To: Potential Preschool Parents,

We are in the preliminary stages of planning preschool for the 2023-2024 school year and it is imperative that we determine our numbers for preschool.  The Deuel Preschool program is 3 ½ hours a day for 4 days a week. We will run a morning program and afternoon program. For the 2023-2024 school year there will be no tuition fees for your child to attend preschool.   

We ask that you notify us to request the morning or afternoon session so we may do our best to meet your priority needs.  Please inform us if you have carpool arrangements or other needs requiring a specific session.  We also ask that you contact us even if you are not planning to send your child. This will help to ensure an accurate list. We request that you let us know by June 16th.     

Please email Todd Rahlf at Todd.Rahlf@k12.sd.us with your preference for morning or afternoon class or send the contract back to the school in the return envelope enclosed.  Once again even if you are not interested in enrolling your child in the program, we ask that you please email to let us know.

There is a Back-To-School Fair scheduled for August 10^th from 11am-6pm. This is a great opportunity for you to come in and meet your teacher and let your children see the school. We will also request that you bring a copy of your child’s birth certificate to the Back-To-School Fair. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Sincerely,
Todd Rahlf  

Busses will transport AM students to school and PM students’ home from school. You are responsible for picking up the AM group at 11:30 or dropping off for the PM at 12:00.

Preschool Registration Form

As the weather gets colder, please remember your children MUST bring proper clothing to go outside. They will go outside for recess every day unless the temperature drops below zero, or the windchill is below -10, so please make sure they come with winter coats, hats and gloves for the cold and snow pants and boots now that there is snow. They will still have to go outside even if they do not have these items, but they do not get to play in the snow. Please also remember that a lot of boots and snow pants look exactly the same, so don’t forget to label your child’s name or initials!

Update: Pursuant to the release of state reimbursement rates, Deuel School District has updated meal prices as follows effective immediately.
Breakfast
Student: $1.76
Adult: $2.33

Lunch
PK-5: $3.45
6-12: $3.60
Adult: $4.40

For school year (SY) 2022-23, families who may qualify for free or reduced-price meals will need to submit a free and reduced-price meal application. As you know, our district had some flexibilities during COVID so we could serve free meals to all students. That option has now expired, so we can’t serve free meals to all anymore. Instead, families will do what they did before COVID. Schools will take applications and use family income to qualify students for free, reduced-price, or paid meals.

There are still many ways children can get free meals. Children are automatically eligible for free meals if anyone in their household gets SNAP, TANF, or FDPIR benefits. We will alert you if your child is automatically eligible.

Children experiencing homelessness, children in foster care, runaway youth, or children of migrant workers all qualify for free school meals when their household fills out an application. Children can also qualify for free or reduced-price meals through an application if their household’s income is under a certain limit. You can find the latest income guidelines online at https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/fr-021622 or contact us for more information. We will help you understand if your student qualifies based on the information you put on your school meal application.

Children who do not qualify for free or reduced-price meals may pay full price for a healthy breakfast or lunch at school. Even at full price, school breakfast and lunch are still an excellent bargain. You can’t find a similar quality meal for that low price at a restaurant or convenience store. Our school nutrition staff are dedicated to fueling our students’ minds and bodies for learning.

For other resources and food assistance programs, you can call the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Hunger Hotline at 1-866-3-HUNGRY (English) or 1-877-8-HAMBRE (Spanish).

The USDA has also released a list of frequently asked questions that may be helpful to you. You can access it online at https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/2022-23-parent-faqs.

Please reach out with any further questions you may have. We’re looking forward to a great school year.