Dear Crosby Parents and Guardians,

It is hard to believe, but the new school year is just around the corner!  The building is just about finished, and the road work and parking lot are making progress every day. We are incredibly excited to begin the school year in our brand-new school!

Please take a moment to read the information below regarding beginning of the year information.

NOTEWORTHY DATES

August
1 Crosby Ribbon Cutting Ceremony 12:00 p.m.
6 Class Lists will be posted/emailed
10 State of the Schools - HS Activity Center 7 p.m.
12 Crosby Open House 4:30-6:30 p.m.
17 First Day for Students Grades 1-5 / K Parent Orientation
18-19 Kindergarten Phase In

September
6 Labor Day- No School
10 Fall Picture Day

RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY
Our Ribbon Cutting and Grand Opening will take place on Sunday, August 1st at Crosby Elementary School.  This will be our community’s first opportunity to see our new school.  We would love for you to join us!  The event begins at 12:00 PM. Depending on parking lot and the main entrance construction, we may need to shuttle people to the building from nearby locations. We will communicate that information to you as we get closer to the event.

NEW SCHOOL START DATE
For the upcoming school year, students will begin on Tuesday, August 17^th, which is one day earlier than originally scheduled. This change is due to moving a teacher workday from the start of the year to the spring, so that our teachers have an opportunity to receive professional development that arises throughout the year. Crosby’s start and end time will remain the same, 8:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

CLASS LISTS
Class lists will be posted or emailed on Friday, August 6^th at 3:00 p.m. Due to the uncertainty of the accessibility to the building (road and parking lot construction), we are considering emailing class list information to parents instead of posting them on the doors as we have in the past.

OPEN HOUSE
Crosby’s Open House is scheduled for Thursday, August 12^th from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Feel free to stop in, meet your child’s teacher, and drop off school supplies. Also, stop by the cafeteria for information on bussing, the PTO, etc.

TRANSPORTATION
Once routes have been finalized, bus transportation information will be available in Final Forms.

Morning car riders can be dropped off between 8:00 – 8:25 a.m. Students will not be permitted to enter the building prior to 8:00 a.m. Afternoon pick-up will take place from 3:00-3:15 p.m. More details will come once the front parking areas and entrance ways are completed and we can better evaluate traffic patterns.

BREAKFAST AND LUNCH
The Ohio Department of Education will be offering free meals for students during the 2021-2022 school year. Breakfast takes place each morning from 8:00-8:25 a.m. If your child is a car rider and plans on eating breakfast, please be sure to allow time for them to eat before the start of the school day. There will still be an option to purchase items outside of the national school lunch program. See Southwest Local Schools Food Service Website for more information.

KINDERGARTEN ORIENTATION AND PHASE IN
Kindergarten students do NOT attend school on Tuesday, August 17.  They will attend an orientation session on this date with a parent or guardian.  Kindergarten orientation details will be shared by your child’s teacher after August 1. 

Kindergarten students will attend school from 8:30 am – 3:00 pm on Wednesday, August 18 OR Thursday, August 19 as part of our kindergarten phase-in.  Please click HERE to sign-up for the day that works best for you.  Slots will be filled on a first come, first served basis.  Students not signed up by noon on Friday, August 6th will be assigned a day and you will be notified of the day via email.  

ALL kindergarten students will attend school on Friday, August 20.

CROSBY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PTO
One of the best ways for parents to remain involved with their children is our PTO.  We are excited to welcome our families into this organization.  Information will be available at Open House.

WELCOMING NEW CROSBY STAFF
We are very excited to welcome Mr. Dan Rouster to Crosby Elementary! Mr. Rouster will serve as our assistant principal. We will be sharing him with Harrison Elementary, so you will see him around on Mondays, Wednesdays, and every other Friday. He is looking forward to getting back to the elementary world and we are happy to have him!

Some in-house changes, Mrs. Nicole Lee, our school counselor will be joining us full time. Mrs. Cydney Biddlestone will be teaching 2^nd grade. Mrs. Bethany McBee will be returning as our full-time nurse.

New to Crosby, but not new to Southwest Local Schools, we would like to welcome Ms. Alexandra Jester (from HE)- Full Day Kindergarten, Mrs. Kimberly Swiecki (from WV)- 4^th grade, Mrs. Kara Hammond (from WV) -5^th grade, and Ms. Patricia Sullivan (from MT)-5^th grade.

We have also been busy hiring this summer due to our continued growth. Below is the list of staff members that will also be joining our team:
Ms. Kayla Riley- AM/PM Kindergarten
Ms. Madison Moore- AM Kindergarten
Ms. Allison Meltebrink- 1^st Grade
Ms. Alexis Wurzelbacher- 1^st Grade
Ms. Elizabeth Perilman- 4^th Grade
Mrs. Elizabeth Meyers- Interventional Specialist
Mrs. Jenny Kief- Librarian Aide/K Aide
Ms. Amanda Henke- Children’s Home Therapist

We are thrilled to welcome our families back to school! If you have questions, please call our office at 513-738-1717 or email me directly at joanne.aghotte@southwestschools.org.

Continue to enjoy your summer, and we look forward to seeing everyone in August!!!