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Back-to-School Info (24-25)

Welcome Back!

School Hours
7:55-2:25 (MTHF)
7:55-1:10 (Wednesday)
Doors open at 7:50

 

 

Greetings Holt Families,

Welcome back to another amazing school year here at Holt Elementary School!

See the news items below for important information about this school year.

The office will open starting Friday, August 16th, 8:00-12:00 and 1:00-3:00.

We look forward to seeing you soon and please reach out if there is anything we can do to assist!

Here’s to another great school year!

Allan Chinn, Principal

 

Back-to-School Info (2024-2025)

First Days of School

KINDERGARTEN: First day of school is Wednesday, September 6th, 7:55-1:10.

GRADES 1 – 5: First day of school is Thursday, September 7th, 7:55-2:25

All students will enter the building through their assigned wings (same as last school year). Click the map for your grade level entrance on the Arrival & Dismissal Articles down below.

 

 

Kindergarten Smart Start

Kindergarten students do not start with an assigned classroom and class lists are built as we learn more about our kiddos. 4J is changing which days kinders come based on your last name:

  • Last name A–L: Attend Sept. 4 (W), 5 (Th), 9 (M), 10, (T), 11 (W)
  • Last name M–Z: Attend Sept. 4 (W), 6 (F), 9 (M), 10, (T), 11 (W)

No Kindergarten Sept. 12 & 13 (parent/teacher conversations)
Regular school schedule begins on Monday, Sept. 16

Kinder Smart Start 2024

 

 

After-School Pick-Up (complete form)

Please share your child’s normal process for getting home from school by completing the After-School Pick-Up Form. Submit a separate form for each of your kids. 

We will use this information to help ensure your child’s safety. If you change your plan for any particular day, send a note with your child to give to their teacher.

 

 

 

 

School Supplies… just a backpack and water bottle

4J provides most of the supplies families usually buy, so plan on sending your child(ren) to school with a backpack (no wheels) and a water bottle. Your child’s teacher may have a few other small supply requests that they’ll share once school starts, but we have covered the pencils, crayons, markers, scissors, and other basics.

 

 

Enroll Now!

If you know anyone with new or kindergarten-age students, please have them contact Holt office staff by phone at (541) 790-6100 or email Sharon Alberts at alberts_s@4j.lane.edu

The office is now open daily 8:00-12:00 and 1:00-3:00.

You can also visit the Holt Registration webpage.

 

 

Class Assignments

Class lists will be emailed to families on the afternoon of Friday, August 30th, just prior to Labor Day weekend.

Watch for an email from your child’s new teacher!

 

 

Meet Your Teacher, Tuesday, Sept. 3rd, 2:00-3:00

Holt will host a Meet Your Teacher event on Tuesday, September 3rd from 2:00-3:00.

This is a wonderful opportunity for your child to view their new classroom and introduce themselves to their new teacher and classmates. Please plan on attending! 

 

 

Kona Shave Ice after you “Meet Your Teacher” @2:30!

Get some tasty shave ice after you Meet Your Teacher at our Kona Shave Ice fundraiser!

Kona Ice will be on the playground at 2:30 selling Shave Ice and will donate a percentage of all sales!

Kona Ice Meet the Teacher 2024

 

 

 

Holt Work Day 2024

Saturday, August 24, 9:00-12:00

 

3-hours can make a big difference!  Join your neighbors in helping Holt Elementary School by weeding and beautifying the ground this coming Saturday, August 24th from nine to noon.

The morning will be spent working together to weed around the school landscaping. A FREE pizza lunch is being provided by North Park Community Church as a thank-you for investing in our neighborhood.

Here is how to get involved:

1.) REGISTER HERE to help the planners. Use the contact form to let them know how many are coming.

2.) Bring your whole family to Holt at 9:00 am Saturday, August 26th. If you can, please bring weeding tools & work gloves, and a wheelbarrow.

3.) Stay for a free lunch (space is limited, so register to save your spot).

This is a family opportunity, so bring the kids!

 

 

 

Holt Family Handbook

See the linked Holt Family Handbook, which is also linked on our school website, which has just about every policy and procedure you need to know about Holt Elementary School.

 

 

Morning Arrival Procedures

All students will enter the building through their assigned areas at 7:50. Students arriving before the doors open should wait in line. See the list below for your grade level entrance and/or click the map below to enlarge.

