Bowlesburg Newsletter

Dear Bowlesburg Families,

Welcome back! I am thrilled to introduce myself as the new principal of Bowlesburg Elementary. I am incredibly excited to be here and am looking forward to an amazing school year with all of you.

My core focus this year will be building a strong "school family," ensuring a positive school culture, and driving student growth and academic achievement. At the heart of our culture are our family agreements, the 3 Be's: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, and Be Safe.

I deeply value your collaboration and support, as our partnership is what ensures our students are successful both inside and outside of the classroom. I believe in fostering both student excellence and social-emotional well-being. We focus on the whole child because every student matters, every student can learn and grow, and every student will be treated as such.

Here is to a wonderful year ahead!

We are already off to a fantastic start! Students have been doing a wonderful job learning the expectations and routines of our building. We have also started diving into our academics, reviewing previous concepts to build a strong foundation in preparation for new learning.

🛑 Safety First: Keeping Our Community Safe

Safety is our top priority. As part of our Conscious Discipline framework that guides our social-emotional learning, we operate on a core principle: "Our job is to keep it safe, and the students' job is to help us keep it safe."

To help with this, we are teaching students the KYHFOOTY acronym: Keeping Your Hands, Feet, and Other Objects, to Yourself. Please reinforce this concept at home!

Walking and Crosswalk Safety: Crossing guards will be present at the crosswalks during the following times to help students arrive and depart safely:

• Morning: 7:45 AM - 8:30 AM

• Afternoon: 2:45 PM - 3:15 PM

We begin releasing our walkers at 2:55 PM. Because our surrounding areas can get quite busy, please review proper walking etiquette with your younger students. Here are three high-impact suggestions to discuss:

1. Always use designated crosswalks and wait for the crossing guard's signal before stepping into the street.

2. Stay alert and keep your head up—avoid distractions and look left, right, and left again before crossing.

3. Walk calmly on the sidewalks—avoid running or pushing when near roads and traffic.

Morning Arrival:

• Doors Open: 8:00 AM (Please do not drop students off before this time, as there is no supervision available and they will not be able to enter the building).

• School Starts: 8:30 AM (Students arriving after this time will be marked tardy. When students are tardy please walk them inside and sign them in).

Attendance & Transportation: We want to acknowledge the recent district-wide reductions to busing due to financial reasons. We understand these changes can be challenging for families to navigate. However, we want to stress the importance of your child being at school every day. Students learn and grow when they are in class, and they quickly fall behind when they are absent. Our school chant and core value is: Be Here! Be Ready!

Dismissal for Walkers: If your child is designated as a walker, they will be dismissed from the side doors nearest 10th and Avenue of the Cities. As a reminder, we begin releasing walkers at 2:55 PM. Parents of walkers may meet them there.

Carpooling : With the transportation changes, we have seen a wonderful increase in carpooling. We love this community partnership! However, to ensure every student is sent home with the correct person, we must have this information on file. If your student is carpooling with another family, please stop by the school office to fill out the proper form.

Dismissal Changes:

If a change needs to be made to your student’s afternoon dismissal plan, you must notify the office before 2:00 PM. We ask that you limit these changes as much as possible to help us ensure every student arrives home safely and smoothly.

To help students stay focused and engaged, cell phones are required to be put away at all times, including during dismissal and on the school bus. If a student has their phone out, we will safely hold it in the main office and ask that a parent or guardian come to pick it up. We appreciate your partnership in helping us maintain a distraction-free learning environment!

Thank you so much to everyone who came out to attend the PTA Ice Cream Social last Friday! It was a joy to see so many families connecting.

We would love to formally invite you to our next PTA Meeting on September 9th here at Bowlesburg Elementary from 6-7 pm. We hope to see you there!