Gator Gazette
August 26, 2024
Principal News
Hello Gators!
We are so excited to see our students and staff back on campus. It has been the best first two weeks of routines, procedures, instruction, and collaboration. We are so proud of the fact that we earned a school grade of C, this is an increase of two grades from last year. This hard work was done by our students and staff. Their dedication and perseverance is inspiring to me as the Principal. We are looking to build on that success this year and bring our school grade to a B. This can be accomplished through focus, participation, dedication, and hard work. At home you can help by supporting any homework brought home. and reading daily with your child. Encourage them to tell you what the story was about and use evidence from the text. All students need to be fluent with counting and numbers (KG), addition and subtraction (1st and 2nd), multiplication and division (3rd-5th). These simple facts will help your child to feel successful in class and on assessments.
Please take time to review the code of conduct with your student so that you are both familiar with Pasco County Schools expectations for students, staff, families, and campus guests. It is very important that your child understands you expect them to follow these rules.
Parking Lot
It is very important that if you are dropping off your child in the car lane that you follow these rules:
- Be respectful to each other and merge as appropriate
- Do not drive in between the parking lot as we have PreK families loading and unloading in that area
- Wait for your turn
- Follow staff directions as this speeds up the process
- If your child is not ready to load we will have you pull up to the area to the right as you are exiting the carline, we will load the car there
- Have your car tag or ID so you will have an easier time loading
- If you are changing dismissal call the office by 3 pm
- If you are checking a child out please do so by 3:30 pm and go in through the office
- We have student safety patrols and are actively loading students- PLEASE do not use your phone, tobacco, or other materials in our carline
- AM Prek and EHS parents walk their PreK and EHS students near the cafeteria- please be kind and respectful. Our children are watching and when they see things like parents angry they get upset and it makes it a hard day for you, your child, and us. We want to help you
- Children will not be walked across the carline, All students should be unloaded from a car. If you want your child to be a walker please call the office to change their dismissal.
- If your child is at a different pole than you were told keep going and we will load them in the place you stop
- Please follow staff direction as we were able to decrease carline from 51 minutes to a low of 18 minutes last week
- If you arrive after 4:30 you will need to park your car and go into the office with your ID or cartag to sign your child out for late pick up
Bus transportation
At the beginning of the year transportation can take longer than normal. We will be working to send email and text notifications through myStudent. Please make sure your emergency contact information is up to date so that you can stay connected. If you do not know how to do this please come to our Title I parent night. We will have staff on hand to support you. If busses arrive on time we send them out at 4:20. If they are late we will email.
Walkers
Walkers is a nice way for students to establish independence. Please know the following:
- Teachers do not clear the students to adults
- Parents should wait for their child on the other side of Meadow unless they have students in K-1st grade.
- If you have older students please remind them to pay attention to the students they are walking around
- Students are released to leave at 4:10
- There is no adult supervision prior to 9:40 or after 4:20
- Please remind students to be respectful of our neighbors
Attendance
We will be monitoring student and staff attendance as this is an important factor in student performance. Students who miss more than 2 days of school a month score 7% lower than peers on standardized assessments. We will also be celebrating the students who come to school with surprise pop up attendance ice cream parties. These parties will be once a week beginning in September- October. One day a week students will have the option to pick an ice cream treat if they are present. Teachers will make contact with parents when students miss more than 2 days of school in a month. We want students to be safe and not bring illness to school but we also want them to learn. We can give you their handouts but we can't give them the instruction when they miss school. There is no good way for them to catch up. Please consider if they have a fever or are contagious when keeping students home. Schedule appointments on days we are out of school or before or after school. If we call it is just so you know how much your child means and how important their presence is on our campus.
Campus open for Lunch with students
Beginning September 3, 2024 we invite family members to join their children for lunch. See lunch times below:
1:00-1:30 KG
1:30-2:00 1
11:30-12:00 2
12:30-1:00 3
1:40-2:10 4
12:00-12:30 5
SAC
SAC is our School Advisory Committee. It is comprised of staff, families, and the community. If you are interested in participating in SAC please come to our meeting on 9/5/24 at 8:30. Sign in at the office.
Upcoming Events- Mark your Calendar
9/2/24 No School- Labor Day
9/5/24 SAC Meeting 8:30 am
9/11/24 Title I Parent Meeting 5:30-7:30, NWR Event for select participants
9/11/24 Picture Day- PreK- 2nd 9/12/24 Picture Day- 3rd-5th
9/16/24 POP Fundraiser
9/26/24 Health Screening KG-3rd