Handbook for Lester Park Families

Here are some of the things you will find: school hours, address, important dates/calendars, weekly newsletters, volunteering information, school supply list, community information/registrations, playground rules, staff contact information & more!

We also have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Lester-Park-Elementary-1900216436910729/

Teachers/Staff Contact Info

Phone

A directory of teacher and other staff extensions can be found on our website under “About Us”.

There is also a phone directory option when you call 336-8875.

Email

Staff email addresses are as follows: (first name).(last name)@isd709.org

Attendance

Reporting an Absence

Call attendance line 336-8875 then “3” to leave a recorded message
Email lesterattendance@isd709.org (the office & nurse will both see these emails)
Please list any specific symptoms, especially during times of increased stomach flu, COVID, & influenza.
Teachers may have a preferred way for you to report an absence to them.

If we do not hear why a student is absent, an automated phone call and an email message will be sent out at some point between 8:30-9:00am. This is for safety reasons.

Late/Tardy

Students need to be in the classrooms by 7:45am.
Students arriving up to 30 mins late are marked “Tardy”, after that they are marked “Unexcused Absence”.
For more School District Absence policies, click HERE, then click on the “500 Series” and read the 503R and 500 sections.
After so many tardies, unexcused or excessive absences, attendance letters will be mailed out.
If you have the cell phone app and your child is late, please note you will receive two attendance emails. We need to first mark him/her absent and then check them in at their arrival time.

Illness Guidelines for Keeping a Student Home

Click here: Is My Child Well Enough To Go To School
School District Health Services website: https://www.isd709.org/families/health-services

Lester Park School Health Office: 336-8875 then push 7
Health Office staff will also see emails sent to: lesterattendance@isd709.org

Homework Requests

School District policy for requesting homework - teachers have up to 48 hours to prepare the work to send home. This is because teachers have limited time during the day to assemble the work and write up the homework instructions.
Once the teacher has the homework assembled, they will notify you and set it on the black cart in the front vestibule. You will find this cart to the left of the cafeteria door and available to you from 6:30am-5:59pm on school days. Please wait to hear from the teacher before coming to school for homework.
It can take a lot of time for a teacher to put homework together, so if you request it then please have your child complete it. Thank you!

Important Cold Weather Information

There is some GREAT information about the School District’s decision processes and also what to expect when there is a 2-hour here: https://www.isd709.org/families/weather-related-school-closings

All families should have a contingency plan for their children in the event of weather-related school closings or a 2-hour late start.
When weather causes a 2-hour late start, this is for students AND school staff. Do not send your child to school before 9:30am if there is a 2-hour late start. The building will be locked. It is similar to a regular school day’s process but 2 hours later.

Recess and Crossing Guard cold weather criteria

There will be inside recess and no crossing guards when the wind chills or actual temperatures are colder than -15 degrees.
Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather: winter jacket, snow pants, mittens, hat, boots, etc. Students do great outside during their 20 minute recess but they need to be dressed for it!

Parent Portal for Infinite Campus

https://duluthmn.infinitecampus.org/campus/portal/duluth.jsp

What information you can view

Lunch balance, Attendance, Student ID #, Report cards (after a specific date). It is also how you find out your child’s teacher in August. We do not post classroom lists anymore nor give out teacher assignments over the phone or in email due to data privacy laws.

What information you can change

Your phone # and email, as well as what you are contacted for (attendance issues, etc).

To change your address or name, please contact the school office. Please note you will need to provide a residence verification for all address changes (tax statement, rental agreement, purchase agreement, or are homeless).

Login Information

Once you enroll a child, you will receive an email from the school district’s Technology Department. It will provide instructions on registering for Parent Portal (which you will need to do separately for each child). These logins expire after 1 year so make sure you log-in at least a couple times a year.

Forgotten Password or Username

If you have forgotten your password or username, you can find help for that on the Parent Portal main page: https://duluthmn.infinitecampus.org/campus/portal/duluth.jsp

If you are still having problems, contact the school office and we can assist you.

If you have the Phone App…

Below is a link with information about how to get the app. Before I share the link, there are some important things you need to know...

You will be notified anytime your child's absence is edited. This could mean if their teacher marks them absent, if we enter a future absence that you notify us about, if they are tardy, if we are checking them in or out based on the yellow book in the front entrance, etc. So it is important that if you do receive a notification that you check to see why. If you click on the date, it will show the reason.

