Doe Run Parent Newsletter

Happy New Year!

The new year is a great time to look ahead and be filled with the anticipation of new opportunities, accomplishments, and experiences. As the ball (or rose, or bologna, or goat...) drops to welcome in the new year, take some time to think about what this new year may have in store for your child or children. As parents of elementary children, time goes by fast. Jumping activity to activity can get us lost in our schedule and we can easily lose sight of the moments. Recently, I was talking with a mom who was making some tough decisions to "do less" in order to be more present and in the moment. This certainly will not be easy but my hope is it will be very beneficial. For 2024, my challenge is to be in the moment more. Change the approach from high quantity of moments to high quality moments. I hope this year is filled with high quality moments for you and your family.

Have a great start to the year!

Art

January 15 - Vacation Day

January 25 - Semester Break Floating Day - (this day will shift if there is a school closing due to weather)

With inclement weather season here, we would like to remind parents of the guidelines.

For a 2 hour delay, buses will run 2 hours later and the school will open at 9:15 for arrivals and the bell will ring at 9:35 (classes start at 9:45). No breakfast will be served if there is a delay.

The AlertNow will call when there is a delay or closing. The announcement will also be posted on the Manheim Central website home page.

In addition - for an early dismissal due to weather - it will be announced if it is a 2 or 3 hour early dismissal (12:10 would be 2 hours early with children getting off the bus 2 hours early). Lunch is served if there is an early dismissal.

Our Character Trait for January is empathy. Empathy is trying to understand what another person is feeling. It is seeing the world through another's eyes. It helps people to get along better and to feel better. Having empathy is a key ingredient to becoming the best person you can be.

Each day we will read quotes on empathy as well as have various classroom activities. At the end of the month, teachers will nominate a learner from their room who has best exemplified empathy.

We are all very excited to enjoy this Holiday season with our family and friends. We want to thank all of our families at Doe Run for their support throughout the first few months of school and express our excitement to continue supporting our learners and educators in the new year.

Our Doe Run Holiday craft event was held on December 8th and was a huge success! We want to thank everyone who was able to help us out with this event from the planning and prep to the helping hands the day of the event. We just know that the recipients of these gifts will love them!

Our next public PTO meeting will be held on Monday, January 8th, 2024 in room A101 as well as via zoom. Childcare will be provided and we hope to see lots of parents in attendance.

Mark your calendars for Elementary Science Night to be held February 8th, 2024. Additional information will be provided in the new year.

Important date change- Due to a potential conflict with the basketball schedule in February our Spring Book Fair and Bingo Night have been rescheduled as listed below.

April 2-5th Scholastic Spring Book Fair

April 4th Bingo Night at Doe Run Elementary

Looking forward to 2024 at Doe Run!

Doe Run Elementary PTO

Please note that starting January 2, 2024- all volunteers or visitors to the school buildings will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement, acknowledging the confidentiality requirements required to serve as a volunteer or visitor in the Manheim Central School District. The Confidentiality Statement is listed below, and will be posted in the sign in area of every building.

Confidentiality Statement:

No visitor/volunteer shall be permitted to access, review, disclose, or use confidential student information, or participate in conversations in which confidential student information is discussed. Examples of such information include, but are not limited to, the following: grades or other measures of academic performance, class standing, standardized or other test scores, attendance records, disciplinary history, intelligence test scores, personality and interest test scores, individualized education plans, health data, family background information, teacher or counselor ratings and observations, and any other verified or unverified information contained in a student’s file maintained by the teachers, administrators or schools within the school district. Each volunteer shall keep strictly confidential all information s/he may learn, during the course of performing services, about the students enrolled in the school district.

This means that, as a visitor/volunteer, by merely entering this facility you signify the acceptance of the Manheim Central School District’s confidentiality policy for volunteers, as provided above. Any information regarding any type of health-related or education-related issues, or anything regarding student grades or records, is strictly confidential and is protected by FERPA laws. Anything you learn, hear, or see in any of our District facilities or at any school-related function in your service as a volunteer, must remain confidential. Any transmission of confidential student information via verbal or written means, or via social media, is strictly prohibited and will result in the immediate release from volunteer service. If, at this time, you do not agree to this requirement, you will be instructed on how to proceed by administration.

Your continued use of the school gate guardian check in system implies your ongoing agreement to these terms and conditions. If you do not agree to this confidentiality, you will be unable to volunteer. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this policy please contact the Manheim Central School District administrative team.

A final reminder that you have an obligation and responsibility to keep student information learned in the course of your volunteer service completely confidential.

Below is the detailed version of the MC Attendance Policy.

The most important thing to remember is that excuses must be turned in within 3 days of the absence - with a parent signature. If the child has gone to the doctor during their illness, please send in that doctor note. Also, many times excuses are late because the child does not get them out of their backpack and turn them in. To avoid this becoming an unexcused absence, you may take a picture of the signed excuse and email it to faird@manheimcentral.org. She will then reply that she has received it. Each learner is allotted 10 parent excusals per year - after that you will be required to provide a doctor excuse. If you have a doctor note - then that absence is not included in these 10 days.

