We are so glad you are here!
You will receive monthly Family Newsletters from us to keep you informed of important dates coming up, as well as to give you a glimpse of what we are learning and how we are growing at HPS. You can also follow us on Facebook!
The first week of school...
- The first week of school is filled with excitement, joy and anxious hearts. To help ease into these transitions, we do allow parents to park in the overflow parking lot near the outdoor classroom (borders the lower part of the HHS parking lot) and walk their students into the building on the first three days of school (August 26, 27 & 28th) ONLY if you feel it is necessary. We are very appreciative of parents who promote independence in the process! We are only able to do this on our staggered entry start days for PK and Kindergarten. After that, it is simply too many people to monitor. On the FOURTH day of school, all students will be expected to enter independently with the oversight and assistance of HPS staff members. Parents, please drop them off in the car line from that date forward.
- Car line drop off begins at 7:28 am. If you arrive before that time, you may line up in the lane that approaches the drop off area up to the STOP sign. At 7:28 am, staff will line up at the colored cones and direct you to begin pulling forward, alternating cars from each lane. Only allow your child to exit the car if you are at a cone where an adult is stationed. Once you have dropped off, pull forward in line with the other vehicles. Do not pull around cars, cones or in the grass to pass cars that are still unloading.
- Traffic will, inevitably, be backed up the first few weeks of school. Our youngest students are learning to independently exit vehicles with the assistance of staff members. To help this process, you can practice with your child in advance. Are they able to unbuckle? Can they reach and carry their backpack and other belongings? Do they have their water bottle packed? Knowing and practicing these things in advance can really speed the process along. It gets better and faster the farther we go into the school year, so please do your part AND practice patience with others in the process.
- In the afternoons, parents will follow the same route as they did for morning drop off.
- Please refrain from arriving prior to 2:30pm for afternoon pick up, as this impedes access to our building by emergency vehicles and personnel.
- See the video we made a few years ago that thoroughly explains the drop off process.
Construction Zone!
While we are super excited to see CCS growing and building new spaces for our students to learn in, we understand that construction is inconvenient to our normal operating procedures.
Traffic at HPS will follow the same pattern it has for the last few years; however, you should be aware that the traffic patterns for the rest of campus have been altered. If you have students at the other 3 schools, please be sure you are reviewing the information they have shared regarding traffic patterns in order to plan your drop off and pick up routes.
Bus Transportation
- Students are assigned one bus route and are not allowed to ride other buses to different locations with friends or family members.
- If you need to permanently change bus routes, you must contact the bus garage.
- Plans cannot be changed for a student after 2:15 pm in the afternoon.
- If a child's plans change during the day from car rider to bus rider or bus rider to car rider, please call the front office at 828-389-3763. Do not rely on a See Saw message to your teacher for a change of plans.
Student attendance MATTERS! See Below for K-2nd attendance info.
Tardies:
- If your child is late, you must park in the visitor spots and walk them in the building to pick up a tardy slip. Excessive tardies may result in your involvement with an outside agency. 10 tardies will also equate to one day of absence when considering retention for students.
- Students must arrive by 10:30 to get credit for the day; students who are dismissed early for appointments must stay until 12:30 to get credit for the day.
Absences:
- You may submit parental notes to excuse up to 7 total days for absences related to illness, injury, doctor’s appointments, death in the family or other reasons for absences to be excused. A complete list of these can be found in board policy on the Clay County School's website. After 7 parent notes have been used, a note from a medical provider will be required to excuse the absence.
- Written Notes must be signed & dated by the parent/guardian and presented within five (5) days of your child returning to school for the absence to be excused for any reason. No electronic messages will be accepted.
- Notes must be written on a separate sheet of paper and submitted OR you may email the parent excuse to attendance@hayesvilleps.org to be submitted to the office. Notes written in the planner or sent via See Saw or other messaging system will not be accepted.
- Notes received after the 5th day will not excuse the absence, resulting in the absence(s) being unexcused.
- If you see a physician, it is always good practice to have them send a note to excuse the absence and they are usually happy to print you one when checking out from your visit. You should also follow up to ensure faxed notes are received by our office staff.
- Upon the 6th unexcused absence, the student and/or family are scheduled to meet with the Early Intervention Team at the Clay County Courthouse.
- Upon the 10th unexcused absence, the Early Intervention team may suggest court involvement for the student/students’ parents.
- Absenteeism rates are considered to be chronic when a student has missed 10% of the school year. At the end of the school year, the parent/guardian of any student who has missed a total of 17 days (regardless of excused, unexcused, or as a result of tardy accrual) will be met with to determine if retention is a necessary option.
You will sign a contract with the above information each school year.
Classroom Celebrations & Visitors
Each class will have a MONTHLY birthday party to celebrate all students who have birthdays in that month. A sign up sheet will be shared by your child's teacher to coordinate what is brought in for that month's party. June and July birthdays will be celebrated in May; August birthdays will be celebrated in September. Please follow the guidelines below:
- Only packaged and/or store bought foods that specifically list all ingredients and nutrition facts (excluding fresh fruits and vegetables) be allowed for school classroom parties and celebrations.
- Work with your child's teacher to ensure healthy food choices are offered
- Non-food treats are always a hit!
- Our nutrition office has provided a list of healthy food/snack ideas shown below.
Classroom Visitors:
- If you are visiting a classroom for a specific purpose or celebration, your name MUST be on a list that has been given to the front office by your child's teacher.
- Bringing additional guests who are not on the list is not permissible.
School Breakfast and Lunch
We encourage all students to participate in our school breakfast and lunch program here at Hayesville Primary School. School meals make it possible for all kids to get the crucial nutrition they need to learn, play, run, thrive, and do the most important thing of all…grow up!
- School BREAKFAST & LUNCH are FREE to all students!
See Saw for Communication
Please follow these guidelines when using See Saw:
- Sign up as soon as possible. The app is very convenient to operate.
- See Saw messages do NOT count as signed parent notes for absences. Those need to be sent in separately.
- Teachers are not required/expected to respond to your questions outside of working hours. They are expected to respond to you during their daily planning period within 24 hours of your initial question.
- Do not send early dismissal or change of dismissal plans to your child's teacher via See Saw. Please call the school office to change end of day plans.
Student Planners
Field trip forms, picture flyers, and other information will come home in students' planners throughout the year.
What will my child be learning this year?
Quick Reference Guides for The NC Standard Course of Study (Kindergarten)
Quick Reference Guides for The NC Standard Course of Study (Grade 1)
Quick Reference Guides for The NC Standard Course of Study (Grade 2)
The House System at HPS
We are super excited to continue the House System at HPS! The House System is a dynamic, exciting way to create a powerful and positive school climate. Students are celebrated for their efforts through a process that builds character, empowers academic excellence, fosters school spirit, enhances relationships, and promotes a culture of belonging for all.
Students are sorted into one of the 4 Houses upon enrollment at HPS. They will have opportunities to earn points for their House every day by following our behavior matrix and by making good choices. We will have monthly House Assemblies to celebrate the winning House each month and we will celebrate our Students of the Month in this setting, as well.
As an added layer of fun, we will have quarterly House Games, hosted by our exploratory team. This is a fun way for students to join together in a House Team and compete against the other teams for points leading up to the end of each grading period.
Points are always given for positive actions and are never deducted for any reason. Please reach out if you have questions about the House System at HPS. We hope you and your child will LOVE it!
