Sawyer Families Weekly Updates

Hello Sawyer Families!

It has been a wonderful first week of school at Sawyer (see photos below) and we could not have done it without you! On behalf of all of us at Sawyer, I want to thank you for trusting your child’s education to us and everything you have done to prepare and support your child(ren) throughout this first week of the school year!

I hope you all have an enjoyable weekend!

Thursday, Sept. 11th - September 11th Observance Day

This is an important reminder regarding the information we need from you when you call your child in for an absence.

When you call, please include:

1. Your child’s name

2. Your child’s grade level and /or teacher

3. The reason for the absence

This information can be given directly to our secretary or left on a voicemail. Once our secretary records this information, she will delete the message. If this information is not clearly shared or completed, our secretary will call you back to get the information.

We need this information to correctly record the absence in our system as excused or unexcused. Please contact Mrs. Dawidiuk at 920-746-1825 with any questions.

If you are interested in volunteering in any capacity at school, please contact Katy DeVillers (kdevillers@sbsdmail.net). We can always use more people to support our students!

Starting on Monday, September 8th, we will be asking all parents who are still accompanying their child into school to drop-off their children at the door. We understand that some students may struggle with the transition into school without a parent, and will do everything we can to make this a positive experience for students. Our goal is to build your child’s independence and the sooner they are given the opportunity to transition into school alone, the quicker they will learn to do this on their own. Please contact me with any questions.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation with following our parking expectations as we cannot have a more efficient and safe process without your support. We appreciate you taking the time to review some important reminders below, so that everyone stays safe and the process moves as quickly as possible.

If you are a parent who drops-off and/or picks-up your child(ren), we have some reminders for you:

● If you want to get out of your car to drop-off or meet your student near the school to pick-up, we need you to park in our parking lot off of Willow Drive or in our new parking lot off of Neenah Street so that you do not block the line of traffic and slow-up the pickup process for all families.

● We have designated a grassy area just to the right-side of the main entrance for you to gather as you wait for us to bring your child(ren) to you. Please bring your sign identifying which child(ren) you are picking up. If you forget your sign, it will take a bit longer because we will have to check with your child’s teacher to identify you or possibly have to call the office. This is an important step we must take to ensure that we are sending the students home with the correct person. As we get to know you better, we will not need to do this step. There will be a cone designating the area where we want you to gather to help you find the spot.

● As you are driving along the school-side of Willow Street to pick-up your child(ren), we need you to stay in your vehicle and follow the direction of the staff member who is telling you when to move forward. There will be five spots that will be designated with cones where you will be asked to stop and load your child(ren) into your vehicle. If you have to buckle your child into his/her car seat, this will be the place where you do that as quickly as possible.

● For all of our parents’, students’ and staff safety, there is no drop-off or pick-up allowed around the front entrance of the school or on the non-school side of Willow Street during student arrival and dismissal. Please be aware that if you do park on this side of the street one of our staff members or our School Resource Officer will be reminding you to go around the block to the school-side of Willow Street.

● All 4K students who arrive by car should be dropped-off (and picked-up for AM students) near the 4K door. Again, if you want to drop-off your child at the 4K Door, please park in the parking lot and walk across the street in the crosswalk. If you leave your car on the street, it causes a back-up that is difficult for the buses and other cars to navigate safely.

Looking to get involved in helping the school? Join the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO)!

We fundraise to help subsidize field trips and other activities, build community through fun school events, and collaborate with the school on improvements and issues. The PTO Board is looking to fill a vacancy in the Secretary position and welcome anyone interested to email us at sturbaypto@gmail.com.

The first meeting is next Monday, 9/15 at 6pm in the Sunrise library. A virtual option for attendance will be available. The following meetings will be the third Monday of each month.

Please join the Facebook group to stay informed and view the meeting agenda/minutes. Looking forward to a great school year!”

Staff Member Highlights

Each week we will highlight a Sawyer Staff Member as a way for you to get-to-know our school community and how they support your child(ren). This week we are highlighting one of our wonderful 4K Teachers, Anika Gannik.

My name is Anika Gannik and I am a 4K teacher here at Sawyer. This is my ninth year working in the Sturgeon Bay School District, and my sixth year teaching 4K. I was born and raised in Minnesota, but grew up visiting my grandparents who lived in Sturgeon Bay. I spent my college summers working at Al Johnson’s in Sister Bay, and in 2015 decided to make Door County my home. I currently live in Sister Bay with my husband Volodymyr, our baby girl Selah, and our cat Mylo. When I’m not at school, I like to spend time outside walking or biking around the parks in our beautiful county.