Welcome to FLE! Please review the information regarding transportation to and from Finger Lake. Our team has worked hard to try and perfect our drop-off and pick-up procedures to ensure our students are safe when entering and exiting the building. The population of our school has increased in the last few years, meaning more cars are trying to get in and out of our parking lot each day. The increased traffic often causes a backup onto Eek Street, Earl Drive, and sometimes even Bogard Road. This does impose a safety hazard for the residents and sometimes even stops our buses from entering the parking lot. Ensuring our pick up and drop off procedures are efficient means we are not causing traffic problems in our community. Safety is our priority, and we appreciate your support in keeping our students, families, and staff safe at FLE.

We will continue our PLC Monday Team Time this year. On Mondays, students may be dropped off at 9:55 and released to class at 10:00. Tuesday through Fridays, students may be dropped off at 8:55 and released to class at 9:00. Dismissal will be at 3:45 every day.

Please do not release students from your cars before 9:55 on Mondays and 8:55 Tuesday through Friday. There is no supervision outside before those times and it is dangerous for students to be unsupervised.

If you are in need of an earlier drop-off on Monday mornings, we will have quiet activities in our gym starting at 8:55. If you are taking advantage of this option on Mondays, we ask that your students be dropped off by 9:15 as to not cause traffic issues with the regular Monday Drop Off at 9:55.

As always, the safety of our students, families, and staff are our main focus. We ask that you respect the 5 MPH speed limit in our parking lot. Please follow the instructions from all staff members directing traffic and helping unload and load cars. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to us with questions.

Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Juliana Hardy, Principal

Finger Lake Elementary

Matanuska Susitna Borough School District

Ph: (907) 864-2200 Fax: (907) 864-2280

Please read the letter below for information about School Dismissal Manager (SDM). Our staff is trained to use SDM reports to determine how students will get home at the end of each day, so it is crucial these are accurate. Thank you!

WAIT! What if I forget my username or password or have never used SDM?

No worries! If you have never set up an SDM account, the school can resend your SDM welcome letter via the email address on file. Call our front office and we can reset your password, confirm the account works, and ensure you are structured for success.

If you have set up an account but can't remember the password, you can click "forgot password" and walk through the steps to reset it that way.

If none of these options are working for you, please do not hesitate to call us!

On Mondays, bus pick-ups will be later than usual due to PLC Mondays. If you are unsure of when your student should be picked up at their bus stop each day, please contact Durham Services at 1(907) 885 - 3561.

When students arrive to FLE in the morning the buses will pull into our bus loop. Buses will be unloaded one by one to ensure students are safely distanced on the sidewalks. Our Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade students enter the lower doors while our 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students enter the upper doors. Breakfast stations will be at both entrances for students who wish to access the breakfast line. Our students requiring assistance will enter and exit the door that is best suited for their needs.

In the afternoon, teachers walk bus riders out to the bus loop. Students load the buses, drivers review SDM reports to ensure attendance, and the bus loop is monitored by staff until the buses are released. Our goal is for all buses to be loaded and released by 3:55 pm each day.

Click here to access information on MSBSD Transportation, boundary maps, and contact numbers. Riding the school bus to and from school is a privilege, not a right. The school bus is an extension of the classroom. All district and school rules apply on the bus. Students are asked to demonstrate self-discipline and responsibility. Students who interfere with the health, safety, and well-being of other students may lose bus privileges. Students are not permitted to spray cologne or perfume on the bus because of unknown allergies. As an added safety measure, Durham School Services does require that kindergarten and first grade students have an older sibling or parent with them at the bus stop to receive them at the end of the day unless a release is on file.

If there are concerns with bus delays please feel free to contact our front office at (907) 864-2200. If it is after 4:30 pm and our office is closed you may contact Durham School Services at (907) 885-3561 or (907) 795-8955.

We strongly discourage early sign-outs simply to "beat the traffic." This can be disruptive to the learning environment and sends a message to the teacher that their instructional time is not valued.

Students who need to be signed out early for appointments should be picked up by 3:15pm. Families arriving to sign their student out early after this time may be asked to utilize the regular end of day dismissal line.

When students are leaving early, we call them out of class once a parent or guardian has arrived to the school. You may park in the front loop by the front office. Please ring the doorbell at the front doors when you arrive. A staff member will buzz you in and assist you with early dismissal. It typically takes at least 5 minutes for students to pack up their belongings and make their way to the front door, so please plan accordingly.

To ensure the safety of all students, the doors at FLE stay locked during the instructional day. However, families are allowed in our building during drop-off and pick-up. If you do arrive during the instructional day, please ring the doorbell, which is mounted on the walls to the left of the front door. You may be asked to state your name and purpose for the visit. Guests will need to bring their driver's licenses or state issued identification for signing students out of school.

Students may ride bicycles to school during the school year as long as the following conditions are met:

1. Bicycles must be ridden in accordance with the state law.
2. Students must wear helmets and ride on the sidewalk areas of the school to stay away from buses and cars. When first arriving at school in the morning, students must immediately park their bicycles and wait in the front entry way of the school until the doors are unlocked at 8:55 am (9:55 am on Mondays).
3. Bicycles must remain parked in the bicycle rack during the day. They are not to be ridden during recess, lunch or after arrival until the end of the school day.
4. Bicycles brought to school should be locked or chained to the bicycle rack.
5. At dismissal, all students who are not riding the bus home should remain in their classroom until the busses have been released and the pickup line is no longer active. Once the pickup line is no longer active and cars are no longer in the parking lot, students who are walking or biking home without a parent or guardian will be released by staff members.(approximately 3:55 pm - 4:00 pm).
6. If you are a parent or guardian walking or biking to FLE to pick up your student, please indicate that in SDM by selecting the Green Zone option.
7. FLE staff has been trained to follow what a student’s end of day routine says in SDM. Please make sure the appropriate selection is made for what you want to see occur each day (walker/bike which releases at 3:55 pm - 4:00 pm or walker/biker with parent/guardian, pick up loop, or bus). Accurate information for 400 plus students makes everyone's end of day much easier. Thank you!

Our school gate is open until 10:00 pm each evening and locked on the weekends. The playground is available outside school hours and on the weekends. Vehicles just need to park outside the gate on the weekends. ATVs and snow machines are not permitted on campus per Mat-Su Borough Code.

Reminder that all MSBSD school campuses are tobacco free/weapon free campuses. Please do not drive on campus with e-cigs, cigarettes, other tobacco products, or weapons.