Daniel Boone Area Primary Center

We were so excited to welcome everyone back to school last week! It was especially exciting to welcome our newest DB learners, our incoming kindergarten classes! We currently have almost 400 students in kindergarten and first grade. We have 9 sections of kindergarten and 10 sections of first grade! It was quite a busy start to the school year and we look forward to learning together as a Daniel Boone Area Primary Center school community!

Haley Wagner and Anna Buckwalter, students at Daniel Boone High School visited the Primary Center to talk to a few PC representatives from first grade. Wyatt, Camila, Cecelia and Brody met with them to discuss the start of school and special events that take place at the Primary Center. They were all excited to share our PAWS pledge to our school! So proud of our students!

Did you know that our school rules are to be Peaceful, Aware, Wise and Safe? We believe these rules are easy for children to follow in AND out of the school environment (these are also rules that adults can (and should) abide by)!

We teach our children how to follow these rules and also how to respect each other. When children follow our school rules, they receive rewards such as school store tickets. These tickets allow children to "purchase" prizes from our school store (PTC funded). Children are also rewarded in other ways (monthly PAWS celebrations, PAWS yard signs) because it is our belief that if children are rewarded for positive choices, we will observe them making the right choices here at school. There are times when children also need to have consequences for poor choices. As educators of young children, we can never assume that all children know how to solve problems with each other, so we teach our students how to problem solve, how to collaborate, how to manage peer to peer conflicts and more. Working together to teach these skills to our students at home and at school is extremely important, especially at this age level. This will help your child to be independent and make the right choices in their home AND school environment.

We work as a TEAM (school and home)-if you need help at home, please reach out! We have a parent library with resources to help you navigate the various developmental stages your child will go through.

Here is a list of some of the resources you can request free copies of: The ABC's of Discipline at Home; Helping Children Resolve Conflicts; Remember, You Are The Adult and You are In Charge; Teaching Children Responsibility for Their Learning and Behavior; Self-Esteem; Bereavement; Serious Illness; Divorce; Single Parenting. If you would like a copy of any of these free publications, please email Mrs. Hefter at melanie.hefter@dboone.org.

We would like to share two important links:

Here is the link for our handbook-

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aa8rhzZEpLsmV-yMYBLq9S6ZcxlwPUm4/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=117558226936418895650&rtpof=true&sd=true Please be sure to review it carefully.

Here is the link to our PBIS plan for our school: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lHLz8ezUCLRwtkQ3rM4wTLZMdlpOaldf72uUULZuxIU/edit?usp=sharing

Please review and reinforce our behavior matrix, which is located below.

Regular attendance is critically important for your child to make adequate progress in school. Therefore, he/she should be attending each day unless they are sick. Missing even 10 days of school means your child missed 70 hours of instruction for the school year.

Did you know....Absenteeism in the first month of school can predict poor attendance throughout the school year. Half the students who miss 2-4 days in September go on to miss nearly a month of school.

Did you know: Absenteeism and its ill effects start early. One in 10 kindergarten and first grade students are chronically absent.

If your child is sick, please place your child's absence into the infinite campus portal and include the reason for this absence. If you place the reason in infinite campus, there is no need for an additional note. Thank you for your cooperation.

As we begin our school year, we are preparing to administer student assessments to drive our instruction (we call them Benchmark assessments and they are administered at the beginning of the year, middle of the year and end of the year). In the coming weeks, our students will be completing MAP Growth and MAP Fluency assessments. The students will also be completing Acadience Reading and Math Screenings. The results will be reviewed by our teachers so that we can provide instruction that meets our students needs.

Educational Trips can now be submitted in Infinite Campus. Please submit your educational trip just as you would any other absence, after you submit the absence check your email. Infinite Campus will send you an email with a link to complete the trip form. Your trip will not be approved in Infinite Campus until this form is completed, submitted, and reviewed by staff for approval. Any questions please contact our office for assistance. You can email to marie.kinder@dboone.org or call the office at 610-385-6800.

It is important that you are able to access various school district technology including infinite campus, the school pass health portal and more. If you are having trouble logging in, accessing information, etc. please utilize this link, which includes a Help Desk system. If you need help, please submit a "Help Desk Ticket". https://www.dboone.org/o/dbasd/page/it-help-desk

Our food service department has a link on our website for you to utilize for online payments, to access lunch menus and more. Here is the link: https://www.dboone.org/page/homepage-food-services

As a Title I school, we want you to be aware of your right to request information. This letter was sent home in our back to school paperwork last week.

Dear Parent(s)/Legal Guardian(s):

Your child attends Daniel Boone Area Primary Center, which receives Federal Title I funds to assist students in meeting state academic achievement standards. This letter lets you know about your right to request information about the qualifications of the classroom staff working with your child.

At Daniel Boone Are Primary Center, we are very proud of our teachers and we feel they are prepared to give your child a high-quality education. As a Title I school, we must meet federal regulations related to teacher qualifications as defined in ESEA. These regulations allow you to learn more about your child’s teachers’ training and credentials. We are happy to provide this information to you. At any time, you may ask:

• Whether the teacher met state qualifications and certification requirements for the grade level and subject he/she is teaching,

• Whether the teacher received an emergency or conditional certificate through which state qualifications were waived, and

• What undergraduate or graduate degrees the teacher holds, including graduate certificates and additional degrees, and major(s) or area(s) of concentration.

You may also ask whether your child receives help from a paraprofessional. If your child receives this assistance, we can provide you with information about the paraprofessional’s qualifications.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) which was signed into law in December 2015 and reauthorizes the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1956 (ESEA) includes additional right to know requests. At any time, parents and family members can request:

• Information on policies regarding student participation in assessments and procedures for opting out, and

• Information on required assessments that include

Subject matter tested,

Purpose of test,

Source of the requirement (if applicable)

Amount of time it takes students to complete the test, and

Time and format of disseminating results

Our staff is committed to helping your child develop the academic knowledge and critical thinking he/she needs to succeed in school and beyond. That commitment includes making sure that all of our teachers and paraprofessionals meet applicable Pennsylvania state requirements.

If you have any questions about your child’s assignment to a teacher or paraprofessional, please contact Melanie Hefter at Daniel Boone Area Primary Center at 610-385-6800 or email me at robert.hurley@dboone.org.

Sincerely,

Robert Hurley

Assistant Superintendent

September 22, 2023-Picture day (Friday)

October 12, 2023-Fire Safety Day (Thursday)

October 13, 2023-PTC Fun Run (Friday)

November 2, 2023-Picture Retake day

Email: melanie.hefter@dboone.org
Website: www.dboone.org
Location: Daniel Boone Area Primary Center, Monocacy Creek Road, Birdsboro, PA, USA
Phone: (610) 385-6800