If you are planning to come by Family Fun Night, you can find Mr. Long in the dunk tank at 5:40 and Mr. Spitzley at 6:00!

If you are interested in volunteering to support any our PTO events, please scan the QR code below.

Last week an order form for Spirit Wear was sent home. If you need an additional form, please inform your classroom teacher.

*If sending money or check to school, please place in an envelope with students first and last name as well as the teachers name.

Save the Doherty Safeline # in your phone: 248-865-6002

Leave a message on the Doherty Safeline if you're child will not be attending school.

As a reminder, Durham Transportation, our district’s transportation partner, offers a helpful bus tracking app for West Bloomfield families. The Bus Tracker app is available for iOS, Android and web and allows families to track their student(s) bus along its route, to and from school.

Families will need to have their student(s) ID number(s) which are available in PowerSchool in order to log into the app and create an account. As a safety protocol, the Bus Tracker app will only allow families to see their student(s) bus route(s) only.

If you have any questions, please consult the Bus Tracker instructions and visit the Bus Tracker webpage on the Durham Transportation website for more information and to download the app.

We hope the use of the Durham Transportation Bus Tracker app will help better inform our families of slow downs and delays in the bus pick up and drop off times. We appreciate your patience, understanding, and flexibility as we navigate the first days of this new school year. We value the importance of consistency and safety in our transportation offering to families.

If you have any questions or would like more information, call our Transportation Offices at (248) 865-3680.

• September 15th: Curriculum Night @ Doherty
• September 16th: Family Fun Night @ West Bloomfield High School
• September 23rd: No School
• September 26th:

Every minute of time at school is an opportunity for your child to be learning and practicing social skills with peers. Please take a moment to review our the district's elementary attendance policy below.

Tools for Immediate Help with Crisis and Reporting

If you or a loved one is struggling, please utilize the support services listed below:

• Common Ground - Helps community members in crisis. Call -1-800-231-1127; Or Text “Hello”; to Chat with a crisis counselor.

• Oakland County Crisis/Suicide Line - 1-800-231-1127

• OK2SAY - We encourage students to talk to a trusted adult if they see or hear something that doesn't seem right. They can also report information anonymously using OK2SAY. Call 855-565-2729; text 652729; or email OK2SAY@mi.gov. For emergencies, dial 911.

• Talk to Us - The WBSD anonymous communication tool. Tell us what’s on your mind. Ask a question, share a concern, make a comment.

• Emotional Support/Mental Health - WBSD has several trained social workers, psychologists, restorative practices coaches, and mental health consultants here to support students and families.

Tools for Families to Talk to Their Children
For families seeking a way to talk with their children about recent events, you may access the following resources as a starting point:

• National Association of School Psychologists. Talking to Children About Violence: Tips for Parents and Teachers.

• NCTSN. Talking to Children About the Shooting.

• Harvard Graduate School of Education. Coping with Community Crisis.

Non-specific safety conversations may be more appropriate for younger students and may begin with presentations like the following on the Johns Hopkins site: “Talking to Your Children About Safety” for children in grades K-2 and children in grades 3-5. Using children’s books that use the power of narrative to teach valuable lessons is also a developmentally appropriate method to help our young one's process information. Some examples include the following:

• The Rabbit Listened. A child has their castle wrecked and animals come and talk to her to give her advice. The rabbit comes to listen to her and she shares her feelings and gets brave to build the castle again.

• After the Fall. Humpty Dumpty gets the courage to climb the wall again.

Please review these important tips to keep our students and staff safe during arrivals and dismissals. It would also be very helpful to screenshot or share this information with anyone else who might be dropping your student off or picking them up. With nearly 500 students arriving and dismissing in short periods of time it's important that everyone commit to a safe and orderly process.

Each day 200+ students use the car line for arrival and dismissal. In order to keep all students and staff members safe, everyone who uses the parking lot must adhere to the processes in place and make safe decisions. With nearly 500 students at Doherty, the logistics of bussing and car line are a big part of daily operations and a continual focus of the Doherty Team. Refer to diagram above.

Remember:

• Do not walk your child through the lot or the carline, it is extremely dangerous.
• Parking and standing with your child behind your vehicle is an unnecessary distraction for cars navigating the carline and merge point and also very unsafe.
• Using the bus loop to cut around the waiting cars requires driving against directional parking lot arrows/traffic flow to park is not permitted. There are extremely rare occasions where that is acceptable.
• Some people have driven the parking lot for years, some just a few days. Please be patient and considerate of each other.

Email: daniel.spitzley@wbsd.org
Website: www.wbsd.org/doherty
Location: 3575 Walnut Lake Road, West Bloomfield Township, MI, USA
Phone: (248) 865-6020
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/DohertyFamilies/
Twitter: @SpitzleyDoherty