The Weekly Update #4

Jackson Families,

In this week's edition of This Week at Jackson, we will introduce our new staff and any changes with returning staff assignments. We will also include detailed arrival and dismissal procedures. Please read through these fully.

We have also included information about a state law now in effect regarding use of cell phones and smartwatches in schools. There is also an updated attendance policy.

Class assignments for the 2024-2025 school year were posted to Skyward this afternoon.

We look forward to seeing you at Open House next week!

Respectfully,

Sam Marshall

Principal

Mrs. Dilbeck will be teaching our exceptional learners in the Applied Skills program.

Originally from Hammond, Mrs. Dilbeck played collegiate volleyball at Northwest St. in Louisiana. After completing her degree, she moved back to Hammond where she has taught special education for 20 years in both Pre-K and elementary, in addition to teaching summer school for 14-22 year old special education students. Mrs. Dilbeck now lives in Chesterton with her husband, Dave, and 2 children, Peyton and Reese, who are student-athletes at CHS. Mrs. Dilbeck also coaches volleyball at CHS.

Miss Pierce will be teaching our exceptional learners.

Miss Pierce graduated from Grace College in 2019 and has been teaching in a special education classroom for the past 5 years. She recently moved to Chesterton and is excited to start the year off at Jackson! She looks forward to getting to know her students and helping them grow throughout the year!

Miss Baltudis will be teaching 1st grade.

Miss Baltudis graduated from Indiana University Northwest this past spring with a degree in Elementary Education after completing her student teaching placements in both special and general education at Yost Elementary School. She also brings several years experience working at the Duneland YMCA, where some of our students may have met her in the past. She is passionate about teaching and loves witnessing students’ excitement and wonder as they discover new concepts and skills. Miss Baltudis enjoys being outside, reading, or spending time with her many nieces and nephews. She is excited to join the team at Jackson and grow with her students this year!

Mrs. Herring will be an aide in Mrs. Dilbeck's classroom working with students in the Applied Skills program. She taught and coached in Hammond for many years. She has since retired from her career as a special education teacher, but is excited to help us launch our program this year.

Mrs. Vasquez will be an aide in Mrs. Dilbeck's classroom working with students in the Applied Skills program. She previously worked in a variety of roles at Chesterton High School.

Mrs. Bruss will be our school counselor, having previously spent time at the Trojan Virtual Academy (now the Northwest Indiana Online School) and Chesterton High School.

Mrs. Bruss is starting her 18th year in school counseling. She holds a Master's degree in Social Work from Indiana University Northwest. She is dual-licensed in School Counseling and Social Work. In November of 2023, she earned her Clinical Social Work License through the State of Indiana. She loves helping students succeed academically and socially. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her family, bake, volunteer in the community and read.

Mrs. Poncsak is joining us from Liberty Intermediate School, where she was previously a teacher and instructional coach. She will be in the role of instructional coach this year.

Mrs. Poncsak graduated from Ball State University in 2008 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and a concentration in Middle School Mathematics. She earned her Master’s Degree in Educational Technology in 2013. She started teaching at Liberty Intermediate School in 5th grade and also taught 6th grade math and social studies before becoming an Instructional Coach in 2023. She and her husband have two children - Harper and Hudson. In her free time, she coaches a middle school gymnastics team and loves to read and do different crafts.

Mrs. Psimos will be teaching 4th grade this year. She has taught 1st grade for the past five years at Jackson, and taught 5th grade for the five years before that for Peru Community Schools.

Mrs. Fairbairn has been promoted to be our assistant principal this year. She has served as our instructional coach for the past three years. Before that, she was a dean of students and teacher in Merrillville. She has been a classroom teacher in kindergarten, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades, in addition to teaching art.

We ask that you read through the following procedures before the start of school. It takes everyone's assistance to make this run in a timely fashion while prioritizing student safety.

Doors open at 7:10am. School begins at 7:30am. Please visit the office to sign in any student arriving after this time.

We dismiss buses to their routes at 2:25pm, then begin car line dismissal.

If your child is enrolled in YMCA OOSL (often called Y-Care) in the morning,

• Enter the main parking lot. Park in a parking space, rather than at the curb.

• Walk your student to the main entrance. Look for the YMCA sign and doorbell.

• Ring the doorbell, then wait for YMCA personnel to sign in your student(s) for the day.

As a reminder, YMCA OOSL can only be arranged through the Duneland YMCA. We cannot sign up any students for it.

