Back To School Basics
North DeSoto Lower Elementary Staff want to welcome our new parents and returning parents to the 2024-2025 school year! We want to provide some basic information to help you prepare for the upcoming school year. On July 30th, your child’s teacher will mail a letter to let you know more detailed information about your child’s classroom. The following information is general information about the beginning of school.
Staggered Enrollment and First Day of School
Kindergarten and Pre-K students participate in “staggered enrollment” which means small groups of students come each day to help students get acclimated to their new environment and allow our teachers to get to know their new students.
First Grade: All First Grade students start on August 8.
Parents can walk students in and have a Boohoo Breakfast on this day. More detailed information about the breakfast will be provided closer to the date.
Kindergarten: Half of Kindergarten comes August 8, the other half comes August 9. Your teacher’s letter will explain if your student will attend August 8 or 9. All Kindergarten students come August 12. Parents can walk students in on these days and have a Kindergarten Boohoo Breakfast on August 12.
Pre-K: Your child’s teacher will schedule a time to meet with you and your child between August 8-12. A third of the PreK students will attend school on August 13, 14, and 15. Your teacher will let you know which day your child will attend, either August 13, 14 or 15. All PreK students will attend August 16. Parents can walk students in on these days and have a Boohoo Breakfast on August 16.
ECSE: Students begin on August 8. Mrs. Hardaway or Procell will provide more detailed information.
Parents are allowed to walk students in on staggered days and their grade levels’ Boohoo Breakfast Day. After your child’s Boohoo Breakfast, students must be dropped off in the car line or by bus.
School Supplies
DeSoto Parish provides our students with school supplies.
All parents are required to provide a clear or mesh backpack for their child.
PreK parents are required to provide a nap mat for their child.
Optional: Parents can send a water bottle with their child. The water bottle should not spill if tipped over and be able to be placed in your child’s backpack without leaking. Please only water inside. Spills happen often at our school. Spills are distractions from instructional time as well as sticky, stains on carpet that attract bugs. Please label water bottles with your child’s first and last name.
Optional: Students may bring a lunch from home in any kind of lunch box that can fit inside your child’s backpack.
Cafeteria
DeSoto Parish students are provided with free breakfast and lunch in our cafeteria. The cafeteria menu will be posted weekly in our Monday Memo.
Breakfast is served 7:20-7:40 a.m. daily. If you want your child to eat breakfast at school, please make sure they arrive during that time. All Pre-K students eat breakfast in their classrooms. Kindergarten and First Grade students eat breakfast in the cafeteria.
If you choose to send lunch from home, please label lunch boxes and non-disposable containers with your child’s name. No sodas are allowed. Please practice with your child to ensure they can open items that are sent in their lunch. Child safe scissors are available in the cafeteria for their use to open individually wrapped items. There will be adults on duty in the cafeteria to help with lunch, but it is a great idea to be proactive in making sure your child can easily open their lunch so they have plenty of time to eat.
Uniforms
Tops: Red, white, or navy blue polo style shirts
White oxford or peter pan collar button down shirts
Spirit shirts can be worn with uniform bottoms on Fridays.
Bottoms: Solid khaki, solid navy or Plaid 37 pants, shorts, skirts, skorts. No cuts, tears, or frays.
Dri-fit chino style shorts or skorts are allowed. No sweatpants, athletic shorts, or leggings as pants.
Red, navy, white, grey, or black leggings may be worn under skirts or dresses.
Our students are encouraged to wear elastic waist bottoms or bottoms that fasten easily with a hook, especially in PreK, to help in going to the bathroom unassisted.
Dresses: Solid red, solid navy, solid khaki or plaid 37. Sleeveless dresses must have a collared shirt underneath.
Girls are encouraged to wear bloomers or shorts under skirts. Our students are very active at school and spend time sitting on the floor in most classrooms.
Apparel can have monograms and North DeSoto emblems that match our uniform colors of red, navy, white, black or gray.
Shoes/socks: Students are required to wear socks and closed toe shoes with a back. Keep in mind that, if your student does not know how to tie shoes, slip ons or velcro is a great option. If you opt for shoes that tie, flat shoelaces stay tied in a double knot better than round shoelaces.
Our students attend P.E. twice a week, some classes three times a week. Tennis shoes are encouraged on these days.
Outerwear: Red, navy, gray, or white sweatshirts, cardigans, quarter, half, or full zip jackets can be worn indoors.
Outerwear (coats, rain jackets, etc.) can be any color but only worn out of doors.
Please label all outerwear with your child’s first and last name.
The beginning of school can be overwhelming, especially if this is your first time with a child in school. You can follow our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ndlittlegriffins or check our website https://www.desotopsb.com/o/north-desoto-le to receive any updated information. You can ask questions on our Facebook page and one of our staff members or other parents will answer or you can call the office during the week at (318)925-2383. You can also download the DeSoto Parish Schools App on your smartphone’s app store to begin getting familiar with it. We will walk you through getting set up on our communication system at Open House on August 5 from 3-6 pm. We look forward to seeing all of you soon!