The Franklin County R-II staff is ready to welcome back our students and families! We will continue to work hard to provide a safe learning environment for our students. The first day of school for the Franklin County R-II School District is Tuesday, August 22, 2023. Open house will be held Thursday, August 17th 4:30 pm - 6:30 pm.

School starts at 7:50 a.m. and dismisses at 3:00 p.m. The first bell will ring at 7:47 am and classes begin promptly at 7:50 am. The bottom gym doors will close at 7:47 am. Students will need to enter at the office after this time. This will require them to be signed in by a parent or guardian. Students that arrive right at the bell will not have time to go to the cafeteria.

When students arrive, they will go directly to the gym and sit with their class, or they should go to the cafeteria for breakfast. We will have staff members on duty to help direct students.

We invite the incoming kindergartners to come in and get acquainted with our building and their teacher on August 7, 8, and 9. This isn't required, but it is an excellent opportunity to warm up to entering school. (For the parents and their student !) Mrs. Gist has mailed information to all of our families on what they can expect. We will provide transportation to and from ABC's and 123's and Caterpillar Corner for those that need it. If you are in need of transportation to or from round up, please contact school prior to August 7th.

Bus information has been emailed to all families. If you did not receive an email, please contact school. The classroom teachers will also have this information at open house. Please remember that pick up times are approximate and you should allow at least a week for the bus times to become routine. Questions or concerns can be directed to Mrs. Gerling. Mrs. Amanda Ritchie will be driving route 2210 (GOLD ROUTE). Bob Schaefer will be driving bus 171 (BLACK ROUTE).

Bus Procedures

All students will ride their regular route in the afternoon unless the office receives a note or a phone call from a parent/guardian stating a change. Please make sure you sign and date the note. We do not rely on students for this information. Therefore, if you forget to send a note or forget to call the school, your child will be sent home as usual. Please contact school prior to 2:00 p.m. if there is a bus or pick up change. Please do not contact the classroom teacher regarding bus changes. All bus changes need a note from home or a call into the office. 237-2414

Morning drop offs: A staff member will be on duty for morning drop offs at 7:30 a.m. Please do not arrive earlier than 7:30 a.m. (Staff is not required to arrive until 7:30 am.) Buses unload from their morning route at the entrance to the gym so we ask that you do not block that area. Car rider drop offs should pull to the top office entrance. A staff member will be on duty to help students unload. They should walk on the sidewalk down to the gym entrance. If they need breakfast, they should go straight to the cafeteria. Students should never walk between cars. They need to walk up to the front of the line, where a staff member is, and then proceed to the sidewalk.

Afternoon pick ups: Please form three rows and pull up to the signs at the main entrance to pick up your child after school. All students must be in their vehicle and buckled in before any vehicle is allowed to leave. We ask that preschool and kindergarten pickups to line up closest to the school. Please stay in your lane until dismissed.(do not switch lanes) The parking lot attendant will dismiss car rider lanes once they are loaded. Buses will be loading at the top of the parking lot. (Students should never walk between cars.)

Early Dismissal:

Please be sure to fill out the EARLY DISMISSAL form that will be sent home. If school would need to be released early due to inclement weather, we need to know where we should send your child.

Our district will be using Lumen for our school information system this year. We are in the process of loading information and getting forms ready for parents. We are hoping that all families will fill out enrollment and other needed information through Lumen. Once the system is live, we will send out an email with instructions. Due to circumstances beyond our control, we may require paper copies of forms to be filled out at Open House if the Lumen system is not ready.

District policy states that a parent/guardian signature is required for over the counter medication to be given at school. If you want health personnel to administer Tylenol, Ibuprofen, cough drops, antibiotic ointment, etc. to your child, we must have a parent/guardian signature to do so. These forms will be sent home the first day and are available at Open House. Prescription medication can not be transported on the school bus. If your child must take prescription medication at school, please make arrangements to drop the medication off. The school provides over the counter medications.