Bus Riders

Bus riders will be dropped off at the main entrance 7:10-7:30am. We ask for all vehicles to stay out of the main parking lot during this time, unless you are parking to come into the office.

Car Riders

All car riders should remain in their vehicles until 7:10am when Jackson staff come out to supervise arrival. For security reasons, our exterior doors are always locked.

Please enter the Jackson campus from Route 6. You will be driving west as you approach the school. Do not enter the main parking lot.

Pull up parallel to our southern curb with passenger side toward the school. Please pull to the end of the curb so that there is room for other vehicles.

For safety reasons, please have students exit through the passenger side of the vehicle. Please exit the Jackson campus onto 400 E.

Here are some tips to keep arrival moving efficiently while keeping students safe. Students should

• Be able to unbuckle seat restraints without adults leaving the vehicle.

• Be able to open passenger doors without adults leaving the vehicle.

• Exit the vehicle from the passenger side directly onto the curb rather than walking around the vehicle from the driver side.

We will have staff supervising the entrance. Adults should not walk students to the doors.

We also remind cars to not cut-off buses at any time.

Late Arrival

Please bring your child to the main office with you to sign them in for the day. Children should not be sent into the building alone.

Early Dismissal

If you are planning an early dismissal, please call the office at 219-983-3680 and send a note with your child to his/her teacher. If the dismissal was unexpected, please call the office as soon as you can.

Students will be dismissed once you have signed them out in the office.

Both late arrivals and early dismissals are reflected in your student’s attendance record.

It is very important for us that students be routed to the appropriate dismissal location. Please expect dismissal to be slower the first few weeks of school.

All students will move with their classroom teacher to their dismissal locations: car riders are gathered in the cafeteria, YMCA OOSL gathers in the gym, and bus riders are dropped off at each bus.

The car line should form by the gazebo snaking out of the parking lot onto our driveway toward Route 6.

We aim to release the buses by 2:25pm. Those in slant parking by the south curb will move to 400 E; those lined up on our east curb will head to Route 6.

Once the buses leave, the car line will pull forward. On the southeast corner of the curb, a staff member will be waiting with a radio to call student names for pickup.

Car Tags

If you have a car tag from the past, please reuse it to limit waste. If you do not have one and your child will be a regular in the car line, they will be available in the office from Mrs. Murphy the days prior to the start of school or at Open House.

Car tags can hang from a rearview mirror or can be mounted on the back of the visor and flipped down. Some choose to hold them in their hand. Whichever way you choose, please make sure we can see the name on it.

Even if you think we have memorized your vehicle, please help us by using the car tag every day. With window tints, the angle of the car line, and weather, we can often see the tag before we can see the driver.

As with morning arrival, students should

• Enter the vehicle on the passenger side.

• Be able to open the door and enter the vehicle without adult assistance.

If your student cannot buckle without assistance, please plan to pull forward past the end of the line before getting out of the vehicle so that we can keep the line moving.

We know that a student’s first day of kindergarten is a big day for the student, but it is perhaps an even bigger milestone for parents.

That said, we strongly recommend that you do not deviate from the arrival and dismissal plans you marked during registration. In trying to make the day special for your student, you can unintentionally make subsequent arrivals/dismissals more difficult for your child (and thus for you, too).

• If your student will ride the bus, please put them on the bus.

• If your student will be a car rider, please go through the car line with the other families.

However, if your student is struggling with the transition that morning, you can park in our main lot, walk the student to the sidewalk that leads to the main entrance, then say goodbye there. Experience tells us that the sooner you make the separation with your student, the easier it will be long-term, even if it is hard to do in the moment.

Parents are not allowed to escort students to the classrooms.

We invite everyone to visit us at Open House on Tuesday, August 13th, from 4-6pm. The building will be open and our staff will be here to welcome back returning families and to greet new ones.

We encourage our kindergarten families to plan to attend presentations at 4:30 or 5:30pm happening in their child's classroom, as there is much to share, especially if this is your first child in kindergarten.

Open House will also be a time when you can stop in the office to pick up a car tag for those that will be using our car line dismissal procedure.

A new law is now in effect in the state of Indiana regarding the use of personal, wireless communication devices (such as cell phones or smartwatches). We ask your assistance with this. Per the elementary handbook (see button below), students are to have any devices of this type turned off and secured in either their cubby or locker during the instructional day.