  • KG: Playground Blacktop and Enter D Wing Door @7:50
  • 1st Grade: Playground Blacktop and Enter D Wing Door @7:50
  • 2nd Grade: C Wing Entrance (Gym/Cafeteria Entrance)
  • 3rd Grade: B Wing Entrance (East Side of School)
  • 4th Grade: B Wing Entrance (East Side of School)
  • 5th Grade: A Wing Entrance (Front of School)

Arrival Dismissal Map 24-25

 

Families dropping students off by car are encouraged to park in the North Park Community Church parking lot across the street and walk to school. This greatly reduces traffic congestion in our parking lot.

 

 

Morning Breakfast

Breakfast will begin serving at 7:30 in the cafeteria and will end at 7:50. Students wanting breakfast may walk to the cafeteria. When they finish eating, they should walk to their designated grade-level entrance. Students arriving late should check in at the office and will receive a grab-and-go breakfast. Breakfast and lunches are free for all students.

 

 

Late Students to Office

Doors close at 7:55 and any students arriving after that need to check in at the office before going to class.

There will be some grace during the first week of school, but starting the first full week of school, all doors will close promptly at 7:55.

 

 

Dismissal Procedures

At the end of the day, students will exit the building with their teacher, using their designated entrance/exit doors. Bus riders will be escorted by staff to their bus. Students biking or walking will exit with their teacher. Students waiting to be picked up will wait with their teacher in the designated areas below.

Drivers should follow the one-way direction traffic flow indicated in the map below.

 

 

Parking Lot Reminders

The parking lot is for families who want to walk their child to the building entrances during arrival or who wish to meet their child at the end of the day at dismissal. Please note the following rules for the parking lot:

  • ONLY cross using the crosswalk. Students and families should never cut across the driveway.
  • Before using the crosswalk, students and adults must stop and look for cars.

If a student arrives before the doors open at 7:55, they will wait in their car or stand on a sidewalk spot by their assigned entrance. Families dropping students off by car are encouraged to park in the North Park Community Church parking lot across the street and walk to school. This greatly reduces traffic congestion in our parking lot.

Parking Lot Map

Curbside Pausing Parking Reminders

In the mornings, students may be dropped off along the curb. At the end of the day, drivers can pause-park along the curb to pick up their students when they come out at dismissal. Please note the following rules for pause parking:

  • Drivers must remain in their cars at all times.
  • Drivers should pull forward as space becomes available.
  • Drivers should NOT stop in marked crosswalk areas.
  • When getting in or out of a car, students must use the door on the sidewalk side. Students should never get in or out of a car on the driver’s side. It’s unsafe for the students and it slows traffic.
  • Drivers must remember to ALWAYS yield at the painted crosswalks and sidewalks.

Parking Lot Flow Map

 

 

 

Welcome New Holt Staff!

Please welcome the following folks to the amazing Holt Staff!

  • Assistant Principal (Rebecca Boyd) - Rebecca was most recently the Instructional Coach at Gilham, and before that was a 4J Staff Development Specialist (SDS), a kindergarten teacher at Spring Creek, a 1st and 2nd grade in North Carolina, and before all that taught kindergarten at River Road. Rebecca is also a National Board Certified Teacher.

  • Part-Time Music Teacher (Zoe Canion-Brewer) - Joining Ms. Castro in the Music Room, Zoe just graduated from the UO and finished her student teaching at Kennedy and Shasta Middle Schools. She'll be at Holt on Monday and Wednesday mornings and is also teaching part-time at McCornack. 

  • Part-Time PE Teacher (Susan Chubb) - Susan Chubb is a retired 4J PE Teacher who has come back to teach part-time here at Holt with her good friend Mr. Alex. 

  • Special Education EA (Paula Cortez) - Paula has her teaching license and most recently was the Intervention Teacher at Ridgeline Montessori and before that taught 2nd grade at a charter school on Moloka'i.  

  • Title 1 EA (Kodie Dorman) - Kodie worked last year as a long-term Title 1 EA sub and is also a Holt parent and PTO Board Member. 

  • Special Education Teacher (Madison Kunzman) - Madison comes to us from Howard Elementary where she taught 1st grade. Before teaching in the classroom, she was a Life Skills EA and this past spring got her SPED endorsement. 

  • 5th Grade Teachers (Candace Lovato & Eli Seno) - Candace is a past Holt 5th and 2nd-grade teacher, who briefly left us last year to teach at Howard, but is coming back home. Eli was Holt’s school counselor two years ago and was a regular sub this past school year. 

