Central Hub

Dear Central Parents,

I hope you enjoyed your Labor Day weekend!

What a wonderful first month of school we have had! Transitioning to a new school year during this uncertain time of the Covid pandemic has been a challenge. However, our students, parents and staff have done an amazing job adjusting. We have talked about the importance of social distancing, wearing our mask, washing our hands, and disinfecting surfaces. I am so proud of how well every student is doing!

Please know I am dedicated to working with your child to continue building the strong foundation they need to be successful.

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.

he 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 Falling in Love with Reading!

Textbook rental is due by September 11th, 2020. If you have not paid, please return the blue Textbook Rental envelope to school with check or cash (exact change only) to Central. You can put it in your child's red folder to be collected. If your payment is not received by September 11, a $10 late fee will be added to your account and eventually, be turned over to collections. We want to help you. If you need to set-up a payment plan or have any questions, please contact Mrs. Western at 317-839-7707.

You can also pay online through E-Funds. You will need to choose "Pay Optional Fees", then enter your amount owed for that child. If you are new to Plainfield Schools, you will need to set up an account using your child's student number, which was sent home the first days of school. The student number begins with a 450 or a 451. If you need to set-up a payment plan or have any questions, please contact Mrs. Western at 317-839-7707.

TBR FEES 2020-2021:
Kindergarten- $123.07
1st Grade- $128.25
2nd Grade- $126.00
3rd Grade- $113.81
4th Grade- $117.79
5th Grade- $115.85

If you need any help with schools 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 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 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,

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.

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!

Below are the minutes from our August Meeting:

We have a link on our website (www.centralelementarypto.com) that will take you to the PTO-In the Know! folder. There you will find notes from our PTO meetings, Restaurant Night flyers, our Calendar of Events, volunteer information,contests, and more.

2. Food Truck Saturdays September 5 & 26, 11am-7pm @Walmart Neighborhood Market

3. Papa Johns week Sept.18-25. Use our school code PCSC02 and Papa John's will donate 20% of your order to the school.

4. Family Fun Adventure Sept. 24-24- more info to come home soon!

5. Next Meeting Monday, September 21 @ 7pm

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: attache 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.

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.