SCSD Update

SCSD Families,

Welcome to the 2023-2024 school year! Thank you for your continued partnership, support, patience, and understanding as we navigate through our transition to PowerSchool (our new student information system). Our staff has worked relentlessly to make this transition as smooth as possible, but it’s been proven to be a challenging process. Unfortunately, due to our previous SIS provider abruptly announcing they were no longer going to provide their SIS product, we were forced to move to a new system on an abbreviated timeline.

Things seem to be smoothing out, but if you’re still experiencing issues with registering, please send your information to enrollment@stcharlessd.org and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible. Rest assured, every SCSD student will know where to go on the first day of school and will be welcomed with open arms. Thank you again for all that you do to help us succeed with your child’s education. In order for all of us to be fully ready for the start of the school year on August 22nd, here are a few key items we want to share with you.

• As you may already know, we needed to cancel our open session Board meeting last Thursday night. There was a staff member who suffered a major medical event that afternoon. I'm pleased to tell you that the staff member is in stable condition and is on the path of recovery. This is great news!

• The open session Board meeting for August will take place virtually later this week (will be posted soon) in order for the BOE to approve monthly operational items.

• Here is some detailed information on our PowerSchool transition...

• Registration/Enrollment: All schools have a bank of chromebooks for parents/families to use during orientation/registration days. Everything (student/parent info/emergency contacts/etc) should be put into the PowerSchool system.

• Schedules: The majority of the scheduling at the High Schools and HMS are complete. Jefferson's schedules will be ready early next week (before Wednesday).

• Families are encouraged to use the MySchoolBucks platform for fines/fees/lunch accounts. If you haven't created a MySchoolBucks account or are having issues, please click here for further instructions.

• Transportation route information is scheduled to be sent out on Tuesday, August 15th.

• Our summer construction projects are all finishing up nicely, but it’s down to the wire as usual. Kudos to our facilities staff for all they’re doing to get our buildings ready for the start of the school year. Also, a shout out to the staff who have to work through/around the construction projects as they’re preparing to welcome students back. We will be fully ready to welcome everyone back on the 22nd.

• The City Street Department has started a project to add a stoplight at Ipswich & Zumbehl (at the beginning of the entry drive to Jefferson). The addition of this stoplight is long-awaited. However, we are fully aware that the timing of the project is not ideal with the start of the school year approaching. We have a strong partnership with the City and they are fully aware of when school starts. Plans will be in place to reroute traffic if needed.

• Reminder… Tomorrow, August 15th from 4-6 p.m, the District will facilitate our 8th annual Family Festival in the SCHS main gym. The festival will once again be held inside as we partner with We Love St. Charles to create a more festive atmosphere. Families with students in the Parents as Teachers Program and in grades Pre K-12 can stop in and receive bags full of resources from local organizations such as Care to Learn and many others. There will be food, bounce houses, resources and school vaccines (from Compass Health). It is our unwavering priority to continue to help meet the emergent health, hunger and hygiene needs so every child can be successful in our schools. Please note that backpacks and supplies are being distributed only through We Love St. Charles Supplies for $5 program. Backpacks and supplies will NOT be given out during the Family Festival.

• Our theme for this year is “BE.” We want to BE Safe, BE Respectful, and BE Responsible in everything we do. If we do this, we will have a very successful school year together! This theme goes along with our district-wide implementation of PBIS (Positive Behavior Interventions & Supports). The PBIS framework is a systematic approach aimed at establishing positive student culture. PBIS is designed to benefit all students across all environments in school to help create a safe and effective learning environment. SCSD is committed to Reach, Teach, and Empower optimal student behaviors. Let’s continue to unite and stay positive for the betterment of our students. It is my hope that everyone is ready to BE.. Safe, Respectful, and Responsible as we embrace our next school-year-long journey together.

We can’t wait for August 22nd to get here! We will see you then.

#BEscsd

Dr. Jason Sefrit

Superintendent of Schools