Parents, we are positively recognizing students for their behavior as they demonstrate the expectations listed above. Students can earn points (badges) within Focus in their classes for items to purchase in our school store and/or to attend future schoolwide events.

Monday, September 2: Labor Day [School closed]

Thursday, September 5: Chick-fil-A Spirit Night [5-8 PM] (2516 Gulf to Bay Blvd) You MUST tell them you are with Belcher Elementary School to receive the credit

Friday, September 6: Volunteer Cafe [10 AM-12 PM]

Monday, September 9: Grandparents Day [8-8:30 AM]

Wednesday, September 11: PMAC Meeting [8:15 AM]

Thursday, September 19: All-Pro Dads Launch Meeting [7:45 AM]

Thursday, September 19: PTA General Meeting in Cafeteria [6:30 pm]

Friday, September 20: Picture Day

Monday, September 23: No school for students

Tuesday, September 24: Culver's Spirit Night [5-8 PM] (3500 E Bay Dr) PTA needs 5 volunteers - please click the "Sign up to volunteer for our Spirit Night Here" button under the picture below

School hours are 8:45 AM to 2:55 PM.

The Front Office is open from 7:30 AM until 3:30 PM.

Students can come on campus starting at 8:15 AM for free breakfast. For safety reasons, students should not be dropped off and/or left unattended before 8:15 AM.

If your student arrives late, you must come into the front office to bring your student in.

If you need to pick up a student, you must bring your legal ID with a photo (driver's license or passport).

Please visit https://focus.pcsb.org and complete every available form.

Please visit https://focus.pcsb.org and update all contact information for your student(s), including phone number, email, address, emergency contacts, and any additional people who may pick up your student(s).

Students may not be dropped off at school before 8:15 AM. Due to safety reasons, students should not be dropped off or unsupervised before 8:15 AM. You may pull your car to the end of the line and wait in your car until 8:15 AM; then, your student may come onto campus. Students may enter the cafeteria for breakfast or go to their classroom starting at 8:15 AM.

Students are expected to be picked up by 3:15 PM. Our car line has become more efficient and is ending earlier. Each day, we are often finished between 3:10 and 3:15 PM. At 3:15 PM, students who have not been picked up will be brought into the front office. At this time, the person who is picking up the student will need to come into the front office and sign out their student.

Please see the Programs List below if you need before or after-school care.

• Apply for special assignments and district application programs
• Change your address and provide two proofs of address to the school
• Link your student(s) and view report cards, schedules, grades, and attendance at https://focus.pcsb.org
• Please make sure you fill out the online forms for your student(s)
• Please complete all consent forms on Focus

Pinellas County Schools students, teachers, staff, registered volunteers, and substitutes ride PSTA buses for free. Our PCS community can take advantage of the free rides any time of day, all year long! You can ride PSTA buses and trolleys for free during winter break and all year round just by showing your Pinellas County Schools ID!

We want to communicate to parents and families the numerous steps we are taking to ensure that Pinellas schools are safe and nurturing for our scholars. We realize the trust you place in our district to ensure campuses and classrooms are secure places of learning. Pinellas County Schools has met the requirements and fully complied with Florida’s safety laws, outlined in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act. The school district has also established several additional, voluntary safety measures.

To keep you informed, below are some of the ongoing safety measures we began implementing in previous years, as well as new programs we are introducing that will further enhance the safety of our schools:

