Central Hub

Dear Central Parents,

It is hard to believe there is little over a week until the start of school. Although we cannot return to school with a business as usual approach, our enthusiastic office team is registering new families, ordering needed materials and updating student PowerSchool records. Our hard working and conscientious custodians have spent the entire summer thoroughly cleaning the building. Additionally, our much-appreciated PTO is gearing up to welcome families, provide off-site volunteer opportunities, and support our school. Probably the most excited of all are our teachers. They cannot wait to see your children in person. We are indeed a joyous and caring community with the common goals of nurturing responsible, kind students and promoting a high-level of learning.

Our administrative team has spent countless hours developing a safe plan, which can be seen using this link. https://www.plainfield.k12.in.us/o/central-elementary-school/browse/149860 Now more than ever, safety is our top priority.

Class placement information will be emailed Monday, July 27 Please look for a letter from your child's teacher in the mail, following the email.

Car Rider Request Form-Will you be picking your child up from school this year? If so, please click on this link Central Car Rider Request and register for a number. You must complete the form for EACH child that is attending Central. Your new car number will be mailed to you prior to the start of the year so you may place it on the right side of your dashboard for pick up beginning the first day of school. With the changes in our procedures, it is imperative that we know asap.

First Day of School-- Wednesday, August 5th- Students may arrive at 8:30. The tardy bell rings at 8:50. Please note that for security reasons, parents are not permitted to walk their child to their classrooms. We will have people here to help children safely get to class. DOORS WILL NOT OPEN UNTIL 8:30 this year. You cannot drop your children off until 8:30.

Virtual Meet the Teacher Night-Classroom teachers will send you a link.

• Kindergarten and First Grade--Monday, August 3rd at 6:00-7:00
• Fourth and Fifth Grades--Wednesday, August 5th at 6:00-7:00
• Second and Third Grades-Thursday, August 6th at 6:00-7:00

Virtual School Safety Meeting- Monday, August 10th at 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. classroom teachers will send a link. Safety is our number one priority here at Central. I encourage you to log onto the meeting to hear all the efforts we have made and will continue to make to keep your child safe at school.

Central School Pictures- Two days to help with social distancing

Information will be sent out the first two weeks of school.

• Grades K-2 Thursday, August 27
• Grades 3-5 Friday, August 28

I cannot wait to see our returning students and to meet our new students! Most of all I am looking forward to building a partnership with you. Cultivating strong connections between home and school are very important to me. Central is a special place to learn and grow because of the people and kindness found in our community.

Sincerely,

Julie Thacker, principal

I am beyond excited to introduce myself as the new Assistant Principal for the upcoming school year at Central. I am bringing with me fourteen years of experience in education, and the past four years have been in the Plainfield Community School Corporation at Van Buren Elementary. My own daughter is a graduate from Central Elementary, and I am pleased to be able to join a team of educators that have personally touched my own family with their love for their students and passion for learning. I am looking forward to meeting each of your children and embarking on a fantastic year ahead with all of you.

Below are the board approved school start times for the 2020-2021 school year.

Elementary Schools

Student Day: 8:50 a.m. -3:50 p.m.

Students may be dropped off beginning at 8:30. Doors are locked until this time.

Middle School

Student Day: 7:50 a.m. -2:50 p.m.

High School

Student Day: 8:05 a.m.- 3:05 p.m.

To make sure your child is ready to learn for the first day of school, we ask you to send them with the supplies listed. 2020-2021 Updated Supply List

You do not need to send them all the first day of school. Spreading them out over the first few days will help your child's backpack not be so heavy.

Every school has an RN full time on staff. We are fortunate to have Ms. Carissa Johnson at Central. Our nurse takes attendance, administers medication, does vision and hearing screenings, all on top of taking care of your children at school. If your child has a medical condition or takes prescription medication during school hours, please contact Nurse Johnson at carissajohnson@plainfield.k12.in.us or at 317-838-3652.

Medications and over the counter medicine- Please note all medication must be delivered to school and picked up from school by a parent. Medications must be in their original packaging; prescription medications must include documentation of the student as the person to whom medication was prescribed (i.e. prescription label).

• Asthma Paperwork- please contact Nurse Johnson for form.

