Lester Park School Newsletter

TOMORROW...Fun Run Kick-Off
Oct 1...Picture Day
Oct 2...Fun Run Event
Oct 9...Fire Drill
Oct 16-17...NO SCHOOL (MEA Break)
Oct 21...PTA Movie Night...SCREENagers
Oct 22...Lockdown Drill ("Secure" drill)
Oct 24...Halloween PTA dance (see flyer further below)
Week of Oct 27...Teacher Conferences and Book Fair

More events on our Lester Park Calendar HERE

2025-26 District Calendar with 4 Day Specialist rotation HERE

(PD=professional development/NO SCHOOL for students)

Other Helpful Links:

Lester Park Family School Handbook

School District Student Handbook

Lester Park Staff List by Grade/Dept

Previous Lester Park Newsletters

Volunteers are essential to Picture Day. They help make sure the kiddos look good, are in line, have their Picture ID card...basically help everything go smoothly. Volunteers will receive a $30 Jostens coupon to say thank you for their help!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040D4CABAD29AAF58-51735219-picture

Picture Day is Wednesday, Oct 1.
NO GREEN CLOTHES - due to the photographers' green background screen.
Students will have their picture taken with their class at designated times.
If a student is absent during that time, they can still have their picture taken.
If a student is absent for the whole day, they can have their picture retaken on Wed, Nov 5th.
All picture orders must be done through Jostens. (see flyer below)
Pictures are mailed to home addresses and not sent home from school.

Excitement is building for this year’s Fun Run fundraiser, which will be held Thursday October 2nd. This event is 100% volunteer run, and the proceeds support teacher and library requests, school events and activities, and school common areas like seeding for the field and the school garden. Please see the Foundation’s Facebook page to view our previous “Year in Review” reports that show our spending: https://www.facebook.com/LesterParkFoundation.

Kids are getting their running and dancing moves ready. You can get ready by watching for information on how to donate in upcoming newsletters or materials your student will bring home tomorrow, September 26. There are lots of ways to donate- secure online platform (link in upcoming newsletter), cash, check…we’ve even had kids bring in bags of loose change! Every penny counts when we are reinvesting in the needs of the students, teachers, and school.

We are looking for volunteers to help the day of the Fun Run, October 2nd, from 7:45am - 9:00am OR 8:45am - 10:00am. Volunteer and join us for the fun: sign up here!

Apple Crunch Day is Thursday 10/9/24. Volunteers are needed to help pass out apples during lunchtimes.

The sign up is here:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040D4CABAD29AAF58-58924856-copy

Please complete a mini background check on the LPE Website (you must complete one annually).

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd88hAIcR1yQtdeaxYY7VMt7rmNE1Flh5D0Bsd8yBtUsHUjew/viewform

The Book Fair is coming! Mark your calendars, the book fair will be here at the end of October. Students will shop during their Media time and there will be two after-school opportunities during conferences. Please sign-up!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0E4DADAF29AAF9C52-58705408-book

Help with meals for teachers on long conference days

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040D4CABAD29AAF58-58379321-copy

No Time? No Problem! Click here to donate and we will do the shopping!

https://lesterparkpta.givebacks.com/store?limit=21&live=true

Givebacks

Givebacks helps you engage your supporters, raise money online with less work, and harness innovation to build up your entire community through GIvebacks. See why over 12,000 organizations and over 2.4 million people use Givebacks to thrive.

lesterparkpta.givebacks.com

Back during the COVID days, Lester Park families struggled to connect with other Lester Park families. There was a great idea to create an electronic Lester Park Family Directory so students could contact their classmates and friends. The PTA has continued this electronic directory each year since then. This form is voluntary, and you can provide as much or as little contact information as you like.

Based off who fills out the form below, the Lester Park PTA will create a public Google Doc that will be made electronically available to members of the Lester Park Elementary School family community. The Lester Park PTA is not the source of the information, and therefore has no control over its accuracy. This directory is not being created by ISD 709, Lester Park Elementary or any of its representatives, and is a volunteer effort by the Lester Park PTA.

2025-26 PTA Lester Park Elementary Public Directory Form

Per Congdon Elementary...Some interest has been expressed about starting a First Lego League Challenge Team for fourth and fifth graders.

Read more here: https://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/fll/start-a-team and watch:

https://youtu.be/UGySnm4Qmao and email Mrs. Miller (cynthia.miller@isd709.org ) if you and your child(ren) are interested.

Student Concerts will be similar to last year. They will be held on three dates but only 2 grades will perform on each date. Here are the dates:

Nov 13...Grades 4 & 5

Dec 16...Grades K & 1

May 7...Grades 2 & 3

These dates are on our school calendar in case you forget.

A contest form from the Duluth Fire Department will be going home with students today or tomorrow. Please note that these forms need to be mailed or turned into a fire station. Do not send them to school. Any forms turned in at school will be sent back home with the student.

Many of you have your phone set up to receive attendance alerts when your child's attendance is changed in Infinite Campus by either the teacher or the office. Here's how the process works:

If your child isn't in class at the start of the day, the teacher will mark the absence whether they know the reason or not. The office will then change the absence on their part. This will cause two attendance alerts at some point IF you have the notification feature turned on
If your child is late to school (excused or unexcused), please note that we need to mark them out for the whole day, then check them in at the time they entered the school. This will cause two attendance alerts at some point IF you have the notification feature turned on.

More Attendance tips can be found in the next section.

What do I do if my child is going to be absent from school?

Email lesterattendance@isd709.org (the office & nurse will both see these emails)
or call attendance line 336-8875 then “3” to leave a recorded message
Please list any specific symptoms.
Teachers may have a preferred way for you to report an absence to them.

If the office does not know why a student is absent, an automated phone call and an email message will be sent out at sometime between 8:30-9:00. This is for safety reasons.
If your child is absent, or going to be absent, be sure to leave a reason. If no reason is given, it will be marked as an Unexcused Absence.
If you have health questions, you can call our school health office at 336-8875 x2654

Many students and parents are frequently concerned about when students should stay home or attend school. The following information is intended to help with this decision.

General practice:

If a student has had a fever of 100 degrees or more, the student must stay home for 24 hours after the temperature returns to normal without fever reducing medication.
If a student has vomited two or more times in the past 24 hours and/or had diarrhea, the student must stay home until 24 hours after the last episode.
If a student has had any rash that may be disease-related or the cause is unknown, check with your family physician before sending the student to school.
If a student is ill, please call the school daily to report the illness.

When a student is sick, parents often wonder whether or not to keep a child at home from school. If a child stays home and has the care they need when first sick, they will often get better faster. Staying home and resting will help the body fight the sickness.