*UPDATE*

Dear Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers -

Your child/children are participating in this year’s Outreach Program at Gunstock which starts Wednesday, February 5th. We apologize for the delay in sending out this letter with all of the finalized plans and details and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigated many changes and decisions that needed to be made as we transitioned to the new program here at BES. 

Please take the time to read through this letter carefully. **Please complete the Weekly Outreach Program Info Form at the end of this email so we know you have received all of  this information AND have turned in the needed info for next week. **

Transportation: 

MORNING: All students participating in the program are expected to ride the bus to Gunstock. The busses will be leaving BES at 8am. Students need to follow the usual arrival routine in the morning, including going to their classroom or advisory at 7:40am where their teachers will take attendance for the day. 

• You will have the opportunity to order a school bagged lunch each week for your child/children. They will need to pick this up in the kitchen before they go to their classroom in the morning. It is their responsibility to make sure they pick this up and pack it in their bag.

• Participants will be dismissed from their classrooms to get onto the busses to head to Gunstock. 

AFTERNOON: We will be returning to BES for 2pm so students can follow their usual dismissal routines. The busses leave Gunstock BY 1:15pm. 

• If you are planning to pick up your child/children or have them picked up by another adult, and NOT have them return to BES on the bus, you will have the opportunity to inform the school through a weekly Google Form that will be sent out to you on the Friday before each Outreach week. 

• Alternate pick up plans must be made in advance with at least 24 hours notice. 

Bus Fee: With the help of some funding, we were able to get the cost of the 4 weeks of bussing per child to be $40. Please submit your payment (cash or check) to the Main Office by Friday February 14th. 

Ski & Snowboard Equipment: 

**Skis and snowboards are not allowed on the buses as they cannot be properly restrained in a safe manner.**

We will be transporting student equipment separately in our school van. We will have the van parked in our event parking lot from 7:30-7:50am. You can drop off and load your child/children’s equipment during that time. Upon our return, we will park the van in the event lot and the equipment can be picked up until 3:10pm.

• ALL equipment must be labeled with your child’s name. 

• Please make sure your child is able to carry their equipment and can recognize it easily. Once at Gunstock, they will be responsible for taking their equipment to and from the van and responsible for it during the day. 

• Boots and helmets should be carried on the busses with the students. Please work with your child/children to be able to pack these items well in their backpacks independently. 

• If you are not able to pick up equipment at the end of the day, it will be safely locked in the van overnight. Please plan to pick up the equipment the next day. (We will notify the office if parents will need access to the van.)

At Gunstock:

GROUP SPACE: Our designated group space for our bags, checking in, checking out, and etc is the Pistol Pub. This is located on the 3rd floor of the Main Lodge. 

• All bags and items should be kept neatly under the tables. *If Gunstock has changed where bags should be kept, we will be told upon arrival. 

• When arriving at Gunstock, everyone should head to our Pistol Pub area to find a spot to get ready and plan to leave their things for the day. 

• When getting ready to leave, all participants should meet in our group area to gather belongings and begin exiting together. 

LESSONS & FREE SKI/BOARD: All students are signed up for a lesson and are expected to attend the 50 minute lesson if they are with us for the day. Depending on the skill level, age range, and sport, students have a lesson at either 10am or 11am. 

• Students need to be ready and at the lesson area 10 minutes before the start of their lesson. 

• With or without a group chaperone, the students are expected to follow the directions and expectations of the instructor. 

• Before heading out for Free Ski/Board time, before and after lessons, students need to check in with a BES staff member to let them know who they are skiing/boarding with. 

**Students cannot go out on the slopes alone. Everyone must be with at least one other person. 

**Not all students will have the opportunity/time to have free ski/board before their lessons - this should not be an expectation. 

RENTAL EQUIPMENT: Students who are renting equipment will drop off their belongings with the group in the Pistol Pub before going to the rental shop to get their equipment. We will likely have our group go together or in small groups to make this happen efficiently.

• Students will have their names on the equipment from the rental shop. They will be responsible for putting them in a safe place when they are not in  use. 

• When it is time to return rental equipment, we will have groups bring their items back to the rental shop. *Students should leaving out or returning their rented equipment on their own.

Student Responsibility - 

Come to School With: 

Dress in Layers:  It is important that students are prepared for any kind of weather! 

• Wear base layers winter shoes/boots to school 

• Pack/wear warm clothing: jacket, snow pants, gloves/mittens, wool/warm socks, neck warmer, sweatshirt, etc.)

In Your Backpack: Be sure to pack the following items: 

• YOUR RFID CARD!! (There is a fee to replace the card if students do not have it on them.)

• **GUNSTOCK IS NOW CASHLESS. Please consider loading at least $5.00 onto RFID cards. RFID cards are used for ALL purchases on the mountain. (This includes lunch & snacks!)

• Water or a hydrating drink

• Lunch - if you are getting a school bagged lunch, it should be in your bag before we leave the school. 

• Helmet & Ski/Board boots (if you are not renting)

Next Steps: 

• Please complete the Weekly Outreach Program Info Form. We will be emailing you this form each Friday before an Outreach Program week. Through this form, you will have the opportunity to order lunch and let us know about any alternative pick-up plans. It is important that we receive your response by the Monday prior to our Outreach day by 2pm. 

Again, we appreciate your patience and understanding as we worked hard to pull together what we are hoping will be a very successful 4 weeks of bringing the Outreach Program back to days at BES. IF you have any additional questions, please feel free to contact us. 

BES Outreach Program Coordinators

Josie Nevers & Lindsey Seibert