I hope everyone had a great holiday season. The return to school marks the beginning of our second semester and a return to work. However, it is generally these next couple of months when weather can start to wreak havoc on our schedule. The policy between the five Dent County districts remains the same. If 2 of the 5 schools decide that their roads are too dangerous for a bus to travel on, then all Dent County schools will cancel. This means that there could be times when we cancel when the roads in our district seem fine but may not be safe in other parts of the county. Our main priority is always going to be student safety. We would much rather err on the side of caution when making those decisions. If you have had a recent phone number change, please contact the office to make sure that we have the most up to date information so that you will receive these notifications. We will also post school cancellations on our Facebook page, website, app, and with local news stations such as KY3 and KOLR 10.
Please continue to stress to your children the importance of always trying their hardest. Read to them as often as possible. Remember, the level of importance that you place on education will be the level of importance that your child will place on education. Stay invested in their work. Research shows that just 15 to 20 minutes of reading with your child each night greatly increases their performance in school. If you have any questions or need additional resources at home, please do not hesitate to ask. We will always strive to help in any way possible. It is important for the school and the home to work together to make sure that each child receives the full benefits of the best education possible.
There have been several projects taking place to upgrade our facilities here at the Forest. Over winter break, our bathrooms for the lower grades received a much-needed facelift to make it more user-friendly for our smaller students. We are also installing a safety laminate to our windows in a couple of weeks to increase our security. We purchased additional AEDs to place around our building, and we are looking into re-surfacing the gym floor. Thank you to our Board of Education for their commitment to the safety and security of our students and staff.
We are happy to report that our Annual Performance Report (APR) is now public on the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website. Once again, the Forest received high marks from the state. Be on the lookout for more detailed information on our website and social media pages.
Thank you again and I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Important Dates and Events in January:
12—Reading Counts Trip to the Zone
15 – MLK Day/No School
16 – Board Meeting 7:30 PM