Timber Creek August 25

What an amazing first week. We hope your students have enjoyed getting to know their teachers and new classmates. This week I observed so many amazing things happening in classrooms. There was a lot of laughter, teamwork, and connection time happening in each and every classroom. It was truly such a pleasure getting to spend time with your students this week. I am already looking forward to Monday!

Thank you for your patience and grace as we have worked though arrival and dismissal. I am hopeful things will run faster and faster each day next week. We are also hoping it cools down!

Sincerely,

Dr. Lauren Gechter

Principal

• Doors will open this year at 8:20 am for students to begin arriving.
• School starts at 8:35 am

• Car rider lane starts at 3:20 pm to relieve congestion in the neighborhood. Students will still not be dismissed until 3:50.
• Walkers will dismiss AFTER car riders this year

• August 29: Back to School Bash
• September 4,5: No School
• September 11: Fall Pictures
• September 18: No School
• September 19: Grandparents breakfast

Lunch Visitors: If you would like to visit the lunchroom during your child's lunch, you are welcome to join us after Labor Day. This is a chance to come during special occasions or when your schedule allows. The students are always so excited to have lunch visitors.

Here are some guidelines we ask you to follow:

• You will need your government-issued photo ID to enter the building

• Check in at the office and obtain a visitor's sticker

• If a grandparent, aunt, uncle, etc., want to visit for lunch, they must be listed as an Emergency Contact in our student information system or not be allowed to enter the building. Please call the office to add people before the visit.

• If a visitor brings food, it can only be shared with your student

• We will have a visitor's table in the lunchroom for you and your student to sit and eat

• Check out at the office after your student's lunch

We have spent the week teaching all students about our ROAR expectations, concluding with an assembly today. This matrix sums up our building expectations for students.

• R = Respectful
• O = Ownership
• A = Always be safe
• R = Ready

When we all follow the same expectations, students are more successful in each part of their day. I wanted you to have access to our expectations as well so you can talk with your students about their school experience.

CAN Program:

CAN food services, is an amazing program that gives students and family additional food for over the weekend at no charge. If you would like to receive this service, please fill out this Google form: https://forms.gle/W5N3qa4JBn1VVYR4A or please email marriah.willis@raypec.org in order to receive a paper copy for your student or if you have any questions. Please remember that if you signed up last year that you will need to sign up again for the current 23-24 school year.

Guidance from DESE:

Section 161.670, RSMo requires DESE to publish a MOCAP guidance document on its website and provide the guidance document for all school districts, charter schools and virtual providers in written and electronic forms. The law also requires LEAs to inform parents and guardians of their child’s right to participate in MOCAP by:

• providing a copy of the guidance to every student and parent/guardian enrolled in the LEA at the beginning of each school year;
• providing a copy of the guidance at the time of enrollment for students enrolling at a time other than the beginning of the school year;
• providing a readily viewable link to an electronic version of guidance document on the main page of the LEA’s website; and
• ensuring the availability of the MOCAP program is made clear in the LEAs parent/guardian handbook, registration documents, and LEA website by featuring the MOCAP website link on the LEA’s homepage

These guidelines and all district & building expectations are outlined in detail in the District Elementary Parent/Student Handbook 2023-2024 that parents were required to read and acknowledge during the online registration process.

HEALTH SERVICES

The purpose of the district health services program is to help each student attend school in optimum health, and to benefit from the school experience. A nurse or health aide is on duty during the time students are present in the building. Every effort is made to provide appropriate services to students in the event of illness or injuries that occur during school hours. The nurse will not treat injuries that happen away from school.

It is very important that we attempt to control the spread of communicable disease. We would appreciate your compliance in following these guidelines:

1. Students should be fever-free (without the influence of fever-reducing medicine) for 24 hours before returning to school.

2. The student health services recognize an oral or tympanic (ear) temperature as 100.0 degrees Fahrenheit as a fever. Students with a temperature of 100.0 or greater will be sent home.

3. The District requires satisfactory evidence demonstrating that the child has been immunized, that immunizations are in progress or that the student has an immunization exemption card from the county health department as permitted by law. (See Board Policy 2850.)

4. Students should be free of continuous coughing.

5. Students with vomiting or diarrhea will be sent home from school. An exception will be made for students vomiting secondary to certain medications, physical activity, or by the medical judgment of the school nurse. Students should remain at home for 24 hours after their last episode of vomiting or diarrhea.

