs. Ritter will be sharing some photos and talking about Pathfinder during the 7:30 weather update on Monday morning!

Parents,

Below you will find a link for our Leader In Me Parent survey. The data collected will help us determine our effectiveness with our Leader In Me program and how it impacts families. A similar survey will be administered to students and our staff to gain their feedback as we continually look for ways to improve. Our goal is to have at least 100 parents take the survey!

Thanks,

Dr. Doll and Dr. Bohn

MAP Testing (state assessments) begin for 3rd and 4th Grade students this week! If you are a parent of a Kindergarten - 2nd Grade student, ask your Pirate what they did this week to encourage their 3rd/4th Grade partner class in the assessments! If you are a parent of a 3rd-4th Grade student, here are some ways that you can help us ensure that state assessments are stress-free and successful for kids. You can help us make sure your child...

• Gets a good night of sleep!
• Eats a healthy breakfast to fuel their brains!
• Gets to school on time! Students that are testing each morning will have Specials right at 9:00 AM, and testing will begin promptly at 10:00 AM!

We will be utilizing an incentive program that rewards positive attitude and effort on testing days and are planning a celebration with all 3rd and 4th Graders at the conclusion of testing!

Our Student Lighthouse was able to assemble over 100 kits from donations for Children’s Mercy Hospital! The hospital was so thankful for the donations and said they use these more than anything else that gets donated.

Our Reading Improvement and Math Improvement teachers are utilized as small-group proctors for the upcoming MAP State Assessment. Because of that, there will be days in the next two weeks where your child's Reading or Math Intervention group might be cancelled. If you have questions about anything specific to your child's group time and cancellations due to MAP, please reach out.

Resident parents of existing K-11th grade students are asked to complete online re-enrollment forms and electronic proof of residency.

• Please log on to Parent Portal to complete the re-enrollment process by May 15, 2022. Click here for a step-by-step guide with screenshots.
• Visit the Proof of Residency page for guidance on the electronic process and complete by July 16, 2022. Click here for instructions.

Friday, May 27, 2022 will be our last day of school, and will be a 3-hour early dismissal (12:50 PM).

Staff Appreciation Week is scheduled for May 2nd-6th. Our PTA has chosen a "Friends" themed week and is planning some great activities to show their appreciation of our entire Pathfinder staff. They are asking for several ways that you can help make this week a special one for our staff. Below you will details of how kids can participate in the fun each day as well as three sign up links. If you would like to donate a gift card, sign up to bring a dessert, or a breakfast item click on one of the links below.

The Attendance Area Boundary Committee has worked to develop attendance areas for our four elementaries (Barry, Compass, Pathfinder, and Siegrist) and two middle schools (Platte City Middle School and Platte Purchase Middle School) for the start of the 2023-24 school year. District residents are asked to review this information and complete the feedback form linked here by May 3, 2022.

We had a great turn out for our Donuts with Dudes! A lot of donuts were consumed and the kids took advantage of the nice weather and got some energy out before the start of school. Thank you PTA for putting on this event and thank you "Dudes" for coming out and getting to know your child's friends and families better. It was great to see all of the conversations taking place!

Our BOGO (Buy One Get One) Book Fair is back! Starting April 29th-May 5th students will have the opportunity to stock up on some books for the summer months! Below is the flyer explaining the book fair along with a way that you can load money on your child's "e-wallet" so that they can purchase some books and not have to worry about carrying around cash!

District parents and community members are invited to join us for an opportunity to share your feedback at our Community Feedback Night on Wednesday, May 4, from 6:30-8pm at Platte City Middle School. We will provide brief updates on the District's improvement actions as they relate to our Comprehensive Strategic Improvement Plan, and will also seek additional input from stakeholders on specific opportunities for improvement in each of our school buildings and strategic focus areas. If you would like to attend, RSVPs must be made by May 1, by completing the form linked here.

Checking In and Out:

• You would need to check in your child if you are arriving after 8:50.
• If you are leaving before our dismissal begins at 3:35, you will need to come into the office to check out your child. (If you are attempting to check out your child between 3:15 and 3:35 we ask that you stay in our car rider line unless you have an appointment that requires you to check out your child early.)

You will no longer be able to call the office to have your child enter or leave the office without a parent physically coming into the office.

If you have any questions regarding this change in our process, please call Dr. Doll or Dr. Bohn at (816) 436-6670.

Parents are not allowed to drop off outside food (food from a restaurant) for their child's lunch. If you want to bring outside food for your child then you will need to sign up to have lunch with him or her.

The Board approved the academic calendar for the 2022-23 school year, as suggested by teachers, support staff, parents and board members on the calendar committee, and taking into consideration feedback during public review. The first day of school will be Tuesday, August 23, 2022, and the last day of school is planned for Wednesday, May 24, 2023. Other important dates include: Winter Break begins with a 3-hour early dismissal on December 21, 2022 and runs through January 3, 2023; Spring Break is March 20-24, 2023; and in addition to makeup days at the end of the school year, the calendar identifies February 20 and April as possible make up days, if needed.

Please click here to access our Pathfinder parent calendar for the month of May.

To minimize the influx of initial visitors and honor our current space limitations, visitors will be required to utilize this sign up (which outlines our available dates and spaces) prior to visiting their student for lunch. Grade levels will have visitor availability every other day during the 4th Quarter.

Here are some guidelines that will help make this a success:

• Prior to visiting, please verify your student's lunch time and utilize the sign up to reserve your spot (1 sign up = 1 visitor seat). No more than 2 adults can sign up. Please be respectful of the face that many parents will be excited to come visit at lunch time and do not sign up for slots in bulk (ie. every Friday for the rest of the year).
• Bring a state-issued ID to get signed in. Visitors must be listed on the student’s SISK12 account or parent permission must be received at the office prior to the visit.
• Please keep in mind that we have limited seating for visitors. Finding other arrangements for younger siblings during the lunch visit would be appreciated.
• To preserve the testing environment, we will not add visitation dates during building-wide MAP testing dates (May 2nd - May 13th).
• Parents can either bring outside food for their child and self, or the student can eat the free lunch service and parents can bring a packed lunch.
• Parents may not go back to the classroom or recess after lunch.
• Only the child (no friends) can sit with parents during lunch.
• Parents who show up for lunch without signing up will be added if there is an open spot, but denied if not. The office can help the parent sign up for a future date.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation in making this opportunity a success during the 4th Quarter!

The District uses text messaging and automated phone calls to notify parents of upcoming events and days off, school closings due to weather, and during emergency situations. Newly enrolled families will automatically receive an opt-in message from 67587. If you missed it, simply text “Yes” to 67587 to receive text messages.

Hello Pirate Families! At the beginning and middle of each school year, we ask parents and guardians to fill out our Resource Checklist on paper. This year we are asking you to complete the Resource Checklist electronically using this form. This brief questionnaire is your School Social Worker's first and primary way to help you access support services. It also lets us know if you are interested in giving back to your school community. Please do not hesitate to contact your School Social Worker if you have any questions.