You will get a notification when the teacher marks your child absent. If the office knows why your child is absent, you will get a 2nd notification within a half hour because we have changed it to Excused or Ill, etc. If we don't know, then you will get your 2nd notification after the auto message goes out asking you to notify us when your child is absent.
If your child is late, you will probably receive 3 notifications. 1st - teacher marks your child late. 2nd - we mark them absent. 3rd - we check them in at the time they arrive at the front doors or at their classroom. Please note that these 3 notifications will not happen all at once.
You can click on a date with an absence and see why they are absent...Excused, Illness, Unexcused. Unfortunately it looks like you can no longer see our comments (late, dr appt, etc).
Elementary attendance is counted by minutes but displayed as two sections: AM & PM. That can be a little confusing when, for example, your child is only gone for an hour, but it looks like they were gone for the whole AM.
If you sign your child out early at the end of the day, you may get a notification the next day when we adjust his/her attendance for the time they left school. Same goes for when you check them in.

We just want you to be aware of some of the reasons that you may receive an attendance notification. It is not uncommon for us to receive a phone call from a worried parent because we adjust an absence. By all means, please feel free to call us or email us if you have a concern! 336-8875 x2652 lesterattendance@isd709.org

How to upload the app and login into Infinite Campus:

Click the link below and scroll down:

https://www.infinitecampus.com/audience/parents-students/audience-parents-students-help-center

This is totally optional to get the app! You can always just log into Infinite Campus the regular way on a desktop or phone.

Calendars

There are a few different calendars we use at Lester Park: district school year calendar (with or without the specialist 4-day rotation). All of these can be found on our website and in our school newsletters.

School District Calendar

Typically published in late winter of the next school year.

School District Calendar with Specialist Rotation

A number 1-4 will be found on each school day. This will help you know whether your child has music, art, gym, or library. Each teacher will likely provide their families with a specialist schedule, which you can then use with this calendar.

Lester Park School Calendar

This calendar has events specific to Lester Park Families, including: Picture Day, Teacher conferences, Grandparents Day, many Field Trips, Holiday breaks, etc. Click on the individual item to find out more information about an event.

Transportation

Bus Changes/Additions

If your child needs a bus, a bus stop change, no longer needs bussing…you must contact the school office to have it changed (tracy.thompson@isd709.org). If you call the Transportation Dept, they will just tell you to contact your school office. Here is what the school office will need to know:

Child’s name
Is the bussing to/from home or daycare(address)?
Is a bus needed for the AM or PM or BOTH
When should the busing start or end?
Once the bussing has been approved, how do you want to be notified?

Changes can take 2-5 business days, or possibly 1-2 weeks the last week of August-mid September.

IMPORTANT: Students can only ride a bus they are assigned to. Bus drivers will not allow students on their bus if they are not assigned to that bus.

A Lot more information can be found on the School District Transportation Department website here: https://www.isd709.org/families/transportation

Be Prepared If a School Bus Route Is Canceled!

Canceling a school bus route at the last minute is not a preferred strategy and we hope we never have to take this step. However, Duluth school district schools and staff are prepared for this possibility due to weather or driver shortages due to COVID19 outbreaks.

The need to cancel a school bus route for a day may be announced the night before or early in the morning (between 5AM to 6:15AM).

The bus route will be referred to by School Name/AM or PM Service/Route Number.
In Infinite Campus Parent Portal you can check your child's morning and afternoon route numbers.

Families impacted by the bus route cancellation will be notified:

Automated phone call from the school district
Email from the school district
Text from the school district (if the family is set up to receive texts)

Families impacted by the school bus route cancellation can either:

Provide transportation for their child in place of that route or
Keep their child home and, as long as they report the absence to the school, It will be considered excused.

Families, especially those with elementary age students, should have a contingency plan for their children
in the event of a school bus route cancellation.

Parent Pickup or Drop off:

Morning Drop-Off

Do not drop your child off until 7:30am.
Please do not drop off or block the bus parking lot exit. Allow buses to exit.
The sidewalk in front of the school is a fire lane. Do not leave your vehicle.
Pull all the way up to drop off your child. Stopping in front of the doors greatly slows the drop off process.
Do not drop off your child from the middle drive-thru lane. This is dangerous for your child, and also greatly slows down the drop off process.
Have your child exit the car along the sidewalk, not into the middle drive-thru lane. This is also dangerous for your child.
Have your child ready to exit your vehicle before you get to school. This way you can “Stop (unbuckle) Drop and Go”. The faster you drop off your child, the faster it will go for others.
When pulling out from the fire lane, put your left turn signal.
Drive slowly through the parking lot, watching for children who may dart out from parked cars.
If the long line of cars causes students to be late, they will not be marked tardy.

Afternoon Dismissal

If you are first here, pull all the way forward. Do not just stop in front of the door.
The sidewalk in front of the school is a fire lane. Do not leave your vehicle as this is illegal. If you need to leave your vehicle, please park in the parking lot.
Do not block other cars from entering the parking lot entrance, or exiting the parking lot.

