The Eagle's Call 🦅

Families,

Next week on Wednesday 2/14 is Valentine's Day! Many of our families, students, and staff enjoy special celebrations and expressions of love and care on Valentine's Day. Be sure to check with your child's teacher in advance to ask about how the class may be celebrating. Be sure to keep your child's teacher informed if you plan to send your child with Valentine's cards or gifts for classmates.

Today and always, thank you for your continued support of your children and our school. Together, we will help our children SOAR to reach their greatest potential!

Email: thuber@wcpss.net
Website: https://www.wcpss.net/harriscreekes
Location: Harris Creek Elementary School, Forestville Road, Raleigh, NC, USA
Phone: 919.217.5100
Facebook: facebook.com/HarrisCreekPta

Pre-Order sheets with codes went home this week with Tracks 1,2, and 4 students. We confirmed with Lifetouch that pre-ordering is not required for group photos or for individual photos. Track 3 students will receive their ordering codes on picture day.

From Art Teacher Kim Demartz: This month in art class, Tracks 1, 2 & 4 participated in VALENTINES FOR VETS which is a community service project through the office of Congresswoman Deborah Ross (NC-02). Students lovingly made Valentine's Day cards which representative Ross will hand- deliver to veterans at local VA clinics, offering a heartfelt gesture of gratitude for their sacrifices. Last year, Congresswoman Ross delivered over 3,000 Valentine's! Pictured below is Ms. John's Track 1 4th Grade class with their beautiful cards.

At Harris Creek, celebration of Black History Month will look and sound like specific emphasis placed on celebration of and learning about the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our nation's history. Our beliefs as a school team are aligned with the WCPSS Equity Focused Practices. We seek to:

• Create brave spaces and belonging enabling each and every student to bring their true and authentic selves to the educational process and reach their unbounded potential by seeing their culture and background represented in their school and classroom.
• Disrupt disproportionality for individual students, student groups, communities, and schools to realize the equity and excellence goals of the district.
• Center student voice to inform instructional practices, behavioral interventions, policies, processes, and systems of support.
• Partner equitably with families/caregivers; respecting their expertise about their children, inform student learning and offer diverse perspectives in developing strategies to confront inequities in classrooms, schools, and the district

Our teachers have been encouraged to integrate Black History Month focused activities, lessons, and discussions and have been provided high quality resources. To learn more about how Black History Month celebration and lessons align with NC State Standards, access this document.

Love The Bus is the week of February 12-16, 2024. This is the time we celebrate and show our drivers our appreciation for what they do daily in transporting our precious cargo, our students. Thank you for all you do to support the Rolesville Transportation District. We are honored to have a caring, dedicated, and awesome staff to work with!

The Harris Creek Elementary front office is in need of clothes donations; especially small size pants and upper grade size pants. With a wide range of children sizes in our school, we have ongoing needs for spare clothes. Please drop off any donations in the front office anytime during school hours.

Thank you!

From Music Teacher Sonda Brown: Choir practices resume February 7th and will be held each Wednesday from 8:15-8:45am. Choir members must be dropped off in the bus loop for practice and if tracked out, picked up after practice in the bus loop. The spring choir concert is scheduled for May 29th, 2024 at 6:30pm. (Date changed from May 15th). For more information, contact Mrs. Brown on TalkingPoints or at sbrown33@wcpss.net.

We will have limited availability for track changes for next school year. Track changes are considered on a rolling basis until the start of the new school year but are not guaranteed. Current 3rd grade Track 2 families DO NOT need to complete this form. You will receive a separate form from your child's teacher. Click the button below to complete the form with your request. The request window will close on Monday February 19th, 2024.

The second half of the school year can be a time of exponential academic growth for students! When it's time to help your child at home, be sure to use the below linked Google Site to support you.

Families: please use the below linked Google Site to access math curriculum information and resources for all grade levels K-5th. Information and resources are grouped by unit and lesson. To find out which unit and lesson your child is currently learning and/or which unit/lesson they need more practice with, please contact your child's teacher.

