Hello Lyon Families,

Welcome back! We are so excited to begin the 2020-2021 school year and want to make sure our families are informed of all the back to school dates, procedures, and information as we kick off the year.

In this newsletter you will find information about:

Please don't hesitate to contact us with any questions you have as we prepare for the start of the new school year. We are looking forward to having a great, although possibly interesting, 2020-2021!

Stronger Together,

Mrs. Casey Mitchell, Principal

Mrs. Leanne Gove, Assistant Principal

Nearly all back to school forms will need to be completed online through the SISK12 Parent Portal by August 12. As a reminder, the Parent Portal is a tool that parents can use to monitor items like meal balances, grades, attendance, etc. We recommend using it throughout the school year! This tool makes the back to school form process as easy and smooth as possible for our families. Please login to the Parent Portal and complete the needed forms by August 12. ALL students (preschool through 12th grade) must have a parent/guardian complete these required forms. Take note that specific forms must be completed for students to participate in various activities, including technology usage.

To find the Parent Portal CLICK HERE or simply visit republicschools.org and click on the "Parent Portal" icon. This can also be accessed through the district's free mobile app. As a reminder, to login use the email address you have provided to the district and enter the password you have created. If you’ve forgotten it, simply click on the “forgot password” button and follow the prompts.

The student handbook provides a summary of the practices, policies and procedures our district follows. Please review the document at https://www.republicschools.org/studenthandbook. The handbook will remain on the website throughout the entire school year, and printed copies can be requested by contacting our building office. Digitally signing the online Policy and Procedure Acknowledgment form indicates approval of this document.

This year will be a bit different than in years past as we work to ensure we are practicing appropriate distancing and safety precautions. At this time the elementary team has decided to proceed in the following manner:

Kindergarten families: You should receive an email indicating who your child's teacher is, as well as the date and time you will be able to attend an in person Kindergarten orientation. This event will be a come and go event on either August 12th OR 13th for you to meet your child's teacher and drop off supplies.

1st-5th Grade families: Class lists will be posted on the front doors of Lyon on August 14th by 4:00pm. You will then receive a newsletter from your child's teacher on August 17th providing building information, a virtual open house video, as well as a link for you join a live Google Meet with your child's teacher on Tuesday August 18th at either 6:00 pm or 6:30 pm. The purpose of this live meeting is to allow the teacher to share out important back to school information.

Please refer to the map on our building website for pick-up and drop off procedures. The pick-up process for students is typically completed within 13-15 minutes from dismissal. It is important parents do not begin to join the car line for dismissal prior to 3:15 p.m. as to avoid traffic congestion. During dismissal, students will be seated by grade level to be released to cars and will be distanced from their peers while waiting to load their vehicle.

Republic School District is pleased to partner with Teacher Lists to make your school supply shopping easy. By visiting https://www.republicschools.org/schoolsupplies you now have the option to use one click online ordering or to print supply lists and go to the store directly for purchasing. Local vendors will also have these lists available, just as in the past.

Attendance is an important factor in your student's academic success. Traditionally, our building sets an attendance goal of 96.5% of students having 90% or higher attendance for the year and celebrates student attendance throughout the year through various incentives. However, when we begin the school year, we will not be offering attendance incentives. We want to focus our efforts on the importance of healthy habits and encourage students who are not feeling well to stay home as appropriate. While our goal is never to encourage students to attend school while feeling under the weather, we want to place a particular focus on self-monitoring and healthy habits during this unprecedented time.

Lyon's action teams will work to develop other goals and incentives surrounding Leader In Me and literacy.

The Republic School District offers quality and affordable student programming during non-school hours through STRIPES 360. Care is offered before and after school daily and during days that school is not in session. The Tiger STRIPES/TEENS program will be using online enrollment only for registration. As a reminder, each year students must re-enroll in this program. Registration for Tiger STRIPES/TEENS will require a $30 registration fee along with the first two weeks tuition. Online or in-person payment is available. A STRIPES 360 staff member will be available at all open houses and orientations to answer questions, but no payments can be accepted at that time. Tiger STRIPES will be available on the early release day at no extra cost to families already enrolled. For families who only need care on the early release day, Tiger STRIPES will be available at no cost for one hour of care (2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.) and/or at a cost of $4.00 per weekly release day for students needing care until 4:30 p.m. To attend Tiger STRIPES, families will need to sign-up in advance. Registration details can be found at https://www.republicschools.org/STRIPES360 .

Lyon Elementary utilizes many communication tools to keep in contact with your family throughout the school year. Because of this it is very important we have up to date contact information for your student in our system. Should you have a change of address, phone number, or any other important information regarding your child, please contact the office at 417-732-3630. If you need to reach your child's teacher, building administrator, nurse, counselor, or other staff member, they are available via phone or e-mail. In addition to phone and e-mail communication, the district also utilizes the following communication tools:

Starting this year, students who selected they will be riding a bus during online registration will need to login to the Parent Portal to see bus information. Bus letters will no longer be mailed out. For those who have completed online registration by August 12, bus information will be viewable on August 18 in the Parent Portal. Those who have have not completed online registration by this date will experience a lag in being able to view transportation details in the Parent Portal. If you do not see any bus information in the Parent Portal August 18, 2020, please call the Transportation Department at 417-732-3680. Information is updated nightly in the Parent Portal. Due ot the volume of students being routed, bus stop locations and times need to be adjusted, so please check the day before school starts for the most up to date bus information. Questions regarding transportation can be directed to 417-732-3680.

The district Food Service Department offers daily breakfast and lunch options. Meals may be prepaid by submitting cash/check to the school office in a sealed envelope with the student(s) name and the amount enclosed on the outside of the envelope. Another option for payment can be done through the Parent Portal. For meal prices and additional details visit https://www.republicschools.org/foodservice . Please be sure to apply funds to your child's account prior to purchasing meals.

Please complete the Free and Reduced Meal application found HERE. Please complete this form even if you do not plan to use this program. The form and more information can be found at https://www.republicschools.org/Page/185 . A new meal application needs to be completed annually.

Below you will find a list of important upcoming dates. For a full calendar of events, please visit https://www.republicschools.org or visit the mobile app.

August 12: Online registration due

August 12-13: Kindergarten Orientation (Date and times emailed directly to Kindergarten families)

August 13: Paper car lane tags mailed to every family to use on the 1st day of school

August 14: Elementary class lists posted by 4:00 p.m., class assignments can also be found on the Parent Portal

August 18: Virtual Open House (1st-5th grades)

August 18: Transportation details available on the Parent Portal

August 24: FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

September 7: Labor Day, District Closed

Lyon Elementary 201 E Hwy 174, Republic, MO 417-732-3630