Halstead-Bentley USD 440

Preschool Screening will be held on April 24, 4-8pm April 25, 8am-4pm April 26, 8am-12pm May 17, 8am-12pm Please call to schedule your appointment at Halstead Middle School 316-835-2694 (PREK is housed in the middle school) Child MUST be completely potty trained and 3-4 years old by August 31, 2024. We ask that you bring all documents required to the screening or have them uploaded to the New Student Enrollment (if you have a student currently in prek you do not have to fill out the new student enrollment you will fill out registration once it opens in July)

Today is World Compliment Day, a day dedicated to spreading joy and positivity. Let's take this opportunity to give a heartfelt compliment to someone at USD 440 who has made a positive impact on you or your children. A simple compliment can truly brighten someone's day.

NATIONAL LEAP DAY A little information on Leap Day: For a day that is celebrated only once every 4 years (with some mathematical exceptions we'll go over later) it sure seems to have a lot going on around it. Leap year has devious explorers, beloved saints, partying boarder towns and proposal popping Irish ladies. And let's not forget all the birthdays babies. They do have some making up to do on the celebrating, you know! Since the beginning of time, man has been improving the way we keep it. That applies to calendars as well. Early Egyptians had a leap year in their calendar. The early Roman calendar had entire leap month from time to time to keep the days in line with the astronomical year. It was Julius Casaer and astronomer Sosigenes who revamped the Roman calendar giving it 12 months with equally (almost) distributed days and adding a leap day every 4 years. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII adjusted the calendar once again. Because the Earth revolves around the sun once every 365.2421 days, one leap day every 4 years is just slightly too much. Instead of shortening the leap day, the Gregorian calendar is designed such that leap days only happen every 4 years except years evenly divisible by 100 but not 400. There was not a leap day in 1900 and there will not be one in 2100. So a baby born on February 29, 2096 will be in the 3rd grade on his 1st birthday! And even this adjustment doesn't keep the days perfectly aligned with the seasons. Those humans who are still around in 10,000 years will have to address those issues. It's truly not a leap day concern.

We have two Preschool Transition days planned. If your child does not attend our preschool currently please contact us at 316-835-3000 to schedule your visit.

We want to congratulate Halstead-Bentley Schools Director of Food Service, Mrs. Lisa Morris, as she received recognition from the Kansas State Department of Education and the Kansas State Board of Education for completion of the Kansas Certificate in Child Nutrition Management. She was recognized for completing the required 120 hours of KSDE-approved Child Nutrition Management classes. We are proud to recognize her commitment and continued growth in her profession! Congratulations!

During National School Counseling Week, which is held from February 5th to 9th, 2024, the American Counseling Association (ACA) takes immense pride in acknowledging and honoring the invaluable contributions of school counselors throughout the country. These dedicated professionals play a vital role in problem-solving and ensuring the mental and emotional well-being of both students and parents. School counselors possess a diverse range of responsibilities, including offering guidance on educational choices and providing crucial mental health support. Their ultimate objective is to foster the well-being and achievement of students. Leveraging their expertise as mental health professionals, school counselors strive to establish safe, positive, and trusting relationships with their students. USD440 expresses gratitude for their tireless efforts in supporting our students, and we deeply appreciate their dedication.

Early childhood education remains one of the strongest investments we can make in the long-term success of our students and the long-term economic strength of our communities. Abigail Spanberger

REMINDER you can download our school app: Halstead-Bentley USD440 It is a great way to stay up to date on activities, events, and the school menus are on there daily.

February is National Black History Month, also referred to as National African American History Month. It serves as a significant period for all Americans to honor and commemorate the remarkable accomplishments of African Americans. Furthermore, this month pays tribute to the pivotal contribution of Black Americans in shaping our history. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/classroom/posts/2023/01/black-history-month-resources-for-the-classroom

January has come and gone and we wanted to be sure to wish our staff HAPPY BIRTHDAY for all those January babies: Mr. Oswald Mrs. Loganbill Ms. Jordan Soward Mr. Brown Ms. Amy Beck Ms. Crystal Province Mrs. Maurath Ms. Jami Kroulik Ms. Jen Dinicola Mrs. Base Mrs. Clifford Mrs. Davis

Come to the next meeting Jan 24th 6:00pm at Bentley Primary School. We hope to see you there.

We invite our community members to attend any of the three events mentioned below. Your valuable feedback will help the steering committee and the Board of Education. These events will also give you a chance to learn more about the progress made so far on the potential bond initiative at Halstead-Bentley USD 440 School District. We eagerly anticipate your presence at one of these events. #440Proud

Due to the inclement weather, Unified School District 440 will be closed on Tuesday January 16th. Even with the use of additives, the district had challenges operating part of its bus fleet on Friday due to the frigid temperatures. We know that the temperatures tomorrow are going to be colder and the fleet has been sitting all weekend in extremely low temperatures. Out of concern for the ability to operate our busses as well as the safety of both our bus riders and those who have to walk to school, we have made the determination that we will not be in session. We understand that this winter has already presented a number of days off from school, which in return poses challenges for many of our parents to find safe supervision for their students. We hope that providing this information earlier will allow those parents additional time to make the appropriate arrangements. We also wanted to inform you that we have a number of days built in for inclement weather. We often get the question, will our snow and inclement weather days impact the calendar or require us to make up days? At this point we do not have concerns and if that were to change we would make sure that we communicate with families well in advance. Please stay safe and warm. We are looking forward to the warmer days ahead!

Due to road conditions for our bus routes and young drivers, Halstead-Bentley Schools will be closed January 10th. Stay safe and warm.

All school and non school related meetings, activities, games, and practices are cancelled for the evening of January 9th. Games will be made up at a later date and information will be provided when confirmed with the opposing team.

Halstead-Bentley Schools will not have school in session on January 9th, 2024.

Reminder school will be back in session on Thursday, January 4th. We are excited to see everyone back in our buildings. We hope you all had a great break.

On behalf of everyone at USD 440, we would like to extend our warmest wishes for a joyful holiday season and an incredible new year. We eagerly anticipate the opportunity to reunite with all of you in the upcoming year.

A fun activity to do while on Winter Break.

We want your feedback! The district is working in collaboration with a steering committee made up of parents, community members, business owners, and staff from Bentley and Halstead as well as an architect firm to develop a facility plan that can address needs of the district for years to come. We would appreciate getting this first round of feedback from our community members that reside in the USD 440 school district boundaries. To ensure that we get accurate feedback from our community members, we are providing the survey though the following opportunities: 1. Click this link and complete online https://forms.gle/7Cefud59RANowzKB8 2. Call the district office at 316-835-2641 and share an email address where we can send the link. 3. No email, no social media, no problem. Come by the following locations to complete a paper copy of the survey and submit it in the envelope provided at the site. a. Halstead Library i. MWF 10:00 -5:00 ii. Tu/TH 10:00-7:00 iii. Sat 10:00-1:00 b. Halstead Senior Center i. M-F 9:00-12:30 c. Bentley Senior Center i. M-Sat 7:00-11:00 ii. Sun 8:00-11:00 d. Pribbenow Variety Store i. 9am-9pm The survey should take less than 5 minutes. We will be collecting feedback through Friday December 8th. Please share this information with those who do not have social media or do not follow USD 440 but live within our school district boundaries. We appreciate your help providing feedback and look forward to providing additional opportunities for feedback and information in the near future.