Flynn Park Family Pride

Greetings Flynn Park Family,

Happy Sunday! As we begin the 5th week of school, I would like to personally thank every member of our school community for the tremendous start to our school year. Despite navigating construction issues, changes to dismissal locations, and the up and down weather in our local area, it has been an amazing start. Please note that this will be a short week of school for students, as there is no school on Friday due to staff professional development.

We appreciate your positive feedback and teacher and staff shout outs. Your messages of positivity go a long way toward filling our staffs' "buckets". Please continue to send them in to Mr. Murdock at damurdock@ucityschools.org. They will be shared with the staff as they are received.

Thank you in advance for partnering with us and supporting our school community this year. Please check your email inbox weekly for the Flynn Park Family Pride Newsletter for important updates about all things related to our school community. Have a great evening!

Please note the followng changes in dates and times for the fall and spring parent/teacher conferences. They will follow this cadence for the 2025/26 fall and spring conferences as well as the 26/27 fall and spring conferences:

• PK & Elementary: Tuesday evening (Oct. 7) 4:00-7:30pm
• High School: Wednesday evening (Oct. 8) 4:00-7:30pm
• Middle School: Thursday evening (Oct. 9) 4:00-7:30pm
• Friday: (Oct. 10)

• No School for students
• Parent Conferences during regular school hours (8:30-3:30pm) (no evening conferences)

*This structure will allow parents with children at multiple schools to attend all conferences.

There have been growing bus safety concerns over the past week. Students have been observed not following the outlined bus safety expectations, including standing up and/or moving while the bus is in transit. Other observations of student behavior include yelling, use of inappropriate language, and not being responsive to the driver's request. Please review the following expectations below with your student rider. Please note that Mr. Murdock and the director of transportation will be reviewing the footage from the buses regularly, and students who are caught not meeting the bus expectations will have consequences that may include suspension of bus privileges. Students will not be allowed to ride the bus if they cannot meet our bus safety expectations, and parents will be responsible for transporting students to and from school. Our top priority is to ensure that our student learners are safe while they are at school, and during their transition to and from school. Please help us by reviewing the expectations with your student learner and having a serious conversation about being safe on the bus. Thank you in advance!

Flynn Park Bus Expectations:

1. Student riders are expected to follow the instructions of the bus driver and of the Flynn Park staff who lead them to the bus. Students are expected to follow instructions the first time they are given.

2. Student riders are to sit in their assigned seats everyday, in the morning and afternoon. Students should remain seated in their assigned seats, sitting upright (with their bottom on the seat, and their back against the back of the seat) for the duration of the bus ride.

3. Students should talk in a quiet voice and refrain from shouting or using inappropriate or abusive language.

4. Students should refrain from eating or drinking on the bus.

5. Students must keep their hands and feet to themselves at all times. Physical aggression and fighting are not permitted on the school bus.

6. Students are only to get off the bus at their assigned bus stop. Parents must be at the stops on time to get their students from the bus.

7. Students should have their cellphones put away, and are not allowed to take pictures or record videos on the bus.

8. Students are to remain in their assigned seats and not move until the bus arrives at their designated bus stop and comes to a complete stop.

9. Students should keep all personal items inside their bookbags. Gaming devices, trading cards, Pokemon Cards (and all similar items) should never be used on the bus.

9. Parents are never allowed to board a school bus. The parent must wait until the student learner gets off of the bus.

Thank you to our school community for partnering with us to reinforce these expectations with our riders, in an effort to keep our students safe.

Your ideas, questions, suggestions and concerns are extremely important to the work that we do at Flynn Park. If there is ever a need to address an important matter, please reach out to the school about scheduling an opportunity to chat with the staff member you need to speak with. To meet the needs of all of our school community members, we ask that you kindly schedule an appointment so that you can address your concerns without having to rush.

Unfortunately, during arrival, classroom instruction, daily duties, and while students are being dismissed, we have active supervision and other duties that would prevent us from giving you the undivided attention you deserve. Please contact Flynn Park at 314-290-4420 to schedule a time to chat so that we can add your meeting to our Google Calendar of events and set a time to discuss your ideas, concerns, questions, and/or suggestions. You will receive confirmation of your meeting date and time.

Thank you in advance for your understanding and partnership!

At Flynn Park we are building and growing a safe and inclusive environment for all students. This means that we take care of each other's physical well being, as well as our emotional well being. We want all students to feel loved, valued, respected, and safe.

As a school community, we expect all of our learners to meet the following expectations.

1. We keep our hands and feet to ourselves. We do not solve problems by using physical violence. If and when a learner makes physical contact with another student, we ask that the person harmed tell an adult so that the adult can keep them safe and report it to the principal to be handled. We ask that parents reinforce this value at home.

2. We use kind words. If we do not have anything kind to say to another student learner or adult, it is ok (and actually preferred) to not say anything at all. It is never ok to use unkind words.

3. We use walking feet when traveling throughout the building. It is never ok for students to run or be unsafe with their body while they are transitioning in or outside of the building.

4. We respect others. This includes adults and peers. We respect each other's personal space. We respect each other's personal belongings (we don't take anything that doesn't belong to us), and we respect each other's feelings. We don't always have to agree, but we always have to remain respectful.

5. We make amends when we hurt others. Flynn Park is a restorative practices school. When issues arise, restorative conversations conducted by a member of our SEL team are a foundational aspect of "building and growing together."

6. We take accountability. It is human to make mistakes. We understand that members of our school community will make mistakes. It is important that when we make mistakes, that we hold ourselves accountable, work to repair the harm that was done, and make efforts not to make the same mistake again.

