Elementary Principal Report
Where School is for Kids
by Jim Bathen
August 29, 2008
David City Elementary
Jim Bathen, Principal
We have a new fifth grade staff member this year, Miss Heather Zoucha. Ms. Hladky retired this summer as the fifth grade teacher after many long years of dedication to the David City Public School District. Miss Zoucha has been hired to take her place. She will be teaching math. Miss Zoucha is living in Seward and will be a great addition to our staff. There is also a new addition to our playground. The asphalt completed resurfacing the black top right before school began. No more cracks to try over!!
We are trying to stay up with the new technology; ALERTNOW will be used to communicate with families about events and activities as well as dismissals, cancellations and postponements. Most of you received a sample message during the summer from Mr. Phillips. Most recently you received a reminder from me by telephone about the elementary Open House. When any message is sent out by me I am able to find out who answered their phone, who didn’t answer their phone, which had an answering machine, a disconnected number or an invalid number. For example: I know that we had 47.6% parents answer their phone, 8.66% did not answer their phone, 33.3% had an answering machine and 2.16 of the households had an invalid number. There were also approximately fifteen calls to the school asking why the school called their home. The parents that called the school must be the families that didn’t answer the telephone and the caller ID read that the school called.
Please make sure that parents detach the last page in your elementary handbook. This is the refrigerator calendar that I am asking you to hang on your refrigerator. This will come in handy for you throughout the school year. Every family should have received a Student Handbook. Make sure that you also sign the confirmation sheet and send the sheet back to school with your child. We need to keep this sheet on file.
The school year is off to a quick start. There have not been too many problems to begin the year. I want to remind parents to review the absentee policy very thoroughly. It is import when your child is gone from school that you contact the school. We will be trying to contact you if you do not let us know that your child is sick or has a doctor’s appointment. If you are unable to call, you need to make sure that you send a note to school with your child explaining why he/she was gone from school. Letters will be sent out when a certain numbers of absentees are reached by your student.
