Good morning Pathfinder families! We were excited to see many of you at our Back to School Night and we hope your experience during the evening was great! We have just a few more days before the start of the 2021-22 school year. We know emotions will be running high for everyone as we deal with nerves, anxiousness, excitement, and maybe a few tears! All of these emotions are normal and are expected the first few days of school. Here is our advice to you as you prepare your Pathfinder Pirate for the school year.

1. Talk positively about your child's school experience. We know there are still some things modified due to the pandemic, but keep your conversations positive about the start of the school year.

2. Be honest with your child that there will be some things that are new and unknown for him or her. Talk through with your child how they can ask for help from a staff member or friend.

3. Emotions are real! You can always reassure your child and tell them he or she is fine, but acknowledge his or her emotions and talk through why he or she is feeling these emotions as the new year begins.

4. Set up a time each day that you can hear about your child's highs and lows. Make him or her be specific about the school day so that you can gain some insight about the day.

Some of our best memories were made in elementary school and the experiences we had helped move both Mrs. Bohn and I into education! We plan to make some great memories with your child and family this year!

Here is to a great school year!

Dr. Doll and Mrs. Bohn

Reminder that our first day of school is Tuesday, August 24th. We are excited to welcome our students back after a much-needed break. In accordance to our district's opening plan we will not be allowing parents into school for our first day of school, and will be limiting visitors until further notice.

We know many of you have read over the district's opening plan, but we also wanted to provide you with information regarding Pathfinder's plans for the coming school year. These plans will change throughout the year and we will keep this document updated for your continued reference. We have attempted to provide you a detailed look at what modifications are still in place and the items/processes that are back to "normal"!

One of our greatest challenges as we start the year is to assure parents are informed about our car rider processes and have the correct bus pick up and drop off information. Please review this section thoroughly as it will help clear up any questions you may have regarding the start of the school year.

Bus Transportation:

• The first week of school please be at the bus stop at least 10 minutes before your pick up time and 10 minutes before your drop off time.
• Our buses will be adjusting routes as we have students continue to enroll. This will cause some adjustments to pick up and drop off times.
• If your child is a Kindergarten student, we need to have a parent or older sibling receive him or her.
• Your child will need to be wearing a face covering on the bus.
• The first few days of school our drop off times will be delayed as we are ensuring all students get off at the correct stop. (Please expect drop off times to be approximately 10 to 15 minutes delayed.)
• Your child will come home with a colored band attached to his or her backpack. Please leave this on for the first week of school. This helps our staff identify the correct bus for each child.

Car Rider:

• Please refer to the maps below for our car rider drop off and pick up procedures.
• We will let students in the building at 8:30 each day.
• Please stay in your car for both drop off and pick up. Staff members will assist your child out of the car and into the building and also into the car at dismissal.
• After the first day of school we will give you a car tag that will help with identifying your child.

All transportation changes need to be made by calling the office (816-436-6670). We will not take your child's word for any transportation change. All changes need to be made prior to 3:00 each day.

Our Pathfinder PTA is amazing and we encourage you to join this great organization. By joining does not mean that you are required to donate anything, volunteer, or plan a school event. Joining simply means that you are supporting our students, parents, and staff. The Pathfinder PTA does so much for our school, like:

• Purchases Leader In Me shirts for all students
• Sponsors our grade level field trips
• Provides a Fall and Spring party for all students
• Coordinates fun family events
• Purchases recess equipment
• Sponsors an AMAZING Field Day

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.

A vital part of our continuous improvement efforts in the Platte County School District is to recruit and retain high quality staff. This extends to our substitutes that we utilize through out the school year. We are currently recruiting substitutes throughout our school district for the 2021-22 school year. If you are wanting to gain additional information please visit the following site:

Platte County School District Substitute Information

Substitute Teacher pay is $105.00 a day or $14.00 an hour. A full day for a Substitute Teacher is 7.5 hours a day. If a Substitute Teacher works 6.5 hours a day they are paid the full $105.00. If a Substitute works less than 6.5 hours a day, they are paid hourly.

We would like to invite all Kindergarten families, new students to Pathfinder, and any students returning from Remote Learning to our New Student Ice Cream Social. This is a great way for new families to meet each other as we begin our Pirate journey. This event will take place on the Pathfinder playground on Thursday, September 2nd from 6:00 to 7:00 PM.

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.

Please click here to access our Pathfinder parent calendars for the months of August and September!