Dear Sheldon Families,

Happy Monday! It is hard to believe that it is already March! We will begin the last quarter of school later this month. It has been such a privilege to watch your children learn and grow!

March is National School Social Work Month! Thank you to Ms. Haley for all you do to support our students, families, and staff!

If you have further questions after reading, please do not hesitate to reach out!

Thank you for the privilege of serving you ~

Mrs. Gabrielle Tanner, Principal

Due to the number of inclement weather days, TPS will be using some of the days built into the calendar the last week of May. The last day of school for TPS students will be May 29 as a half day. Sheldon's last day of school will also be adjusted. Our last day will be a full day on Tuesday, May 20th with Promotion for our 4 year old students being on May 19th.

Did you know that in addition to smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors are now available at local fire departments? Plug-in CO alarms can be requested for rental homes as well as homeowners. If interested, reach out to your local fire department to request them and get them installed.

Our next staff meeting is Thursday, March 27th. I can't wait to share more shout-outs with staff!

This form will be live for the rest of the school year. Feel free to submit your shout-outs and then we will print them, read them out loud at our monthly staff meeting, and provide the printed note to that staff member. Thank you for taking a moment to highlight the hard work our staff does daily!

March is Women's History Month, Music In Our Schools Month, National Social Work Month, and Youth Art Month

March 3-7: Read Across America Week (see spirit week flyer below)

March 5: GraceMed Dental Clinic

March 11: Family Literacy Event @ 8:30 (see flyer below)

March 11: Fire Truck Visit

March 12: Parent/Teacher Conferences @ 4:00-8:00

March 13: NO SCHOOL - Parent/Teacher Conferences @ 8:00-8:00

March 14: NO SCHOOL

March 17-21: NO SCHOOL - SPRING BREAK

March 24: NO SCHOOL

March 25-28: Sheldon Dino Week

March 25: Story Time with Boomer Bear

March 27: Story Time with Boomer Bear

March 31: National Crayon Day

For those students going to Kindergarten next year, your home school is based on your current home address within the 501 attendance boundaries. The exceptions to this are Williams Science & Fine Arts Magnet and Scott Dual Language Magnet. See the flyers below for information on how to apply for Scott Dual Language or Williams Science and Fine Arts by April 1. To request a transfer from your assigned home school to another district elementary school, fill out the transfer request form by March 31. For questions call 785-295-3055.

Read Across America Week is coming up the week of March 3rd. We will do several activities throughout the week here at school to celebrate literacy. We invite you to participate with us at home as well! Students will be bringing home a Read Week BINGO page. Do the activities with your student, mark off the box, and send it back to school when you have a BINGO! All students who bring the completed paper back will receive a book to take home with them. They will also all be entered into a drawing for a gift card! So you can start planning your reading fun, the BINGO sheets are included below. Happy reading!

Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held on Wednesday, March 12th from 4:00-8:00 and Thursday, March 13th from 8:00-8:00. There will be NO SCHOOL on March 13th & March 14th. You will be hearing from your child's teacher soon to sign up for a time frame that works best within your schedule. Teachers will then use that information to create a finalized schedule. Once that has been done your student's teacher will send a confirmation of the date and time for your conference. The

conferences will be held in person in your child's classroom. We look forward to meeting with you

and sharing your child's progress!

Monday-Thursday: 9:15 AM - 4:00 PM

• Arrival begins: 9:00 AM (drop off through car line)
• School starts: 9:15 AM
• Arrival ends: 9:15 AM (Students will be considered tardy after 9:15 AM. Students arriving after 9:15 AM will need to sign in at the main office)
• Dismissal begins: 3:45 PM (pick up in the car line)
• Dismissal ends: 4:00 PM (all students must be picked up by 4:00 PM)

Late Start Fridays (every Friday): 10:15 AM - 4:00 PM

• Arrival begins: 10:15 AM (drop off through car line)
• School starts: 10:15 AM
• Arrival ends: 10:30 AM (Students will be considered tardy after 10:30 AM. Students arriving after 10:30 AM will need to sign in at the main office)
• Dismissal begins: 3:45 PM (pick up in the car line)
• Dismissal ends: 4:00 PM (all students must be picked up by 4:00 PM)

Late Start is on FRIDAYS for this school year and the arrival time will be at 10:15. This is for every Friday that school is in session.

