Sawgrass Bay News

Greetings Sawgrass Bay Families,

It's hard to believe that in just a few weeks students will be returning to school. We have been busy planning and preparing for the upcoming school year. We cannot wait to open our school doors on August 10th and welcome students back for the 2023-2024 school year.

Meet the Teacher is scheduled for August 8th from 11:00-2:00PM. Families may come at any time during the designated hours to meet their child's teacher and drop off any supplies.

The first day of school is August 10th and our doors will open at 8:00AM. For safety and security reasons, we cannot allow parents to walk their student to class. We have designated staff members helping to ensure all students make it safely to class, including helping students find out their assigned teacher if they were not able to attend Meet the Teacher.

We are excited to offer a kindergarten screening day for our newest bobcats. Please see information below regarding the schedule.

We are looking forward to an exciting year!

Please be sure to follow us on Facebook for the most up to date information.

Yours in education,

Andrea Nelson, Principal

Sawgrass Bay Elementary

Please remain in your car during arrival and dismissal. For safety and security reasons, we will not allow parents or other visitors to approach students seated on benches waiting to be picked up.

Arrival:

The car rider line begins at 8:00 AM. Parents may drop off their child from 8:00 to 8:30. Supervision is extremely important and most staff members are not required to report to work until 8:00 AM. Students may not be dropped off before the front doors open.

After the first week of school, if parents are in the car rider line at 8:30, when the tardy bell rings, you will need to come into the office to sign your child in. If parents arrive in the car rider line by 8:15, there is generally no problem getting through the line with time to spare.

Dismissal:

Car riders are dismissed from the front of the school in the afternoon and are picked up in the car rider line. The line typically runs about thirty minutes. During the first few weeks of school, we ask that parents be patient as our school personnel are learning the names and vehicles of all of our families.

Please complete the form below to register your child or children as car riders at Sawgrass Bay. We recommend that if there's a chance your child will be a car rider even just a couple times this year, to go ahead and complete this form. Students registered as car riders will receive a car tag at Meet the Teacher on August 8th. Please be sure to stop in the media center to pick up your car tag.

The car tag must be hanging from the rearview mirror of the driver who is picking up from school during dismissal. If a car tag is not present, we will not be able to release the student unless the person picking up presents a photo ID and is on the pickup list.

Click the button below to request a car tag.

Car Rider Line Path:

For safety purposes and to help reduce the wait time in the car line, please ensure the path below is followed in the morning and afternoon.

Bus transportation is available for students who live outside of the 2 mile radius of school.

Families should receive the bus route at Meet the Teacher. It is highly recommended that you get to the bus stop 15 minutes before the bus is supposed to arrive. The bus route times are inconsistent during the first few weeks of school as the bus drivers learn the students and the routes.

During the first week of school, students receive a bus tag with the name of their bus to hang on their backpack. Kindergarten students receive an additional bus tag so that the bus drivers know they are in kindergarten. All kindergarten students should have a parent or guardian waiting at the bus stop each afternoon. After the first week, it is the student’s responsibility to know their bus and to get to it in a timely manner. The buses wait seven minutes and are called two times before they leave. Parents are called to come pick up any students who miss their bus.

Please submit any transportation changes in writing to your child’s teacher. Transportation changes over the phone cause disruption and unnecessary anxiety for our students. If there is an absolute emergency you may make the change over the phone, but you must have the student’s security code. Transportation changes that require a different bus must be made through the transportation department due to limited capacity on each.

Please click on the button below to view Lake County Schools Transportation Website for more information. We will also have bus registration and information available during Meet the Teacher in the media center.

Only students who live in the Sawgrass Bay or Serenoa neighborhoods should be walking to and from school. These students receive a walker tag on their backpack to signify that they leave campus by foot and/or bicycle. Students may arrive on campus between 8:00 and 8:30. They will enter the front of the building, but must come in from the bus loop side so they do not cross our car rider traffic. Your child's teacher will provide more information regarding the procedures we follow for walkers at Meet the Teacher.

Check back at the link below for updated information and 23-24 Fall ELC Registration.