Although opportunities to attend meetings and to volunteer are available and will be offered, it is not a requirement for PTA membership. Please consider joining the PTA and supporting our school in whatever capacity you are able.

• [AMAZON WISH LIST] Help Stock The Teacher's Lounge! 😋
• Join the PTA
• Upcoming PTA Meeting Dates: 4/16 at 6pm
• Teacher Breakfasts/Lunches: 4/18/24, 5/13/24, 6/27/24
• PTA Angel Fund: Please consider a donation to fund field trips for other Eagles! Click the link to donate: all donations go towards funding individual students for future field trips
• Check out the School Spirit Wear Online Store!
• Follow the Harris Creek Elementary PTA Facebook page

Please be reminded that the new security system kiosks at all WCPSS schools REQUIRE all family members who are signing in a student or checking out a student to scan their Drivers License or ID card. Please be sure you have yours with you when entering our school. Thank you!

If your family needs more than 2 carpool tags or you have lost one, please use the link below to submit payment for additional tags. Tags may be picked up in the front office after payment has been processed.

If you are a first time carpool user, you can stop by the front office to get 2 carpool tags for free.

• Apply NOW for Free and Reduced Price Meals 🍕🍴🍌

• Click this link for full details: Free/Reduced Meals All families must complete an application for the 2023-2024 school year starting July 1 in order to receive benefits. Please allow 10 business days for processing. For every student that turns in the free and reduced meals application and qualifies, the school also receives federal funds that benefit the students and teachers at the school. We need you to complete a 2023-2024 meal benefits application so our school can be eligible for extra funding next year. If you have not completed a free or reduced-price meal application and think your child may be eligible, pick up an application at your child’s school or apply online.

• Cafeteria Menus: Menus are available on the interactive website, MealViewer.

• School Cafeteria Angel Fund: Our school cafeteria maintains a special account for when students forget to bring money for school meals on a day here and there. If you would like to contribute to this fund, please send cash or check in with your child or drop it off at the school with Cafeteria Manager Rachel Shepard. Thank you for your generosity!

• MySchoolBucks App: With a MySchool Bucks account paying for school meals is easy. Go to www.MySchoolBucks.com or call (855) 832-5226 to enroll. You'll need your child's Student ID number, available in your registration materials or at your school. Once your account is established you may:
  

• Securely deposit funds to your child's account
• Check balances
• Set spending limits

• Questions about applying for free and reduced meals:

  (919) 856-2920 (English)

  (919) 588-3535 (English and Spanish)

  cnsmealbenefits@wcpss.net

New for this school year: You can complete the application from home and on any device!

Click the button below to access the application form. Thank you in advance for registering to be a volunteer!

District policy regarding volunteers can be accessed here.

HCES Carpool Expectations

Please read the linked document in it's entirety.

ID Checks Take Place in The Front Office

Family members who do not have a carpool tag will be required to park (disabled spots) and come into the front office to have their ID checked to verify they are a student contact. This is a return to pre-pandemic procedures and to address staffing shortage. In addition, cars without carpool tags will remain in the carpool line rather than advance past the cones. If you need a new carpool tag, please come to the front office anytime during school hours. Thank you!

Students May Not Be Dropped Off Until 8:45am

Please be reminded of the expectation that students may not be dropped off until 8:45am. Students may not line up at the front door.

Carpool Efficiency Reminders

Please remember to pull forward as far as possible in both AM and PM carpool, have your student(s) open their own door, and put on your hazard lights if assistance is needed (AM). If needing to help your child get in the seat, please pull forward and into a parking space so that the line can keep moving. Thank you!

Please Display Carpool Number Tags Every Afternoon

In order to ensure an efficient carpool process, please remember to hang carpool number tags to display clearly from your vehicle's rearview mirror. Please reference the image below for proper placement. This is a critical step to ensure students leave their classrooms and come outside to the correct location on the sidewalk to be picked up. Thank you!

