Superintendent's Update

Another school year is off and running.  We had our first home volleyball game and now it's time for our first home football game.  With the building project going on there will be some changes you will notice.

The football field is ready for the first game.  

First, the entrance to the stadium is currently south of the old concrete driveway.  It is just a grass walkway to the field, but will eventually be graveled for this year.  In the future, it will be concrete as it's been in the past.  We still have handicapped parking spots at the stadium, but they are limited.  If you normally park at the stadium and sit in your vehicle, you should be able to continue to do that.  In addition, a huge shout out to State Bank for allowing us the use of their golf cart to shuttle people from the parking lot to the stadium.  If you have trouble getting to the stadium, please let one of the car parkers know and we will call a golf cart to come pick you up.

Second, we currently have less parking spots than normal.  We will be having the football players park in another spot to help the situation.  We will get about 30 spots back once they are done installing the water main, but until that time, thanks for your patience in dealing with the parking situation.  

They yellow line is the construction fence and the red arrow denotes new path to stadium.  

It's great to see the project finally progressing as they begin the pre-construction site work.  At this time, they are moving or installing most of the water lines.  When that process is complete they will begin removing much of the soil where the new building will go and they will replace it with new properly compacted material to provide a solid base for the foundation of the new building.  I will share photos on a regular basis to keep everyone updated.  Be sure to follow the district's Facebook page for the latest updates.

School Bus Reminders

With the new school year starting, I wanted to remind everyone about driving when school buses are out.  Each year we have a number of stop arm violations.  When the red lights are flashing and the stop arm is out it is illegal to pass a school bus from either direction.  When the yellow lights are flashing it means the bus is about to stop and put the arm out and red lights on.  If you see the yellow lights, you should start slowing down and prepare to stop.  The safety of our children is our highest priority and it starts with them being safe on the bus.  

You can check out more at the Iowa DOT website.  

Speaking of children on the buses.  Parents please take a few minutes to discuss with your children bus expectations and also proper procedures for getting on and off the bus.  If your child has to cross the road to get on the bus, please remind them to look for traffic and wait for the driver to motion them across.  When the driver stops he/she looks to make sure all vehicles have stopped or are stopping before letting kids off the bus or motioning them across the road.  The same would apply when getting off the bus.  Please remind them to make sure they stay in the driver's line of sight when going around the bus and again be alert for any traffic that may be coming that isn't stopping for the bus.  

Finally, driving a bus is a rewarding occupation with a lot of responsibility.  Please remind your child to talk quietly so the driver can hear the radio or anything else that may require his/her attention.  In addition, it's especially important that everyone on the bus is quiet when the bus stops at a railroad crossing.  The driver has to look for and listen for an approaching train.  If the students are making too much noise, the driver may take off without hearing the train coming.  If we all work together, we can keep our kids safe.