Consistent school attendance is essential to maximize student learning. The school ascribes to the belief that a learner cannot receive maximum benefit from his or her school experiences, nor a parent maximum return on the tax dollar, when students are not in regular attendance. Continued and excessive unexcused absences will result in the formation of a Student Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP) according to the Manheim Central policies and PA Act 138. This section outlines the procedural guidelines for complying with the PA Act 138 (2016) and Policy 204 of the Manheim Central School District Board Policy. All guidelines may be subject to administrative discretion.

• A tardy is defined as absent from the start of the day (7:45AM) until 10:49AM. An excuse must be provided for this time or it is coded as an ‘unexcused tardy’

• Students may accumulate a combination of up to 10 days of parent excusals and unexcused/illegal days per school year. Should this limit be reached, all additional absences will only be excused with a note from the treating physician. Excuses from a physician are preferred for illness and will not count towards the 10 day limit for parent excuse notes for absences. Any parent/guardian written excuse notes following the 10 day limit will be coded as an illegal or unexcused day.

• Case by case exceptions may occur and must be reviewed and approved by the building principals.

• A Student has 3 school days to submit a signed excuse note following a return from an absent day. If a valid, written and signed excuse is not submitted within the 3-day period, the absence is logged as illegal.

• In the High School, Illegal/unexcused days may result in the student receiving a 0 for all school work missed during the day of absence.

• An attendance letter is mailed home when a student has 3 and 6 illegal/unexcused attendance days documented.

• If a student accumulates 3-5 days of illegal absences, a 3-day illegal notice letter will be sent to the parent/guardian.

• If a student accumulates 6 (or more) illegal absences, a letter will be mailed to the parent/ guardian, which will include an invitation to the Student Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP) meeting. This is a team meeting to discuss and address concerns and create a plan of support and an improvement to attendance. Students who accumulate 6+ days of illegal absences are identified as ‘habitually truant.’

• SAIP’s are individualized and will be reviewed regularly. If attendance does not improve following a SAIP, additional options to address continued truancy may include a referral to the Office of the District Justice.

All Students K-12

1. Students absent from the start of the school day until 10:49 AM of the school day = Tardy.

2. Students absent from 10:50 until the end of the school day = ½ day absence.

3. Students absent the entire school day = full day of absence.

4. Students absent on a day that is an early dismissal or late start school day are counted as a full day of absence.

Excuses can also be emailed directly to faird@manheimcentral.org

Also - if you are planning a trip or will be out of town, please fill out an Educational Trip Form (found on the Doe Run website or ask the office to send one home) so the absence is excused. The paper should be submitted BEFORE you leave.

Hello Doe Run Families!

Here are a few reminders about yearbooks:

• Yearbooks can be purchase at www.Jostens.com by searching and selecting “Doe Run” and then entering your learner’s name, grade, and teacher.
• The cost of a yearbook is $25.
• Personalization and accessories will automatically be selected and come at an extra cost. If you do not wish to personalize or receive accessories, please deselect them before continuing to payment.
• All 4th graders will receive one FREE yearbook thanks to our PTO! 4th grade families do not need to purchase one unless you would like more than one yearbook.

Please let us know if you have any questions, thank you!

Ms. Carter and Ms. Pells, Yearbook Co-Advisors

We are definitely seeing more flu-like illnesses in our school. Before you send your child back, please read over these guidelines...

1. All family members should consider getting a flu shot.

2. Frequent hand washing – hands should be washed often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Also remember to cough / sneeze into your arm/ elbow to minimize droplet spread.

3. When notifying the school that your child is ill, please give a reason/symptoms – this helps us to identify patterns and focus on specific classrooms for more aggressive monitoring and parent notification if needed.

4. Students can return to school if they are fever-free without medication for 24 hours, no vomiting/diarrhea, are feeling well, eating, drinking and back to their regular routine.

5. Children should get at least 8-10 hours of rest each night.

6. Dress for the cold weather – this means children should be wearing coats to and from school.

7. Don’t share hats, scarves, combs/brushes with your friends. This is a prime way to spread lice.

8. Speak to your school nurse if you have questions specific to your child.

Thank you!

When the temperature is 24 degrees or warmer (including wind-chill) learners will be going outside for recess. Please make sure they are dressed appropriately for the colder weather.

Please be sure that you put your child's name in their coat.

To help us keep our Lost and Found at a minimum, please label coats and lunchboxes with last names. This enables us to return items to students when they are left behind, or left on the bus. Periodically we post pictures of the Lost and Found on our Doe Run Facebook page.

When writing a bus note, please remember to include your child's first AND last name, the bus number and the teacher name.

We receive many bus notes each day and in order to write the correct names for the bus drivers, we need all this information.

See the attached flyer for a clinic sponsored by the MC Field Hockey team will be held at Manheim BIC on Saturday, February 10th.

Please click the link below to view the January Menu.

1/22 - 7:00 School Board Meetings are available to watch live on the MC website under School Board.

Website: www.manheimcentral.org
Location: 281 Doe Run Road, Manheim, PA, USA
Phone: (717)665-8800
Twitter: @DoeRunSchool