
Propel Montour Elementary

PMES LITTLE LEGEND Family Communication
JANUARY 2025
Important Dates & Upcoming Events
JANUARY
- 1/20: No School for Scholars or Staff - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- 1/22: PMES Habit Shirt Day for scholars and educators
- 1/27-1/31: National School Choice Week! (See Flyer Below)
- Monday - Wear Your Favorite Hat Day
- Tuesday - Dress Up Like Your Biggest Role Model Day
- Wednesday - Wear Your Favorite Team Gear Day
- Thursday - Wear Your Favorite School Appropriate Pajamas Day
- Friday - Wear Your House Colors and Show Your Spirit!
- 1/28: 100th Day of School
- 1/29:
- PMES Habit Shirt Day for Scholars and Educators
- No After School Program Today
FEBRUARY
- 2/5: PMES Habit Shirt Day for scholars and educators
- 2/7: LEGENDARY LUNCH (Habit Shirts and uniform bottoms)
- 2/12: PMES Habit Shirt Day for scholars and educators
- 2/17: No School - President's Day
- 2/19: PMES Habit Shirt Day for scholars and educators
- 2/26:
- PMES Habit Shirt Day for scholars and educators
- ELA CDT Testing Grades 3-5
- No Afterschool Program Today
- 2/27: Writing Benchmark Assessment Grades K-5
PMES WINTER WEATHER INFORMATION
As winter is upon us, we share the following general information about weather-related changes to school schedules:
There are ONLY TWO official sources of school closing and/or delay information:
1. Connect 5 robocall/automated email communication.
The email will display as “noreply@finalsiteconnect.com"
The telephone number displayed by the robocall will be your Propel School’s telephone number or the Administrative Office’s telephone number
2. Local news stations' live broadcasts or website
Please note:
DELAYS: PMES will not have two-hour delays unless all 10 sending districts for our school also call a delay.
CLOSURES: PMES may cancel school if Pittsburgh Public School closes due to weather conditions.
When PMES closes due to weather conditions, all families will be notified with the Connect 5 system. The closure will also be posted on WTAE, WPXI, and KDKA news outlets.
Scholars who take a school bus should follow the transporting district’s transportation schedule. There are minimal situations, however, in which a transporting district closes its schools, but will still send buses for our scholars. Parents should keep phone numbers for bus garages nearby for those instances.
If PMES is closed due to inclement weather, the Afterschool Program will also close for that day.
For the 2024-2025 school year, Propel Schools is not participating in Flexible Instruction Days (FIDs.) Scholars will not take devices or FID folders home and will not log into Google Classroom for assignments to complete. If school is closed due to inclement weather, scholars will not work remotely.
NATIONAL SCHOOL CHOICE SPIRIT WEEK
PMES ARTS CORNER
Music
2025 is off to a great start in music here at PMES. 5th and 4th graders are challenging themselves learning how to play ukuleles. 3rd graders are continuing to play the recorders and learning how to identify the notes A and B on the treble clef staff. 2nd, 1st, and kindergarteners are learning about music form and identifying the parts of a variety of songs through movement, and team games!
Creative Arts
Welcome to our New Creative Artists Gabrielle Dunn and Tricia Swindell. Both artist come to us from Attack Theater. Founded in 1994 by Michele de la Reza and Peter Kope as a collaboration between two dancers and a city, Attack Theatre fuses modern dance, original live music, and interdisciplinary art forms to create engaging dance performances. Both teachers look forward to expanding your scholar's artistic abilities through dance.
DON'T FORGET TO ORDER THIS YEAR'S SCHOOL PICTURES!
VALENTINE'S DAY - SAFE SNACK LIST
Propel Montour Elementary Friends and Families,
Looking forward, as we prepare to celebrate the upcoming holidays, such as Valentine’s Day, we want to remind you of the Student Wellness Policy adopted by all Propel Schools at the start of the 2017-2018 school year.
