Central Hub

Dear Central families,

As you are wrapping up the last few days of break, please know we are working hard as a staff to prepare for your child's return on Monday, January 7th. For our new families, I want to welcome you to Central Elementary, one of the best in the state!

One of my most important jobs as principal is to make sure your children are cared for and safe each day at school. Along with my leadership team, I look for ways to shore up our practices and procedures. With that in mind, there are a couple of reminders and changes regarding drop off and pick up, which I want to bring to your attention.

1. Car riders may begin entering the building at 8:30am. Students MUST be under the supervision of an adult until 8:30 a.m. Last semester, as we got closer to break, parents began dropping off earlier and earlier and we do not have adults here to supervise children at that time.
2. When dropping off your children, be sure to pull all the way around the circle. Please do not stop in front of the building to drop off or get out of your car to hug good-bye. We must keep traffic flowing. For the safety of your child, please have your child exit the car on the sidewalk side. The passenger side is so much safer!
3. Please do not use your cell phone when dropping off or picking up your child. We must have everyone's eyes focused on our students.
4. Dismissal--We will no longer allow parents to turn left out of the horseshoe on Wabash. We will have parents turn right on Wabash and head south towards Buchanan. Last semester, we had several near misses where distracted drivers almost hit parents and children who were crossing Wabash from picking up at the gym. Therefore, we are eliminating that possibility. (see picture below)
5. As a reminder, car riders are dismissed at 3:45 p.m. to go to the gym. Parents can pick up their children there or outside on the circle. As parents pull up to the curb, their child/children will be called for and escorted to your car. Bus riders and walkers are dismissed at 3:50 p.m.
6. Walkers will line up by the office counter and will be escorted outside by an adult.

Please feel free to give me a call with questions or concerns regarding these changes.

Sincerely,

Julie Thacker

• December 21-January 4 Winter Vacation No School
• January 7, 2019 School Reopens
  
• January 9 Report Cards Go Home
• January 10 School Board Meeting 7:00 p.m.
• January 11 Central Celebration 2:30
• January 14-16 WIDA Access Testing
• January 21 Martin Luther King Jr. Day! No School (snow make-up day)
• January 24 Central Elementary Literacy Night: Read Like a Central CHAMP

Here is our Central Elementary Parent Google Calendar. I am hoping this will help you to have all our important events at your fingertips. (Disclaimer: Every phone is different, and everyone will be able to access the calendar. 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

Children will be expected to go outdoors for recess when the temperature and wind chill is 20 degrees Fahrenheit and above. Students will not go out if it is raining or sleeting. The school handbook states that if your child must stay indoors because of illness during recess time, we ask that you write a daily note requesting that your child stay inside. Repeated requests for indoor recess will prompt the nurse to require a written statement from the family doctor concerning the request.

We enjoy seeing your children every day. Although we understand that there will be times when your child is sick and needs to stay home, there is a direct correlation between student attendance and success. Here are a few ways we can work together to make sure your children have very good school attendance and don't feel like they are missing out.

• Schedule all doctors' appointments outside of the school day if at all possible.
• It is very important to turn in medical notes (doctor, dentist, therapy, etc) to the nurse when returning to school.
• Share with your child how important it is to be at school.
• Make sure to communicate absences in advance, if possible, so the classroom teacher can ensure that your child still has opportunities to learn skills that he/she will miss when they are absent.
• Help to make sure that your child arrives at school on time each day. The doors open at 8:30 and students need to be seated in their classroom each morning by 8:50 or they are counted tardy.

Our teachers work hard to provide the best instruction and we want to make the most of each of our days together. We look forward to seeing you at school!

• Bus Riders-Here Comes the Bus app!- Available in three languages (English, Spanish and French), the Here Comes the Bus app can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play. You need the following two Pieces of Information to create an account:

• Car riders can begin entering the building at 8:30am.
  
• Students are not permitted to play in the front and parking lot area.
• Students MUST be under the supervision of an adult until 8:30 a.m.
• Be sure to pull all the way around the circle when dropping your child off on the sidewalk. Please do not stop in front of the building to drop off or get out of your car to hug good-bye. We must keep traffic flowing.
• For the safety of your child, please have your child exit the car on the sidewalk side. The passenger side is so much safer!
• Please do not use your cell phone when dropping off your child. We must have everyone's eyes focused on our students. For many this will be a new experience and we need to be paying attention.

• Dismissal

  Car riders are dismissed at 3:45 p.m. to go to the gym. As parents pull up to the curb, their child/children will be called for and escorted to your car. Bus riders and walkers are dismissed at 3:50 p.m. Walkers will line up by the office counter and will be escorted outside by an adult.