Fort Stevens Elementary ● Home of the Eagles Lisa Crowell, Principal PO Box 476 ● Yelm, WA 98597 Phone: 360-458-4800 ● Fax: 360-458-6315 ● Attendance Hotline: 360-458-8198 “A community dedicated to learning and achievement” January 22, 2016 Calendar of Events January Booster Clubs Epic SCHOOL BOARD APPRECIATION MONTH! Kids Night Out 1/22 Care Store 5th & 6th grades Was a huge success! Thank you to the 501st Legion 1/25 Eagle Leader MTG 8:30 1/27 Late Start for helping with Kids Night Out and the food drive. (Please do not arrive Fort Stevens students brought in throughout the before 9:55 am) CHORUS 9:15—10:00 AM week 1500 food items that the Booster Club took to (Please do not arrive the Yelm Community Food Bank. Thank you to Fort before 9:10 am) 1/28 4th Grade Field Trip to State Stevens Booster Club, our wonderful volunteers, Capitol 9:30-2:00 School Board MTG 7pm staff and students that helped make this a 1/29 Early Release Records Day memorable night! Over 200 students attended Kids School gets out at 12:15pm Night Out!! SmileMobile A mobile dental clinic January 25th thru January 28th At Yelm Middle School 402 Yelm Ave. Call 1-888-286-9105 To schedule a dental exam for your child. The event is open to the community regard- less of the school your child attends. Register to Vote for the February 9, 2016 Special Election Yelm Community Schools will consider two ballot measures-A four year maintenance Our lost and found is overflowing with coats, and operation replacement levy and a sweatshirts and lunch boxes!! school construction bond. Please check the lost and found located outside the of- Ballots will begin to arrive January 21st. fice for any items your student might be missing. All Remember to Vote, your vote counts! items still in the lost and found at the end of the day January 29th will be donated to charity. THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR WONDERFULL BUSINESS PARTNERS!! Parents Just a reminder: EMERGENCY SCHOOL Per Yelm Community Schools district wide policy, we are not CLOSURE INFORMATION allowed to give change. Please send exact change If it is necessary to cancel school or announce a school for lunches, field trips, etc. We also accept checks and credit cards. delay, we will use our automated calling system to notify families. If you don't receive a call, please check www.ycs.wednet.edu for the most current information. Closure and delay information can also be viewed on any of the media outlets listed below. AM Stations PM Stations KGTK 920 KPLU 88.5 Friday January 29th KOMO 1000 KMPS 94.1 Early Release Day/Records Day KGY 1240 KXXO 96.1 KITZ 1400 KGY 96.9 School will be dismissed at TV Stations KIRO 97.3 12:15 p.m. KOMO 4 KRWM 106.9 KING 5 / KONG 6 KIRO 7 KCPQ 13 When Possible, announcements for emergency closures Levy and Bond Facts… and delays will be made before 6 a.m. Occasionally cir- Yelm Replacement Levy and Bond FAQ Why are we also running a replacement levy? cumstances change quickly and late announcements are The current levy expires in December 2016. In order to maintain unavoidable. Always check the Yelm Community Schools the level of education and services provided to students and families, a renewal of the levy is needed. The replacement levy request website (listed above) for the most current information. is not an increase and continues to be below the allowable levy ceiling set by state statute. Yelm Community Schools runs the levy Limited Transportation every four years in alignment with surrounding school districts to When road conditions are hazardous, the district may save money on election costs. What is a construction bond? restrict bus routes to main streets. Limited transporta- A bond pays for capital projects such as new school construction, tion will be announced following the same notifications renovation, replacement, and other school improvements. Bonds are financed over a long period of time up to 30 years but typically system. Limited transportation routes can be found on 20 years. The last voter-approved school bond was in 2003 which the YCS District webpage by going to www.ycs.wenet.edu. paid for new construction of Ridgeline Middle, replacement of McKenna Elementary, and renovation of Yelm High, Lackamas You will find routes under “site shortcuts” You may also Elementary, and several other building improvements. register for the flash alert system by going to our district How is a school replacement maintenance and website to register. This allows you to receive text alerts. operations levy and construction bond different? A maintenance and operation levy helps fund day-to-day learning We also have links on the Fort Stevens website for your needs such as employee salaries and training, instructional materials, convenience. extracurricular programs, and low class sizes to support learning. Bonds are for building so that learning can happen. Washington https://www.flashalert.net/signup.html. State does not fully fund the maintenance and operations of **Please keep your phone numbers up to date so you can school districts. Local taxpayers fund the gap between what the state provides and what the district needs to educate students. In receive any school updates** Yelm, local levy funds make up 17% of the total budget. Why does the school district need a construction bond election now? Growth: Since our 2003 bond was passed, enrollment has grown Safety Procedures by over 850. A study funded by the state forecasts we will grow by Per Yelm community Schools District wide policy, all visitors another 900 students by 2019. In response to our rapid growth, we have added portable classrooms and bathroom throughout the must check in the office. Any item whether it be lunch boxes, district, converted computer labs and stages to classrooms, and clothes homework or birthday treats must be left in the office made boundary changes; but we are running out of options. New and your student will be called up to get the item. Unless you legislation requiring smaller class sizes will only add to the problem. have prearranged it with your child's teacher, you may not go Safety: Security needs have changed dramatically since many of our schools were built. Security features such as cameras, fences, down to your child’s classroom unannounced. This is for the and visitor management systems along with upgraded fire and water safety of all of our students and to not interrupt valuable systems that are necessary in today’s educational environment. learning time for our students. Timing: Low interest rates and a competitive construction market If you have cupcakes or treats for your child's birthday, please will help make this investment in schools more affordable. The projects selected will generate the maximum state assistance leave them with the office staff as our teachers prefer to serve funds, stretching our local dollars further. The longer we wait, the them at your child's lunch time. more serious the deterioration and more costly to repair or replace Thank You in the future. Mrs. Crowell, Principal Visit our website at www.ycs.wednet.edu/levy-bond Like us on Facebook www.facebook.com/YCSnews Please remember to call the attendance line at (360) 458-8198 when your student will be late or will be absent from school . You can leave a message 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Parents: Please make sure you call our office before 2:00 if you have a transportation change. Also, please make sure you notify us of any transportation changes as we need to write notes for our students and have them delivered, it is very difficult to pull students off busses for parents that have not called ahead. Thank you. .