Parents,
We hope this letter finds everyone enjoying the summer but looking forward to another school year at Axtell Community School. Sounds like the summer activities ended successfully, and everyone is looking forward to the 2025-26 school year.
New staff members at ACS are Abby Robertson K-12 secretary, Danielle Speckman middle school science, Maddie Brugh 1st grade, Shelby Blum 3rd grade, Brock Persson K-12 music, Amber Meza K-12 art, Karli Edgren special education, Gara Hansen special education, Michelle Jura middle school social studies, Christel Smith paraeducator, Maranda Billups paraeducator, Misty Beeler para educator and Kellin Myers outside maintenance bus maintenance.
I am sure you have all noticed the tremendous progress the new building addition has shown this summer. As of now, BD Construction hopes to be finished towards the end of 1st semester and after the fire marshal approves, we can move in. Let's hope for good weather as this will allow the workers to continue to stay on track for a timely finish.
Administrative offices will remain the same as we finished last school year. Mr. Lorenz and Abby Robertson will be located at the north doors. Mrs. De Bord in the old radio room close to the cafeteria stage. Mrs. Hoyt is located downstairs under the gym stage and Jennifer Bergstrom and I are on the cafeteria stage.
Bus drop off and pick up will be on Main Street using the northwest door #4 by Mrs. Llndau's room. Parent vehicle drop off and pick up wiil be on 5th street closer to the practice gym area and we will use the door #17 located close to the kitchen. Obviously, there will be more changes and temporary changes throughout the remaining construction process. We will do our best to communicate with all parties via our website, social media, and the regular Sunday evening phone calls home. When in doubt, just call Abby at the front desk prior to your arrival and she can direct you to who or where you will need to be.
Attached you will find the master calendar outlining our 2025-26 school year. The Back to School Bash is scheduled for Tuesday, August 12 at 5:30 PM. The location of the Back to School Bash will be announced at a later date. Students first day of school will be on Thursday, August 14. We have a 2:30 dismissal time both Thursday the 14th and Friday, August 15. A few other important dates to highlight are:
• August 20: Preschool begins
• September 29: Parent/Teacher Conferences
• February 9, 2025: Parent/Teacher Conferences and Open House
• May 16, 2026: Graduation@ 2:00 PM
As mentioned, preschool begins on Wednesday, August 20 and ends on Thursday, May 14. Mrs. Marshall would like morning preschool children to arrive at 8:00 AM and will dismiss at 11:00 AM. The afternoon students should arrive at 12:30 PM and they will have a 3:30 PM dismissal time. All preschool classes run Monday through Thursday. The room is located at the far west side of school and has its own doors for drop off and pick up convenience.
The school board recently set meal prices for 2025-26 school year. PreK-12 student breakfast will be $1.90. PreK-6 lunches are $3.30, 7-12 lunches are $3.60 and adult lunches are set at $4.85. Once again, due to the shortage of substitute bus drivers, the district will use vans or a suburban when needed to transport students this year. If you interested in becoming a bus driver, please see me for details.
At the last meeting the school board elected to discontinue Striv services including the football field. We are exploring new options to offer for the football games to be held in Axtell. We will keep all of you posted. We will make every attempt to offer streaming from our football facility this fall. Volleyball and basketball games will be streamed on fan.hudl.com or www.axtellwildcats.tv
The school board and administration are currently exploring cell phone usage in school by our students. Please see our school Facebook and website to complete the survey.
The school does offer voluntary student accident insurance through Student Assurance Services. If you feel your student needs this, please see Abby Robertson at the front desk.
The annual Back to School Bash will be held on Tuesday, August 12 at 5:30 PM. Due to our construction project the bash will be held at the swimming pool parking lot.
We hope everyone enjoys the remaining days of your summer. The district is looking forward to another great year at Axtell Community School. Feel free to stop in anytime to get your questions answered. A special thank you goes out to Dave Stupka, Kellin Myers and staff for a job well done on facility updates and preparing the building for the 2025-26 school year.
Rob Gregory, Superintendent