It is expected that all families read our handbook at the start of each new school year. Handbook acknowledgment forms will be sent home in Tuesday folders on 9/3/24.

There must be an adult at the bus stop each morning and afternoon at drop-off and pick-up. Adults must be visible in the afternoon in order for the driver to leave the student at their stop. If there is no adult visible, the student will be brought back to PCPS and parents/guardians will be called to pick up the student. There is a $20 fee for students who are brought back to PCPS more than once.

Students have spent time learning routines, procedures, and behavior expectations during the first week of school. Please ask your student about "PUPS" our positive behavior acronym at PCPS. We appreciate you reinforcing positive behavior expectations at home!

NC Pre-K students will be assigned a "first day of school" during the week of 9/3. This will either be on Tuesday 9/3, Wednesday 9/4, Thursday 9/5, or Friday 9/6. ALL Pre-K students will come to school daily beginning on Monday 9/9.

PCPS Pre-K will be closed for students on the following days this school year:

• October 4, 2024
• November 1, 2024
• February 14, 2025
• March 7, 2025
• May 16, 2025

On September13th, our school will celebrate "Independence Day". On this day and thereafter, students should walk themselves into school independently (without a parent/guardian). We are encouraging students to wear red, white, and blue on this day to celebrate their independence! Prior to 9/13, all parents who are walking their students into class must sign in and get a visitor's pass in the office.

All PCS students are responsible for paying the district's $20 technology fee for the school year. Thank you to everyone who has already paid this fee! Checks may be made out to Pamlico County Primary School with "tech fee" and the student's name in the memo line. More information about this fee can be found on the student device agreement that was given out at Open House.

Each Sunday at 5:30 pm you will receive an automated message with important information from the principal. Please do your best to answer and listen to these calls. If you miss the call, the script of the messages can be found on our website and at the link pasted below. This year we will also be sending the text of the call to parent/guardian emails that we have on file. If you are not receiving our calls, please contact our data manager, Tina Lee, at tinalee@pamlicoschools.org.

Each classroom teacher will utilize Class Dojo this year to communicate with parents and track positive student behavior. Please be sure to register with Class Dojo and sync your account to your child's class as soon as possible.

Remember to follow us on Facebook for even more PCPS content!

Infinite Campus is the new Student Information System that is being used across our state. If you have not already, please complete the application for the Infinite Campus Parent Portal. Once your application is vetted, you will receive more information containing activation instructions for the new Parent Portal.

Progress reports for the first quarter will go home on Tuesday, September 24th.

The state of NC requires that all public schools verify that every students has completed the required health assessment and received the required immunizations. Every Pre-K, Kindergartener, and new-entry student must submit a completed "North Carolina Health Transmittal Form" within 30 calendar days of the first day of school. A student who fails to meet this requirement will not be permitted to attend school until the health assessment form has been presented. In addition to the required health assessment, you must also make sure that your child's immunization record is complete and up-to-date. This also follows the 30 day timeline. A student who fails to meet this requirement will not be permitted to attend school until the immunization records have been presented.

The school day begins at 7:55 am and ends at 2:45 pm.

Please be mindful of the following:

• All transportation changes must be communicated prior to 2:00 pm
• To keep the front entrance and exit of our building accessible, parents or family members picking up students in the car-rider line should not park and wait in the front loop prior to 2:15 pm.
• Parents/Guardians may not park and walk up to retrieve their student from the car rider waiting area. This creates a challenge when supervising students and making sure that they all leave with the correct adult. It is also much safer to keep pedestrians from crossing the loop when we are trying to keep the car rider line moving as quickly as possible.
• If students arrive at school after 7:55 am, they are considered tardy and a parent must walk them inside the building to sign them in.

Parking in the red zone (pictured below) is prohibited while waiting to pick up students in the afternoon prior to 2:15 pm. If you arrive earlier to pick up students, please park in the parking lot. You may leave the parking lot and wait in the loop after 2:15 pm. When cars arrive early and back up to the front entrance of our driveway at Neals Creek Road, access to our school is blocked off. It is important to keep this access clear in case if we were to ever need it during an emergency. Thank you for understanding and doing your part to keep our school safe!

