
EPE Express
East Pennsboro Elementary School Newsletter
Summer 2022
Principal's Message
Greetings EPE Families,
It's hard to believe the end of the school year is just two days away! There is always a bittersweet feeling within the building as we see the students off on the last day. With that being said, we are very excited about the personal growth of our students. We have seen great gains from beginning of the year testing to end of the year testing for reading and math. Additionally, as a school, we have accomplished many great things this year at EPE. We had a full school year with as close to normal conditions as we have had in a couple years. Next year we plan to have a revised building schedule which will allow our lunch serving times to be more typical. We completed our first year with our new, evidence-based math program, Everyday Mathematics, 4th Edition. Our teachers had been working very hard on preparing for this program over the past two school years and we will be even stronger in 22-23! Additionally, we completed our second year of implementation of Caring School Communities. You may have heard your student talking about their "buddy student" from a different grade level, class meetings, being the "spotlight student," or even had to work with your student through the "Home Connections." Caring School Communities instills a sense of community within the classroom setting and helps students navigate social and emotional skills through a systemic approach as students experience each grade level. Lastly, we appreciate everyone's understanding, patience, and kindness as we navigated through the changing Covid requirements, particularly towards the first half of the school year. We look forward to our new school year kicking off without restrictions and mandates.
K-5 teacher assignment letters will be posted to your Sapphire Community Portal during the first week of August. Our Kindergarten Meet and Greet event will be on August 15, from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM. You and your Kindergarten student will be able to meet their Kindergarten teacher, tour the classroom and school, ride a school bus (Kindergarten students only), and get any questions answered by your child's Kindergarten teacher or office staff.
The first day of school for all students is Monday, August 22, 2022. As we prepare over the summer, will be looking forward to the start of a new school year!
As always, if there is ever a question or concern, please do not hesitate to reach out to myself or Mr. Etter here at EPE.
Respectfully,
Rich Tysarczyk, Principal
Dan Etter, Assistant Principal
717-732-0441
Nominate an EPE Staff Member With Our "Panther Spotlight" Form
If you have something amazing to share about an EPE staff member, please consider doing so using the following short form:
https://forms.gle/f13ZhDceewQp42wX8
We appreciate the feedback and may share it in future newsletters. Please check out this great commendation from an EPE Family:
Mrs. Beaver consistently demonstrates high ideals, professionalism, knowledge, and the ability to help students become the best they can be, both in the classroom and in the community. Students love her because she is kind, loving, fun, and cares about them. Mrs. Beaver gets to know every student in her class as a whole person. Finally, Mrs. Beaver is a superior leader within the elementary school and I am so glad that my son was able to learn a lot from her this past year. We will definitely miss her next year.
EPE Girls on the Run
Calling All Future Band Students!
Field Day!
EPE Author Visit
If you would be interested in purchasing a copy of the book, they are about $10 on Amazon or you can contact the author directly to purchase a personally inscribed book for your son or daughter. You can reach Linda via text at 717-877-6384, by email at lindazauthor@gmail.com, or find her on facebook under "LindaZimmerman".
Kindergarten Registration for 2022-2023
Junior Achievement Lessons
https://www.flipsnack.com/jainspire/joanne-volunteer-overview-classroom-programs/full-view.html
If you are interested in becoming a JA volunteer at EPE, please contact Tammy Meisenhelter at tmeisenehlter@jascpa.org.
Core Value Award Recipeients
4th Grade Learns About Autism
EPE Special Education teacher, Mrs. Harris, taught Autism Awareness lessons this spring to the 4th grade. Students completed their work by answering the question, "I can be friends with someone with Autism by...."
We were really impressed with their answers!
5th Grade Meet and Greet
EPE Lost and Found
EPE Recognized as a Top School by the American Heart Association!
Weis4School Program Information
EPASD Summer Football Clinic
Contact Coach Denniston at john.denniston@comcast.net
General EPE Information:
Change in Routine Procedures
The classroom teachers follow routine dismissal procedures daily. Changes in those routines
should be for urgent reasons and must be accompanied by a Change of Routine Notice or a
written parental notice requesting such a change. All student verbal requests for such changes will be denied without written notice or a phone call from a parent/guardian. Seesaw messages, text messages, and emails will not be accepted during the school day of a change of routine. Please have these requests into the school ahead of time so we can ensure students are where they need to be for a safe and secure dismissal.
