Union Valley Elementary

Good Afternoon, Using the National Weather Service forecast of snow and wind chill for Wednesday combined with the very high confidence level of the event occurring, Buhler Schools USD #313 will NOT be in session on Wednesday, February 2nd. Additionally, there will be no activities including practices. It is unusual for us to make this determination this early; however, all weather models are showing significant weather and travel impact. We hope this allows time for families to make arrangements for children tomorrow. Cindy Couchman, Superintendent Buhler USD #313

This video lays out the options families have when presented with common Covid-19 scenarios. https://youtu.be/HsEfe0KmtSE More details can be seen on our website under Covid-19 Navigating Next and the longer post below dated January 19th.

Buhler Families and Staff, As our number of positive cases rise, our continued goal is to keep students in school safely. Effective today, January 19, 2022, we will be following KDHE’s guidelines to suspend COVID contact tracing for 30 days. Per the KDHE guidance, with cases at such a high level, anyone that has been in public spaces should consider themselves a close contact. We are shifting our focus to monitoring positive cases, household contacts, and symptomatic individuals. Families will take responsibility for monitoring symptoms at home and taking appropriate action. The school district will do the following: *Notify parents of positive cases in the building each day. *Parents of elementary students will still be notified of classroom exposure. *Track absences and positive cases. *Monitor and daily test household contacts and symptomatic staff and students. *Update the website with daily numbers and absences. Expectations of parents and staff: *Monitor daily for symptoms. *If symptomatic, stay home or test (see below for testing times). *Do not come to school if sick. *If positive, stay home for at least 5 days. If fever free for 24 hours and symptoms are markedly improved, return to school/work wearing a mask for an additional 5 days. *Household contacts now have the option of attending school with masking and testing options available to them. TESTING Buhler Schools will continue to provide free rapid and PCR tests to symptomatic or asymptomatic staff and students at any of our attendance centers from 7:45-8:15 AM or by calling the district office for an appointment. Locations of testing in each building will remain the same. Liz Schmidt, school nurse, and I have created a video with situational questions that may arise. To access it, click here: https://bit.ly/3rxdyGb Students and staff who present with symptoms will be asked to test or will be sent home until symptom free for 24 hours. For more detailed information on options, please see our Stay to Learn, Play, and Work Plan at: https://sites.google.com/usd313.org/buhlernavigatingnext/covid-surveillance-reports Thank you for your continued support as we navigate this challenging time for our schools and communities. Our goal is to keep students in school daily. To achieve this, we need our parents’ help in monitoring symptoms to mitigate the spread of the virus in our buildings. Cindy Couchman, Superintendent Buhler USD #313

Buhler Family~ Thank you for your continued support of our students, staff, and school community. We wanted to take a moment to provide an update regarding some ongoing challenges and their impacts due to COVID-19 and its variants. Buhler is currently experiencing a high rate of positive COVID-19 cases in our schools. Our goal is to keep schools open safely. When our staff gets sick and is unable to continue working, the strain on the system can quickly reach a breaking point. Our current numbers can be found on our COVID Dashboard. We have included a new chart showing the daily numbers and absences by building this week. https://sites.google.com/usd313.org/buhlernavigatingnext/covid-surveillance-reports Our substitute teachers/staff do an incredible job of working with our students to ensure that learning continues and that our classrooms are positive, productive, and safe. Likewise, our entire staff works together to ensure that we provide classroom coverage when our demand for substitute teachers exceeds the available supply. Today alone we had 14 uncovered classrooms in our district. Please afford us grace as we work to problem-solve this challenge and know that student safety and student learning are at the forefront of our decision-making in these instances. Often, this results in cancelled bus routes, after school activities, and field trips. We continue to emphasize and practice transmission mitigation strategies throughout the day, which include, but are not limited to, continuous and frequent hand washing, making hand sanitizer available for students and staff, and social distancing as much as possible. Please encourage your student to wear a facemask to help slow the spread of the virus. We anticipate a peak of positive cases coming in the next couple of weeks and are hopeful that it will then begin to decline. There will be additional guidance coming soon for managing the pandemic in public schools. If the new guidance changes our Stay to Learn, Work and Play policy, I will share that information next Friday. We continue to need your help, partnership, and support as we work together during this challenging time: *If your child is not feeling well, is ill, or has symptoms of an illness, please keep him or her at home and let us know of his or her absence. *The symptoms of COVID-19 and its variants are similar to a cold and influenza and can include fever, coughing, and shortness of breath, among others. *Some have reported additional symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat, nausea, lethargy, lack of appetite, vomiting, diarrhea, and loss of taste and smell. *Individuals who need medical care or who have questions about symptoms should call their medical provider. Cindy Couchman, Buhler Superintendent