We kindly request that parents refrain from calling the school after 2:00 PM to request a change in their child's transportation for that day. This policy has been put in place to minimize disruptions during dismissal and ensure a smooth and efficient process for all students and families. Making last-minute transportation changes near the end of the school day can lead to confusion for students and staff members. Our dismissal process is carefully planned and executed to ensure a safe and timely release of students and late requests may cause delays and disrupt the flow of dismissal. By finalizing transportation arrangements before 2:00 PM, we can maintain accurate records, ensuring your child's safety and providing clear accountability for their well-being. Again, we kindly ask for your cooperation in adhering to this policy by ensuring that transportation arrangements for your child are confirmed and communicated to the school office before 2:00 PM.

In order to ensure uninterrupted and meaningful instructional time, maintain a smooth traffic flow, and be considerate of other parents in the pick-up line, we kindly request that students are not signed out of school after 2:15 PM. Early sign-outs around the time of dismissal can lead to disruptions in the traffic flow around the school premises, causing inconvenience to other parents, staff, and community members. We understand that waiting in the pick-up line can be a challenge at times. By refraining from early sign-outs, we help create an equitable environment where every parent has a fair opportunity to pick up their child without delays caused by early departures. We kindly request your cooperation in supporting this policy by scheduling appointments, extracurricular activities, and other commitments outside of regular school hours whenever possible. Students who are being signed out early will be called to the office once the parent or guardian has arrived at PCPS. This is in order to protect instructional time and ensure proper student supervision. Please plan accordingly and arrive at PCPS with enough time for your student to pack up and walk to the office as we will not honor phone call requests to have students ready and waiting for early pick-up.

ALL parents, guardians, and visitors, MUST sign-in at the front office and receive a visitors pass sticker. Stickers must be worn during the duration of your visit and must remain visible at all times.

While we encourage independence from the start, we understand that parents of our Pre-K and Kindergarten students may want to walk students to class on the first day of school. Families walking students to class MUST have a yellow visitor's pass prior to walking them down. Dropping students off on the first day at a new place can bring many emotions and sometimes anxiety. We encourage parents to make drop off quick so that students can begin taking part in their new morning routine as soon as possible. Please refrain from lingering in the classroom or outside in the hallway.

In order to protect instructional time, respect student allergy and dietary restrictions, and comply with child nutrition guidelines, student-specific birthday parties are not able to be held during the instructional day. There are other opportunities throughout the year to celebrate school-related activities as a school and as individual classrooms. To participate in helping with school-wide celebrations, please consider joining our Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO). We appreciate your understanding in this matter and thank you in advance for your cooperation!

As a reminder, all excuse notes must be turned in within three days of a students absence. Excuse notes may be turned in online at the link below.

Third grade students will participate in the BOG on Thursday, September 5th. Please make sure that third grade students arrive to school on time on this day!

Strawbridge will be here on Friday, September 27th to take fall photos of students. Money and order forms will be sent home after pictures are taken and proofs are sent home.

Join us to explore careers and enjoy a meal together!

The next PCPS PTO meeting will be after school on Thursday, September 5th in the media center. We will get started as close to 3:00 as possible. All PTO meetings will occur on the first Thursday at 3:00.

This year our district is aiming for all of our schools to be "Common Sense Schools". Common Sense Education provides educators and families with digital learning tools that engage students and teach them how to behave safely, responsibly, and respectfully online. Please take advantage of some of the resources available to families linked below!

Breakfast and lunch are FREE for all students!

This year our district has opted to utilize the Clever platform to streamline our student login process for accessing educational tools online. Students have QR codes and/or log-in credentials that they may use to access a customized homepage of some of our most-used learning tools. Please feel free to use this log-in on your devices at home for easy access to student resources. Please direct any questions regarding Clever log-ins to your student's teacher.