Brookside Bulletin

Welcome Back!

What a wondeful first few days of school!

We are so excited see our students again and build our classroom communities. At Brookside, we strive to create a tight-knit school community where every child has the opportunity to learn academically, socially, and emotionally. We believe in helping the whole child grow to become loving and responsible citizens. We believe that school is an extention of the home and it is an honor to unite with parents to help our children thrive. Thank you for investing in your children - we are here to partner with you. Our school days start early, so those bedtime and morning routines are important. Good sleep and a healthy breakfast help children succeed in school.

To our new students and families - welcome! And, welcome back to all of those who were with us last year. It will be a fantastic 24-25 school year.

The sun always shines on Brookside! 🌞

Warmly,

Dr. Jenny Wielinski

• Aug. 28 - PTA Mum sale begins!!!
  

• Aug. 29 - Parent Title Night - 5:30-6:00

• Aug. 29 - Curriculum Night - 6:00-6:40 & 6:50 -7:30 (Two identical sessions)

• Sept. 2 - Labor Day, No school

• Sept. 24 - Mum pick-up

• Sept. 25 - Picture Day

Brookside Elementary Parent Engagement Committee

Members Needed!!

Please join us on Thursday, August 29th from 5:30-6:00 PM

for the first official Parent Engagement Committee Meeting! It's right before Curriculum Night for your convienence.

Who: Parents/Guardians of students at Brookside Elementary.

What: We are looking for a small group of parents who can represent others regarding support services within our school. We will also discuss what it means for a school to receive Title 1 funding for a schoolwide program.

Why: We want to partner with parents to provide the best support services at Brookside.

When: Thursday, August 29th 5:30-6:00 PM. We will have 4 meetings per year. These can be in collaboration with other family nights or on zoom.

Where: We will meet in Rm. 24 before Curriculum Night

*Brookside Elementary is a schoolwide Title I program which means every student is a Title student. Your child does not have to specifically receive support services to be involved on the committee.

Dr. Wielinski, and Mrs. Hayes

Brookside is looking for volunteers to build reading skills with kindergarten students. Even if you only have 30 minutes a week, our kindergarten students would love to welcome you! Read below for more information and click HERE or on the flyer to register. Following registration, a program coordinator from our school will be in touch with more information.

We have a special offer for families at Brookside. Please see this FLIER to sign up by September 2nd.

PTA will begin running at recess starting on August 26. Students will have the opportunity to participate on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Sign your child up HERE.

Money for breakfasts and lunches need to be deposited in www.mypaymentsplus.com You will set up a parent account and then add a student account for each child using their student ID#. If you decide to pack a lunch (or snack) please be aware that our District is Nut Free (peanuts and all tree nuts). We appreciate your cooperation with this.

• We do serve a grab & go breakfast in the cafeteria from 7:30-7:40
• Breakfast can be purchased for $1.60
• Lunch is $2.75
• Additional milk is $.50.

If a student is free or reduced and the student wants to buy milk (extra or with a packed lunch) the milk is not free, it is $.50.

The USDA had school food services return to pre-pandemic operations last year.

Worthington Schools has eligibility-based pricing of meals (Free/Reduced/Paid).

All Worthington School families are required to complete the online Free/Reduced Lunch Eligibility Form. All students use their Lunch ID for meals. The student's number can be found in the Parent Portal. Select the Student ID tab and look for your Lunch PIN.

Families can add money to their lunch account through My Payments Plus. You can also use MPP to track your student's account and see much money remains on it. My Payments Plus is also used to pay other fees, like high school parking permits and AP testing fees.

To assist you with the back to school process, please visit our website for Back to School information. Feel free to check out our Brookside Webpage.

Please have your child arrive to school and be an active and engaged learner by our tardy bell at 7:40am. It is important that your child arrives on time as school attendance is calculated by the minute and accumulates quickly when tardy.

If your child will be absent for any reason, please call (614-450-5300) or email (dwadkowski@wscloud.org) attendance. If you know about a planned absence, please share that information prior to the absence, especially extended absences.

Arrival occurs between 7:30am and 7:40am. The tardy bell rings at 7:40am.

