Announcements 10.09.15 - Please read fully to the end

• Mom's Night Out is tomorrow, Monday, October 12 at 6:30. We'd love to see you there! If you plan to come, you MUST comment on the original web post.
• Next Friday, October 16 is the last class day of Term 1. The 3rd-5th Grade 'Navigating our World' class will be using hard candies during a treasure map activity. If your child cannot have the candies, please let us know that morning.
• Term 2 classes begin the following Friday, October 23. We are working on a visit from the Council Bluffs Fire Department that morning, and plan to include ages from PreK - 5th Grade in the activities. More details will follow, but be prepared for the normal class schedule to change for that morning.
• The PE Team plans to take kids outside for as many weeks as the weather allows. Please make sure that your kids have jackets (preferably with their name inside) and appropriate shoes. You're welcome to send a water bottle with your child, but make sure that it's clearly labeled with their name.
• If you have paid your membership dues and would like a receipt, please let Penny Julian know and she will make one for you. Membership cards will be ready soon.

BELL AND DISMISSAL PROCEDURES:  

We discussed this before classes on Friday, but we ask that all members please, please read through this and make sure that you're familiar with these procedures.

With the increased number of kids, it's important that everyone understands and follows this system. Our normal weekly attendance may be between 100-150 kids. Due to safety issues, etc., we cannot have all of them passing in the halls and using the stairs at the same time.

TWO bells will ring at the end of each period:

• Classes start at 45 minute mark (9:45 and 10:45)
• First bell rings at 35 minute mark (10:35 and 11:35)
• 3rd-5th Grades and 6th-12th Grades pass to next class
• PreK-K and 1st-2nd Grades - 5-minute heads-up
• Second period teachers and helpers, go to your classrooms
• Second bell rings at 40 minute mark (10:40 and 11:40)
• PreK-K and 1st-2nd Grades pass to next class.
• If no one is available to ring bell, teachers please watch the clock and pass at the correct times

Teachers: Please understand this bell system, and be prepared to end classes punctually.  This is important for all ages, but especially for 3rd-5th Grades passing between first and second periods. They need to MOVE as soon as possible after the first bell, and line up along the hallway walls outside of the gym. This keeps the hallways and stairs open for the little kids, and keeps most of the traffic on the stairs going one direction at a time - important for safety!! It also clears the upstairs classrooms for second period teachers to get in and get ready for the younger kids to arrive.

ALL teachers need to bring ALL students to the Fellowship Hall after Second Period. Classes will sit together at assigned tables, and teachers will help keep kids quiet and calm until after announcements. There will probably NOT be enough chairs for adults to sit - adults will be standing and helping to keep the students settled. If teachers have clean up to finish in their classrooms, they need to do that AFTER dismissal.

Can we say it again?  ALL teachers need to bring ALL students to Fellowship Hall after Second Period. Sometimes we have closing announcements, sometimes we don’t, but that’s NOT why we’re insisting on this. There are safety and security reasons that make this important. Please, friends - NO sneaking out between the bells and dismissal, and NO pulling your kids out of the lines of students that are being led downstairs. If your family needs to leave early, we ask that you collect your kids from their classes and leave the building PRIOR to the bell at 11:35. 

Also, please don’t congregate in the Heritage Room (coffee room) as we're gathering for dismissal - it creates a traffic problem. Go ahead and move fully into the Fellowship Hall.

Our best suggestion for the nursery at this point is that you grab your little ones on your way past for dismissal, and then return to gather diaper bags, etc. after dismissal is over. That may need some fine-tuning. 

The entire system may need some fine-tuning as the year goes on, but we THANK YOU for your attention, help, and cooperation in the meantime.