GA Principal Newsletter

Dear Families,

I hope you are having a fantastic summer! We are looking forward to a great 24-25 school year!

In order to prepare for school opening, here are a few important things to note:

* dates are subject to change slightly

• On 7/31, you will receive an email about the parent portal and how to access it. The parent portal will be open for you to view and fill out the back to school paperwork including emergency medical forms. These forms are due by 8/16.
• Tentative bus schedule will be available on the portal on 8/14. Changes will need to be made by 8/16. Please check the parent portal for your final schedule on 8/21.
• You will be notified about student activity fees on 8/5. If your child joins band, orchestra, chorus, after school sports, math club (there might be some additional clubs that I will update you about through the year) the activity fee will apply. Our clubs are typically for students in grades 3-5.
• You will be able to find out your child's teacher's name during the week of 8/16. You will be notified to check the parent portal for your teacher's name. On August 19th, your teacher will send you an introduction email.
• You can sign up for emails and update your contact information throughout the school year using the Back-to-School/Update sites that are accessible through the portal. If you already have an account and you have enrolled a new kindergarten student, you can add your new kindergarten child’s information to your existing account. All you need to do is click the Preferences link and then click on the Students tab and enter your Kindergartener’s access information there.
• If you do not have a portal account you will need to create one. The access information for your child has been provided by our secretary once the registration was completed. Once your account is created or you add an additional child, it will take up to 24 hours for your Back to School/Update site account to be active. If you need portal information, please email Stacie Berglin (our new school office secretary) at sberglin@wcasd.net.

• The recent approved PA state budget does include the funding for Universal Free breakfast for all WCASD Elementary and Middle School Students for 2024-25. If you are interested in this for your child, please let your child know to go to the cafeteria first thing in the morning when your child arrives at school. You can let your child's teacher know as well.

• The schedule for Our Back to School Open House meetings for parents/guardians is listed below. At this year's Open House, students will attend with their parent to meet their teacher, hear pertinent information about the class, and connect with students and families. We will open the school at 4:00 PM. Please plan on being in your child's classroom by 4:05 PM. Teacher presentations will start at 4:05 PM.
  

Tuesday, August 20- Third, Fourth and Fifth Grade Open House at Glen Acres at 4 PM.

Wednesday, August 21- Kindergarten, First, and Second Grade Open House at Glen Acres at 4 PM.

Please update your calendar to note:

• August 26 is the first day of school.
• August 30 and September 2nd ( Labor Day Weekend)- Schools are closed.
• September 18th - Half Day Dismissal at 11:40 AM. It is a Teacher In-Service Afternoon. On half days, no lunch is served and buses will arrive to your bus stop about 3.5 hours earlier than the time indicated on the portal when we have our regular full days.
  
• September 19th- PTO Ice Cream Social after school. More information to follow.
• September 24th- Student Picture Day for all.

* renovating 4 kindergarten classrooms

* a new main office, principal office, conference room, nurse's suite, instructional coach room and school psychologist room

* more parking on the side of the school

* two way traffic lanes on the side of the school

* removal of portables outside

All of the aforementioned renovations are expected to be completed by August 20th.

Reminder- We will be working at Fern Hill Elementary School over the summer.

Our summer office hours will be Monday- Thursday from 8AM-4PM. Please set up an appointment to come visit us at Fern Hill.

Office phone number:

484-266-1702 ( same as Glen Acres phone number)

dryan@wcasd.net

Please continue to have your child read 20 -30 minutes a night.

As we strive to support our students' academic growth, there are several effective ways to practice math at home that align with the Pennsylvania standards for kindergarten through 5th grade. For our youngest learners, consider using everyday objects for counting, sorting, and simple addition or subtraction. Engaging in activities like cooking can help with measuring and understanding fractions. For students in grades 3-5, playing math games, solving puzzles, and using educational apps can enhance their skills in multiplication, division, and problem-solving. Encouraging your child to explain their reasoning during practice can deepen their understanding. Additionally, integrating math into daily routines, such as calculating time, money, or distances during family trips, makes learning practical and fun. Your involvement in these activities can greatly reinforce the math concepts taught in school and build a strong foundation for your child's academic success.

If you have access to technology, please note that your child will have access to IXL (2-5) and Happy Numbers ( k-2) ( for most of the summer) to practice targeted skills. Your child should use their passcodes that they used during the year.

Important notice from the School Nurse:

PA State school health mandated immunization, physical and dental requirements for 24-25 school year:

1. All students are required to be up to date with PA state mandated immunizations within the first 5 days of school in order to avoid being excluded from school.
2. Third grade students need a recent dental exam.
3. All kindergarten students and any student registering for the first time to GAE must submit updated physical and dental examination report to the school nurse within the first 60 days of school ( October 28) in order to avoid being excluded from school.

