Online Kindergarten registration is now open. Please register before March 1st.
Children's book author and former Union R-XI teacher and principal, Aaron Wills, will share his book We Mix Up Our ABC's with our K-2nd graders on Thursday, January 23! You can pre-order an autographed copy to be delivered to your child! Visit: https://www.abcmixup.com/product-page/prairie-dell-elementary-offer
All schools will be in session tomorrow, Tuesday 1/14/25!
We have worked with our transportation team and county officials and significant improvements have been made that should allow more of our buses to navigate our community roads safely and efficiently. To that point, we will still have a few bus routes that need to be modified. If your student’s bus route is going to be modified, you will be contacted by First Student later this evening/tomorrow morning.
Additionally, we will have extra personnel on hand tomorrow morning at each of our schools during arrival to assist with drop offs. Please be cautious and provide for some extra time as arrival will most likely be slower than usual.
Thank you again for your patience and flexibility over the past several days as we are excited to welcome back all our students and staff!
#Uproud
*There will be no school Monday, 1/13/25*
Though this was a difficult decision as district personnel have worked extremely hard clearing district walkways and parking lots, we still have too many roads and areas of our community that are unsafe for our school buses. At this time, more than 30% of our bus routes are not able to run due to ice-covered roads.
We most certainly understand the importance of getting students back to school, so please know we appreciate your patience and flexibility.
We will continue to communicate with you as we monitor community road conditions in an effort to safely reopen our schools.
#Uproud
Good early afternoon, #unionrxi families:
We wanted to take a moment to provide an update in regard to the inclement weather we received this past week. As you can probably imagine, the two rounds of inclement weather we received significantly impacted our district walkways and parking lots as well as many roads within our community. Specifically, the initial layering of ice has been especially difficult for our district snow plows. Our top priority is and continues to be student and staff safety, which is why we unfortunately weren’t able to have school this past week.
First and foremost, we want to thank our families for all your patience and understanding during this stretch of inclement weather. We recognize we have many students ready to return to school and we have many families who have had to make adjustments due to children being at home.
Furthermore, we want to provide a big shout-out to the many district team members who worked extra hours last week and have been working tirelessly (and continue to work) this weekend to ready our schools to receive both students and staff. Though their efforts deserve recognition and appreciation, we unfortunately still have walkways and parking lots covered with ice. It’s our hope we can continue to make progress this afternoon with the sun and warmer temperatures.
Additionally, there are still some roads within our community that are not safe for bus routes. As a result, there is the likelihood we would need to modify and adjust certain bus routes. If your student is affected by a modified bus route, you will be contacted by First Student. We encourage you to discuss alternative means of getting your student to school in the event your regular bus transportation is impacted.
*No decision has been made as of this communication in regard to school for Monday, January 13.*
As always, if a decision is made to not have school, the district will send out a communication as soon as a decision has been made. If there is no communication, then we will have school.
Thank you again for your continued partnership, flexibility and understanding as we do everything we can to ready our schools for students and staff.
#Uproud
Due to unsafe driving conditions at our schools and around parts of the district, all #unionrxi schools are closed for Friday, 1/10/25.
Be safe and #Uproud
Due to ice-covered roads and unsafe driving conditions in parts of our district, all #unionrxi schools are closed on Thursday, 1/9/25.
Be safe and #Uproud
Due to continued unsafe road conditions in many parts of our district, all #unionrxi schools are closed on Wednesday, 1/8/25. Be safe and stay warm.
#Uproud
Due to inclement weather and unsafe road conditions, all #unionrxi schools are closed on Tuesday, 1/7/25.
Be safe and #Uproud
Due to inclement weather and unsafe road conditions, all #unionrxi schools are closed on Monday, 1/6/25.
Be safe and #Uproud
Here are the January menus.
Kindergarten registration for the 25/26 school year is coming up... are you ready!?
Registration will be completed all electronically via our Infinite Campus parent portal. Stay tuned for more information in January!
#Uproud
Christmas break is fast approaching! Enjoy these last few days of school.
On behalf of the entire Union R-XI School District, we wish you and your family a wonderful and happy holidays.
#Uproud
Check out th holiday edition of PDNN. https://www.canva.com/design/DAGY7XWVRQE/RCsvTfOUTdKHVRMu1pgQxg/watch?utm_content=DAGY7XWVRQE&utm_campaign=share_your_design&utm_medium=link&utm_source=shareyourdesignpanel
The building looks very festive thanks to the work of some talented PDE staff.
Check out this week's episode of PDNN. https://www.canva.com/design/DAGYQlJeJkc/gsgxKMEqY9q2PvOTLL3TnA/watch?utm_content=DAGYQlJeJkc&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link&utm_source=editor
During the month of December we would like to add some Christmas spirit to the air. Please join us in dressing up accordingly on the given days.
Dear #unionrxi parents/guardians:
Temperatures are falling and with that comes wintery weather. The Union R-XI School District recognizes the challenges that result from school being canceled due to inclement weather. As such, we want to share some information to keep you informed about our district's procedures for school closings and delays due to weather.
In the case of inclement weather:
1). The district administration will make a decision as soon as we can. In general, school officials will not cancel school based on a forecast. However, there are occasional instances where decisions could be made when inclement weather appears to be inevitable.
2). When possible, the decision to cancel school may be made the night before, usually by 9:00 pm. However, in most situations, a decision isn’t made until the following morning. An early morning decision is typically made by 5:00 a.m. A decision to cancel school will be shared in the following ways: automated phone call, email, text, notification through our mobile app, district social media sites, and local news television stations.
3). In the event we need to have an early dismissal once students have already arrived at school, we will use the same communication means as listed above.
4). In order to receive the above listed communications, you’ll need to ensure your Campus Parent Portal has been updated in addition to opting into receiving district text messages. If you have questions about updating your Parent Portal, please contact your child’s school.
As we look ahead, we ask that all parents/guardians:
1). Create a plan for unexpected school closures and share the plan with your student. School cancellations due to weather are unavoidable and will happen at some point.
2). Please watch our district website, mobile app, and social media pages for information related to school closures. We will post periodic updates about the decision making process. We will not respond to questions submitted on social media asking if we plan to have school.
3). Recognize that snow itself rarely closes school. Snow in the forecast is not our primary concern. Rather, safety, visibility, road conditions, ice build-up, and the status of plowing are more important issues to consider. In addition, the capability of our staff to safely travel to school and for our custodial/maintenance departments to clear sidewalks and parking lots have a large impact on our ability to have school.
As always, the highest priority for our district is the safety of our students and staff, for whom we will always err on the side of caution. We appreciate your understanding as we focus on doing what’s best for both our students and staff.
Thank you and #Uproud!
Check out December's breakfast and lunch menus.
We have a lot of things to be thankful for at Prairie Dell. We are thankful for our wonderful staff, students, PTO and families. Have a happy Thanksgiving and we look forward to seeing everyone back at school on Monday.
