Pine Panther Pulse

September 8, 2024

This week at Pine...

Hello Pine Families!

This Wednesday, Sept. 11, is an early release day. All students will dismiss at 12:00 noon. There will be no Boys and Girls Club or any other afterschool activities so that teachers and staff can attend trainings and professional development sessions. All students will still have lunch before they go.

Fine and Performing Arts clubs and soccer starts this week! Students who are participating will stay after school for these opportunities. Please remember that buses must have unobstructed access to the area along the front of the school so parents should park only in the lined spaces away from the curb. Your cooperation is appreciated.

Thursday we will host a second Title I Presentation. This presentation will be the exact same one as was shown in the gym during back to school night on August 13. Families who were unable to make it that night are invited to the Pine cafeteria on Thursday at 10:30 to learn about our Title programming. All families are welcome and we hope to see you there!

Tomorrow is our 18th day of school so we're already 10% of the way through the school year! Let's come to school on time and ready to learn each day to make this year the best one yet!

We're looking forward to another great week of learning at Pine!

David A Alvarado

Principal

Attendance/Truancy Letters

Last Thursday, all Pine families received an email with information about the updates to MCAS's attendance policy. Though some parents perceived this letter as being sent directly to them about their specific child(ren), please know that all families received the same letter for informational purposes and nobody received it due to any number of absences their child may have already had this school year. A copy of that letter is attached here for your review.

Be on time and ready to learn!

Doors open at Pine each morning at 8:15. Students have until 8:45 to arrive, have breakfast, and wait with their classmates in the gym. Teachers pick up students by 8:35 to head to classrooms. Students arriving after 8:45 are marked tardy. Be sure your children arrive on time!

Late arriving students should be walked into the office by a family member and signed in. Please refrain from dropping students off at the curb without checking them in. Student absences should be called into the office. Students learn most when they are at school each day! Let's work together to have the best attendance possible!

Pine PTC Needs You!

Pine is rebuilding and revamping our Parent and Teacher Committee, better known as Pine PTC. We are looking for interested parents, legal guardians and grandparents of currently enrolled Pine students to serve and lead on this committee. Leadership positions include President, Vice-President, and Secretary. This committee usually meets once month after school in the Pine Library. Our PTC has held dances, movie nights, craft nights, and runs our Santa Shop at Christmas time, but the sky's the limit on the possibilities of what our PTC could do for Pine students and families.

If you are interested in becoming a member or a leader, please fill out the Google Form linked below. We are in the process of scheduling an informal meeting and will release that information soon. Please consider taking advantage of this opportunity to be involved and help make Pine the best it can be!

SURVEY LINKED HERE

Home/School Compact

Some parents have yet to sign and return the Home/School compact that was provided earlier this year. Please get those in ASAP! Contact Mrs. Timm in the office with any questions or to confirm whether or not yours is still needed.

Drop-off & Pick-up

Arrival Procedures

Doors open at Pine at 8:15 AM Parents dropping off students at school should only use the north parking lot by the Red Pod. PreK families, students requiring special assistance, and families who need to visit the office may park in the south lot by the main entrance, otherwise this area is designated only for school buses. Breakfast is served from 8:15 - 8:45. Students arriving after 8:45 will be marked tardy. Attendance matters!

Dismissal Procedures

The final bell rings at 3:00. Bus riders will be escorted by their teachers to their proper buses. Boys and Girls Club members will report to the cafeteria. Car riders will report to the red pod where staff will organize them per our dismissal procedures. Parents picking up students should join the line around the north parking lot. Please comply with all instructions and expectations while remembering that student safety trumps adult preferences at all times. Parents must communicate any changes in dismissal plans to the office before 2:00 to ensure they are shared with teachers.

Recess and Lunch

All students will have a supervised 15 minute recess each day before lunchtime.

All Pine students are invited to take a school breakfast and school lunch each day at no cost to families. Parents who prefer to send a home lunch with their child are of course welcome to do so.

MCAS Strategic Plan

See the link below for information on our Strategic Plan, the document that sets the purpose and describes our goals for serving our community.

https://www.mcas.k12.in.us/strategicplanning

Keep in Touch!

Talk to your child's teacher about how communication will take place between home and the classroom this year! Whether it be via Class Dojo, email, or some other communication method, when teachers and parents stay in touch and work together, our students benefit the most!