August 30, 2024

Ready for Another Great School Year

Welcome to the start of an exciting new school year! The intense heat we experienced this week was no match for the energy and enthusiasm we felt in our buildings as Linn-Mar staff welcomed our students back to our buildings and our classrooms. We're so excited to have buildings full of students!

This year will be marked with fun learning opportunities for our students. To ensure our students can make the most of those opportunities, our community will see a renewed emphasis on the importance of daily attendance at our buildings and at other Iowa schools. Our district emailed families and guardians with information on how the state's laws on absenteeism and attendance will change how we record absences and how our district, and others, will follow up on repeated absences. While we know research shows that consistent attendance is crucial for academic success, we also know that the rules outlined by this law will be a change for our families.

We will work collaboratively to help ensure parents and guardians better understand these guidelines, which are outlined on our website. We know this law has generated questions from our parents and guardians, so we also have created an updated Frequently Asked Questions section on our webpage to help answer some of those commonly asked questions.

While the rules will take some time for all of us to adjust to, I know we'll continue working together to provide our students with the best opportunities to engage with their education and reach their full potential.

Together, let’s make this school year one of growth, achievement, and community spirit. We look forward to a fantastic year ahead!

Superintendent Amy Kortemeyer

Welcome Back, Students!

We were so excited to welcome our students back this week. See more photos from the first week of school!

Weather Policies and Notification Practices

This week's weather served as a good reminder to review our district's weather closure processes and notification practices as it relates to an early dismissal, late start, or building closure.

Linn-Mar General Weather Guidelines

We have summarized the guidelines used by our district related to cold, heat and snow events for our families. These are the guidelines we'll use to determine if a schedule change makes the most sense for our students, staff and families.

Linn-Mar Notification Process

Our district wants to ensure that we can notify the appropriate individuals in the event of weather-related closures or delays, and with a few steps you can ensure the district has the correct contact information and permissions to reach you.

Update Your Contact Information. We can only contact parents and guardians who have updated their information in our PowerSchool system. Our information will only send to the first two numbers and email addresses listed in your student’s contact information. Please ensure that your contact details are up-to-date.
Sign Up for Text Messages. To sign up and receive text notifications, ensure that you have entered your cell phone number into PowerSchool and also indicated that it's a cell phone number and not a land line or home phone number.
Check Online. We will post information about closures on the Linn-Mar website, the Linn-Mar Community School District Facebook page and X account, and on many local media outlets if there is a district-wide schedule change.

We understand that weather closures can impact your family’s schedule, and we appreciate your understanding and cooperation as we navigate these situations.

Board Meetings Continue at Temporary Locations

The Linn-Mar Board of Directors will continue meeting in a temporary location until the district’s new administration building is completed. The upcoming September meetings of the Linn-Mar Board of Directors will be held at 5 p.m. in the Marion City Council Chambers, 1225 6th Avenue, Marion, IA. Meetings will continue to be livestreamed from this temporary location. All meeting details continue to be posted on the district’s website.

Spotlighting Linn-Mar Activities: LM Robotics

Linn-Mar is proud to offer a variety of clubs, athletics, fine arts and other activities to students in our district. This month we're pleased to spotlight one of our student clubs at the high school level. Linn-Mar Robotics is an extracurricular organization of high school students building robots that play game challenges in FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) programs.

This month the Linn-Mar High School Robotics program received a donation from New Leader Manufacturing for parts and tools for the robotics program for the 2024-25 school year (pictured above.)

In 2023-24, 62 high school students invested 3,400 hours working with business and technology mentors in four teams where they built skills, confidence and resilience. Robotics clubs also are available for students in other grades as well.

Parents and Guardians: watch for an email from your student's building in September with information about how your student can participate in clubs and activities like Robotics!

Not Too Late- Complete Student Enrollment

As a reminder, all families with a student returning to the Linn-Mar Community School District for the upcoming school year must complete a simple online process to re-enroll their students for the upcoming school year.

This is a critical step that needs to happen before the start of school to help our district maintain correct contact information for families, ensure we have accurate enrollment information so we can make staffing adjustments, and to ensure our transportation efforts run as smoothly as possible. Buildings will be following up with those parents and guardians who have not re-enrolled their students.

You can find information about how to re-enroll your student here.

Volunteer at Linn-Mar

Volunteering is a great way to be involved in a child's educational journey. The district requires building and classroom volunteers to complete an application process in order to become approved to volunteer.

If you're new to volunteering or if you're annually renewing your volunteer status, you'll start by filling out the Volunteer Application/Renewal Form. New volunteers will sign up to attend an orientation session. After completing a background screening, you'll be added to the email distribution lists for the school(s) you're interested in getting involved with.

Join the Pride: Job Openings at Linn-Mar

Are you motivated to create brighter futures for students, families and the Linn-Mar community? Joining the Linn-Mar Community School District team means becoming part of a community dedicated to fostering growth, inspiring innovation, and empowering success.

We are still hiring student support associates, bus riders, aquatics team members and other positions. Check out our openings online.

Updated Activities in Virtual Backpack

Community and district clubs and activities are often promoted through our district's Virtual Backpack. Check out some of the recent additions including:

Orchestra Iowa School Youth Chorus auditions
Linn-Mar Basketball Academy (Girls program)
Linn-Mar Youth Football League (Registration closing Sunday!)

Inspire Learning. Unlock Potential. Empower Achievement.