Pleasant Hill Family News

Today was a special day at school, as we enjoyed our annual Day of Play. International Day of Play is celebrated in various countries at different times during the year, and we at Pleasant Hill have taken part for several years, typically sometime during the winter months.

Play helps children:

• explore and understand the world around them
• develop resilience, confidence, and social skills
• learn to get along with and understand others
• learn to communicate, solve problems, and regulate emotion
• develop creativity and a lifelong love of learning

As Fred Rogers famously said,

“Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood.”

Thanks to all those who volunteered for Play Day today. It was a wonderful day of exploration, collaboration, learning, and fun, and it was a joy to have you join us. Please enjoy the pictures below.

Have a terrific weekend,

Jenn

Jennifer Humphrey, Principal

Pleasant Hill School

jhumphrey@scarboroughschools.org

(207) 730-5250

Due to the popularity of the before-school and after-school care programs and the space limitations per site, our registration for next school year is broken up into two registration periods:

CURRENT ENROLLED FAMILIES
Families who are currently enrolled in the 2025-26 program are able to register online beginning at 8:00 am on March 4. All current enrolled students have received instructions for that process. Current families will have March 4-7 to register. If you have a sibling who has not attended, you will register them during this period, as well, but new siblings will be put in AFTER the registration period has ended for current families. If you do not register during this time period, you will be put on a waitlist.

Please Note: Registration does NOT mean a guaranteed spot at Wentworth, as the step up from primary schools involves the combining of three sites into one and we have a max number allowed.

NEW TO THE PROGRAM:
Families who are new to Scarborough or new to our program may enroll their child or children on the Child Care Waitlists beginning at 8:00 am on March 4 at 8:00 AM. Prior to March 4, please make sure you have a registration account in our system. Call us at 207-730-4150 so we can set up an account for you, update an existing account, or give you your login information. This waitlist enrollment will essentially assign you a spot in line at your child’s school site so that we may contact you should space become available. Please note that we will retain this waitlist all year long as spaces may open up as the school year progresses.

We will begin emailing waitlist enrollees one by one after Monday, March 10, moving down the list in numerical order. If we contact you and you are interested in the days we have to offer, we will hold the days for you, assess the registration fee, and ask you to pay that fee within the next 48 hours online or over the phone. If payment is not completed within that time, we will release those spots to the next person on the waitlist.

How to Register for CHILD CARE Waitlist

• Go to Webtrac Registration -- Child Care Waitlists.

• All waitlists will be specific to the school site your child will be attending. Select your chosen school site by clicking the + button on the left hand side. PLEASE NOTE: You will need to enable pop-ups to continue registration.

• Login in with your username and password.

• Click Proceed to Checkout.

www.scarboroughschools.org/school-survey

https://www.scarboroughschools.org/building-project

We are excited to announce the 3rd Annual All-Town Chorus Concert! This concert features student musicians from all six schools in grades 2-12. Due to popular demand, this year’s event will be held in SHS’s Alumni Gym. As such, families will not need to reserve tickets ahead of time. The concert is free and open to the public. Please join us in person or via livestream on Tuesday, March 25th at 6:30pm for this wonderful community celebration!

Special event for the 2nd Graders as well:

All of our 2nd graders in the district will be attending a field trip at the high school to participate in a district-wide choral rehearsal from 10:05 am-11:05 am on Tuesday 3/25. Students will then have the option to come to the concert on Tuesday evening at 6:30 to sing one song with the whole district if they choose to do so. The evening concert is OPTIONAL and students who are attending the concert will be invited up to sing a song we have been working on with the whole district at the end of the concert. This was the highlight of the year for some of our 2nd graders last year!

For safety's sake, please wait for staff to open doors before letting your children out of your vehicle. We appreciate your help with this.

Tooth Protectors is coming for their second visit this year on:

March 27th, 2025

Our school is partnering with Tooth Protectors, Inc. to offer preventative dental care for Students and Staff WITH or WITHOUT dental insurance. Services are FREE to those with MaineCare (age 1-100). Fees are included on this Attached Flyer for those who are self-pay. Tooth Protectors can bill other Dental Insurance, but currently DO NOT accept: Harvard, Pilgrim, Humana, or Martin's Point.

If your child participated earlier in the year, nothing needs to be done unless

you do not want your child to attend the second session. Please reach out to

Nurse Dorice with any questions.

