BC Bear Facts
Welcome Newsletter 2021-2022: August 9, 2021
PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE: Welcome Back!
Dear Boulder Creek Families,
All of us at Boulder Creek School are eager and excited to begin what will be a wonderful 2021-2022 school year! As your principal, no one is looking more forward to the beginning of the year than I. Over my 23 years serving as a parent, teacher, and administrator at Boulder Creek, I have seen a plethora of great times and over the past few years challenging times with our local fires, snowstorms, power outages, and a pandemic. Boulder Creek staff and families have always risen to the challenges, and I expect this to continue to be true this school year.
I speak on behalf of the entire Boulder Creek staff when I say we are extremely excited to begin the school year 100% in-person with minimal restrictions as compared to last year. Students will now be able to come to campus and eat breakfast and/or play on the playground before the start of school. A huge celebration this year is that students will NOT have to remain in class cohorts. This means they can play with friends from other classes at recess and lunch. In addition, students will not have to stay home from school if a classmate tests positive for Covid-19 unless mask protocols were not followed. Students will not have to wear masks outdoors.
This brings us to the one main restriction at school. Masks must be worn indoors. If masks are not properly worn while indoors and there is a positive case in the classroom, any student who did not wear his/her mask properly will have to be placed on a short-term Independent Study while on quarantine. We do not want this, as we know students learn best while at school. Teachers will provide reasonable opportunities for mask breaks if necessary. If there is complete refusal or a repeated pattern of defiance about wearing masks indoors, teachers will contact parents and/or see the assistance of administration to assist with a resolution.
Our ultimate goal is to do EVERYTHING possible to keep our students coming to school in-person and to keep our students and staff from having to quarantine outside of school. We thank you in advance for supporting our efforts toward this goal through your understanding and encouragement.
With all of this said, I encourage you to read this newsletter carefully. Explore any links that are included so you have a thorough understanding of how the school year will begin and move forward.
Thank you so much for your continued support. We are and will continue to be here for you in every way possible.
I wish all of our BC Families the very best.
Sincerely,
Tina Croes
WHEN AND HOW WILL I LEARN MY CHILD'S TEACHER AND CLASS LOCATION?
Unfortunately, we will NOT be able to move students to a different class. K-5 teacher requests were taken back in May. There is no way to honor everyone's first choice, but we always do our best to honor one of your choices if you completed a teacher request form. Any changes in staffing beyond May are out of our control. Thank you for your understanding.
PARENT PORTAL LOG-IN
All parents, including new parents, should have logged into the Parent Portal at some point already. Why do you need to create a parent account? This is a secure platform through which you will view your child's teacher/class, receive your child’s report card, complete enrollment, and complete the necessary beginning of the year school forms like your child's emergency card. In the future, this is also how state testing results will be communicated.
Click HERE for the link to the parent portal. If you cannot log-in successfully, please call our school's office at 224-4140 or email our tech helpline at help@eesd.net. Be sure to keep your log-in information in a safe but accessible place.
CALLING ALL K-2 AND 6TH GRADES STUDENTS!
1st and 2nd Grade Meet and Greets
6th Grade Orientation
Kindergarten Round-up
NEW TO BOULDER CREEK?
SCHOOL SHOPPING
HAVE YOU COMPLETED YOUR BEGINNING OF YEAR REQUIRED FORMS?
Another extremely important form required by every family (one form per household) is the yellow Confidential Family Survey. This form is required even if your family does not qualify for free meals. In fact, all students will receive free meals in the 2021-22 school year. This form is not electronic. It will be sent home on the first day of school. Please return it as soon as possible. ALL families should complete the form regardless of income level, as this form determines our funding from the state.
Complete your child's emergency card and all other district beginning of year forms by clicking HERE for instructions and links to complete forms. Please complete all electronic forms as well as additional paper forms within the first week of school if not sooner.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
REQUIRED SCHOOL VACCINATIONS
Incoming 7th graders, Kindergartners, and other new students:
California school immunization requirements remain the same. Please take care of completing these as soon as possible. Students who are not current on vaccinations and who do not have a medical waiver will need to be excluded from school until requirements are met in accordance with state law.
There are many convenient locations that provide vaccinations, including pharmacies at Rite Aid, Safeway, etc. Often, no appointment is necessary.
Please contact our health clerk, Andrea Wilson at awilson@eesd.net if you have any questions.
Thank you.
WHAT SHOULD YOU DO IF YOUR CHILD IS COVID POSITIVE, A CLOSE CONTACT OR HAS SYMPTOMS?
If your child is positive, has come in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19, or has any symptoms listed on the CDC checklist, please keep him or her home from school and contact our school office. School or district officials will provide you with the information you need as to when your child may return to school. In addition, your child will be allowed adequate time to make up missed work in accordance with EESD school board policy. Please contact your child's teacher if you'd like to request work (a short-term independent study may be arranged if five or more days will be missed) so there isn't as much to make-up upon return to school. It is very important that we follow this procedure in order to reduce the possibility of exposure at school which may cause others to miss school as well.
