R-PTLE Weekly Family Communication

Dear Families,

First and foremost, welcome back! We've been waiting for this day all summer and I, personally, am so excited. I wager I don't get much sleep tonight!

This week will be a blur by the time we get to Thursday. Although we have planned for what we believe to be everything, I am sure a few things will arise that cause us to adjust and pivot immediately. With that said, we will communicate as early and often as we can if/when those situations come up. The main point I would like to highlight is in bold and underlined under this paragraph! This week is all half days!!!!! DISMISSAL AT NOON!!!

August 28th: First week of school (Monday-Thursday ½ days for the first week back).

* Our Teachers have professional learning after school on these 1/2 days. If they are hustling away at noon during this first week, please understand they are trying to get lunch before a 3 1/2 hour training each day.

For those of you who are new to the R-PTLE Newsletter: I usually plan to have the newsletter out by Noon on Sundays. This week I will send it Friday and Sunday as there is a lot of information in this newsletter. The Smore format allows me to easily keep information in the thread without recreating a new document every week, which is nice. However, sometimes new information can get lost when it gets placed between a few things that have been up for a few weeks. Therefore, I always have the new information highlighted below under "Just added."

Have an awesome Sunday and see you tomorrow.

Just added:

- Our Day

- Drop Off

- Pick-up

** Picking up a KGer and another student, added info below

- PTO Information

- Breakfast/Lunch Menu

Sincerely,

Paul Siembida

Principal, Twin Lake Elementary

719-3190, Ext: 2225

Succeed Today!

8:25 AM - doors open for breakfast. If you are a drop off and plan on your student(s) eating breakfast, PLEASE drop them at 8:25 (or even 8:23). getting our breakfast line started right away helps our students get to class on time to begin right at 8:45!

8:35 AM - If your student is not eating breakfast please drop them off around this time to help reduce congestion as much as possible. Please make every effort to have your students dropped by 8:35 everyday.

8:45 AM - our day starts!

FIRST WEEK!!! Dismissal is at 12 NOON!!

3:45 PM - Our full day dismissal time. This will begin the 2nd week of school.

Our buses will unload in the AM at circle drive (new this year). The students will exit the bus and walk to door #1 (main entry doorway). There will be one bus that drops students off in the main parking lot, but it should not be in the way off traffic.

Parents dropping their students off will do this in the main parking lot by Door #1. Please be safe and always on the look out for those walking in the parking lot. Slow and steady wins this race, everyday!

Please feel free to walk your children to door #1. Hugs, kisses, and "I love you" outside and let us take it from there. It is our experience that releasing them to the adults in our building from outside is the best way to get their routines started. This is especially true for our youngest learners. As parents, and I have been there, we will feel anxiety and extra strong emotions perhaps related to our KGer walking away from us. Giving them the confidence that they got this is felt when you drop them off and walk away - it is the best way to go about it. We have seen 100's and 100's of times that the tears evaporate and disappear within seconds of entering the building when they see their peers. Nothing but smiles after that!

Our buses will load in the PM at the same spot they unload in the AM, circle drive. Students will be walked, by their teacher, to the buses. Making sure students get on the correct bus is always a primary focus for us during the first week. We will work hard at helping the students memorize their bus number and drivers name.

For parents who pick up, it is a little different - but mostly the same.

Mrs. Monaweck, Mrs. Bradford, and Mrs. Kolbe pick up: Your students will be walking out of door #3. You can park in the main parking lot and/or along Fifth St. Either place you park, please walk up to the gate outside the playground area to receive your student there. The teacher will be walking your student(s) out at Dismissal Time.

** If you are also picking up an older student, you will want to meet at the Twin Lake sign on the front lawn. Look below one section. Please let your teacher know you will be waiting at the sign. **

Mrs. Essing pick up: Your students will be walking out of Door #2. You can park in the main parking lot or by the Church on Fifth St. Either place you park, please walk up the Twin Lake sign on the front lawn to receive your student there. The teacher will be walking your student(s) out at Dismissal Time.

** If you are picking up a Kindergarten student and an older student, this is the spot you will want to meet up. Please let your DK/KG teacher know you will be waiting down here. **

All other classrooms: These students will be walking out of door #1 or down the sidewalk in front of door #1. Please park in the main parking lot by door #1 and wait there. The teacher will be walking your student(s) out at Dismissal Time.

Please click here to view a basic calendar for this up coming school year. For now, more complete details with our calendar can be seen on our districts home page: www.reeths-puffer.org

Important!

Updating your demographics in your parent portal is so critical to ensure effective communication, safety, and staying informed. Please follow the steps provided in the PDF below. If you already have a portal account the demographic update is fairly simple and straight forward. If you are new and need to create an account follow the steps below. Please call the office for assistance.

The portal will open this upcoming week. If you click on the link inside the PDF and it states the portal is temporarily disabled, please try again later. I am not sure when the portal will go live, but it will be live sometime early in the week. We will provide another set of instructions with pictures to help guide after the portal opens. I will send an updated newsletter with these updated instructions that may be easier to follow.

Aug 28th : Mums fundraiser Begins. It concludes Sept 11th.

Sept 13th: PTO meeting, 4pm Room 20

Friday Sept 15th: Popcorn 9am-12pm Room 20

Update every school year!

Please click the link below to fill out our Free/Reduced application. This is important! It is important for a few school funding formulas to have these applications on file. If you are a family who believes they are not going to be eligible for Free/Reduced lunch, please fill this application out anyway. The more applications we get turned in, the better chances we have to be granted funding from various different State and Federal sources. If you have been eligible for this program in the past, you will need to fill the application out for this upcoming school year. If you are unsure, please fill it out and the Kitchen Staff will be in contact with you. I filled out the Siembida Family's application the other night. Start to finish took me 6 minutes on my phone

Please note: Nobody at Twin Lake will see your application, nor will we ever see a list of those who are eligible for this program. ONLY our food service director sees these applications.

9/13 - PTO Meeting, 4pm in room 20

9/15 - Popcorn Friday (send quarters with your student(s) :)

9/15 - Rocket city Kickoff Event and Football game - 5:00 pm Rocket Stadium

Mr. Paul Siembida

Principal, Twin Lake Elementary School

Email: siembidap@reeths-puffer.org

Phone: 231-719-3190, Ext: 2225

Location: Twin Lake Elementary School, 3175 5th Street, Twin Lake, MI, USA