• A School Resource Officer or an armed School Safety Officer is in place at every school site. Secured gates and fences with a single point of entry on all campuses.
• Secured vestibule within the entrance of the single point of entry.
• A visitor management system, called Ident-A-Kid, that is used in all schools to streamline the check-in process and further meet the requirements of the Jessica Lunsford Act.
• A full review of every campus security plan and full physical assessment of every campus by school staff and local law enforcement.
• A hard-wired emergency lockdown system that empowers any staff member in a school to initiate a lockdown during an emergency and immediately inform school and district administration and the police department.
• A mobile emergency button is accessible to all staff on district property to initiate a lockdown during an emergency and immediately inform school and district administration and the police department. This meets the requirements of Alyssa's Law.
• Continued partnership with Sandy Hook Promise to enhance resources and training for students and staff.
• Our district has been nationally recognized for our implementation of Sandy Hook Promise’s Start with Hello and Say Something programs.
• Two anonymous reporting systems to allow students, staff or anyone from the community to report a concern.
• S.A.V.E. clubs are in place in elementary, middle and high schools.
• Quarterly age-appropriate active threat safety drills, led by caring staff, under the supervision of law enforcement and developed to align with best practices of the National Association of School Psychologists and the National Association of School Resource Officers.
• Yearly training for all staff on safety protocols and prevention methods.
• Locked classroom doors during all instructional times.
• The district has a full-time threat assessment team, made up of a school administrator, a social worker, a psychologist, and a law enforcement officer that reviews each school level threat assessment.
• Each school has a threat assessment team that is trained in the state adopted Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG). Increased mental health services, with additional school psychologists, counselors and social workers.

Please know that Pinellas County schools are first and foremost nurturing places of learning. We consciously work to maintain environments that reflect our core mission, and we want students and families to feel welcomed, as well as secure, on campus. Thank you for your partnership in keeping Pinellas County Schools safe.

Did you know you can pay tuition online for PK3 and VPK? Pinellas County Schools uses the service RevTrak to handle tuition payments in a secure and fast manner.

Belcher is a healthy school. Sweet treats are NOT permitted on campus for birthday celebrations. Thank you for your understanding.

Parents who would like to send snacks should call the school office or teacher to ensure the items are within the guidelines. School provided snacks must comply with the fat and sugar limits of the Pinellas County Schools Nutrition Standards and may not be Foods of Minimal Nutritional Value (soda water, water ices, chewing gum and certain candies) or consist of candy or dessert type items (cookies, cakes, cupcakes, pudding, ice cream or frozen desserts, etc.).

All food must be in the original, unopened store packaging. Homemade food items are not allowed. In accordance with 64E-11.002 Food Code, all snacks or food must originate from an establishment that is under the regulatory authority of a state or federal agency.

To fill out or alter forms in Focus:

1. Log into focus.pcsb.org
2. Click on "Form Packet Fields"
3. Under "Healthcare Services Consent", select whether or not you consent to ALL school-based healthcare, OR only the specific services you select.

If your student has daily medication, emergency medications, or as needed medications that you would like to be given at school, please make sure to bring the medication and prescription to the Front Office to complete the necessary paperwork with our nurse.

No registration is needed.

The tutoring is free and will be held via Microsoft Teams. Each grade-level tutoring session will include a mini-lesson followed by time for homework help. This tutoring is available until the end of the school year.

To join a session, simply click the appropriate grade level/content area link listed below:

Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Grade

Meeting Time: Tuesdays from 4:00pm – 5:00pm

Meeting Link: https://shorturl.at/dlIMR

3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade

Meeting Time: Wednesdays from 4:00pm – 5:00pm

Meeting Link: https://shorturl.at/dlIMR

Register as a volunteer

To volunteer in any capacity, you must have an active volunteer account. Volunteers can chaperone field trips, assist with school events, and help out in classrooms. The process of registering takes ~5-15 minutes and is very simple. You will need to upload your government issued photo ID. Your application will be processed through the Office of Strategic Partnerships of Pinellas County Schools. You will receive an email with your volunteer ID and password. This will be used to log your volunteer hours and access the calendar. Note: Please use a desktop computer or a laptop to register, not a mobile device.

Reactivate Your Account

Existing volunteers must reactivate after every summer to ensure their information is correct. Please use a desktop computer or a laptop, not a mobile device.

Link: https://focus.pcsb.org/volunteer/

Volunteer Focus Log-in Information:

Please use your assigned v.account and password.

Example: Login: v.smitha (usually last name, first initial, not case sensitive)

Password: Smith1973 (last name with the first letter capitalized, 4-digit birth year)

Entering Volunteer Hours:

Every volunteer is asked to record ALL their volunteer hours in the Focus Volunteer System. EVERY hour counts whether you are in the classroom, helping at a special event, working on a project from home or participating in our PTA! These hours are reported twice a year and show the level of community support at our school.

