✨ The Greatest School on Earth!
Pathfinder Families,
It was so great to see so many of you on Thursday at Back to School Night! Our teachers and staff have been working hard to make sure our building is ready for the First Day of School and it was so great to take a break from that and just connect with kids and families on Thursday night.
The Pathfinder Staff is thrilled to welcome you to what is bound to be an incredible school year filled with lots of laughter, leadership, and lots of learning! We will see you on Tuesday!
-Dr. Bohn & Mrs. Miller
❗ Join PTA!
For the 2023-24 school year, both Pathfinder and Barry will be supported by one PTA that is made up of members from both schools! PTA would love your support in this organization, which provides experiences such as:
Purchases Leader In Me shirts for all students
Sponsors our grade level field trips
Provides a Fall and Spring party for all students
Coordinates fun family events
Purchases recess equipment
Sponsors an AMAZING Field Day
🏴☠ PTA Spirit Wear Orders
PTA's newest Pathfinder Spirit Wear order is available and they will be taking orders through Friday, September 1st! Order forms will be sent home with your students, but you can also order through the Pathfinder PTA website.
🌐 PowerSchool Parent Portal
At this time, meal payments will still be through K12 Payment Center: (https://www.k12paymentcenter.com/). Parent Portal access information will be coming home with your student in backpacks within the first week of school. This will include Access ID and Access Password, through this portal you can find your child's 10-digit student ID to use in creating an account for K12 Payment Center.
Rest assured, no students will be denied breakfast or lunch during the first week of school. If you prefer to send in lunch money with your student, please put cash or check in an envelope and include the student's name, grade level and teacher's name. Checks can be made out to PCR3.
Thank you for your patience as we work through our new systems!
🗒 Pathfinder Resource Checklist
✂ 2023-24 Supply Lists
🎒 Y-Club Enrollment for 2023-24
The Before and After School Program available to families in the Platte County R-3 School District is Y Club. With Y Club before and after school, children in kindergarten through 5th grade will benefit from homework enrichment, physical activity, and small and large group activities with a focus on building community and youth voice and leadership. Full-time and part-time Y Club is available at each of our elementary buildings (Compass, Pathfinder, and Siegrist), along with Y Club on days when school is out of session for inclement weather, seasonal breaks, and other days off (enrollment permitting). Operating hours are each weekday from 6:30 a.m. until school begins, and again after school until 6:00 p.m. Registration is now open. Click here to register. If you have any questions about the Y Club program, please contact YMCA at (816) 360-3390.
🏫 First Day of School!
First Day: Tuesday, August 22nd, 2023
School Hours: 8:50 AM - 3:50 PM
The first day of school is an exciting time filled with a few tears and possibly a few nervous butterflies. To help ease the anxiety of the first day, we do allow parents to walk their child into school on the first day. We do ask that parents park their cars in one of the parking spots or at Barry-Platte Park and walk over to Pathfinder. We need to make sure the front curb and south curbs are not blocked for our car rider and bus arrivals.
If you are picking your child up at the end of the day, please make sure that has been communicated to the front office and follow our dismissal process. We ask that parents stay in their cars and not walk up to the front of the building or get out of their car to buckle in their child. There is an area specifically designated for buckling up your child once they are loaded in the car. A visual of our dismissal process for car riders is shown below.
If your child is a bus rider, please expect delays the first few days. Our bus drivers will be ensuring that every child is getting on and dismissing at the correct stop. This process will take some time, and on average our afternoon buses are typically delayed approximately 15 to 20 minutes during the first few days of the school year.
Thank you for your patience as we work through the first day processes!
👨👧 Walking Students In
If parking permits, 1-2 parents/guardians may park and walk their child to the classroom door on Tuesday, August 22nd (the First Day of School) only! We do ask that parents park their cars in one of the parking spots or at Barry-Platte Park and walk over to Pathfinder. We need to make sure the front curb and south curbs are not blocked for our car rider and bus arrivals.
Staff members will be stationed all throughout the building to assist students in getting to their classrooms. In order to begin our school day in a timely fashion, we will ask that all parents exit the building by 8:55 AM.
🌞 Arrival Procedures & Traffic Flow
Pathfinder's doors will open at 8:30 AM on a daily basis, including on the First Day! If your student is a bus rider, they will be escorted into the building via the south doors. If your student is a car rider, please refer to the map below for our car rider drop off procedure. In order to keep all traffic off of 87th Terrace, we need your help in adhering to this traffic flow! Please stay in your car for both drop off and pick up. Staff members will assist your child out of the car and into the building each morning.
Both Pathfinder and Barry Elementary will have the same arrival time. Barry Elementary's traffic flow is denoted by the yellow line on the map below).
🥞 Breakfast
Breakfast will be available from 8:30-8:50 AM in the Pathfinder Cafeteria daily. Students that arrive to the building or the cafeteria past the time of 8:50 AM will bring a grab-and-go breakfast to the classroom. The daily breakfast menu can be found on Nutrislice (through our website) and costs for school breakfast are as follows:
- Elementary Breakfast: $1.95
- Reduced Price Breakfast: $0.30
Students are not permitted to bring breakfast food or drinks from home or outside vendors (QuikTrip, for example) into the building. Please talk with your student about whether or not they should be going to breakfast each day before heading to their classrooms!