(dgroshon@scarboroughschools.org or 207.730.5286)

If your child did not participate in the program earlier this year and you would like

to sign them up for this second session-

Please click on this link and return this document to Nurse Dorice-Tooth Protectors Permission Form

or fill out the On-line Permission Form

Our school calendar allows for 2 traditional snow day cancellations. After those 2 days, all subsequent school closure days will be remote learning days. The district has created a website (www.scarboroughschools.org/district/weather-closures) to make it easier for families to access information about school closure and to plan accordingly.

Each phase level has a plan for students that can be accessed on the website (K2 Phase Level Remote Learning Plan for Snow/Inclement Weather Days linked here). Non-perishable meals are available in advance. Please fill out this form (also located on the website) to receive this support. Please reach out with any questions about snow days or remote learning days.

Now that we have had two official snow days, future inclement weather days will be remote learning days for students. Remote learning packets have been sent home. Please keep this packet in a safe place, and reserve it for upcoming remote learning days. The packet is available on the website listed above as well.

NOW is the time to get volunteer trained! This is REQUIRED for anyone who wants to volunteer, chaperone a field trip, or visit your child's classroom.

Trainings will be held monthly, and you only need to be trained ONCE during your time here at Pleasant Hill School. If you are unsure if you have received training yet, you can always check with the front office at 207-730-5250. If it turns out you have already taken the training, we will send you the updated confidentiality link, which you are required to sign ANNUALLY.

UPCOMING TRAINING SESSIONS:

Monday, March 3, 12:00 pm

Training is 20 minutes in length.

Where: https://scarboroughschools.zoom.us/j/9577613642

No need to sign up, just hop on Zoom!

Important Dates

• CHANGE OF DATE March 18, 2025: PTA Meeting 7-8PM, Town Hall or virtually: *NEW* monthly meeting link

• Big20 Fundraiser night 3/23

• Race2 The Point 4/13

CALLING ALL CANDIDATES: We're looking for individuals who are excited about joining the PTA board!

Please use this ballot to nominate yourself or other worthy candidates who you think would serve the Scarborough Primary PTA well. This is for the 2025 - 2026 school year.

Teacher Appreciation Week, May 5-9, 2025

!!!We still need PH representatives!!! - please email scarboroughprimarypta@gmail.com if you are interested in helping put on this wonderful event to celebrate our educators! (Tasks will include: attending Zoom planning meetings starting in March, picking a theme, planning for each day, coordinating pick up and delivery of donations and setting up staff rooms)

We are always looking for people willing and able to help! Join a committee or our email list to find out more! Thank you!

PTA | Email Sign Up

Absence Reporting:

We ask families to report their child's absence from school by calling the main office at 207-730-5250 or by email at phoffice@scarboroughschools.org. When leaving a message, we ask that you state the reason for the absence, otherwise, office staff will reach back out to you for that information.

Excusable reasons for an absence:

• illness
• appointment
• religious holiday
• family emergency
• planned absence

For Planned Absences (a day out of school which is not illness or medical appointment related), families should fill out the PH Planned Absence Form. To reduce lost instructional time, we ask families to do their best to coordinate vacations so they line up with our scheduled school vacation weeks.

For questions about attendance, please contact the main office at 207-730-5250 or email us at phoffice@scarboroughschools.org

PH Families...Your efforts to keep the lunch orders coming has helped things run so smoothly in the kitchen. Many thanks!

For breakfast meals in all of our schools, you can order online on the same day before 6:30 AM, while for lunch meals, you can order online on the same day before 7:30 AM. You can order meals for the day, or set up a weekly or monthly plan for meals to be provided to your children. The menus for all meals for a new month will be posted on the school’s website and on the Nutrislice app the last Monday at the end of the previous month.

School Menus Page

March 3 12:00 pm Volunteer Training. No need to sign up. Just join at:

https://scarboroughschools.zoom.us/j/9577613642

Scarborough Residents: Take the school building project survey by today! www.scarboroughschools.org/school-survey

March 4 Grade 2 to Public Safety Building 9-11:25 (Michaud & Ousback)

March 5 Early Release 1:45 dismissal

March 10 ALL K-2 students to Portland Symphony's "Kinder Konzert" at Scarborough High 10:15-11:45

March 14 No School for Students - Staff Professional Development Day at the High School

March 17 Curriculum Meeting (Nicole's Room)

March 19 Grade 2 to Public Safety Building 9-11:25 (Smith & Costello)

March 23 Big 20 Bowling

April 13 Race to the Point

* On Fridays: We invite you to wear red or your Scarborough gear to show your Red Storm Pride!

Email: jhumphrey@scarboroughschools.org
Website: https://pleasanthill.scarboroughschools.org/
Location: 143 Highland Avenue, Scarborough, ME, USA
Phone: 207-730-5250