The handbook and other legally required notifications can be found on the website. The updated handbook will be uploaded to the website by August 7th. Please visit our website at www.fcr2.org to review these materials. Your child will bring home a 2023-2024 Legally Required Notifications Signature Form, this must be signed and returned to school. Thank you for your cooperation. Students will not be able to use District Technology until this form is signed. Please be sure to read the updated technology section in the student handbook. You will receive more information at open house regarding these requirements.

Free and Reduced Lunch Application

The criteria for qualifying for either free or reduced price lunches will be published in the New Haven Independent News and on our website. You can also find attachments at the end of this newsletter. Applications will be sent home. Applications from last year are no longer valid, and you will need to fill out a new application every year. All information is strictly confidential. Our school’s federal funding is determined based on our free and reduced count. We encourage all families to fill out the application. Any family that submits a Free and Reduced Lunch Application (regardless of eligibility) will be entered in a drawing for a $50 Amazon Gift Card.

Breakfast and Lunch Information

Breakfast will be offered every morning from 7:30 a.m.to 7:45 a.m. A student breakfast will cost $2.35 and lunch will be $2.85. Grades 5-8 may purchase extra milk for .50. Students may only purchase an extra milk if they have funds in their account. If a student brings their lunch and needs milk, .50 will be charged to their account. Candy and soda are not permitted during lunchtime. Students in grades 5-8 have the option of ordering a chef salad prepared by our cooks. If your child has a negative lunch balance, notices will be sent home weekly. We ask that you submit money either weekly or monthly to keep up with your child's lunch balance.

Students in grades K - 8 will bring home a folder each Friday for you to go through together. This will include graded papers and notes from your child's teacher. Most of the District information will be sent from the office via email. It is important that we have an active email on file for each family.

Student Planners

PTO has purchased a student planner for students in 1st – 8th grades. Your child will receive a new planner on the first day of school and will be expected to use it on a daily basis. Planners are also a good form of daily communication between the school and parents. Space is available at the bottom of each page for notes from parents or teachers. Please check your child’s planner daily. Lost or damaged planners can be purchased for $5.00.

School Messenger/Class Tag

Per our Continuous School Improvement Plan (CSIP), we have integrated a unified communication tool for grades K-8. Communication between the classroom teachers and parents will be via the Class Tag platform. Information will be shared at open house. I would also ask that you be respectful of our teachers' personal time. The Class Tag platform allows staff to set office hours. You may send emails or messages after office hours but an immediate reply should not be expected. We discourage the use of social media to contact teachers.

School Messenger will be utilized by the office for phone blasts and mass emails. Please be sure we have a current phone number and working email on file. "Permission Click" will also be used district wide. This option allows parents and guardians to fill out forms digitally. We need a primary email address per family. (One that is checked often.) If you are not getting notifications or need to change your primary email address, please contact school.

Background Checks

Background check forms are due back to school by August 31st. After that date, parents/guardians need to complete a background check on their own accord. The school district will pay the $15.50 fee as long as forms are turned in by 8/31. We will be running the background check through the MACHS name search portal. No form of ID will be required. Simply fill out the form provided by the district. Information is confidential.

Mandatory Volleyball Meeting

All athletes need proof of insurance and a current physical. Physicals are good for two years. Volleyball is open to girls in 5-8 grade. Since our numbers are low, please be serious about your commitment to play. Heidi Groner and Samantha Unger will be the coach. Erica Freitag (efreitag@fcr2.org) will serve as our athletic director this year. We will be holding a mandatory volleyball meeting immediately after Open House. Please meet at 6:30 pm in the cafeteria. The coaches will have game schedules and practice information. Parents will also have to sign up to work the scoreboard, keep the book, and work the concession stand.

ARCHERY

Beginning archery is taught during PE class for 4-8 grades. The club team will consist of 7-8 graders. More information will come home pertaining to archery.

FOOTBALL-Hermann Middle School

7th and 8th grade R-II students may play football with Hermann Middle School. Parents are responsible for transportation. Students must have a sports physical and proof of insurance. Schedules can be found under the sports tab on our website. (www.fcr2.org) Sports schedules will be updates as soon as they are received for the 23/24 school year. Practices will begin in Hermann on August 14th at 6:00 pm. Once school begins, students will have to have their own transportation to Hermann for 3:30 practices.

