Dear Sunnycrest Families,

Welcome back to the 2022-2023 school year! We are so excited for you to join us at Sunnycrest! There is an incredible group of educators here who are to partner with you in your child’s learning and here is the updated staffing for our building this year. You’ll see many names that are familiar, and you will see some names that are new. Some teachers roles have changed or moved grade levels as well! Part of that is the natural change with enrollment and opportunities, and other parts of it is due to programming. As a dual language school, half of our classes in every grade offers Spanish Dual Language!

DUAL LANGUAGE

Teachers in our Dual Language model will have DL next to their names and either English or Spanish following the title. If you are new or learning about our model, Kindergarten DL program is a 90:10 model where Specialists and early literacy skills are taught in English for the 10% of time. In 1st grade, we are at the 80:20 model, so Specialists and English phonics/phonemic awareness make up the increased English time. This year, 2nd grade is now in a 70:30 model where there is an additional increase in building and transferring of language skills between Spanish to English. In each of these DL classes, students are taught by one teacher whereas in our intermediate grades students switch between two.

From 3rd grade on, the program becomes a 50:50 model so half of the day will be in Spanish (Spanish language arts, math, integrated science or social studies) and half will be in English (English language arts, math intervention, integrated science or social studies).

MULTILINGUAL SERVICES

Our team of multilingual services teachers (ELL team) support all language learners in our building. You’ll see their roles designated next to their names as they support certain programs or grade levels, and collaborate with teachers across the building. When new families arrive to Sunnycrest whose home language is a language other than English, or from outside of the United States, our ELL lead, Ms. Small, and our family liaison, Mrs. Encinas will meet with the family to do an initial language assessment, school tour, and an opportunity to have questions answered. 

We will be providing this same opportunity without the language support for families who are new to the building also.

SCHOOL SCHEDULE:

ARRIVAL: In the mornings, students may be dropped off starting at 8:40 am. Please do not park in our parking lot to wait as the space in front of the building is a fire lane and needs to remain unblocked. Our doors will open at 8:45 am and students will come in for breakfast, or line up at their designated locations. 

The school bell rings at 9:10 am, which means this is when class is starting. Every morning will start with a morning class meeting where teachers will check in with students, build classroom community, and support kids’ social emotional learning. If your child arrives AFTER 9:10 am, they need to come into the office to get a tardy pass.

LUNCH: This year, lunch will take place before recess, and every classroom will have a lunch bin with the teacher’s name on it. It would be very helpful to have your child’s name on their lunch bag/container, and reminding them to take it home each day as well. We ask you to please keep candy, soda, and other items that make it harder for kids to be calm and focused for their learning at home, and to bring individual portions so kids are not passing bags of chips (for example) between friends.

DISMISSAL: We will have some changes to our dismissal process this year. School still ends at 3:40 pm and we will dismiss K-2 earlier, at 3:35 pm. Grades 3-5 will dismiss at 3:37 pm. All bus riders will be assigned a bus route. This is done by transportation and we do not have the ability to make those changes. If you have any questions about your route, please contact transportation directly, using the information provided from the communication you received regarding bus assignment.

Please DO NOT PARK in the fire lane to wait for your child. We will continue using the yellow/tan pick up sign that has your child(ren)’s name and grade on it. We will no longer have families parking to walk up for pick up due to limited space in front of our building.

Additionally, we need to ask families not to pick up on the streets either, as we had this impacting traffic and buses last year. Instead of crossing the bus loop or waiting in front of the building, students who walk will be escorted by our crossing guard to the corner of 248th & 42nd.

We’ll have much more information throughout the year coming to you through ParentVUE, our Sunnycrest Facebook account, Sunnycrest Roadrunners Instagram, and through Remind, so please be on the lookout for regular updates. Please don’t hesitate to stop by or reach out with questions, celebrations, or concerns!

Sincerely,

Kelley Schottle - Principal
Molly Burkhardt - Assistant Principal