We ask that our families review the expectations with students, and reinforce the messages included above as often as you can. Thank you in advance for your help in making our school community a great place to "building and grow together."

Please note that students must be picked up from school on time each day. School supervision begins everyday at 8:30 when our doors open, and ends everyday at dismissal at 3:40pm. All students must be picked up each day, no later than 4pm. While we understand that emergencies happen, we ask that you develop a back up dismissal plan for your student learner, in case you are running behind or unable to make it. Please note that any students needing supervision after 4pm must be enrolled in Unleashing Potential aftercare.

We want to remind all families that it is vitally important that our students attend school every day that they are healthy enough to do so. If your student learner is sick, please keep him or her at home until they feel better. Please note that when students attend school, they are expected to attend school for the full instructional day (8:30am - 3:40pm).

When students arrive late and are picked up early, it is disruptive to their learning experience, as well as that of the rest of the students in the classroom. It is also very detrimental to students' attendance. The Missouri Department of Education (DESE) tracks the number of minutes that students attend each day. When students arrive late and leave early, those minutes are counted up and totaled for the week, and it negatively impacts their attendance status.

For example, if a student arrives 20 minutes late and is picked up 40 minutes early each day, the state calculates the number of minutes missed for the day, and totals the number of minutes missed per week/month, etc. So if a student has a consistent late arrival and early pick up (as outlined above) that student would miss 5 hours of instruction per week, and 20 hours of instruction (2.5 days) of instruction per month.

Please reserve late arrivals and early pick ups for doctor's and dentist appointments, and note that proper documentation will be required. Help us to help our students by making sure that they are here on time and attend for the full instructional day! Thank you in advance!

When and if you need to change your student's dismissal plan for the day, please note that you should email the child's teacher and CC Ms. Rivers @brivers@ ucityschools.org and Mr. Murdock @ damurdock@ucityschools.org. Please remember to include all 3 staff members on your email regarding any changes in dismissal. Please make sure that all changes to student dismissal are reported no later than 2pm each day so that we can ensure that students get home safely. Thank you in advance!

Arrival for Flynn Park students begins at 8:30am each day. Staff will be present to greet students from 8:30am to 8:45am. Our entrance doors will close at 8:45am, and families arriving after that time must escort their student into the building and sign them in. Please do not send students into the building alone. They are required to be signed in if they arrive after 8:45am.

Please be reminded that our inclement weather plan for car riders and walkers was shared last week via school messenger, but we wanted to provide it again for any families that may have missed it.

Our Inclement Weather Dismissal Plan for car riders and walkers is as follows:

Kindergarten will dismiss from the Kindergarten hallway. One staff member from Kindergarten will be at the designated door to assist parents as they arrive.

1st Grade will dismiss from the cafeteria using the glass doors to dismiss students. Students should be lined up, waiting for their parents to pick them up. A member of the first grade team will at the designated door to assist parents as they arrive.

2nd and 3rd grade will dismiss from the gym, using the exterior doors between the PE storage and the breezeway (double glass doors that we use for recess). A member of the 2nd and 3rd grade team will at the designated door to assist parents as they arrive.

4th and 5th grade will dismiss from the gym, using the exterior doors near the stage (opposite end of the gym from where 2nd and 3rd will dismiss from). A member of the 4th and 5th grade team will be will at the designated door to assist parents as they arrive.

Please note that this will only be followed if/when we experience inclement weather that impacts dismissal. For regular dismissal, all car riders and walkers will dismiss from the blacktop and there will be cones to designate where each grade level should stand and wait for families to arrive.

Please note that early dismissal for students ends daily at 3pm. After that time, students will not be dismissed until the end of our instructional day at 3:40pm.

At Flynn Park, we prioritize safety and overall well being for our students and staff. This year, we have a number of students and staff with allergies to peanuts, tree nuts, fish, and a host of other allergens. We ask that you refrain from sending ANY food products that may contain peanuts and tree nuts of any kind. This includes food items that may be part of a home packed breakfast, lunch, or snack. As we compile a more comprehensive list of our students’ and staff allergens, we will provide it to all families.

https://ucityschools.nutrislice.com/menu/flynn-park/breakfast

https://www.ucityschools.org/schools/flynn-park-elementary-school

https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1746201099/ucityschoolsorg/rc16swylal5boyqfwyz4/2025-26Calendar050125.pdf

This year, we'd love to incorporate family friendly pictures from our school community, giving us a view into your world, your vacations from this summer, or cool and interesting things you are doing around the community. Please send any pictures you'd like to share to fppics@ucityschools.org . Please note that by sending them, you give us permission to share the pictures in our newsletters and/or Brightsigns (tv displays) in our building.

• September 15: 1UCity Community Connect @ Brittany Woods from 6-8pm

• September 15 - October 15: National Hispanic Heritage Month

• September 18 - 1UCITY Flynn Park Prowl - Family Pride Night from 6-8pm

• September 19: NO School/District Professional Development

• September 22: Flu Clinic at McNair Building

• September 22 - September 24: Rosh Hashanah

• October 7 - Evening Parent Teacher Conferences from 4-7:30PM

• October 10 - NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS

• October 10 - Day Time Parent Teacher Conferences from 8:30-3:30pm

Always Remember...

We truly appreciate you for all that you do for our students and our school community. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful school community of families and teachers. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at damurdock@ucityschools.org. Looking forward to seeing you soon! Until next time, please remember the following…

U MATTER!

U MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

U ARE WELCOME HERE!

U ARE VALUED!

U BELONG!

U ARE LOVED!

Warmly,

Darion Murdock, Ed.S

Principal

Flynn Park School