**Kindergarten through 5th grade students must receive:

4 dtap (diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis) with the last dose given after the child’s 4th birthday

4 IPV (polio) with the last dose given after the child’s 4th birthday

3 Hepatitis B

2 Varicella (chicken pox)

2 MMR (measles/mumps/rubella)

If you have questions about these requirements, please contact Mrs. Cassidy at mcassidy1@wcasd.net

If you registered your child(ren) through WCASD portal and did not upload all or part of the above PA state school health mandates, please send the information to Mrs. Cassidy at the above email address as soon as possible.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this very important notice.

Michelle Cassidy, BSN, RN, CSN

Certified School Nurse

mcassidy1@wcasd.net

Glen Acres Elementary (M-F – 484-266-1706)

As a reminder to our families, starting next school year elementary students will have a new special area called Design Lab. In Design Lab, students will explore Design Thinking strategies and experiences, which means they will spend time collaboratively tackling problems, developing creative solutions, and thoughtfully approaching important ideas.

Remember we're also changing our library time. Instead of having a fixed schedule for library classes, we're making it more flexible. Students will still learn how to research ideas properly, work on projects, find good sources, and explore wonderful books, but on a less fixed timeframe. Our library program will keep teaching important skills and making sure all students have access to books.

Our attendance secretary, Mrs. Theresa Weaver, will be your contact for all things related to attendance, dismissal and the pickup patrol app. She can be reached at tweaver2@wcasd.net or 484-266-1712.

Glen Acres uses an application called Pick Up Patrol to report absences, late arrivals, early dismissals and changes in pickup procedure for your children. Prior to the start of the year, families will receive an email invite from Pick Up Patrol to download the app to their phone. In addition, we will communicate with you when the app is updated with your transportation information. Once downloaded it is very easy to report changes in your child’s attendance.

We cannot express enough how important it is for parents keep their child’s record updated. We use the application throughout the day to understand our daily absences ( please enter your child's absence before 9:00 AM). Additionally, we use the app to understand if your child has a change in his/her arrival (late arrivals) and/or dismissal plan. At the end of the day, we use reports from the application for dismissal. The report allows us to track how each child is being dismissed that day as it gives us an alphabetical list of students being picked up, attending the aftercare program, after school activities, as well as which bus each child is riding. Please use the app for attendance, changes in dismissal or late arrivals. The system will have a default to record your child's normal dismissal plan. Therefore, you only need to use the app when your child is going to be late, absent, or has a change in dismissal. The app saves paper, phone calls, and time for you and the Glen Acres staff. If your child has a change in their dismissal plans, we ask that you indicate that through the app by 2:00 PM on full school days and by 11:00 AM on half days.

A few things to note in Pick Up Patrol:

• Absent: Please enter the reason your child was absent by 9AM. We use this feature as part of our safe schools process to make sure all students are accounted for when we are doing attendance.
• Late Arrival: Click the late arrival option and let us know your child's late arrival time.
• Pick Up means you are driving through the car line to get your child after 3:05 PM.
• Early Dismissal is for when you are signing your child out before 3:05PM for any reason.
• Walker means you are walking to school or parking your car and walking up to retrieve your child.
• After School Activities will be listed. You will pick which club your child is attending after school to notify us that they will not be riding the bus or being picked up at school at 3:05 in the car line.

Our car drop- off and pick- up location for our students (K-5) will be in the back of the school on the recess yard. Drop off times are from 8:15 AM- 8:35 AM. Our morning announcements will be at 8:40 AM. Please have your children use the passenger side of the vehicle.

If you have a late arrival ( after 8:40 AM), please enter the main office lobby to check in.

If you are picking up your child at the end of the day, the car line starts to form at 3:05 PM.

Walkers may enter the front main lobby doors or the back recess doors. There will be a lot of traffic in the area. Please supervise your children if they are walking. At dismissal, you can meet your children walkers at the flag in front of the school.

Buses will enter and depart the school from the front of the building. Buses will leave school starting at 3:10 PM. You will receive information in August about the timing and location of your child's bus stop.

Please refrain from sending your child to school on their bike. There is a lot of traffic in the area. Thank you for your support.

We hope you would consider volunteering. Some volunteer opportunities that come up are opportunities to help in the library, lunchroom, as a homeroom party planner, and at field trips and school and district events. If you are interested in volunteering, please be sure to have updated clearances( good for five years) on file with the school. It is important that you submit your clearances to the school when you get them. Please do not wait until you volunteer as we need to get the clearances within a year of you getting them.

Ms. Donna Ryan

Principal

Email: dryan@wcasd.net

Address: 1150 Delancey Place, West Chester, PA 19382

Phone: 484-266-1700

website: https://www.wcasd.net/Domain/461

Twitter: https://twitter.com/WestChesterASD