Bus Tracking App

Please use the Here Comes the Bus app (App Store or Google Play Store) to monitor the location of your student’s bus and when it is approaching his/her stop. To sign up: https://herecomesthebus.com/parents/get-started/ . The WCPSS school code for school bus tracking is 67500. You will need to use your child's student ID number as well.

You can also follow @HCESBuses on Twitter to confirm when your child's bus leaves campus each afternoon.

REPLACEMENT CHARGER POLICY

Each student is issued a charger with their Chromebook. If that charger breaks, or goes missing, we will replace it at no cost to you ONE time. After that, Media and Technology Committee along with HCES Administration, has determined it is necessary to pass along replacement costs to the students.

At this time, if your student loses or breaks their second charger, they will need to see the tech office. They will be advised to have you pay a $20 replacement fee on our payment portal (Online School Payment) to receive a new charger. Use the button below to order

For safety reasons, it is not advised to order your own replacement as standards must be met for wattage, manufacturing guidelines etc. Once paid for, we will handle securing a charger for your student.

Please note: we have a running record of all replacements that have been made to date that will be used to determine eligibility for a replacement charger.

WCPSS Technology Webpage: Acces information regarding:

• Smartphone/Device Safety
• Consent For Technology And Digital Resource Use
• Technology Related Policies
• Student Device Program
• Online Safety at School
• Online Safety at Home
• Digital Wellness

Reminder: Students should restart their WCPSS devices once per week.

Restarting also can resolve many other common issues impacting student devices. Always restart a WCPSS device before contacting the Help Desk. Thank you!

Parents Helping Parents (PHP) prevention philosophy is grounded in a self-help model based on the belief that parents are capable of developing their own solutions when given the space, encouragement, and community resources that they need. Thus, it is the parents themselves who decide the direction a conversation will take during a Parent Support Group meeting or Parent Stress Line.

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Through a combination of trust, mutual support, honesty, and collective wisdom, involvement with PHP can become the foundation for a parent's own personal growth and change.

General health guidance can be viewed here: https://www.wcpss.net/Page/168

We recognize that you may be receiving a large volume of communication and we want to make sure you always see the information you need the most!

Set your SchoolMessenger message preferences by creating a SchoolMessenger Parent account. With this account you can select what information you receive and how you would like to receive it. You can create your account by downloading the SchoolMessenger app on your mobile device or go to https://go.schoolmessenger.com/.

Notes:

• Use the email address entered for your student in PowerSchool to sign up.
• Most messages from Mr. Huber and WCPSS are sent as email and text using the General School Info broadcast.
• To receive text messages, text YES to 67587.
• For more information and instructions on how to create an account, visit: https://www.wcpss.net/schoolmessenger.

• Feb 1-29: Black History Month
• Feb 12-16: National Bus Driver Appreciation Week (Love the Bus Week)
• Feb 14: Valentine's Day
• Feb 14: Spring Picture Day: Tracks 2 and 4
• Feb 14: Track 2 Last Day Before Track Out
• Feb 15: Track 3 returns
• Feb 15: Spring Picture Day: Tracks 1 and 3
• Mar 4-15: Spring Book Fair
• Mar 6: Book Fair Open 4:30-6:30pm
• Mar 8: Track 1 Last Day Before Track Out
• Mar 11: Track 2 returns
• Apr 26: SAVE THE DATE: Eagle Fun Fest (rain date May 3)
• May 29: SAVE THE DATE: Voices of The Creek Spring Concert - 6:30pm
• Jun 3: SAVE THE DATE: 5th Grade Track 1 Celebration 10:30am
• Jun 26: SAVE THE DATE: 5th Grade Track 3 Celebration 11:00am
• Jun 26: SAVE THE DATE: 5th Grade Track 4 Celebration 1:00pm

As Harris Creek Eagles, we SOAR!

Website: https://www.wcpss.net/harriscreekes
Location: Harris Creek Elementary School, Forestville Road, Raleigh, NC, USA
Phone: 919-217-5100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HarrisCreekPta
Twitter: @harriscreeekelem