  • Speech Teacher (Gina Wadsworth) - Miss Katharine is getting some additional support this year due to her large caseload, so Holt is getting a second part-time Speech Language Pathologist, Gina Wadsworth.

Below and on the Holt Staff Directory are our classroom teaching assignments for the year:

  • KG: Katie Gulewich, Lesli Harmon, Robin Seno, Robin Vaughan
  • 1st: Jenny Bemiller, Heidi Gori, Leah Willow, Lisa Zluticky
  • 2nd: Megan Gulleckson, Jenna Norton, Myah Rahborn
  • 3rd: Kendalynn Ball, Marissa Harshbarger, Desiree Talley
  • 4th: Caitlin Benavides, James Longoria, Ashley Reich
  • 5th: Debbi Heinrich, Candace Lovato, Geoff Parks, Eli Seno

 

 

Student Attendance and Tardies

One of the most reliable predictors of school success is regular attendance. Absences for any reason result in lost instruction time. We know that students who fall behind often become discouraged learners. It is our hope that we can work together to encourage your child’s regular attendance and success at school. We understand that there are many factors in your lives that make it difficult, at times, for your child to be in school or on time. However, it is important that we work with you to reduce these to an absolute minimum. Class activities start promptly in the morning. This morning class time is one of the most important times of the day. When a child comes in late, not only have they missed valuable class time, it is disruptive to their classmates.

When your child is going to be late or absent from school, please call the attendance line at 790-6111, before 8:15 a.m. and inform the office staff. You may leave a message on the voicemail if calling before office hours. Please leave the name of your child, their teacher’s name, and the reason for the absence. It is extremely important that this be done, as every child must be accounted for on a daily basis. As a friendly reminder, according to Oregon Truancy Regulations, if your student has eight unexcused half-day absences in any four-week period, you will receive a letter from the school notifying you of our attendance concerns. Please understand that if irregular attendance continues, we will be obligated to make a referral to a truant officer for further investigation.

 

 

YMCA After School Care

Holt’s YMCA After School program is full, but it’s not too late to get on the waiting list. Visit the YMCA Website for details.

YMCA Graphic

 

 

Update Your Child’s Health Information

Ensure your child’s health records are current. We want to be aware of respiratory-based diagnoses, allergies, or other health conditions. Linked here are the Asthma Assessment Form and the General Medical Profile Form, which you can email or deliver to front office staff.

 

 

FREE Breakfast & Lunches

All students will be provided with a free breakfast and lunch. No paperwork is necessary. For breakfast, students may walk to the cafeteria. When finished eating breakfast, they should walk to their designated entrance. Students arriving late will be offered a grab-and-go breakfast at the office. Lunches are also free to all students.

 

 

Nut-Free Table in Cafeteria

For students with nut allergies, we offer a Nut-Free Table for students to eat. Students may bring a friend with them to the Nut-Free Table if the friend has a school-provided meal, which is always nut-free.

 

 

Messages for Students

Please make sure that your child knows what they are expected to do when the school day is over before they leave home in the morning. Staff are not available to hand deliver messages throughout the day and when the bell rings at the end of the school day it is difficult to connect with individual children. We are happy to deliver messages in an EMERGENCY situation, but if at all possible please make sure that your child(ren) knows who will pick them up if they should walk home, or ride the bus before they leave for school.

 

 

How do I find my child’s bus stop?

4J’s Transportation Department has a system for finding your child’s bus stop and times. The steps are as follows:

Go to the 4J District Website, select the “Families” tab, next select the “Transportation” tab, next select the “Bus Routes” tab, and then finally select “Find my bus stop” and enter your address. This will give the most accurate information available.

 

 

Student Information Available to Non-Custodial Parents

Holt Elementary is able to provide all co-custodial or non-custodial parents with a duplicate copy of all district-labeled mailings. Please let the school office know if you would like the name of a co-custodial or non-custodial parent added to the student’s enrollment information.

 

 

Message from Home Safe Routes to School

As you gear up for the school year, it’s time to think about how your child(ren) will get to school. September weather and the start of the school year are a great time to set new goals for the family. Making small changes to your daily routine can lead to a surprising number of benefits for your family and community! We encourage students to walk, bike, skate, scoot, bus or carpool to school for their health and readiness to learn, the safety and congestion in our parking lot, and the environment. If you’ve got to drive, but still want the health and academic benefits for your child and want to avoid the challenge of the parking lot, try parking a few minutes from school and walking the rest of the way. It’s a great time to connect with your child and could become a favorite part of your day!