Breakfast/Lunch

Breakfast

Breakfast is free and optional for all students. For more information, contact your child’s teacher or the office. For a list of the daily hot item, please see the link on our homepage or click here: https://www.isd709.org/families/child-nutrition

Lunch

Lunch is free for all students through at least the 2024-25 school year.
Students will use their Student ID # when getting a lunch.
If a student brings a cold lunch, do not send pop, energy drinks, coffee, or other caffeinated beverages. This is a school district policy. Students can purchase a milk for 50 cents.
Students are not allowed to have visitors at lunch or recess.
To pay for a lunch or milk (extra milk or with a cold lunch)...

Check or cash turned into the office or to the teacher
Pay online using PayPAMS (there is a small fee)
Students with a cold lunch may purchase a milk for 50 cents
Cost of lunches, as well as other information can be found here: https://www.isd709.org/families/child-nutrition

Free/Reduced Lunch Information

Free/Reduced applications must be filled out every school year.
All families are encouraged to fill out the applications.
Please fill out the application even during years when lunches are free. This is because the School District and Lester Park School receive additional funding based on how many students qualify.
More information can be found here: https://www.isd709.org/families/child-nutrition

Lunch Balance Questions

You can call the school kitchen manager at 336-8875 x1347 or contact Child Nutrition at 336-8707

Snacks - Birthday treats/invitations

Students need to bring a snack each day. Teachers will provide more information.
Some classrooms are “nut-free”, which means snacks/treats with nuts are not allowed in these rooms.
The school district does not allow pop for snacks or lunch
You may provide birthday treats, but they must be store-bought. Homemade items are not allowed.
It is our policy not to hand out birthday invitations in classrooms unless the whole class is invited. The PTA tries to do an online school directory every other year. Keep an eye out for more information on this in the school newsletter. It is optional to partake in this online directory.

Halloween/Fall Fests

Grades celebrate in different ways. Please watch your email for information from him/her.
No masks or weapons are allowed. Students may put a mask on for a class picture.
Please check with your teacher first if “inflatable” costumes are allowed due to space/safety.

Cell Phones and Smartwatches

Duluth Public Schools is an “Away for the Day” district. This means that cell phones, smart watches, and similar electronic devices are not allowed at any time during the school day. These devices take away from the instructional environment and should not be brought out in school, at recess, or in the cafeteria. We recommend that devices stay at home; however, if a student brings one to school, it must remain in their backpack/locker. These items will be confiscated if used during the school day and a parent/guardian will be called to come and pick it up from the office. The school is not responsible for missing or stolen devices students bring to school.

Dress Code

Per the School District Policy 504R: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1741129471/isd709org/p7t9fv22t1j2ricoebsj/504RStudentDressAppearanceFINAL61523.pdf

No Toys/Trading Cards/Pokemon Cards

Please do not let your child bring these to school (inc. games, stuffies, etc.). They are not allowed in classrooms, lunch, recess, or the after school KEYZone program. There have been many issues with items being stolen, lost and fought over. Thank you for understanding.

Playground & Field

The playground and field are closed to the public when school is in session. The playground and field are used for recess and for other classroom breaks/activities. This is for the safety of young children and our students. After school and during some summers, the playground and field are used by the YMCA after-school childcare program, which is supported by the school district. When the childcare program is in session, children not enrolled in the childcare program may use the playground and field only if they have an adult supervising them. If there is no adult, YMCA staff will ask the children to leave. This is for the safety of all children. Thank you for understanding.

School Weekly Newsletter

Each Thursday from mid August-early June, the office will email families a weekly school newsletter. You are encouraged to read it as it has very helpful information, some of which you will only find out about via the Thursday email. We are a “green school” which means we send very few flyers home to families. You can find the weekly emails and flyers on our school website.

Here are some items you will find in the Thursday School Newsletter:

Information from the Nurse’s Office and School Office
Information on forms and upcoming events such as: Picture Day, Grandparents Day, Book Fairs, Family Nights (science night, craft night, open house, kindergarten Meet & Greet), School Carnival, Fundraisers, Parent Input forms
PTA & Foundation events and information

Reminders about upcoming days off & other important dates
School & Community Flyers (including registrations)

Volunteering

More information can be found on our website (on the menu bar under “Parents” then “Family Involvement”).

Mini Background Check

Click HERE

Full Background Check

Click HERE

PTA

Parent-run organization. Raises money to fund school-wide family events, library books, playground equipment and more! Click HERE

Foundation

Parent-run organization. Raises money for teachers and staff to purchase classroom items that enhance learning, and implements after-school programs. Donates to field trips, library, and more! Click HERE