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 Family Service and Parent Involvement. If you ever have any questions regarding our policies and procedures, please reach out!

Eligibility for Head Start Services

POLICY: 1302.12

Eligibility for the program is determined by the child's age, family income, and special needs.

PROCEDURE:

1. A child must be 3 or 4 years old by August 31st to qualify for enrollment in Head Start services in Kansas.
2. Birth certificates are required for age verification purposes. In cases where a birth certificate is not available, other forms of documentation might be accepted. Every student must have a birth certificate on record within 30 days of enrollment. Additionally, all returning students must submit their birth certificate before the first day of school for entry if it was not provided the year prior.
3. Eligible children come from families with an annual income at or below the poverty guideline, those receiving public assistance (TANF, SSI, SNAP), children who are homeless as defined by the McKinney-Vento Act, or those in foster care.
4. 35% of program slots can be allocated for children whose family income is between 100% and 130% of the poverty guidelines. Additionally, there is an allowance for another 10% of slots for children who do not meet the standard eligibility criteria.
5. Income verification can include:

• Check stubs
• W-2 Tax Form or 1040 Tax Return from the previous year
• TANF, SSI, or SNAP verification
• Foster care documentation
• Unemployment records
• Employer letters
• Self-declaration letters

Once a family is determined to be Categorically Eligible, no further income documentation is required.

This handbook includes important information about Sheldon Head Start including our mission and vision, policies and procedures.

Please take time to review this handbook.

Sheldon Head Start follows the Topeka Public Schools Academic Calendar. The only exceptions are a later start date and earlier end date. The first day of school for Sheldon students is Wednesday, August 21st. The last day of school for Sheldon students will be May 16th.

Our Sheldon Head Start Facebook page is active! We use this as a way to communicate with families and share many pictures. Please follow the page to stay updated!

@SheldonChildDevelopmentCenterHeadStart

Regular school attendance is one of the most important factors that determine school success. The habit of attending school every single day begins with the preschool year(s).

Daily Absence Information

• Parents/guardians should notify the school each day a student is absent by 9:15 a.m, by calling (785) 438-4530. If leaving a voicemail, please provide the student's name, classroom teacher and reason for absence. If the parent/guardian fails to notify the school, the school will attempt to contact the parent/guardian. The communication can be in a variety of methods, such as electronic communication, telephone call or in person. Home visits will be conducted if there has been no contact made after two days.
• All absences, including those excused, will count against a student’s attendance.
• The school encourages parents to schedule doctor and dental appointments after school hours, or on days when school is not in session.
• Parents/guardians may be required to submit supporting documentation in order to excuse the absence of their student if student absenteeism is excessive.
• Preschool absences are recorded in Synergy, the district's student information system. The expectation is that students attend school at least 90% of the time. If the student falls below 90% (excused or unexcused) a letter will be sent home. If this issue does not improve an official attendance plan will be put into place and/or a meeting with the school principal will be scheduled.

The Kansas State law specifically says that a student is truant if they have missed 3 unexcused days in a row, 5 unexcused days in a semester, or 7 unexcused days in a school year. Truancy may result in a report being filed with DCF.

Examples of Excused Absences:

• Personal illness or medical appointment
• Illness of an immediate family member
• Death in the immediate family or other emergency beyond the control of the family
• Religious holidays of the student’s religious faith
• Participation in a district approved or school sponsored activity or event
• Required court appearance or subpoena by a law enforcement agency
• Family vacation/Out of town (that have been pre-approved by the school principal)

Examples of Unexcused Absences:

• No contact by parent/guardian
• Oversleeping
• Personal grooming appointments (hair, nails, etc)
• Shopping/errands
• Suspension from school
• Family vacation/ Out of town that have not been pre-approved
• Missing the bus/ride

Check out this website for free or affordable mental health resources and supports.

Check out this excellent packet of community resources available, provided by the City of Topeka.

Take a look at the Topeka Resources Checklist. This is very helpful for planning! This is a list of possible resources to help you stretch your dollars and avoid economic emergencies. Place a check beside the ones you are using or have used.

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