KELLY NEWSLETTER

Dear Kelly Families:

As we head into the home stretch of the school year, our calendar continues to be full at Kelly School. North Dakota State Assessments are underway in grades three through five, we have wrapped up reading month with our Book Character Parade, and plans are being made for end of the year events.

CROSSWALKS: As we move into spring and more students will be eventually walking and biking to school, please remind you child(ren) to use the crosswalks at arrival and dismissal times. Cherry Street and our parking lots are very busy. As parents, please adhere to our traffic flow procedures and help us ensure your child's safety with us by talking with him/her about the importance of using the crosswalks before and after school.

2026-2027 Classroom Assignments: Drafts of class lists for the 2026-2027 school year will be compiled by teachers, specialists, and administration this spring and will be posted in August before school starts. We ask that parents refrain from making specific teacher requests through your child's current classroom teacher as that often makes it challenging for teachers to create well-balanced classrooms. Our staff members know each student well and collectively consider his/her learning style, academic & social skills and behavior when making a classroom placement. Friendships are also taken into account as we create the lists. Thanks in advance for your cooperation and understanding. There is a quite a bit of time and effort that goes into forming classes and our students' best interests are always at the heart of our decisions. We are fortunate to have multiple sections of each grade level which is beneficial when taking all factors into consideration. Should you like to discuss placement considerations for your child, please contact Mrs. Schmidt or myself directly. Thank you.

PTO Support: Our teachers and administration are very thankful for all of the support we are shown by our PTO. The teacher allocations given to each certified staff member are incredibly helpful and each grade level appreciates the funding that is provided to support field trips. Our PTO shows tremendous support for our teachers, classrooms and the learning that takes place at Kelly School. This year we were able to purchase new microphones and receiver for our sound system in the gym with funding from our student council, Gifts from the Heart funds and our PTO. With funds raised through our current popcorn sale, we will be purchasing TVs and a sound system for the lunchroom. Thanks for the great participation and support. Kelly School is lucky to have such strong parent involvement.

Mrs. Schmidt's Retirement & Mr. Deitchler's Appointment: After 20 years of teaching, learning and leading at Kelly School, LuAnn Schmidt will be retiring at the end of school year. She has had a truly successful career at Kelly School and will be missed! It has been a pleasure to work alongside LuAnn and we wish her all the best. PTO plans to have an opportunity for students and families to recognize and celebrate Mrs. Schmidt at our End of the Year Foam Party on May 14th. More details to come.

Our new Associate Principal will be Mr. Brian Deitchler. Brian's appointment was approved by our School Board on Monday night and his contract will begin July 1st. A big thank you goes out to our PTO President Elect, Ericka Rose, for participating in our associate principal interview process.

Sincerely,

Kelli Tannahill

Grand Forks Public Schools will soon be transitioning from PowerSchool to Infinite Campus as our new student information system. Before this transition takes place, we ask that all families log in to PowerSchool to complete the student registration for the 2026-2027 school year. It is important that all details—such as contact information and emergency contacts—are accurate and up to date.

Deadline to update information in PowerSchool: May 31st

After this date, the system will transition to Infinite Campus, and updated information will carry over into the new system.

Additional information and instructions for accessing Infinite Campus will be shared soon.

Online enrollment for the 2026-2027 year is now available for Grand Forks Public School students.
This process replaces some of the paper forms sent home at the beginning of the year. You will use the PowerSchool Parent Portal to access the Registration. The deadline to update information in PowerSchool is May 31st. Please follow the directions below to complete the online enrollment.

How do I get started?
Visit https://grand-forks.ps.state.nd.us/public/ and log into the PowerSchool Parent Portal. From the Parent Portal:

1. Select the student you wish to register in the upper top left.
2. Select the Enrollment / Registration Icon on the left side for of the screen.
3. Agree to the terms and conditions
4. Click Begin Forms

I can’t remember my login for the PowerSchool Parent Portal.
If you aren’t able to retrieve your login credentials using the “Having trouble signing in?” link on the Sign In page, please contact your school directly for assistance logging in to the Parent Portal.

Do I have to answer all the questions?
Mandatory questions are marked as "required".

What if I make a mistake?
If you would like to make a change prior to submitting the form, you can either navigate back to the page using the “Prev” and “Next” buttons or if you are on the Review page click on the underlined field. If you have already submitted the form you will need to contact your student’s school so they can make the changes for you.

I’ve completed the form, now what?
Once you have finished entering your information click “Submit.” This will send all of the information you’ve entered to the school. If you cannot click on this button you will need to make sure that you have answered all required questions.

What if I have more than one student in the district? Do I need to do this for each child?
Yes you will need to provide information that is specific to each child. We recommend that you complete and submit one form and then start another. This will allow you to “snap” (or share) selected family information, which saves you time.

Help! I’m on the form and I’m having technical difficulties.
For technical support, visit our PowerSchool Community help center or click “Help” from any form page.

Dear Families,

As part of the districtwide budget realignment, we will be introducing a change to student transportation beginning with the 2026–27 school year. Due to increasing operational costs and the need to maintain safe and reliable bus services for our students, the district will be implementing a transportation fee per student for daily, general education routes to and from school.

This fee is necessary to help ensure the long-term sustainability of our transportation program while minimizing impacts to classroom instruction and student learning. By introducing this fee, the district can continue to provide safe, efficient, and reliable transportation services for families who depend on them.

Key Details:

● Effective Date: Beginning with the 2026–27 school year

● Cost: The rate will be finalized and communicated prior to summer break.

● Applies To: General Education students who utilize district transportation services.

Additional information about payment timelines, registration procedures, and possible financial assistance options will be shared with families in the coming months. Busing for Special Education and Multilingual students will continue to be provided free of charge in accordance with federal requirements. The transportation fee will not apply to extra-curricular activities.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the district office.

If a student’s bus tag is lost or broken, a $10 replacement fee will be charged through MySchoolBucks. After payment is made, the attached form must be completed. Replacement cards take 3–5 days to process. Students may continue riding the bus while waiting for their replacement card

MySchoolBucks makes it easy to stay connected to students and parents for any of your school payments.

Create yourself an account at myschoolbucks.com to pay for a variety of school related items such as lunch accounts, after school program fees, chromebook cases, and much more!

The Child Nutrition Program looks forward to serving meals to your child/children during the school year. We serve breakfast and lunch at all schools and after school snacks at most elementary schools. The meals meet and exceed the nutritional requirements for your child's age group.

More information about the Child Nutrition Program, including Free and Reduced meal application information can be found here: https://www.gfschools.org/departments/child-nutrition

Nothing is more important than the safety of our students. For those of you returning to Kelly School, you are aware that the congestion in our parking lots at arrival and dismissal time can be a source of frustration.

We are asking all families to review and follow the traffic flow procedures outlined in the maps below. They have been designed to ensure the safety of all and to expedite the arrival and dismissal process.

NOTE: TRAFFIC ONLY FLOWS ONE DIRECTION IN THE NORTH PARKING LOT. Please adhere to following this traffic flow pattern at all times. Traffic should only flow into the north lot from Oak or 29th and out onto Cherry Street before, after, and during the school day. The same traffic pattern must be also be followed on early dismissal days as well. Please do not exit the north parking lot onto Oak Street. This slows down traffic by causing congestion and puts our students who walk across the parking lot at risk.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation in advance.

Main Office: 701.746.2265

Attendance Line: 701.746.2269

Fax: 701.746.2266

Main Office Hours: 7:45am - 3:45pm

Location: 3000 Cherry Street

Grand Forks, ND 58201l