Good Morning, Due to dangerous traveling conditions, Buhler Schools USD #313 will NOT be in session on Thursday, January 6th. With the amount of snow we received combined with low wind chills, please be cautious if you do get out. Cindy Couchman, Superintendent

There will be a vaccine clinic on January 21st at PHMS. See image for details

See the image for a message regarding the decision making process for severe weather cancellations or delays.

Wishing you all a HAPPY HOLIDAY season from Union Valley!!! Thankful for our students, staff and families! See you again in 2022!!!

One of the most wonderful things about our Buhler school community is the support and partnership we have with our families. Buhler Schools has become aware of a troubling post that has been shared widely this week on the social media platform TikTok. The post refers to a threat to school safety “for every school in the USA, even elementary,” on Friday, December 17. Currently, we are unaware of any threats about USD #313 schools or students. The post appears to be part of a national TikTok trend and did not originate in our school district. We have heard reports from other districts that the same post is circulating in their schools. While we do not believe the threat to be credible, we are closely monitoring the situation and taking it seriously. Additionally, the district has been in contact with our local law enforcement agencies regarding the post. We may have an increased police presence in our buildings on Friday as an added precaution. This situation serves as a good example of why it is important to avoid sharing posts online that refer to school safety threats. Even if they are not credible threats, they can cause a great deal of stress and anxiety for our students, families, and staff. We ask our families to monitor their children’s social media activity and speak with them about proper behavior online. If you become aware of any potential threat posted to social media or anywhere else, please notify your building administrator, law enforcement, or make a Suspicious Activity Report with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation at http://www.kbi.ks.gov/sar. You may also anonymously report threats of school violence to the Kansas School Safety Hotline. The number is 877-626-8203. As always, thank you for your partnership as we work to ensure a safe, secure, and exceptional learning environment for our students. Sincerely, Cindy Couchman Superintendent, Buhler Schools

Due to the extreme high wind conditions, we will not be running the late activity route this evening.

Due to the extreme wind conditions, our buses will be reducing speed this afternoon. If your student is a bus rider in the afternoon, they may arrive home a little later than normal.

What a day at school! We arrived to guinea pig babies. Surprise! We had The Grinch teaching 4th Grade. We had an Elf Mother-Daughter Combo. And we had a Mrs Voth’s son subbing for the first time! Wow!!! #UVLearn

First and Third Grade Music Program on Thursday, December 9th Just a reminder on our two shows today! 1:45 PM for grandparents and extended family (doors will open at 1:30 PM) 7:00 PM for parents/family (doors will open at 6:45 PM) We are NOT using our bleachers this year, as they need to be repaired or replaced. This impacts our capacity for programs, and is the reason for the two shows and recommendations for whom attends which show.

First and Third Grade Music Program on Thursday, December 9th We are excited to showcase our first and third graders on December 9th for our winter music program! We are offering TWO shows this year for families to attend on December 9th. 1:45 PM for grandparents and extended family 7:00 PM for parents/family We are NOT using our bleachers this year, as they need to be repaired or replaced. This impacts our capacity for programs. Therefore, we are offering a daytime show on December 9th. If we are overcrowded in the PM, seating will not be ideal or available. Thank you for taking note of these different shows and attending one of them on December 9th! ~Dr. Erickson

This young man correctly identified this composer in music today. First and last name and pronounced with perfection! Can you??? #UVlearn

So many COOL features in this month’s Cabinet of Curiosities!!! Thanks Mrs. Newcome for this addition to our #UVlearn library this year! #UVlearn

Halls are starting to get deck at UV!!! #UVlearn

These proud kinders are mastering writing letters! Check out those “g’s” touching the worm line! #UVlearn

We are having a district wide spirit month in December. Feel free to print the calendar and join us out there in the community. Encourage your place of employment to join us for Operation JOY! We are so excited to see our staff, students, and community member's festive outfits! #BuhlerJOY

These young mathematicians recently demonstrated their skills in counting to 100 by 1’s and 10’s in the office!!!