Interested in becoming a Level 2 Volunteer?

This is an optional additional level of background screening that is required when volunteering in a situation where you may be unsupervised with students such as field trip chaperones who are driving, overnight field trips, etc. View the locations and hours of our approved fingerprinting vendors, then follow up with our Family & Community Liaison at lamontj@pcsb.org 7–10 days after fingerprinting to verify your status.

Volunteer Café

The first Friday of every month from 10am to 12pm, our volunteers get together to work on various classroom projects. Coffee, juice, and snacks are provided. It is a great time to meet other Belcher volunteers while helping our teachers stay focused on education by completing their busy work. This program is occasionally adjusted to a curbside pick-up event as needed. Registered volunteers will receive invitations, reminders, and updates via email.

Your help is needed! Just 30 minutes a week can make a difference in a child's life. Listen, encourage, be a friend to a child at a school closest to where you live or work. The Lunch Pals mentorship program pairs students with PCS volunteers who meet for 30 minutes once a week during the student’s lunch. Through one-on-one interaction and attention, this program encourages students to be more communicative, practice good behavior, and invest in their learning by having an additional adult to chat regularly with. Programs like Lunch Pals are not possible without empathetic, supportive adult volunteers. Mentors must be registered volunteers. If you are interested in being a mentor, please email lamontj@pcsb.org or call (727) 538-7437 ext. 2001.

Mentors must attend a 1 hour long workshop prior to being matched and meeting with students.

The Great American Teach-In invites guests to teach students about their career. Teaching opportunities are available from 9 AM to 2 PM. Speakers can present to just one class, or even stay the whole day. Whatever the length of your visit, you can make a difference. Teach-In participants can interact with students by answering questions, organize an activity, to read a story, or to teach a class.

For alumni of Pinellas County Schools, the annual event is an excellent opportunity to return to old classrooms in elementary, middle or high schools.

Please contact our Family and Community Liaison Jennifer Lamont at LamontJ@pcsb.org or call (727) 538-7437 x.2001 for questions.

The Adopt-A-Class Program allows an individual, business or organization to sponsor a class or a department of their choice, with a tax-deductible donation. By becoming an Adopt-A-Class sponsor, you will help ensure that the children in your class or department have the resources they need to succeed. Your investment in this program goes beyond the satisfaction of meeting our current needs. You can take pride in knowing you are molding the future leaders of our community.

Benefits of being an Adopt-A-Class Sponsor:

• A certificate of partnership
• Thank you letter from the sponsored class or program
• Tax-deductible receipt letter for your donation (if requested)
• An invitation to our appreciation event
• The knowledge and good feeling that you have made a difference!

All Pro Dad Chapters provide an opportunity for dads to spend quality time with their children before school to strengthen their relationship. One day a month, other dads and their kids meet together and walk through different topics that invoke meaningful conversations.

Our launch party will be on Thursday, September 19th at 7:45 AM in the Media Center. If you're interested, please RSVP at the button below.

For more information on All Pro Dad, please visit our website page. If you would like to join as a member, please visit our chapter site.

Our chapter president is Mr. Parker. Questions about All Pro Dad meetings should be directed to ParkerJos@pcsb.org

PMAC meets on the second Wednesday of every month at 8:15 to 8:45 AM.

Students in grade 3-5 are welcome to join and help plan school events.

PTA needs parents to keep our school running. PTA supports teachers, students, families, and staff throughout the school year with a variety of activities. You can become a member by simply placing $5 (or a check payable to Belcher Elementary PTA) in an envelope along with your name, your child/children's and their teacher's name(s). Bring it to school or simply send it in with your child. Visit https://www.pcsb.org/domain/1501 for more information.

SAC is a team representing various segments of the community: Parents, teachers, students, administrators, support staff, business and community partners. The SAC is responsible for strategic planning for the School Improvement Plan (SIP) and working jointly with the principal and staff after analyzing relevant data. The SAC helps determine goals within the plan and how best to achieve those measurable goals.

If you are interested in joining, please email lamontj@pcsb.org