Elk Ridge Explorer News

Welcome to the 2026–27 school year at Elk Ridge!

I’m so excited to kick off another year of learning and adventure with all of you! As your principal, I can’t wait to see the hallways fill with bright smiles, curious minds, and the joyful buzz of students ready to explore, grow, and thrive.

This year, we’ll continue building a school culture rooted in connection, safety, and excellence—where every Explorer feels supported, valued, and ready to shine. Let’s make it a memorable journey together!

Dear BPS Families,

As previously announced, Bismarck Public Schools has transitioned from PowerSchool to Infinite Campus as part of a statewide change initiated by the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction.

Families may now access the Infinite Campus Parent and Student Portals. The portal will eventually provide access to student information such as attendance, grades, schedules, classroom assignments, and more.

Please note that the transition is still underway, and not all information will be available immediately.

High school schedules will start to become available on the portal this week through August 5. An additional alert will be shared with families when the schedules are released for your school.

Elementary classroom assignments and middle school student schedules will be available for all families in the portal by August 7.

Accessing the Parent Portal

Visit the Infinite Campus Parent Portal:

https://bismarcknd.infinitecampus.org/campus/portal/parents/bismarck.jsp

You may also download the Campus Parent app from the Apple App Store or Google Play. When prompted, select:

• State: North Dakota
• District: Bismarck 1

Returning BPS PowerSchool Users

If you previously had a BPS PowerSchool parent account:

1. Enter the personal email address associated with your PowerSchool account.
2. Click forgot password to generate a password reset email
3. If you do not receive a password reset email, then proceed to the steps below for new users.

Parent Account Settings

We encourage you to update your contact preferences.

• Click on the user icon in the top right > Settings > Contact Preferences or update household information at top left > More > Address Information
• Contact information is at the top, messaging preferences are at the bottom.

Need Assistance?

If you have difficulty accessing or creating your Infinite Campus account, please call your school or 701-323-4000 for assistance.

We appreciate your patience as we continue the transition to Infinite Campus. Additional information about the portal and its features will be shared throughout the summer.

You are receiving this email because you are opted in to receive messages from your school. For more information, please contact your school.

With the school year fast approaching, we would like to take a moment to remind families that new start and end times go into effect on our first day of school, Thursday, August 20th.

Bell Times for 2026–2027:

1. Doors Open & Bus Drop Off: 7:15 a.m.
2. Parent Drop Off: 7:30 a.m.
3. Students Outside: 7:40-7:55 a.m.
4. First Bell Rings: 7:55 a.m.
5. Tardy Bell Rings: 8:00 a.m.
6. School Day Ends: 2:30 p.m.

Thank you for your continued partnership and support!

As we prepare to welcome our students for another wonderful school year, we wanted to share a few reminders about our arrival and dismissal procedures to help ensure a safe and smooth start for everyone.

Morning Arrival

• Students may be dropped off beginning at 7:30 a.m.
• On the first day of school only, parents are welcome to walk their child to their classroom beginning at 7:40 a.m.
• Beginning on the second day of school, parents may walk students to the front entrance. Students will then enter the building independently and report to the cafeteria, where they will be directed to go outside once supervision is available.
• The first bell rings at 7:55 a.m., and the tardy bell rings at 8:00 a.m. We encourage students to arrive on time so they can begin their day ready to learn.

Afternoon Dismissal
To help ensure a safe and orderly dismissal, students will be dismissed in the following order:

• 2:25 p.m. – Kindergarten students
• 2:27 p.m. – Bus riders
• 2:30 p.m. – All remaining students (parent pick-up and walkers)

Thank you for helping us make arrival and dismissal safe and efficient for all students. We appreciate your partnership and cooperation as we begin another exciting year at Elk Ridge. We can't wait to welcome your children back to school!

Class Placement Information

We’re getting excited to welcome everyone back for a new school year, and we know you're eager to find out who your child’s teacher will be!

We use many factors to create class families, this is a very collaborative task ensuring teachers, counselors, specialists as well as parents have a voice in the process. We are fortunate to have a full and highly qualified staff roster during a time when there are significant teacher shortages across our state. With this in mind, we will be unable to entertain further requests to change a classroom placement.

This year, class placement information will be available through Infinite Campus. To access it:

🔹 Log in to your Infinite Campus account on Friday, August 7th after 5:00 p.m.
🔹 The teacher assignment will appear right under schedule on the initial screen after you log in.
🔹 Make sure you’ve set up your Infinite Campus account ahead of time so you're ready!

Kindergarten Families:
Please ensure that you have an Infinite Campus Parent Portal account set up. Simply put in your email and click forgot password. You will need to reset the password and then wait overnight for the system to update. You should be able to sign in the next day.

Need help? Call the office at 701-323-4230 and we’ll be happy to assist you in answering any questions.

You're Invited to Our Elk Ridge Open House!

We’re so excited to welcome everyone back for another fantastic school year at Elk Ridge!

Mark your calendars for Monday, August 17th!

• Kindergarten families and those new to Elk Ridge: Join us for a special early session from 3:30-4:00 p.m. to explore the school and get a head start on settling in. You're welcome to stay through the regular open house too!

• All families: Our full Open House will run from 4:00–5:00 p.m.

Stop in to:

• Drop off school supplies
• Meet your teacher and Elk Ridge staff
• Explore the building and get familiar with the layout

We can't wait to see all our Elk Ridge families and kick off the year with smiles, excitement, and a strong sense of community. See you there!

Lunchtime with Your Little One – Coming Soon!

We love having families join us for lunch, it’s one of our favorite parts of the day! That said, the beginning of the year is a time when we work hard to teach and reinforce our lunchroom procedures so students can feel confident and successful in their routines.

With that in mind, we’ll officially start welcoming parents and family members to join their children for lunch starting on Monday, October 5th, 2026!

Here’s what you need to know:

• If you’d like to eat lunch at school, please call the office by 8:30 a.m. on the day you plan to join so we can make sure we have a lunch ready for you.
• If you’d prefer to just sit with your child and not eat, you’re welcome to do that—no reservation needed!
• Please remember this opportunity begins October 5th—thanks for giving us time to set the stage for a smooth and successful lunchroom experience!

We can't wait to see you in the lunch line (or just enjoying time together at the table)!

Please ensure that you student has funds in their lunch account through Linq Connect to start the school year!

Dear 5th Grade Families,

We are so excited to once again offer Orchestra to our fifth-grade students! Learning to play an instrument is a wonderful opportunity for students to develop new skills, build confidence, express their creativity, and be part of something special. We are thrilled that so many students have chosen to participate!

As we planned for the many exciting learning opportunities available to students throughout the school day, we worked closely with multiple elementary buildings to create a schedule that best supports student learning. Because orchestra instruction is shared across multiple elementary schools, we are pleased to be able to offer orchestra at Elk Ridge two days each week at the following times:

Tuesdays and Thursdays
9:15 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

Thank you for encouraging your child to participate in orchestra and for supporting this schedule. We know this experience will provide lasting memories and help students grow both musically and personally.

We can't wait to hear the wonderful music our fifth-grade musicians will create this year!

Email: roberta_nyhus@bismarckschools.org
Website: https://www.bismarckschools.org/elkridge
Location: 4401 Ivory Lane, Bismarck, ND, USA
Phone: 701-323-4230
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elkridgebismarck/