If you have concerns about your route or would like help planning a walking/biking route or starting a biking or walking group, contact 4J’s Safe Routes to School Coordinator at mazze_s@4j.lane.edu or 541-790-7539. You can find tip sheets on walking and biking and more on the Safe Routes to School regional website.

 

 

When Can My Child Safely Walk Alone?

 

When_Can_My_Child_Safely_Walk_or_Ride_to_School_Alone_Flyer_ENG

 

 

DISTRICT NOTIFICATIONS

Title 1 Assessment Testing – The Eugene 4j School District administers both reading and math assessments to each of our students three times a year ~ fall, winter, and spring. Students scoring below the 20th percentile may be recommended, by the building-level team, to receive instructional interventions in reading and/or math. Students receiving interventions will have their progress monitored during regular intervals. At our school, all students receive 45 minutes of reading instruction and 45 minutes of instruction in the area of mathematics, each day. Parents/guardians will be notified if their child is recommended to receive additional reading or math instruction.

Regarding Bullying, Intimidation, Harassment, Discrimination, Hazing and Retaliation – Eugene School District 4J has policies and programs to prohibit and prevent bullying, intimidation, harassment, discrimination, hazing and retaliation. Discrimination is prohibited on the basis of disability, race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, marital status, socioeconomic status, source of income, cultural background, familial status, physical characteristic, or linguistic characteristic of a national origin group, in any instructional program, extracurricular activity, or in the provision of any other service or benefit.

The district encourages students, parents and other patrons to share their concerns with district officials if they believe they or someone else has been the victim of bullying, intimidation, harassment, discrimination, hazing or retaliation. They can be assured that no reprisal or adverse action will occur as a consequence of initiating a complaint. Complaint forms and information about the complaint process are available in all 4J school offices and at the 4J Education Center, 200 North Monroe Street, Eugene, OR 97402. For more information, contact your school principal or the superintendent’s office, 541-790-7707.

School to Inform Parents if Their Student Receives a Threat – “Oregon law requires schools to inform parents if their child’s name appears on a targeted list (i.e. a “hit list”) that threatens violence or harm from another student.” We will be using the following procedure to inform you if your student either receives or makes a serious threat of violence or harm.

If your child’s name appears on a list threatening violence or harm by another student, we will attempt to meet with you personally, or talk by telephone, within 12 hours of learning about the threat. We will tell you about the threat, who made it (if we know), and the action we are taking to respond to it. We will also send you a notice within 24 hours, stating that your child received a threat. Our number one priority will be to make sure that school is safe for your children.

If your child made the threat, we will let you know that he or she made it and the action we are taking, including informing the parents of the student who received the threat that your student made. We are also required by the district’s “Student Rights and Responsibilities Handbook” to inform the police.

504 Parent Notification – See the linked 504 Parent Letter from Eugene SD 4J 504 Coordinator Della W. Thomas highlighting some of the developments that pertain to Section 504.

 

 

Stay Connected! Holt Social Media Links

In addition to the Holt School Website and school newsletters, stay connected with Holt happenings through our social media accounts on FacebookInstagram, and now Threads. These accounts are used to share information, events, and activities happening at Holt throughout the school year. Hopefully, this will become an easy way for families to stay in touch with what’s going on at our school.

 

 

Breakfast & Lunch Menus

Breakfast and lunch menus are available on the 4J Menu Website.  Make sure you filter to Holt Elementary.

 

 

Dates to Remember

More dates on the Holt Website on the Holt Family Calendar

  • 8/16, Office Opens (8:00-12:00, 1:00-3:00)
  • TBA, 8:00-12:00, Holt Work Day 2024
  • 8/24 & 25, 4J Project Hope, Free Clothes, Shoes, & Supplies (North Eugene HS)
  • 9/3, 2:00-3:00, Meet Your Teacher (Holt Classrooms)
  • 9/3, 2:30-3:30, Kona Shave Ice Fundraiser (Playground Covered Play Area)
  • 9/4, 7:55-1:10, Classes Begin: Kindergarteners Only
  • 9/5, 7:55-2:25, Classes Begin: Grades 1-5
  • 9/23-27, PTO Penny War
  • 9/26, Back-to-School Night (Time is TBA)
  • 10/2, Monthly Walk & Roll to School Day
  • 10/3, School Picture Day
  • 10/11, No School