6. Students should remain at home for 24 hours after taking the first dose of any medication.

7. Students who are found to have head lice will not be allowed to attend school until free of living specimens.

8. Students will be excluded from school for pink eye/conjunctivitis until on medication for 24 hours, with primary care provider’s written orders or until clearing of the eye.

9. The health services department shall be informed of any child with an illness characterized by rash, recurrent episodes of bleeding, or who has draining skin lesions.

10. With the increased number of students experiencing food-related allergies, we require parents to provide written medical documentation of major food difficulties their child may experience. (Note: Parents will be notified if special guidelines are necessary due to food related allergies of a classmate.)

11. Parents will be notified of any serious injuries.

Prescription medications must come in the original pharmacy bottle with the student’s and primary care provider’s name clearly visible and must be accompanied by written primary care provider’s signature and instructions along with signed legal parent/guardian consent to administer. All medications must be delivered directly to the health room by a responsible adult and will be dispensed by designated personnel. In accordance with Board policy 2870, medications will not be dispensed within one hour of dismissal, unless there is a written primary care provider’s order and signed parental/legal guardian consent to administer.

Non-prescribed, school-owned medication will be dispensed only if a current Medication Order and Consent form is on file in the health room. The Medication Order and Consent form must be completed by the parent/legal guardian. This form needs to be renewed each year.

Non school-owned over the counter medications must be accompanied by written primary care provider’s instructions along with signed legal parent/guardian consent to administer. All medications must be delivered directly to the health room by a responsible adult.

If a student is unable to participate in physical education activities, a note from the parent/legal guardian is necessary. If the condition requires a child to refrain from activities for more than five days, a primary care provider’s note is required.

Use of cough drops or throat lozenges will be allowed at school with parent permission and then K-2 must be consumed in the health room.

We want to remind families of the physical security measures and practices at TC to protect what we value most - our students and staff.

• Buzz-in entry system

• Secured school entrances/pinch-point entry

• Security cameras

• Intruder resistant glass

• Emergency drills

Providing a safe and secure school is a conversation that has no end. Our safety and security team is constantly researching, exploring, and collaborating with local jurisdictions and national experts on how to keep everyone safe and secure during the school day.

At TC, safety is a shared responsibility, and each member of our school community plays a vital role in being attentive and reporting concerning behaviors. If you see something, say something.

As always, thank you for partnering with us and supporting our commitment to safety and security, beginning with the first day of school.

• Arrival:
• Our doors open to welcome our elementary students each morning at 8:20 am. Students should then proceed to the lunchroom if purchasing breakfast or to class as our teachers are excited to begin with their class family at the start of each day! Students should not arrive at school earlier than 8:20 a.m. Staff supervision begins at 8:20 a.m. The tardy bell rings at 8:35 am.
  
• Walkers/Bike Riders -will enter through the front doors.
  
• Car riders/Daycare Van Riders Please follow the signs and stay in line. Do not pass cars ahead of you.Car riders will line up on the Southwest side of the building. We ask that you patiently wait in your car until you reach the front of the line and a staff member welcomes you and your student(s) before they exit your vehicle. This includes the first day of school. A staff member will direct your student to the correct classroom.
  
• Bus Riders wait on the bus until a teacher arrives to unload along the front circle drive.
  
• Dismissal:
  
• Students are dismissed at 3:50 pm. All dismissal changes should be communicated to our office via phone/email by 2:30pm. This allows sufficient time to notify teachers and students of changes.
  
• Walkers/Bike Riders will dismiss last They will be picked up from their room where teachers will check attendance. Students will be escorted out by a staff member to the crosswalk with the help of the crossing guard/adult to exit crossing. We encourage all parents to have a discussion with their child to ensure they understand the route they should take.
• We ask that parents who are waiting for walkers wait at the stop sign in front of the school property and not near the car rider line, front doors, or bike rack.
• Kindergartener’s will not be released unless an adult is present or they are walking with older siblings.
• Car Riders will be dismissed in the order of their cars arrival. All vehicles are to pick up car riders using the Southwest side of the building .

• Please make sure you have a Timber Creek Elementary yellow car tag with your child’s first and last name visible in the passenger window of your vehicle. If you need an additional yellow car tag, please notify the front office.

• No cars should enter the front lot during dismissal for the safety of our students, buses and staff. We ask that you do not exit your vehicle.