When sending in an item for a holiday/birthday treat please keep in mind that only the items on the list will be permitted to be distributed and consumed within the classroom. Treats not on this list would need to be sent home and cannot be consumed within the school day. Those items that would need to be sent home are going to need to be individually wrapped for transport, for example cupcakes are not on the list, but if you want to send them in-you would need to have them individually packaged at home before bringing them into school, so teachers can just get one wrapped cake into each kids backpack-they would be sent home and not eaten at school.
Thanks in advance for joining with us to keep student wellness a priority!
If you have any questions, please reach out to Dani Mitchell, Administrative Assistant at 412-539-0100 ext 1004 or email danimitchell@propelschools.org
Propel Montour Elementary is a Title 1 School
MS. DANI'S DESK - Updates from the Main Office
Our doors open at 8:00 AM and scholars are dismissed at 3:30 PM. All scholars that arrive after 8:30 AM will be marked tardy.
- Scholars arriving late must proceed to the front office to sign in using the tardy kiosk prior to entering class.
PIKMYKID Information:
- We will continue to utilize the PIKMYKID app to support student dismissals. Please see the link for useful information on how to register for the app and how to add siblings if needed. PIKMYKID PARENT INFO LINKS
Early Dismissals must be prior to 2:45 PM and you must notify the office of your early dismissal prior to noon of the same day. There will be no early dismissals after 2:45 pm for the safety of scholars and staff as we ready scholars for busing/dismissal.
- If you move or have any changes (ex. phone number, emergency contact, email, address) you must notify the main office right away. Change in contact information is very important in the event we need to reach you in regard to your child. Changes in residency need to be recorded at the office and could affect transportation.
If you need to schedule a meeting with our building principal/assistant principals those meetings will need to be scheduled through the front office and must be requested 24 hours in advance. If you have an urgent issue please reach out to me directly so that I can facilitate a callback from a administrator as soon as possible.
- Anyone wishing to enter our buildings is required to provide state-issued photo identification and to proceed through metal detectors to assist with maintaining a safe and secure environment for our scholars and staff.
If you have any general questions, I am the person to reach out to and you can reach me at:
Ms. Dani Mitchell
Administrative Assistant
412-539-0100 EXT 1004
412-539-0109 FAX
BREAKFAST & LUNCH MENUS
PROPEL SCHOOLS UNIFORM DRESS CODE
When you selected Propel Schools as your partner in education, you did so with a clear understanding that scholars will follow a uniform dress code and that you will support your scholar by ensuring that their attire meets uniform expectations.
Propel Schools holds the expectation that scholars will arrive at school dressed in their school uniforms.
Uniform checks will be conducted regularly.
If scholar attire does not meet uniform expectations, a parent/guardian will be contacted to bring appropriate attire to their scholar so that the scholar can begin or return to their learning as soon as possible.
The Propel Schools Uniform Dress Codes for scholars in grades K-8 and for high school scholars can be found on our website HERE.
UPDATED SCHOOL POLICIES FOR FAMILY REVIEW
Propel Schools School Visitation Policy - It is the expectation that parents/guardians will not enter Propel buildings without a previously scheduled appointment. This includes ‘drop-in’ visits to bring forgotten scholar items, notes, lunches, etc. In cases of forgotten scholar items, please call the school to make drop-off arrangements.
Healthy Food and Beverage List For Scholar Classroom Celebrations
Propel Schools Uses Connect 5 To Share Important Information! This letter will provide you with important information about our official source of Propel Schools information.
TITLE I RESOURCE HUB
FREE STORE & FOOD PANTRY
LOST & FOUND
All lost and found items are located in the lobby of the building so scholars have an organized way to find any items they may be missing! We will have all lost and found items in the MPR on both Parent Teacher Conference days. Please take any of your scholar's lost items at that time. Anything remaining after conferences will be donated as we do not have the space to hold all of these items. Thank you for your assistance!
Please see the attached flyer for anyone interested in participating in EWEAA Baseball & Softball.