Ad Astra Academies

On Monday we had the honor of nominating Mrs. Jenna Kimble, 3rd grade teacher at Union Valley, for the Kansas Horizon Award! The Kansas Horizon Award is sponsored by the Kansas State Department of Education and its mission is to recognize exemplary first-year teachers who perform in a way that distinguishes them as outstanding. Mrs. Kimble had an exceptional first year of teaching last year and is an excellent nominee for this award. Congratulations Jenna, and good luck on your application! #Bexceptional

During the regular July BOE meeting, the public survey results were shared with the Board. DCS, an independent company, conducted the survey and shared the results along with summary data with the Board. Follow this link for the full news article and summary: https://www.usd313.org/o/usd-313/article/1209483

Hello! We made an error in our message regarding students attending at PHMS and BHS tomorrow. 6th graders and freshman will attend, PLUS all NEW Buhler students in grades 6-12. Sorry for the confusion!

We are so excited to see our students tomorrow! See the images for open house times at our elementary buildings and school start/dismissal times. Tuesday and Wednesdays this week are 2 hour early release days. Tuesday will be only 6th graders and freshmen at PHMS and BHS, with all students attending on Wednesday. PreK and kindergarten students will NOT attend this week. Boys only in those grades will attend Monday the 21st, girls only on Tuesday the 22nd, with all students attending Wednesday the 23rd. Here's to an EXCEPTIONAL school year!

A note from our Tech Director, Laura Reed, regarding a new app, Saturn, for parents to be aware of. When was the last time that you actually read a user agreement for an app that you loaded onto your device? This morning I read the user agreement and privacy policy of an app called Saturn. This app is geared towards high school students, but middle school students are using it also. In Google Admin we can see if a student requests that this app has access to their school email accounts, 5 students (we can not see who they are) have already tried to allow Saturn access to their school email account, but I denied them. Saturn allows you to take a picture of your schedule, see who else is in your class, connect, and socialize, with other users in your school. Get invited to events that your other classmates are hosting. It is not intended for teachers or other adults, it says this. They collect your phone number, IP address, location (even if you don't allow it, they can figure this out with your IP Address and cell phone towers), other apps installed, your contacts... If you log in with your Microsoft, Google, or other social network account, they have access to your user ID, name, photo, and even access to your email, who you interact with. They use cookies, like Facebook does, to watch what you are doing on your phone, what you browse, other apps you use... Saturn Technologies Inc sells this information to others. Think for a moment about what good this app can do. Then think about what bad this app can do. Or you can read a Facebook post here: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02xZt5mM68dafxrV5SVgniLuUQvU2aD6uyWyermP6uiJZB9g7AuYw7VQ6ZdR22Y5r8l&id=66802404&mibextid=pjQu9i The district has blocked Saturn on our devices. But the students can put it on their own devices. Use their own cell data to connect with it. Being informed helps us make better decisions. Thank you, Laura and team, for your work on continually safeguarding our network and students. On a personal note, I did create an account to check this out. The app has Buhler High's entire schedule, staff names, our logo, and I didn't have to verify any school email. I had immediate access to every student on this app and at the time there were 43 students on it. Social media is powerful but it is also the root cause of many discipline issues our administration handles each day. Cindy Couchman, Superintendent Buhler Schools

Welcome back our returning staff! Tonya's favorite thing is helping people overcome their fear of spiders (and she gets lots of opportunities for that every week)!

Welcome back our returning staff! Brooks' favorite job is to make people happy, and he can't wait to get back in the classroom with his Ad Astra friends!

Meet our new team members! Miss Jackie is super excited to become part of the Ad Astra family!

Meet our new team members! One of Mrs. McMeans' favorite quotes is: "A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."

Meet our new team members! Miss P. is excited to have the opportunity to build relationships with learners while helping them to be successful now and in the future.

Welcome our returning staff! Mrs. Starkweather says she loves the beginning of the school year because it's a fresh start... a chance to try something different, set new goals and be excited about your accomplishments.

Welcome back our returning staff! Mrs. Schroeder is so excited that Mr. Owens is joining our team this year so she doesn't have to answer anymore trigonometry questions.

Welcome back our returning staff! Mrs. Kohls believes that although you can't go back and make a new start, you can start from now and make a new ending. She loves to help Ad Astra students do just that!

Meet our new staff! Miss Stegman's goal is to have a positive impact on young people. She says: "I hope to contribute as much as possible not only the academic growth but also the overall well-being of my students."

Meet our new staff! Mrs. Foster is looking forward to learning new ways to connect with and help students succeed. She says: "Building relationships is my favorite thing!"

Meet our new staff! Mr. Owens is looking forward to coming back to Buhler where he began his teaching career but in a totally different environment at Ad Astra Academies. His motto is: "Be better today than you were yesterday."

LAST CALL FOR ONLINE ENROLLMENT! Have you enrolled your returning student yet? Online enrollment closes Monday, August 7th at noon. Enrollment fees do not have to be paid at the time of enrollment. However, if you get online and pay them anytime during the online enrollment window, credit card fees are waived. After noon on Monday, guardians must go to the buildings to enroll. It is recommended to call ahead and verify staff will be present to enroll you.

We are so excited to meet our newest Crusaders! New student enrollment is THURSDAY, August 3rd, from 7:30am - 5:30 pm. Visit your attendance center to enroll your student. Click below for a list of documents to bring with you as well as a map of attendance center boundaries. https://www.usd313.org/page/enrollment-information-forms

ATTENTION Buhler Crusader Community! B-Well, our district wellness team, is hosting a 5K at the Buhler Frolic this year on Saturday, October 7th! We are inviting YOU as a runner, jogger, walker, or walker-talker to JOIN us! It'll be a GREAT way to kickoff the Frolic and support our wellness program! Registration is simple and open to all both in and outside the Crusader community! Please see the graphic here for details as well as this link for the registration form: https://tinyurl.com/BWell5K Please contact Paul Erickson (perickson@usd313.org) with any questions!

School Supply Lists can be found linked on our website here for elementary grades: https://5il.co/ue5y. Please visit this link for PHMS: https://tinyurl.com/mpywsmk3. For BHS: https://tinyurl.com/yweu4dyr. Happy school supply shopping!