• For the safety of your children, please be ready to show your ID if you do not have a yellow car tag or if staff may have a question/concern. We appreciate your patience.

• Utilize the car rider line if you are picking up your student at dismissal in your car. Please do not park in our parking lots and then ask your child to cross the parking lot to your car.

• To relieve congestion in the neighborhood we encourage you to not line up in the car rider line until 3:20.

• Bus Riders/Day Care Vans will wait in their classrooms until their bus is called, then they will be escorted to their bus.

Check out the app for the Ray-Pec School District! You can access documents, events, news updates, athletic schedules, and the staff directory. In addition, the app will provide direct links to pay online bills and to add money to student meal accounts.

• Download for Android: https://bit.ly/3w9yPb8

• Download for iPhone: https://apple.co/3Fl2Ysh

Please join our PTA. You can sign up at https://tcepta.membershiptoolkit.com/home

You can also follow all PTA updates on the Facebook group “Raymore Timber Creek Elementary PTA”.

Breakfast and Lunch Prices

PK-5 Breakfast: $1.90

PK-5 Lunch: $2.75

Reduced Breakfast: $0.30

Reduced Lunch: $0.40

Easier Online Payments

MySchoolBucks.com is now the place to pay online for school meals!
In addition, your free MySchoolBucks account also makes it easy to:

• View cafeteria purchases
• Check your student’s balance
• Set up low balance alerts
• Schedule automatic payments
  

Don’t have an account yet? Visit MySchoolBucks.com to sign up today!

Get Started Today:

1. Go to myschoolbucks.com or download the mobile app
2. Create your free account and add your students using their school name / student ID
3. View cafeteria purchases and add funds using your credit / debit card or electronic check

If you need assistance with your account, you can find helpful how-to videos and answers to commonly asked questions by visiting myschoolbucks.com. Or, you can contact

MySchoolBucks directly by logging into your account to start a chat conversation or give them a call at (855) 832-5226.

Free and Reduced Price Meals are available to families who believe they may qualify. If your family chooses to apply please complete our ONLINE "Free and Reduced Meal Price Application Form."

Only one application per family is required. The information you give will be used to determine or prove your child's eligibility for free or reduced-priced meals. This information may also be used for other state or federally funded school benefits.

BOOST enrollment for the 2023-2024 school year is now open. BOOST stands for Best Out Of School Time. There are sites at each elementary school and Shull Early Learning Center. BOOST offers care for before-school, after-school, non-school days, winter break, spring break, and during the summer. More information

If you are interested in volunteering at school for field trips, field days, events, class parties, or Watch D.O.G.S, please click on this link to get started on your application:

RP Volunteer Application process

If you need any assistance, please call or email the secretaries in the office and they would be happy to help.

WATCH D.O.G.S.® (Dads Of Great Students) is a family and community engagement educational initiative.

There are 2 primary goals of the WATCH D.O.G.S. program:

1. To provide positive male role models for the students, demonstrating by their presence that education is important.
2. To provide extra sets of eyes and ears to enhance school security and reduce bullying.

Who are WatchDOGS (Dads Of Great Students)?

WatchDOGS are fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and other father-figures who volunteer for at least one day each year at an official WATCH D.O.G.S.® school. During the day, WatchDOGS may read and work on flash cards with students, play at recess, eat lunch with students, watch the school entrances and hallways, assist with traffic flow and any other assigned activities where they actively engage with not only their own students, but other students as well.

More information will be available at Back to School Night.

The Ray-Pec School District contracts with First Student Bus Company to provide student transportation. To inquire about transportation or to speak with a First Student employee about your child's bus experience, call First Student directly at 816-318-1900. Please include your name, name of student(s), attending school, home address and any additional information that may be helpful. This may include bus number, bus stop location or time of bus pickup if you know those details and they are pertinent to your question.

All snacks, INCLUDING BIRTHDAY TREATS, must come from the approved list below

Quick Tip is an online method to report a school safety or bullying issue, or concern about a student engaging in self-harm. Click on the link and complete the information requested. Tip reporters may enter personal contact information or remain anonymous.

Email: Lauren.Gechter@raypec.org
Website: https://timbercreekjaguars.weebly.com/
Location: 310 E Calico Dr, Raymore, MO 64083, USA
Phone: 8168921950
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TCEJaguars/