Keno Elementary Newsletter

August - September 2023

Dates to Remember

Open House: Thursday August 31st 5:00-6:00 pm (drop in)

First day for all 1st-6th graders: September 5th

Kindergarten Family Conversation (by appointment): Week of September 5-8th

Kindergarten "Phase In" (by schedule): September 11-14th

Kindergarten starts for ALL: September 15th

Early Release Fridays: September 8, 15, 22, 29 students released at 2:00

Welcome Back!

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! We are excited to see you all! Class lists have been made and you can see what class your student is in during Open House on Thursday August 31st or call during or after that time. We work hard to make classes that are balanced by multiple factors to ensure all students are successful.

We have some changes in staff this year:

Kindergarten: Mrs. Beach (formerly Ms. Graham) and Miss Burum

First Grade: Mrs. Burum

Second Grade: Mrs. Rosser and Ms. Magness

Third Grade: Mr. Preston

Fourth Grade: Ms. Schmiedeberg

Fifth Grade: Ms. Nowak and Mrs. McKay

Sixth Grade: Ms. Lomax

Special Education: Miss Frischman

PE: Mrs. Patzke

Intervention: Mrs. Preston

Learning Lab: Mrs. Linman

Speech: Mrs. Englestadter

Social Emotional Learning: Mrs. McDonald

Registration

Online registration is open! Please note that parents of existing Keno students will need to create their Parent Portal and update their contact information. This is to ensure we have accurate emergency contacts, addresses, and medical needs for the new school year.

New to Keno parents please use this link to register: https://kcsdk12.powerschool.com/public/formbuilder/form.html?formid=766

Parents of returning students please use this link: https://kcsdk12.powerschool.com/public

Open House

Drop in any time between 5:00 and 6:00 pm on Thursday August 31st to see your child's classroom and meet his/her teacher.

Start/End Times

Students will be able to enter the building at 8:00. It is extremely important that students are not dropped off prior to 8:00 at the school. There is no supervision until 8:00.

Students who are picked up by parents will be let out at 3:00. Students who ride the bus will be released at 3:10. Traffic does get backed up in the morning and afternoon. We ask that you remain in your vehicle to keep traffic moving.

Early Release Fridays

Almost all Fridays are early release - call the office with questions or check the district calendar. Students will be released 1 hour early on these Fridays.

Bus Routes

Bus routes will be posted on the Keno webpage under the "Our School" tab as soon as the transportation department gets them finalized. These will probably not be posted until right before school starts as some kids get registered late.

Kindergarten

Our two amazing kindergarten teachers will be contacting families the week of August 28th. They will set up a time to meet with each family individually the week of September 5th. They will also take requests for your child's "phase in" date. During phase in week a couple of students come in each day to help get used to being in school and get to know their teacher. All kindergarten students will start regular school on Friday, September 15th. Just remember Fridays are early release!

Breakfast/Lunch

Keno offers free breakfast and lunch to all students. Breakfast will be served at 8:00. Students who come in late will be offered a breakfast until 9:30. The breakfast and lunch menus can be found on our website here.

Changes to Transportation

If you have a change to how your child will get home please call the office prior to 2:30 if possible. This allows time for us to get notes to the classrooms.

Attendance

Attendance in school is mandatory. There is strong evident to support the students who have a higher attendance rate (above 90%) in school are more successful academically. Children should be in school unless they have a fever, vomiting, or diarrhea. They must remain home for 24 hours without those symptoms and without fever reducers. Otherwise colds, coughs, and runny noses are normal for kids in school. We will help promote hand washing and with blowing noses.

Volunteers

If you would like to volunteer in the school please reach out to the office for paperwork. All volunteers must pass a background check.

Photos

If you do not want photos of your child to be shown on district or school social media, please reach out to Mrs. Shively ASAP.

Birthdays

We will acknowledge ALL birthdays at Keno in food-free ways. Due to allergies and medical conditions we do not allow for birthday treats to be brought into school.

Supplies

All supplies are provided by the school. Students only need a backpack and a lunch box if they plan on bringing lunch from home.

Note from Mrs. Shively

I can't believe I am starting my 8th year at Keno! I am so proud to be at Keno Elementary. We have the most incredible kids, staff, and families. I feel very lucky. This year out teachers will start using a new English Language Arts Program (Savvas, MyView). We are all excited about this transition to new materials. We will be starting the second year of iReady math. Our students showed a lot of growth last year in math skills. I expect even better results in the second year of using this curriculum. If you have any questions about curriculum or standards please reach out to me. I look forward to seeing each of your children on September 5th (or a few days later for some kindergarten students). As always, I am available to discuss questions or concerns via phone or in person. I do like to keep my arrival and dismissal times free to greet students, so meeting at those times is not ideal. However, I am usually able to make time right after.

Sarah Shively

shivelys@kcsd.k12.or.us

(541) 883-5055