We are still updating our calendar for this year, but I am sharing our Central Elementary Parent Calendar. I am hoping this will help you to have all our important events at your fingertips.

(Disclaimer: Every phone is different. If you have a Google calendar, it will work for sure; others will have different steps to follow, but your phone should prompt you.) Note - for Google, you need to be on a computer to add the calendar.

Link to VIEW ONLY the Central Elementary Parent Calendar

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=plainfield.k12.in.us_k4mb22sskfrkul9o8017a6fovc%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FNew_York

July 2020

Dear Central Elementary Parents and Guardians,

2020 has been quite a year thus far, but onward we must go! My name is Nicole Rongo, and I'm excited to serve our school as PTO President this year. When I'm not volunteering, I work as an instructional designer, go to book club, exercise and run my kids around to their various activities. I have a 4th grader and my youngest will be a Kindergartner at Central, and I can't believe how fast time flies… except when in quarantine during a pandemic… those days were at times… very slow. I know you know what I mean. Enough about me though, let's talk about PTO!

This year will require some adjustments to our traditional plans, but we will still make every effort to provide opportunities for 1) families to connect, 2) students to engage, 3) teachers and staff to feel appreciated and 4) overall school support. Things will look different and it could be a wild ride, but we are so up for the challenge! We have all kinds of opportunities for you to help this year from an hour of prepping class items at home to room parenting to coordinating an event (be it virtual or in person later on). Please feel inspired to reach out to us if you have questions, ideas, want to be involved or if you just want to chat.

The PTO Board and I look forward to serving Central’s staff, students and families this year with you!

Cheers!

Nicole Rongo

plainfieldcentralelementarypto@gmail.com

This year we are implementing the Project Lead the Way curriculum. We are excited about the ways this will allow us to give students real world and hands on learning opportunities. We will continue to focus on design thinking and the 4 C's.

The 4Cs Defined

Critical thinking is all about solving problems.

Creativity teaches students to think outside the box.

Collaboration shows students how to work together to achieve a common goal.

Communication lets students learn how to best convey their ideas.

Central Students will rotate between art, music, library and computer science each day with their homeroom class and will be asked to bring supplies with them to minimize the need for shared materials. Special area classroom spaces will maximize space in order to support social distancing.

Students will have a 30 minute intentional structured playtime each day. We are naming it T.E.A.M. TIME (teamwork, exercise and move)

Guiding Principles Behind T.E.A.M Time and Zones

(Teamwork, Exercise, and Move)

• Cardio workout-raise heart rate daily

• Build upper body strength

• Improve gross motor skills

• Each zone must have shade and green space to run

• Zones allow students to spread out and help us with contact tracing

There are a few staff changes(*) this school year. Here are the wonderful and amazing staff members who will be working with your children:

Kindergarten--Mrs. Pagels, Mrs. O'Connor*, Mrs. Riester, Mrs. Szepski

First Grade--Mrs. Hollingsworth, Mrs. Mitchell, Mrs. Weaver, Mrs. Hackleman

Second Grade-Mrs. Carmichael, Mrs. Roach, Mrs. Stultz*, Mrs. Todd

Third Grade-Mrs. A. Johnson, Mrs. M. Johnson, Mrs. Maple, Mrs. Laswell

Fourth Grade-Mrs. Menser, Mrs. Richard, Mrs. Gibbs*, Mrs. Tobey

Fifth Grade-Mrs. Harrison*, Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Mosier, Miss Feasel*

Special Education-Mrs. Kelley, Mrs. McDonald, Mrs. Williams*

Specials-Mrs. Allen, Mrs. Loudermilk. Mr. Wheeler

Assistants-Mrs. Atkins, Mrs. Dickey, Mrs. Price, Mrs. Stanley, Ms. Young-Collier*, Mrs. Gowen, Mrs. Kirchoff, Mrs. Campbell, Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Andrews, Mrs. Meek, Mrs. Miller

Cafeteria-Mrs. Boles-Manuel, Mrs. Broulliard (manager), Mrs. Parker, Mrs. Schmitt

Custodians-Mr. Boltinghouse (Head), Mr. Edens, Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Evans, Mrs. Mongan

Nurse-Ms. Johnson

Technology Assistant-Mrs. Shinn

Receptionist-Mrs. Buster

Treasurer/principal's secretary-Mrs. Western

Home School Advisor-Mrs. White

Speech Therapist-Mrs. Shelley

Providing a safe arrival and dismissal system is extremely important to all of the staff at Central Elementary. To achieve that, Central utilizes a number system when dismissing our car rider students.