Track- New Haven Middle School

Students in 7/8 grade may participate in track through a coop agreement with New Haven. Track will begin in the spring.

The Board of Education has been making improvements to our building and grounds. A new playground shade has been installed to the existing playground. The GAGA ball pit will also be assembled and ready for students when they return. The band room has received upgrades to help with sound and also received new flooring. A new room was built inside the art room to allow for extra space for students and teachers to work in small groups. The track project has been completed. It will be striped and sealed later this fall. Concrete is being poured at the north end of the parking lot. We are also installing fans on the stage.

We are also adding five more exterior doors to our keycard security system. This helps eliminate human error and ensures all exterior doors remain locked at all times.

Mrs. McIntyre isn't new to our district but is serving in a new role this year. She will be teaching middle school math and Algebra. We are excited to welcome her to the middle school team!

2023-2024 Faculty and Staff

Kathy Oetterer- Principal

Maggie Brune - 2nd Grade Teacher

Rhonda Chwascinski- Custodian

Erica Colter- Guidance Counselor

Amy Covington- Paraprofessional/Food Service Director

Jill Fischer- Health Aide

Erica Freitag- Third Grade Teacher

Carrie Gerling- Secretary

Maureen Gist- Kindergarten Teacher

Hannah Shockley - Band/Music Director

Karen Hoffmann- Board Secretary/Bookkeeper

Beth Jasper- Food Service

Sue Liggett- 5-8 Science Teacher/7th Homeroom

Tina Madden- Custodian

Jenny McIntyre- 5-8 Math/8th grade Homeroom

Lisa McLone- 5-8 Social Studies Teacher/5th grade Homeroom

Angela Mense- Title I Reading Teacher

Jean Oetterer- Special Education Director/PAT

Sydnee Pate- 4th grade Teacher

Megan Poe- 5-8 English/Language Arts Teacher/6th Homeroom

Teresa Poe- Special Education Teacher

Amanda Ritchie- Bus Driver

Bob Schaefer - Bus Driver

Sandy Schaefer- Custodian/Food Service

Cindy Scheer- Librarian

Conner Shockley- Technology Coordinator

Julie Strubberg - Paraprofessional

Tiffany Strubberg - First Grade Teacher

Tandy Vandegriffe- Art

Ted Walker- Physical Education/Special Education Teacher

LuAnn Engelbrecht-Interventionist

Board of Education

Nathan Parmentier-President

Christy Groppe – Vice President

Kurt Koch – Treasurer

Jessica Toelke

Dale Borcherding

Amanda Yates

Kelly Theiss

PTO is hosting a Back to School Pool Party at the New Haven Aquatic Center on Saturday, August 11th from 6:30 pm-8:30 pm. We hope to see you all there!

Open house will be held on Thursday, August 17th. You may visit your child’s classroom between the hours of 4:30 pm-6:30 pm. Families may bring in school supplies at this time. We would like to thank PTO for purchasing some of the supplies for our students this year!

Our school Facebook page is loaded with information. If you do not use Facebook, you can still see our posts by visiting our school website at www.fcr2.org. Our FB feed scrolls at the bottom of the page.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064060837969

I am sure your kiddos probably aren't ready to return to school yet. But, I bet our parents are counting down the days! We have been working on facility updates, unpacking boxes, and getting rooms ready for our students. We aren't ready yet....but we will be! I am looking forward to having our students and staff back!

As usual, my goal is to not only make students feel safe, but also focus on building positive relationships with our students and families! We want to provide an environment where students feel loved, respected, and encouraged to develop to their fullest potential. The mission of our district states that we truly are BETTER TOGETHER! Together, we can empower our students to be the best versions of themselves. Communication is the key to success. Please feel free to contact me throughout the school year! koetterer@fcr2.org

Enjoy the rest of your summer! We will see you soon!

Mrs. Kathy Oetterer