First Day of School
We are off to another great start at Russell School this year! We are excited to have a very large group of students who are new to our Russell. We have quite a few students who are new to Russell this year. There are lots of new friendships being made. We started the day with a few nerves but were able to grow and work through them!
A Few Tips and Pointers for Russell Parents
- Student pick up and drop off: The ideal location for parents to drop off or pick up their children is along A Street. Approaching the school so students do not have to cross the street to meet your car helps improve all of our students’ safety as well. Please do not drop off or plan on picking students up on the Adam’s Street hill. This area is for bus loading only.
- Visiting Russell: Please remember to check in at the office when visiting Russell. Also, please feel free to visit! We do appreciate prior notice if you are hoping to sit in on class so teachers can prepare appropriately. Part of Title I policy guarantees that all parents have access to visiting classrooms. We are happy to accommodate.
- School Lunch: For students buying school lunch, parents can pay for weeks or months ahead of time. For a fee, this can be done online or dropping by the Russell kitchen and paying the school lunch staff is free (and quicker). While students learn the lunch process, our lines can be a little slow and many students opt to bring their own lunch for the first week or so.
- Contacting Teachers: Emailing teaching staff can actually be faster than calling, although we lose the personal touch over electronic communication. Email is an excellent way send a quick message to teachers. If a discussion is needed or emotions involved, I always encourage parents to call or visit. My own rule of thumb is that if someone needs to “reply to a reply”, it is a good time to call or visit.
- Getting messages to students: To make sure we have time to deliver messages to students, please contact the school at least 15 minutes before the end of the school day. We are happy to deliver messages to students when needed. However, we do encourage families to arrange after school plans with students before they leave for the day. We can sometimes receive quite a few messages to be delivered in the last few minutes of the school day and deliver messages pulls staffing away from student supervision where it is very much needed. If you are finding the need to send a message to your child frequently (several times per week or more) please contact the office and we can find more efficient ways to help your child.
- Front door security: Please be patient when ringing at our front entrance. We typically only have one staff member in the office at a time. When they are on the phone they are unable to buzz people in. Don’t be afraid to ring twice, we just want you to be aware of the cause of the occasional delay. Our buzz in system is also frequently malfunctioning. During those occasions, the door will either be unlocked or the entry will be monitored closely for visitors.
- Working With Challenging Behavior: The Russell staff is participating in a book study on Lost at School by Ross W. Greene, Ph.D. Dr. Greene has multiple videos on Youtube that we will occasionally access to facilitate our discussions. I recommend them to any parents or adults working with kids.
- Arriving at School: Please remember that we do not have student supervision available for students until 7:45AM, which is thirty five minutes before school starts. Please do not send your children to school before that time. We love that so many of our students are excited to be at Russell, we just want to make sure they are safe. When students arrive, we ask they go to the playground for supervision and not cut through the building where morning supervision can be sparse.
- Community Flyers: Instead of having community groups print of reams of paper and spending hours stuffing folders, our district has decided to post advertisements of interest to students on our website. You can access these by visiting any MSD website.
- You'll Never Walk Alone!: It is our goal and purpose to make sure all students feel safe, loved, and have a strong sense of belonging at Russell School. We want you to feel the same way too! We look forward to working with all of our families to make students' time at Russell School the best years of their lives!
Thank you for your continued support,
Craig Allen, Principal
Russell Elementary