August 2021

Welcome Back!

Back-to-school is such an exciting time. So much looks different this August compared to one year ago. While we will still be taking careful measures for cleaning and sanitizing, things feel so much different this time around. And speaking of change, there has been a whole lot of work going on at the school this summer. Hopefully you have had time to see glimpses of the construction progress through the short videos sent via the Flyer app. If you don’t have the app, please consider it so that you have up-to-date information from school. Search “Flyer Connect” in your app store, and then search for “Alburnett” within the app.

Staffing Changes

We are excited to welcome the following new employees for the 2021-2022 school year:

Lynsey Altenhofen - 2nd Grade

Bryce Cox - 6th Science / Social Studies

Janell Gericke - Transportation Director

Nicole Harrell - Secondary Math

Andrea Haworth - Secondary Science

Belinda Henle - Associate

Michael Lafler - Business / Iowa BIG

Shannon McGraw - Elementary Special Education

Debbie Palmersheim - Preschool

Chloe Pflughaupt - Middle School Special Education

Joy Redel - Associate

Caleb Studebaker - PE / Strength & Conditioning

Noah Vawter - Secondary Math

Parking/Traffic Flow

If you’ve been by the school this summer, you could not help but notice the large fenced area in the front parking lot. The most common question right now is if that will all be used for the new addition. No, the large fenced area is to accommodate construction traffic and materials as we make our way through the project. But yes, we will be without this parking for the duration of the project.

As described in the May newsletter, parking in the main lot will be for employees, guests, and morning and afternoon drop off only. Entrance to this lot will be through the Roosevelt Street entrance only. The gated traffic lane to the west of the building is for bus traffic only.

We have made a few adjustments to the student parking plan since we shared it in the May newsletter. The plan has always been to add a new parking lot on the northwest side of the school property, with completion by August, 2022. You may recall from the May newsletter that student parking this year was to be in the baseball field parking across Main Street. For safety reasons, administration asked the Alburnett school board to approve moving this project up to August, 2021. With this approval now in place, you can expect to see this new lot just in time for the school year to begin. Entrance will be a new dedicated drive from Moothart Street, separate from the bus lane exit.

Entrances

We are pleased to share that the school building will be open to visitors and volunteers this year. Keeping construction in mind, please note that entrance will only be at the middle school doors and elementary doors. As in the past, a buzz-in system will still be used at both entrances. Once in the building, visitors check in at either the elementary or secondary office to receive a visitor badge.