Timely communication may help us minimize such occurrences.
Besides keeping your child home because he/she is a known close contact, please keep children home if they show symptoms in order to minimize exposure and illness to all colds, flu, potential COVID, etc. When our staff is ill, they are required to stay home. We could move to DL because of a shortage of staffing.
Thank you so much for your cooperation and understanding.
DROP-OFF/PICK-UP TIMES AND PARKING LOT PROCEDURES Where/when should I drop-off and pick-up?
Grade-Level Start and End Times
We are happy to welcome our students on campus for breakfast as well as on the playground before the start of the school day this year. The earliest drop-off time is 7:30 a.m.
Regular Day - School Start/End Times:
4-8 grades begin at 8:00 a.m. - 2:10 p.m.
K-3 grades begin at 8:15 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Minimum Day - School Start Times:
4-8 grades begin at 8:00 a.m. - 1:06 p.m.
K-3 grades begin at 8:10 a.m. - 1:06 p.m.
Students will be released from class based upon the dismissal time. Students will be walked to a designated pick-up area (see below) and remain with their teacher/classmates. If they have a younger sibling(s), they should report to the designated pick-up area of their youngest sibling so parents don't have to visit both pick-up loops. Please coordinate this with your children.
To ensure the safety of all children, students must be picked up at their dismissal times. The school does not provide supervision for students after 2:20 p.m. on regular days and 1:20 p.m. on minimum days. Every Monday is a minimum day. If students are not picked up by the aforementioned times, they will be escorted to the office. Parents will then be required to go to the office to check students out. Remember this is to ensure your child’s safety, so please be prompt when picking up your child.
Assigned Parking Lots for Drop-off and Pick-up
This location is decided by the youngest child in the family. Older children in the family will need to find their youngest sibling at the pick-up location that is assigned to that sibling's grade level. For example, Kindergarten will be picked up in the front parking lot, so all older siblings of Kindergartners will report to the dismissal location to find their Kindergarten sibling's class at the front of the school and wait for their parents there together. We will be out to help older siblings find their pick-up point. This should only take a day or two to get into the routine of where to go.
Parking Lot Assignments by Grade-Level:
- TK/K (and all older siblings) - Front Lot
1 and 2 (and all older siblings) - Back Lot
3 and 4 (and all older siblings) - Front Lot
5 (and all older siblings) - Back Lot
6-8 (and all older siblings) Front Lot
Please do not arrive earlier than your oldest child's release time (see above), as we want to be able to clear the parking lot quickly for each group. If you have multiple children who are released at both times, please find a parking space rather than waiting in the pick-up lane as this will block the lane from moving as you wait for your older child. Thank you for your cooperation.
Please review the BC Flow of Traffic Map in order to determine which way to enter/exit the campus from the neighborhood depending on which parking lot you are assigned. Front lot = red arrows. Back lot = green arrows.
AUGUST/SEPTEMBER IMPORTANT DATES:
Thursday, August 12th: Students' teacher/schedule available in the Parent Portal
Thursday, August 12th: 1st and 2nd Grade Meet and Greets, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Friday, August 13th: 6th Grade Orientation, 10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Friday, August 13th: Kindergarten Round-up, 12:00 - 1:00 p.m.
Monday, August 16th: First Day of School (minimum day - dismissal at 1:06)
Thursday, August 26th: Back-to-School Night
Friday, August 27th: Picture Day
Monday, September 6th: Labor Day
LUNCH AND BREAKFAST
OFFICE HOURS AND PROCEDURES
IMPORTANT LINKS
- help@eesd.net: for Chromebook questions (including how to get a device); technology troubleshooting as directed by your child's teacher
- eesd.net: for online resources and other district information
- bouldercreek.eesd.net: for weekly newsletters and other information
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)
Q: Will sports and music be offered this year?
A: We are excited to get sports and music back on track in the 2021-22 school year. However, we cannot announce any specifics at this time as we wait for the state guidance in these areas to be released.
Q: If a student in my child's class becomes Covid -19 positive, will my child and his/her class have to quarantine?
A: If students are following all protocols, mainly properly wearing their masks indoors, they will be on a modified quarantine. This means they will still be able to come to school in person but will not be able to participate in extracurricular activities for a period of time.
Q: Is there ever a time when my child's whole class may have to learn from home?
A: This could happen if your child's teacher was covid positive or named as a close contact, had to quarantine, AND we could not find a substitute teacher. There is a very limited number of substitute teachers and other substitute staff available in Shasta County.
Boulder Creek School
Website: https://bouldercreek.eesd.net/
Location: 505 Springer Drive, Redding, CA, USA
Phone: 530-224-4140
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bouldercreekschool/