Central Hub

Dear Central Parents,

I must begin by saying thank you! We are sixteen days away from fall break and we have not had to close. Each morning, I wake up grateful we are in school and students are learning through in person instruction.

Here are a few items which highlight how we are truly working as a team to support Central student learning:

• Parents are keeping children home when they are not feeling well.
• Parents are strongly encouraging participation in our Fall in Love with Reading Challenge.
• Families are supporting our PTO and family fun events (Papa John's Pizza Week, Central Saturday Food Truck Event and Central's Family Fun Adventure).

It is truly a pleasure to serve as your principal. Please know my door is "open for communication" (via a virtual meet , a phone call, or an email).

Sincerely,

Julie Thacker, principal

We know that when we practice something, we get better at it. In the book, From Striving to Thriving, Stephanie Harvey and Annie Ward (2017) emphasize on the very first page that “four decades of research have established that voluminous, pleasurable reading is key to literacy development” (p. 9). How do we encourage and develop a joy of reading?

Our hope is that by creating reading challenges and helping students find their best fit books, they will be inspired to read. Our first reading challenge using Beanstack is Fall in Love With Reading. Students in grades, K, 2, 3, 4, and 5 will be logging minutes read. Students will be challenged in 40 days to read 20 minutes a day for a total of 600 minutes. First grade is challenging students to read 20 books in 40 days.

The more one reads, the better one reads. The more one reads, the more knowledge of words and language one acquires. The more one reads, the more fluent one becomes as a reader. The more one reads, the easier it becomes to sustain the mental effort necessary to comprehend complex texts. The more one reads, the more one learns about the people and happenings of our world. This increased volume of reading is essential (Allington, 2014).

The reading challenges are an opportunity to build a love of reading. If you embrace the challenges as parents, your children will as well. What you value, children will value. I encourage you to value Fall in Love with Reading!

• No product browsing - students and their families may shop from the flyer HERE, plus the additional products listed BELOW. Return the order form with payment between Oct 5th and Oct 15th. Check your student's red folder or download a copy of the order form pdf HERE.
• Turnaround time may vary. Orders will be filled outside of school hours from a restricted area. Teachers will pick up completed orders and deliver during them school hours.
• Online shopping is available now HERE. The online store includes a wider selection of products and direct home delivery - perfect for our remote learners!

PAYMENT

• Cash, check, or Scholastic e-wallet payment will be accepted for in-school orders.
• Family, grandparents, etc. may contribute to a student's e-wallet budget! (see e-wallet info HERE)
• There is no tax charged on in-school orders.
• Due to the national coin shortage, any change due from transactions will be "rounded up" and donated to the All For Books fundraiser to buy books for students in need.

CLASSROOM LIBRARY WISH LISTS

• Classroom Wish Lists to help build your students' classroom library will be available on this website by 10/5.
• Just add the donation amount to your order via the order form. We'll purchase the next available book on your teacher's wish list on your behalf.

Lifetouch Photography will be at Central on Tuesday, October 6th to take school photos for students that were absent on picture day. They will also be taking photos for any student who would like their photos retaken. You can bring back the photo package that you received, although it is not required. Please send a note and/or message to your teacher if you would like your child's picture redone on October 6th.

If you need any help with school supplies at any point in the year, please reach out to our home school advisor, Diana White. We have had many donations and are glad to help support your child's learning any way we can. She can be reached at dwhite@plainfield.k12.in.us

Every school has an RN full time on staff. We are fortunate to have a new nurse this year, Mrs. Jackie Mace. Our nurse 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 Mace at jmace@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 Mace for the 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

Dear Central Elementary Parents and Guardians,

September PTO Meeting recap:

Highlights:

• John Crum, PCSC Director of Technology, spoke at our meeting about internet and device safety for elementary kids. You can find the video of his presentation on the PTO In the Know link on our website (www.centralelementarypto.com).
• We had a successful Family Fun Adventure. 70 families participated! Thanks to the committee that came up with this super fun event and thanks to Plainfield Parks and Recreation, The Frigid Frog & More, Toy Buzz & Fizz, Plainfield Fire Territory, Oasis Diner, C.J.'s Pizza, Miracle Movers Field, and Wrap it Up! Check out the pictures on the PTO Facebook page. #CentralFaces
• Central Saturday Food Truck event was great! Thanks to the food trucks (Oh My Spud, Grumpy Gringo, Lazy J's, and Frigid Frog & More), Boy Scout Troop 399 Central and Troop 377 Brownsburg, PPD Deputy Chief Joe Aldridge, Plainfield Kiwanis, WYRZ 98.9 FM, and of course Craig and Walmart Neighborhood Market for this amazing event! We were able to raise $500 for our Grants for Champs and collected 1402 individually packaged snacks for our students.

Upcoming Events:

• Fall Book Fair October 5-16. Unfortunately there will not be in person browsing. Students will be ordering from the flyers and volunteers will be filling the orders outside of school hours in a restricted area. The teachers will pick up orders when they are ready and deliver to the students. Look for flyers coming home!
• Staff Appreciation: Operation October Smile- We will be encouraging families to link their Amazon accounts to Central's Amazon Smile account. Then, the room parents will send links to your teacher's Amazon wish lists so you can purchase items for your teachers.
• Chipotle restaurant night fundraiser- Wednesday, October 28, 5-8pm. You can order on the Chipotle app or website for pick up with the code 3DWBQ9J or show the flyer for in store orders and the PTO will receive 33% of your sale to be used for Grants for Champs.
• Fall Parties are on Friday, October 30. Deidre Suiter has worked hard on getting supplies ready for the room parents. They will be working on assembling the party bags so the kids will still have a fun day with snacks, games, and activities without sharing supplies and maintaining social distancing guidelines.

Thank you! Have a great week!

Cheers!

Nicole Rongo

plainfieldcentralelementarypto@gmail.com

Popsicle Stick Bridges

Materials:

Popsicle Sticks

Binder clips or Velcro tabs for younger students

Preparation: (could ask parent volunteers to prepare)

For younger students: attach Velcro tab stickers to the ends of craft sticks for easy building. In addition to bridges, they can use the sticks to create 2D shapes and letters!

Quick STEM: Now it's time to build!

Students will use binder clips to hold the sticks together to make a bridge. They could create a simple ladder style design or try something a little more challenging.

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.

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. Please place your car rider number 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.

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.

September 23, 2020

Dear Quaker Families,

Plainfield Schools will adopt the temporary federal food program offered by USDA (United States Department of Agriculture), to make free breakfast and lunch meals available to all students. This program is known as the USDA Summer Feeding Program Waiver, and will begin Wednesday, October 1 and run until the federal program has depleted funds or until December 31st, whichever comes first.

All students are eligible for the free meals as long as they meet the criteria established by USDA for selecting a complete meal. The minimum complete meals include:

• Breakfast: fruit or fruit juice plus two additional food items
• Lunch: fruit or vegetable plus two additional food items.

Students must take a complete meal in order to qualify for the free meal. Students may purchase additional items, or may purchase a la carte items at the regular price. Of course, students may also bring a sack lunch from home.

Per the USDA, this temporary Summer Feeding Program Waiver does not include the free and reduced textbook program. Families who wish to apply for free and reduced textbooks must still enroll in the free and reduced lunch program, which then may qualify for additional benefits such as textbook fee assistance. The link to that application may be found here: lunchapp.com.

To coincide with the Summer Feeding Program Waiver and also beginning October 1st, remote learning students may order breakfast and lunch meals through our twice-weekly pick-up program. These meals will be free until December 31 or when the program ends.

Free meals, per the USDA guidelines, will begin next Thursday, October 1st. Please continue to fund your child's meal accounts until then. Any remaining account balances (after October 1) will be used for a la carte items, or for when this temporary program has ended.

Thank you for your continued support of our school meal program. If you have any questions, please call me at 317-839-2578.

This institution is an equal opportunity employer.

Sincerely,

Kelly Collins
Director of Food Services

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.

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. Cases for the computers have been ordered by the district. These should be distributed as soon as they are delivered.

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.