We are a uniform school. Students may wear red, white, blue, or pink polos with khaki, navy or black pants. Students may also purchase and wear an SBE school t-shirt.

Please use the link below if you would like to purchase Sawgrass Bay T-Shirts at any time during the year. All shirts are being sold through our online platform. Purchases completed by August 2nd can be picked up in your child's classroom during Meet the Teacher. If you make a purchase after August 2nd, the shirts will be delivered to your child's classroom beginning the first week of school and throughout the year. These shirts may be worn instead of the polos.

Tardies and Early Checkouts

At Sawgrass Bay Elementary, attendance matters and is strictly monitored! In order for children to be successful, they must attend school on a regular basis. The staff at Sawgrass Bay has initiated several attendance incentives to encourage daily attendance. Regular school attendance is vitally important to a student’s academic achievement. Research supports the unquestionable link between attendance and student achievement. Students who attend school between 85 and 100 percent of the time pass the state tests in reading and math at much higher rates than students who attend school less than 85 percent of the time.

If for any reason a student misses a day of school, please send in a note with him/her when they return to school.

Academic instruction is Sawgrass Bay’s top priority; therefore, we strongly discourage parents from picking up their child before the instructional day has ended. Parents are encouraged to schedule appointments after school or on early release Wednesdays. However, if a student needs to be checked out early for a doctor’s appointment we encourage you to do so before 2:15 pm each day and 1:15 pm on Wednesday. Later check out times begin to interfere with our dismissal procedures.

Both excused and unexcused absences, along with tardiness and early sign-outs, continue to count when determining a student’s pattern of non-attendance. A student has a “pattern of non-attendance” if he or she is absent from school a total of (5 days) in a nine week period.

If a child has unexcused absences, excused absences without acceptable documentation, tardies or early sign-outs that add up to a “pattern of non-attendance,” an attendance meeting occurs with the parent, student, teacher and guidance counselor.

Click on the button below to view our 23-24 SBE Student Handbook. This handbook provides lots of great information regarding some of our policies and procedures we have in place to ensure that our campus runs smoothly. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions.

We are looking for parents, staff and community members to join our SAC.

A School Advisory Council (SAC) is a peer elected, collaborative team that works to improve student achievement, effective teaching in the classroom , and parent and community engagement in the educational process. The SAC is intended to represent the broad school community and those persons closest to the students as they share responsibility for guiding our school toward continuous improvement, Being a part of SAC and attending meetings is a great way to stay involved in your student's education.

Please complete the form below if you are interested in attending our first meeting (date TBA) and joining our mailing list.

Our PTO is looking for parents and caregivers to help plan events and celebrations for the students and teachers throughout the year. We have opportunities for people with all sorts of skills and availability, so please join us!

Email: SBEClermontPTO@gmail.com

Click on the button below to complete the PTO interest form to become a part of our distribution list and begin receiving information about how to become an active member. Be sure to stop by the PTO booth at Meet the Teacher.

All of our volunteers must have at least a level 1 background clearance.

• Level 1 - parent must always be in the visual presence of a school district employee
• Level 2 - parent may be assigned outside of the immediate presence of a school district employee

Volunteers must have a Level 2 clearance to chaperone field trips.

Please visit the website below for more information on how to become a volunteer:

If you have any questions, please contact our volunteer coordinator:

Barbara Eldredge

eldredgeb@lake.k12.fl.us

August 8: Meet the Teacher 11:00-2:00

August 10: First Day of School

August 24th-August 31st: Boosterthon Fundraiser

September 1st: No School for Students

September 4th: No School for Students

September 13th: Family Mission Night 5PM-6:30PM

September 15th: Student Dress Down Day

September 27th: Fall Picture Day (students must be in uniform)

October 12th: End of First Grading Period

October 13th: No School for Students

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the most current information, updates, and great things occurring on our campus!

-Andrea Nelson, Principal

Website: https://sbe.lake.k12.fl.us/
Location: 16325 Superior Boulevard, Clermont, FL, USA
Phone: 352-243-1845
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sawgrassbay/
Twitter: @sawgrass_bay