WOW! What an amazing turnout at parent teacher conferences the past few days. We are SO happy that you came out in person and online to join us in celebrating students' achievements. I know that many students also set goals for the Spring. We are excited to help them achieve their goals and continue to grow. If you were not able to make it to the LIVE Cooking With Math Event, I sent an email out with the video directions. I also included the video clip, below, in the weekly update.

I hope you all enjoy your SPRING BREAK! When we return, we have lots of fun activities planned and tons of learning to do. Spring is an exciting time where we see so much progress and we appreciate your support as we stay focused on our goals of learning and having fun each day.

We are also hoping to improve our overall building attendance and decrease our tardy percentage this Spring. If you need any support or resources that would help your student be on time or present, please let us know. We are here to help! Attendance and being on time is such a key factor in student success.

Enjoy the break! I can't wait to see you all back on Monday, March 20th!

There is NO SCHOOL on Friday, March 9th and then

ENJOY SPRING BREAK from March 13-17.

We can't wait to see students again on Monday, March 20th!

Date- Saturday, March 25th

Location - Broken Arrow School Gym

Time - Broken Arrow 10-12pm

Public hearings will function like the public comment portion of a board meeting, without the meeting. Board President Shannon Kimball will call the hearings to order. Superintendent Dr. Anthony Lewis will share the recommendations for school closings, and Kimball will invite public comment.

Here's how to participate:

• Sign up in advance at PublicComment@usd497.org or complete a sign-up sheet at the hearings by 10:00 a.m. at Broken Arrow or by 2:00 p.m. at Pinckney.
• Public comments may be related to either elementary school recommended for closure.
• Depending upon the number of individuals signed up, the board president may adjust the three minutes traditionally allotted to each speaker.
• The hearings are being held at the schools to improve accessibility to the school communities. The school gyms are not equipped with the technology necessary for quality video/audio for livestreaming. The district will instead record both hearings and post these to its YouTube channel by Monday.
• Individuals who want to share comments virtually may do so during public comment at the school board meeting on Monday, March 27, by signing up in advance at PublicComment@usd497.org or by completing a sign-up sheet at the meeting prior to its start time.
• Written comments to the school board may be submitted at any time via email to schoolboard@usd497.org or sent to the Board Clerk, USD 497, 110 McDonald Drive, Lawrence, KS 66044.
• The district is pursuing on-site childcare for school-age children for both hearings. If available, the district will announce this service.

We may not know what school looks like for Broken Arrow next year, but 5 year olds will go to kindergarten somewhere! We want our kindergarten families to register early so the district can make plans for next year. Hiring and teacher movement is dependent on the Spring forecast of Kindergarten Enrollment. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS KINDERGARTEN ENROLLMENT INFO!

We will wait to assign schools until we know what the boundary changes are and will continue to keep you updated as we know more.

The Transfer Request Form will not be available until boundaries have been finalized. At that time, we will have the new form available at THE LINK HERE