EPASD Attendance Procedures
EPE accepts attendance notifications (excuse cards, absence notes, etc.) via email. Parents can email epesattendance@epasd.org as a means of reporting your child’s absence. Paper notes will still be accepted as well. Reminder that all excuse notifications are required to be submitted within three school days of your child’s absences.
Excused Absences:
When a child is enrolled in the district’s educational program, the student is subject to the
Pennsylvania State Attendance Laws. The Board considers the following conditions to constitute an excused absence from school:
1. Illness
2. Quarantine
3. Student required court attendance
4. Prearranged doctor and dentist appointment for time of appointment and appropriate travel time only
5. Authorized school activities
6. Pre-approved educational tours and trips, not school sponsored
7. Other urgent reasons, including funerals, that apply to the child and approved by the building administrator
Parents/guardians are expected to telephone the school when students are absent for any reason. In addition, a written excuse from a parent/guardian is required for each absence.
Unexcused Absences:
An unexcused absence shall be defined as:
• Absence from school with parent/guardian consent for reasons other than those considered
excusable.
• Leaving school during school hours without permission from the administrator.
• Absence from school without knowledge/permission of parent/guardian (truancy).
• Absence from school without knowledge/permission of school authorities.
• Absences from school without written parental excuse submitted within 3 school days of the absence.
You may refer to the Elementary Student Handbook in the link below to review more specific information about our attendance policies in certain situations (Page 10 of the document). Please contact our school office if you have any questions about our attendance policies or procedures.
https://4.files.edl.io/69d5/07/19/21/151326-d52fa66e-ffe7-4c30-b50d-154126ce7428.pdf
Automated Absence Alert:
EPE will begin sending automated absence alerts this school year. The Automated Absence Alert system was implemented to inform parents when their students are absent from school. If/when your student is absent or does not report to their classroom they are recorded as absent. When the daily attendance is submitted electronically, an automated message will be sent to a phone identified by the parent/guardian. This call will normally occur by approximately 10:00 am. Should you have questions or concerns you may contact the
attendance secretary by calling: East Pennsboro Elementary School (EPE), (717) 732-0441.
Car Rider Procedures
School Buses:
School buses will queue at the rear of the school building, behind the new addition for arrival and departure.
Car Riders:
Cars for parent drop off and pick up will queue in front of the school. Please pull up to the stop sign rather than stopping midway through the loop to unload. In the afternoon, parents must have their name hanger tags visible for student pickup. Students may only be dropped off or picked up within the “loading zone” that will be marked in the front of the school - approximately the first ten cars at a time. Parents may not park in the parking lot and walk up to the loop attendant. Please stay in your car at all times. Please review the map below of the car rider loop.
School Vans:
School vans will utilize the small loop near the baseball fields for arrival and dismissal. No cars should be in this loop.
Times:
Parent drop-off begins at 8:25 AM. Students must be in the building by 8:50 AM.
Parent pick up times run from 3:20-3:40 PM.
We certainly appreciate your understanding and flexibility as we ensure a safe and orderly process for each student. We continue to recommend that you send your EPE students to and from school on our school buses.
Create a Sapphire Parent Portal!
Please create a Sapphire Parent Portal account. There are several benefits to creating a parent portal account:
- You can access your child's report cards when they are published
- You can keep track of your child's attendance
- You will be able to receive important notifications about your child
To create a parent portal account:
- Go to our website www.epasd.org
- Hover over the "Students" tab
- Click "Sapphire Community Web Portal"
- Click "Create a Web Portal Account"
- Follow the remaining on screen instructions to enter your information.
If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Wadlinger at pwadlinger@epasd.org. She would be happy to help!
2022-2023 School Year Calendar
Click the link below for the 2022-2023 School Year Calendar:
Important Dates
June 2022
1 - Kindergarten Celebration at 1:00 PM on the Side Playground
2 - Last Day of School for Students
2 - EPASD 12th Grade Commencement at 5:00 PM - High School Stadium
9 - School Board Meeting - EPE LGI 7:00 PM
23 - School Board Meeting - EPE LGI 7:00 PM
August 2022
15 - EPE Kindergarten Meet and Greet 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
22 - First Day of School
All above dates are subject to change. Any changes will be communicated via our blackboard connect system.
Please see our previous newsletters:
About us
Email: rtysarczyk@epasd.org
Website: https://www.epasd.org/
Location: 840 Panther Parkway, East Pennsboro Township, PA, USA
Phone: 717-732-0441
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EastPennsboroElem/