Car Rider Request Form-Will you be picking your child up from school this year? If so, please click on this link Central Car Rider Request and register for a number. You must complete the form for EACH child that is attending Central. Your new car number will be mailed to you prior to the start of the year so you may place it on the right side of your dashboard for pick up beginning the first day of school. With the changes in our procedures, it is imperative that we know asap.

Bus- You will be contacted by the bus driver a week before school starts with information regarding the pick-up and drop off times for your child. For any questions or concerns regarding transportation, please call their office at 317-838-3632.

• Add/Cancel Bus Service- You will need to fill out the Transportation Data Form to add or cancel bus service.

Arrival- If your child will be dropped off by a parent or guardian in the mornings,

please follow these procedures:

• Enter the parking lot from Wabash Street and pull forward to let your child get out of the car on the passenger side. Doors are locked until 8:30am. Once doors are unlocked and staff members appear, your child may exit your car. Make sure your child is wearing a mask.

Dismissal- Please the Car Rider number tag in your front car window for pick up. Please enter off of US 40 onto Wabash Street. There will be two lines, which form into one around our horseshoe. A dismissal teacher will radio for your child to be walked out from the gym. You can also park in the lot/grass parking for the funeral home and enter the gym at Door #8 on the east side of our building. Be sure to social distance and wear a mask.

• Please make sure to list in your car rider request sheet all parent names and anyone else, such as a grandparent, aunt/uncle or babysitter, who will be picking up your child. Any additions or changes to your pick up list must be made by calling the office at Central. No child will be released at dismissal to someone who is not on their pick up list.

• Bus- If there will be a change in your child’s regular after-school transportation routine, you must send a note to your teacher and call the front office on that day before 1:00 p.m. If NO note or call is made, the child will go their REGULAR way home that day.

What’s my bus number? Where’s my bus stop? When will the bus pick me up and drop me off?

Wednesday, July 29th - Routes will be available for the drivers and posted in PowerSchool. (Routes will not be on the PowerSchool app.)

Drivers will be calling the Parent(s) of:

• Students new to Plainfield Schools
• Students new to the Driver's bus
• Students who have had a bus stop change
• Kindergarten students

Monday, August 3rd - Please call the office if you have not received a call by the end of the day.

The following information is from our handbook:

If your child is to go home a way different than their normal arrangement, you must send in a note to the teacher with instructions as to how the child is to go home. We will not allow a child to go home a different way without a note. Please make these arrangements before school or by 1:00 p.m. at the latest. NEW THIS YEAR, Children will NOT be allowed to ride a different bus to or from school. All children have assigned seats on the bus.

If you call requesting that your child become a car rider, you are required to come into the

school office to sign out your child no earlier than 3:45 p.m. Your child will be waiting in the office lobby until you sign them out. Signing your child out prior to 3:45 does affect your child’s attendance, as it counts as a partial day present.

If you call requesting that your child ride a bus home instead of being a car rider, we will need to verify that we are speaking to the child’s parent/guardian by asking certain questions or through caller ID on our phone system. To make this smoother, please call from one of the phone numbers that you have registered with our school as contacts.

Finally, please note that e-mail notifications of changes for the end of the day ride home are not accepted. We are not able to ensure that the email will be read in time.

Have you moved recently? If your child rides the bus, we want to make sure your child is picked up on schedule and dropped off safely to your home. If you have changed addresses since you did the online registration in PowerSchool, we will need to have you fill out a transportation form so we can pass the information to the transportation department so your child's bus route can be updated. You can find this form on our website. Please return this form to the main office as soon as you can, so the appropriate changes can be made. Call us if you have any questions!

The YMCA runs a before and after school program at Van Buren. THIS IS A CHANGE. Van Buren is better suited to host the program this year. They are able to keep Central and Van Buren students separated. Students will ride a bus from Van Buren in the morning and a YMCA staff member will walk the students over to Van Buren in the evening.