Brookside uses a car loop for parents who choose to drop their children off in the morning. Please be sure your child is ready to exit the car in a quick, but safe manner on the passenger side only. We do this for safety puproses. Please keep your speed to a crawl and please be patient. Now and then we have family members who are not familiar with our process or some are simply new to our school community. Feel free to park in the front parking spaces to drop your child off should you not use the car loop.

Thank you in advance for adhering to our guidelines. 🙂

Thank you for helping us instruct your child on ways to remain safe while walking and bicycling to and from school.

• Be sure your child can recite their name, address, and telephone number so if there is an emergency someone can more easily locate you, if necessary.
• Please tell your child to NEVER talk to, accept rides with, or take presents from a stranger.

For the safety of children, do not send any nut or peanut items to school in your child's lunch, snack, or school party item as we are a nut and peanut free school. It could literally mean life or death to another child. Thank you in advance for your understanding and compliance.

The Board of Education unanimously voted to eliminate classroom consumable fees beginning with the 2024-25 school year. Therefore, those fees will NOT be in My Payments Plus for parents to pay during open houses or schedule pickup as in years past.

Supply Lists for 24-25

• It is important that our transportation department has the correct pick up and drop off location for your child.
• Bus route information will be available August 5th.
• Should you know in advance that your child will need an alternative bus stop on their assigned route due to child care or other reasons, please fill out the Alternative Transportation Request Form as soon as possible.

Please review this flier with information for next school year, 2024-25.

Brookside loves Grandparents! If you are interested in getting involved with the Circle of Grandparents, please see this FLIER for more information.

WABFE Newsletter

Field Trip volunteers/chaperones must have their badges OR, if you have applied for your volunteer badge but have not received it, you must have the email from BIB/Secure stating that your volunteer badge has been approved and the badge is in the mail. If you do not have at least one of these proofs, you will not be able to chaperone the field trip. SIGN UP HERE

Brookside is looking for volunteers to build reading skills with kindergarten students. Even if you only have 30 minutes a week, our kindergarten students would love to welcome you! Read below for more information and click HERE or on the flier to register. Following registration, a program coordinator from our school will be in touch with more information. See the FLIER here and SIGN UP HERE.

CONTACT INFORMATION: Parents, if you have not done so this year, please make sure to verify/update information in the Emergency Data Review through the parent portal. You can access the portal* on the WCS website. This process must be completed every year in case of an emergency and in order for your child(ren) to participate in class field trips. Instructions for using the parent portal appear here.

• No toys/stuffed animals should be brought to school.

• For the safety of students, if they arrive after the 7:40 bell, please come in with them to sign them in.

• Please make sure to put your child’s name inside their coats and jackets.

The Special Education Road Map has been translated into 21 different languages!!

This roadmap is helpful to all families, especially families who are just beginning the special education process.

If your child's afternoon transportation needs to change at the end of the day, you must notify the office by 1:30 that day. Teachers can't get to their emails while teaching, so it is best you contact our school office 614-450-5305.

Thank you!

Worthington’s Special Education Key Communicator Committee strives to build positive, productive and collaborative relationships and partnerships amongst the educators and community of families whose children receive special education and related services. We will engage in two-way communication, with the goal being to provide a circle of influence where we can share out and learn from and with each other.

The key communicators will convey information from their building to the committee, as well as information from the committee to their buildings.

The Key Communicators for Brookside are Sandra Sell at snsell74@gmail.com and Emily Smith. Please reach out to either of our communicators if you have questions or topics to discuss.

Title I, Part A (Title I) of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESEA), provides financial assistance to local educational agencies (LEAs) and schools with high numbers or high percentages of children from low-income families to help ensure that all children meet challenging state academic standards. Our school receives Title IA funding.

Parents/families of students in our building have a right to know about teacher qualifications and state-mandated assessments. All teachers providing Title I interventions are properly licensed for their positions and anyone can search licensure information on any educator at https://core.ode.state.oh.us/Core4/ODE.CORE.Lic.Profile.Public.UI/ . In addition to being linked here, these documents are available on the Title IA page of our school website.