Sheldon Update

Dear Sheldon Families,

Welcome back! We hope you all had a wonderful Spring break and enjoyed the time home with your families! We are in the final semester of the school year and are so excited to see how much student's grow!

Families of OT students, the car line is a RIGHT TURN ONLY out of our parking lot. There have been far too many "close calls" lately as traffic headed South past our car line is blocked by cars turning left out of the parking lot. DO NOT BLOCK intersections or driveways! This is just respectful. We share our neighborhood - let's be good neighbors.

Click the link to access the 2022-2023 Family Handbook.

As always, if you have questions or concerns, do not hesitate to reach out to me!

Thank you for the privilege of serving you ~

Mrs. Gabrielle Tanner, Principal

All events can be located on our calendar on our school website.

We have been notified that the city will be working to replace water lines and the construction that will take place on Gage will heavily impact the Sheldon car line. We anticipate Gage being completely closed from 10th to Huntoon beginning March 27th - April 10th. In order to access the car line, please use the following route (also pictured on map below):

• SW Huntoon to SW Hillsdale St

• SW Hillsdale St turn RIGHT on to SW 12th
• SW 12th turn LEFT onto SW Seabrook Ave.
• SW Seabrook Ave turn LEFT onto SW Sena Dr.
• Turn RIGHT into School parking lot and proceed thru Car Line.
• Turn RIGHT out of school parking lot
• SW Sena Dr to SW McAllister Ave to Huntoon

If your child is turning 5 on or before August 31st, he or she will begin Kindergarten next year.

At Parent-Teacher Conferences, you should have received information regarding your child's home elementary school.

If you would like to request a transfer to a different home school than the one that was identified at conferences, please fill out this transfer request form by March 31st: Topeka Public Schools Transfer Application

Attention Parents! Beginning later this year, Topeka Public Schools is moving to a new, fully integrated Student Information System, Synergy by Edupoint.

This one system will replace the district's current student information system into one platform that will host and manage student data in an efficient and user-friendly manner.

Synergy will provide access to both parents and students, just like our current system. However, with Synergy, Parents/Guardians will use a single sign-on to access all of their children’s information regardless of school.

As part of the seamless Synergy Education Platform, Synergy SIS enables schools and districts to easily extend functionality to include online registration, CI3T, assessment, analytics, and special education management in a single platform. For more information, visit: Synergy Student Information System Communications Plan

GreatSchools.org is a website that provides families with information about the schools in their area. Many families use this site when buying a new home or researching their options to help them determine the best placement for their child.

Have you had a positive experience at Sheldon? We would love for that to be highlighted on the website! Please take 1 minute to visit GreatSchools.org, search for Sheldon Child Development, click on the Review icon, and share what you love about our program!

Each week the Sheldon staff reviews one of our Head Start Policies & Procedures and felt it was important that families stay up to date on these as well. This quarter our focus is on Program Management and Program Governance. If you ever have any questions regarding our policies and procedures, please reach out!

Program Planning

POLICY:

The program will develop and implement a systematic, ongoing process of planning that includes consultation with the program’s governing body, policy groups, parents, program staff and community organizations that serve Head Start or other low-income children and families. This policy relates to Head Start Performance Standards 45 CFR Part 1302.102

PROCEDURE:

• The program will conduct a Community Assessment within the Sheldon service area at least once over the five-year grant period with a review in each of the following years to determine any significant change. The collection of data about community strengths, needs and resources will be used to make decisions about the way the agency will respond through its program and services. (See Community Assessment policy

• The agency will perform an annual program self-assessment to determine its effectiveness and progress in meeting program goals and objectives and in implementing Federal, State and local regulations.

• The program will use the information gathered to update the current long range goals and to establish shorter one-year program and financial objectives that address the findings of both the Community Assessment and the program’s annual self-assessment.

• Summarized data of the assessment findings will be given to TPS School Board, Parent Policy Council, advisory groups and staff. The information provided will allow the governing bodies, parents, staff and community members to have a voice in establishing Head Start’s direction and service delivery strategies. The process will also help in establishing priorities to address the short and long term goals and objectives.

• The Policy Council and TPS School Board will approve the final long and short term goals established through the planning and governing bodies.

• Written work plans and an operating budget to implement services will then be developed with input from staff, parents, community, and governing bodies.

• Written plans will be monitored monthly and budgets will be analyzed at management meetings to determine the need for improvement and adjustments. Reports are then forwarded to the Policy Council for input and approval. Written plans will be revised and budget modifications will be made as required/needed.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (also called KDHE) has created a new virtual agent to assist Medicaid consumers in Kansas with updating their required information, such as their household address for all individuals, home phone number for the primary applicant, and mobile phone number for the primary applicant

It is extremely important that consumers update or verify this information so they can be reached by KanCare about renewing Medicaid coverage in 2023 and receive coverage options from KanCare once the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ends.

The KDHE virtual assistant is called KIERA, which stands for “Kansas Integrated Eligibility Reporting Assistant.”

KIERA is available in English or Spanish languages and currently available on the KanCare website and KDHE website.

This video will cover how to use the KIERA virtual assistant to update your information online.

Are you a parent of a child age birth to 5 (Pre-K) in Kansas? We need your help to improve early childhood developmental health experiences! If you are interested in participating, please click here for more information and to register. Participants who attend the full session will receive a $100 stipend for their time, commitment, and input.

Late Start is on FRIDAYS for this school year and the arival time will be at 10:15.

You can find the 2022-2023 Academic Calendar HERE.

Communities In Schools of Mid-America is hosting two FutureNow: Finance events this spring. The first event is at Topeka High School on April 26th and 27th, followed by Topeka West High School's rescheduled event on May 4th.

Sign up for the event at Topeka High on April 26th and 27th here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805094DA5A92CABFA7-futurenow7

Sign up for the event at Topeka West event on May 4th here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805094da5a92cabfa7-spring#/

FutureNow: Finance is an interactive financial literacy simulation. Students receive a profile detailing their life at age 26, including their profession, salary, family status, and more. They use this information to navigate through stations representing all the expenses they must account for in a month, such as housing, transportation, child care, groceries, etc. Volunteers are positioned at each station to help students determine what they owe and help them with their budget. Students leave the event with a better understanding of creating and balancing a budget.

The success and lasting impact of these events depend on volunteers like you. We hope you will join us for this incredible volunteer experience. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me, Miranda Carpenter at Miranda.Carpenter@cismidamerica.org.

The Sheldon Food & Clothing Bank is up and running! If your family has any needs, reach out to your Family Advocate or call 785-438-4530.

You can find the link to the 2021 Community Resources Council Resource Directory here. This directory provides contact information for a variety of community resources.

If in need of resources, you can also contact the United Way by dialing 211.

See the following links for Food Pantry resources available to families.

English and Spanish

Website: https://sheldon.topekapublicschools.net/
Location: 1155 SW Seabrook Ave.
Phone: 785-438-4530
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SheldonChildDevelopmentCenterHeadStart