Per IC 20-26-5-40.7 - The use of wireless communication devices, including but not limited to cellular telephones, tablet computers, laptop computers, gaming devices, smartwatches, etc. is strictly prohibited during academic class periods unless explicitly authorized by the teacher for educational purposes.

Students are permitted to use a wireless communication device in the event of a health or safety emergency or to manage health care as specifically defined in the student’s Individualized Health Plan (IHP), Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and/or Section 504 Plan.

A wireless communication device is defined by Indiana law as any portable wireless device that has the capability to provide voice, messaging, or other data communication between two (2) or more parties.

There is a revised Attendance Policy that we wanted to draw to your attention. Details are below.

Per the Indiana Department of Education, students should be in attendance for at least 94% of the school year. We would like to increase the number of students at Jackson that meet this goal, as we believe it is in the student's best interest to be present for the academic instruction our staff provides.

When students return to school, our staff will be working with them to help them learn what is expected of them in the various settings they encounter during their school day. We are focused on three big ideas: we want students to be safe, be respectful, and be responsible.

We know the power of partnering with our families and caregivers. We encourage you to preview the expectations in the "Everywhere" column, as this language will become a daily part of your child's experience at Jackson. We welcome support in helping students see the importance of these behaviors not just in school but in every other context of their lives.

The school meals program is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The Duneland School Corporation will process free or reduced-price meal benefit applications for those students who apply and are approved. Those students not qualifying for free or reduced-price meals will be charged the paid meal price for breakfast and/or lunch.

Meal prices for the 2024-2025 school year are available on the DSC Child Nutrition website.

The DSC Child Nutrition Department utilizes NutriSlice as its menus program. This app is available for iPhone and Android through your mobile app store. Parents can also access the full website for Duneland Schools on a computer via this NutriSlice link.

This app will allow parents and students to view the menus as well as the nutritional info for each menu item at any of the Duneland Schools. This program will be developed further incorporating images of the actual food items being served at each of the Duneland schools.

Menus will be posted on Thursday, Aug. 1

Duneland School Corporation offers MyPaymentsPlus, a state-of-the-art online service that provides you the convenience and information you need to manage your student's meal account. This system speeds up serving lines in the cafeteria, eliminates the need to send physical payments to school or worry about lost or forgotten lunch money and ensures that your child will receive a nutritious meal.

At no cost, MyPaymentsPlus allows any family to: Create a FREE, secured account to manage all your student’s accounts, check your student's current account balance, and create settings to receive email notifications when the account reaches a low balance.

Also, at no cost, MyPaymentsPlus allows any family to make a prepayment into your student's meal account using a check, credit card, or debit card at MyPaymentsPlus or by calling 1-866-441-9125. Funds deposited through MyPaymentsPlus are usually available for student use within a matter of minutes. Create settings to automatically replenish your student's account when it reaches a low balance.

The Duneland School Corporation encourages all parents (even if you do not prepay for your student's meal account) to create an account at no cost. To create a new account, follow the on-screen directions and register your student using their Student ID number. Student ID numbers can be obtained by contacting customer support at: 1-877-237-0946.

Information regarding student bus transportation for the 2024-2025 school year is available on DSC website under the Transportation Department.

Tentative bus routes and bus stop times for this school year will be available for viewing on Skyward beginning on Friday, August 2. Parents should keep in mind that Transportation is continuing to work on live routing, so these bus routes and bus stop times are subject to change as they make necessary adjustments. Check back on August 12-13 for finalized bus routes and bus stop times for your student.

Contact the Duneland School Corporation IT department via one of these methods:

1. Open a IncidentIQ ticket by sending an email to: helpdesk@duneland.k12.in.us
   
2. Log into IncidentIQ and submit a request duneland.incidentIQ.com

Families without internet due to financial hardship have access to programs from two local providers.

Comcast Internet Essentials:

• Families that qualify for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI and other programs may also qualify for the Internet Essentials program from Comcast.

• This program offers internet at a low cost per month.

• Additional options and services are also available

• More information is available at this Comcast link

Frontier Lifeline Program:

• Families that qualify for public assistance programs such as the National School Lunch Program, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, SNAP, SSI and other programs may also qualify for the Lifeline Program from Frontier.

• More information is available at this Frontier link

DSC Health Services and 2024-2025 School Immunization Requirements

The DEF Welcome Back Luau includes entertainment, dinner, and a cash bar. Help us welcome our new teachers to Duneland! Click the image below.