The program is run independently from the school so please call 317-941-9578 for information and to register or Click the link below. In addition, there are several daycares that bus kids to and from Central that include ABC Daycare, Living Christ for Kids, Kids Connection, Beginning Steps and Rainbow.

Breakfast- $1.50, Lunch $2.50, Milk $0.50

• Purchase- Breakfast and lunch is served daily at Central. To put money into your child’s lunch account you may send cash or a check to school in a sealed envelope with the student name, teacher name and “lunch money” on the front. You can also add money by creating an account on EFunds . You can check your child’s lunch card balance and/or upload money via debit/credit card for lunches or Textbook Rental. You will need your child’s student number to set up this account.

• Packing a lunch- You can pack your child a lunch box

• Free/Reduced Status- Applications for Free/Reduced lunch status can be submitted online on Lunch App Website. We protect the privacy of students who receive free or reduced-price meals or textbooks. Their classmates will not know that they’re receiving this support. If your family qualifies, these programs can save you hundreds of dollars, so please be sure to apply. If your child receives free or reduced-price meals, you may add money to their account to allow them to purchase ala carte items that are not part of the free or reduced-price federal meal program.

• FREE TEXTBOOKS Did you know? If a child qualifies for free or reduced-price meals, they also qualify for no-fee textbooks. You do not have to use the meal benefit to receive this benefit. Other school fees may apply.
  

• LOW BALANCE E-MAILS When a student's meal balance drops below $5, the student's parent/guardian will be notified by email. Please be sure your child's student record includes current contact information.
  

Food Allergies- If your child suffers from food allergies, we are prepared to help ensure they enjoy meals that are both safe and nutritious. Please fill out the correct form and return to Kelly Collins, Director of Food Services at kcollins@plainfield.k12.in.us. If you have any questions regarding the forms please call Kelly Collins 317-839-2578. Please use the following links below:

Milk Substitute Form

Food Allergy Form

Special Dietary Needs

The Plainfield Community School Corporation uses the PowerSchool Parent portal, which gives you access to your child’s grades, lunch account balance, bus schedule, and registration for returning students for the next school year. Families who are new to Plainfield Community Schools, will have an an account created and your username and temporary password will be sent on/before August 6th, 2020.

Please complete the steps below to finish setting up your account.

Navigate to the PowerSchool page.

• Please use the following link to access your account:

https://powerschool.plainfield.k12.in.us/public/

• Bookmark this page

Sign in. Now you are at the sign-in page for PowerSchool.

• Type in your username that was given to you. You can change your username once you sign in

• Type in your temporary password of abc123 & press the sign-in button

Change your password. You will have a screen with 3 boxes:

• In the top box type in abc123

• In the next two boxes, type in a password you will remember and press the sign-in button. You can then use the menu on the left to navigate the pages-check grades, lunch balance, bus information and register for the next school year are all done through this site.

• If you forget your password- call the office and they can immediately reset it. The “reset password” link on the website can take up to a week to go through, so please call the office instead.

• There is also a PowerSchool app you can download onto your phone that you can use to check grades, attendance, etc. The school code you will need for the PowerSchool app is CJKF.

Our school and teachers will be using Parent Square to communicate newsletters, upcoming events and notices, classroom news, updates, sign-ups, etc. Please keep an eye out for this and make sure you mark ParentSquare “safe” in your email inbox so it doesn’t go to your spam. You will be able to choose preferences to email, phone/text, or app notification (if you download the app).

On the first day of school students in grades 1-5 will come home with a computer. Kindergarten students will receive their computer on July 30th. It is the expectation that students come to school every day with their computer charged and ready to go. You may leave the charger in your child's backpack.

In the event we would have a school closure, students would need to be ready to work from home the next day of school.

Student Acceptable Use Policy- The Plainfield Community School Corporation (PCSC) recognizes that access to technology in school gives students greater opportunities to learn, engage, communicate, and develop skills that will prepare them for work, life, and citizenship. We are committed to helping students develop 21st-century technology and communication skills. To that end, we provide access to technologies for student and staff use. You may review the Student Acceptable Use Policy for more details.