🥛 Snacks, Water, & Allergies
Please defer to your teacher's communication regarding snacks in the classroom. All snacks must be peanut/tree nut free (as they will be eaten in classrooms). Please pack your child something that is minimally disruptive to the learning environment and (ideally) something they can open themselves.
Students may always have a water bottle with them in the classroom. Pathfinder is equipped with several bottle refill stations throughout the building. Please note that sodas, juices, sports drinks, etc. are not permitted. Just water, please!
🍎 Lunch
Each day, students will have a 25 minute lunch in the Pathfinder Cafeteria. Each morning students will be asked to select from the following:
- Home Lunch
- Salad
- Hot Lunch Choice 1
- Hot Lunch Choice 2
The daily lunch menu can be found on Nutrislice (through our website) and costs for school lunch are as follows:
- Elementary Lunch: $2.70
- Reduced Price Lunch: $0.40
- Extra Milk or Milk by itself: $0.55
Students that bring a home lunch may bring items that contain peanuts or tree nuts. We will have a separate allergy table for each classroom grouping to avoid any issues. If you are sending your child with a home lunch, please help us ensure an efficient and positive experience by double checking that the items included are largely items that your student can open independently.
👨👩👦 Visitors at Lunch
In order for our staff to establish lunchroom processes with our students, the first day parents can attend lunch with students is Tuesday, September 5th. There will be a sign up capping the number of adult visitors each day per grade level. Keep your eye out for that Sign Up, coming soon in an upcoming edition of the Pathfinder Press!
🌡 Recess Temperature Guidelines
The Platte County R-3 School District has established best practices regarding extremely high or low temperatures as these relate to outdoor and indoor recess. The guidelines are:
- Indoor Recess will be held when the temperature or heat index is above 95 degrees Fahrenheit
- Indoor Recess will be held when the temperature or wind chill is below 20 degrees Fahrenheit
🚗 Dismissal & Car Rider Traffic Flow
If your student is a car rider, please refer to the information map below for our car rider pick up procedure.
- Please do not arrive to Pathfinder prior to 3:35 for car rider pick up. We begin dismissal at 3:40 and the line will begin moving at that time.
- Enter the car rider line on the hill entrance between Pathfinder and Barry (orange line on map below)
- A staff member will direct cars into one lane in front of Pathfinder. We anticipate that this will limit the traffic that backs up on 87th Terrace.
- You also have the option to arrive at Pathfinder at 3:45 to help stagger car rider pick up. This will alleviate backup of cars coming for dismissal
- Both Pathfinder and Barry Elementary will have the same dismissal time. Barry Elementary flow is denoted by the yellow line on the map below).
If you have any questions regarding our car rider dismissal call the Pathfinder Elementary office (816) 436-6670.
🧁 Birthday Treats & Celebrations
We believe that birthdays are an important time in a child’s life, and Pathfinder students will receive a Birthday Book in celebration of their special day. However, for several reasons including increased food allergies, preservation of the instructional day, and student equality, students are not allowed to bring treats from home or a store or have flowers/balloons or other items delivered to the classroom for birthdays, going-away parties, or other personal events. If a student receives a delivery at school, the student will be notified to come to the office to view the item. Parents will be responsible for transporting the item home. Birthday party invitations may only be distributed if invitations are given to every student in the class.
📵 Electronic Devices
Electronic communication devices (such as cell phones, personal gaming devices, and smart watches) should remain in backpacks while students are in the school building. If this result in a disruption to the learning environment, electronic communication devices may be taken to the office for a parent or guardian to pick up.
🛑 Hall Pass
After Labor Day, parents will have the option to sign up to come have lunch with their student. At this time, all visitors will be asked to check in with the office upon arrival at school prior to entering the school. Hall Pass Visitor Management system has been installed in all of our schools to improve overall building safety/security and visitor management. The Hall Pass Visitor Management system will:
Conduct a screening on each visitor using the sex offender registry
Will log in volunteers to track their hours
Will be used to document late arriving students.
Whenever any non-student or non-district employee requests to enter any area of the building where children are accessible, essentially beyond the front office, they will be asked to produce a government issued ID:
State driver’s license
State issued ID
Passport
US Military ID
Permanent resident card
The ID will be scanned and a badge will be given to visitors. This process is key to continuing to maintain and improve a safe and caring environment for our students and staff. A visitor’s badge needs to be worn at all times while visiting the school.
📱 Text Notifications
The District uses text messaging and automated phone calls to notify parents of upcoming events and days off, school closings due to weather, and during emergency situations. Newly enrolled families will automatically receive an opt-in message from 67587. If you missed it, simply text “Yes” to 67587 to receive text messages.
💬 Keep in Contact with Us!
You can always pick up the phone and give us a call anytime. The school number is 816.436.6670. If you have a specific question for administration, please email us at bohna@platteco.k12.mo.us (Dr. Anna Bohn, Principal) or millere@platteco.k12.mo.us (Mrs. Emily Miller, Assistant Principal).
