What an absolutely FANTASTIC first week of school. OUR Gray Hawk students and staff are taking much needed time to establish classroom expectations and connect on a much deeper level and it has been so wonderful to see this throughout our day.

Thank you ALL for your patience as we have worked so hard to establish a safe dismissal procedure for our students. Day 1 was a bit rough but we eventually got everyone home safely which is our primary concern! A very special thank you to our teachers and to you for being patient and understanding. We have it down to about 12 minutes and we will keep working on it. As we work to perfect this dismissal procedure I need to ask you to do a couple of things for us to help ensure the safest dismissal. 1) We have 5 cones set up. Please pull all the way up to your cone and park there. If you need to buckle up your student, please allow them to get in your vehicle, stay in line and pull forward to the "BUCKLE ZONE" located in front of cone #1. In the buckle zone you may safely get out of your vehicle if you need to. 2) I understand the need to pick up your child safely and sometimes it can seem like it is taking a while for the car in front of you to move on but I assure it, it is not that long. We CANNOT have cars getting out of line and trying to go around others. We certainly cannot have vehicles totally circumventing the dismissal line and cutting through the parking lot and the handicap spots to get out. Please take a breath and know that we are working to safely dismiss ALL students. Thank you for your consideration!

In this issue of the Community Nest you will learn about what to expect at Back to School Night on Tuesday and see some updates from this past week. Please read it carefully and reach out to me at dspringer@usd458.org if you have any questions.

A huge thank you to Brandi and Jeremy Davis for organizing our Boo Hoo - Woo Hoo event for OUR new Kindergarten families on the first day. The donuts, juice, candy, and tissues were a nice touch to welcome our Kinder families into the Gray Hawk nest.

MAP assessments are designed to target a student's academic performance in math and english language arts. These tests are designed to measure an individual's current achievement level. The MAP test is taken on an iPad or laptop. As your child answers questions, correct answers lead to more challenging questions and if a question is missed they are given a little bit "easier" question. In this way, each child takes a test that is catered to their current academic level.

Once we have the results, we can work with our students to individualize instruction and set attainable goals. We will take the Reading and Math MAP test in December and April as well.

The Basehor-Linwood Assistance Services (BLAS) Food for Kids BackPack Program provides a

weekly bag filled with food for elementary aged school children that are in need and who attend

Gray Hawk. BLAS delivers the bags to your child’s school each week. This program is funded solely thru donations and the number of participants is limited based on the donations received. There are no costs to participate in the program for the child, parent/guardian or school. The food is placed in bags in your child’s backpack on Friday afternoon for them to bring home. If you are interested in participating in this program, please contact OUR GRAY HAWK counselor, Miss Hubbard at mhubbard@usd458.org by September 2, 2021.

BLAS also provides other resources to those in need in our community - including a food pantry and emergency utility assistance. Please see more information below.

Breakfast is "Grab and Go" from our lobby. If students choose to get breakfast, they will come to the lobby when the doors open at 8:35 and pick up their breakfast to take it back to the classroom.

We will open our doors at 5:50 and ask that you go straight to your child's classroom. Our teachers will be presenting in two sessions. Session 1 will begin promptly at 6:00. At 6:30 Dr. Springer will make an announcement to head to your next session (if you have another child's classroom to visit). This event is not designed with our students in mind, but if your child does attend they will need to stay with you as there is no child care provided for this event. Teachers will be speaking to the adults about their classroom.

In accordance with USD 458 guidelines, please wear a mask upon entering the building. Thank you for your cooperation and we look forward to seeing you there.