LABS LATELY FAMILY NEWSLETTER

We encourage you to join us in this exciting journey. Your involvement and support are crucial to your child's success, and we look forward to working together to make this year unforgettable. Together, we will inspire our students to achieve their personal best, celebrate their successes, and prepare them for a bright future.

Thank you for entrusting us with your child’s education. Here’s to a fantastic year ahead!

Regards,

Danielle Clark

Principal

Kristy Smith

Assistant Principal

A-K: 2:00-2:45

L-Z: 3:15-4:00

PTA General Meeting: 2:45-3:15 in the gymnasium. Come and support our PTA!

First Day of School: The first day of school for all 1st-5th grade students is Tuesday, August 27th. Students will be able to enter the building at 8:45am and will be marked tardy after 9:15am. School is dismissed at 3:45pm. We look forward to another great year of teaching and learning! If you walk your child to his/ her classroom on the first day, you must enter at the front office, sign in and receive a visitor’s sticker.

Kindergarten Orientation: If you have a rising Kindergarten student and missed our Kindergarten Orientation, the slides and information is found HERE.

Kindergarten Meet the Teacher-Kindergarten Meet the teacher will be Tuesday, September 3, 2024 from 12:00-1:00pm.

School Hours: Holly Ridge Elementary instructional school hours are 9:15 am to 3:45 pm. You may drop your child off as early as 8:45 am. The tardy bell rings at 9:15 am, and our instructional day begins promptly. If you arrive after the 9:15 am bell, please walk your student to the main entrance and sign your child in at the office. Vehicle drop-offs should only take place in our carpool loop.

Checking Children Out Early: If you need to pick your child up early for an appointment, please check them out before 3:15 pm. The end of the day is a very busy time for us, so it is important that we take care of early check-outs before 3:15 pm. We cannot check out any students from the office after this time. Please keep in mind that the middle school dismisses at 3:00 so plan accordingly as their carpool utilizes the Elementary parking lot.

Your child’s educational achievement is directly related to his/her attendance in school. When your child must be absent, please send written communication into school within 2 days of their return in order for the absence to be excused. If we do not receive communication from you about the absence, it will be unexcused. Please refer to the WCPSS Student/Parent Handbook for a list of excused absence reasons. If you need to pick up your child early, please send a note to your child’s teacher that morning. To be considered present at school, students must be in attendance at least one-half of the school day. Half day is 12:30 PM.

All families will register to receive a NEW carpool tag this year. Old tags will NOT be used. You will be asked to have photo identification with you if a carpool tag is NOT displayed, slowing the flow of carpool. Please plan accordingly and register for a tag even if you plan to only pick your child up one time this year.

Click below to register as a walker for the 24-25 school year.

Please remember that the school must have a completed 1702 Physician’s Order Form, signed by the doctor and parent on file to administer any type of medication. This form must be renewed each school year. We cannot sign in or dispense medications without an updated form. All medications must be accompanied by this form and signed in at the front office by a parent or designated adult prior to any medications being administered. Students may not transport any medication to and from school.

View the breakfast & lunch menus here. Please note that menus are subject to change based on the availability of items. Download the “MealViewer To Go” app for convenient mobile access.

The Board approved a 25-cent price increase for school meals for the 2024-25 school year. At elementary schools, full-paid breakfast will be $1.75 and lunch will be $3.50. At middle and high schools, full-paid breakfast will be $2.00 and lunch will be $3.75. The price increase is necessary to cover rising costs of food, supplies, and wages and benefits for staff. Learn more.

To receive free or reduced-price meals for the 2024-25 school year, families must submit a meal benefits application online at MySchoolApps.com. For families who completed the 2023-24 meal benefits application, the benefit continues for your student's first 30 school days of the 2024-25 school year, but to receive benefits families must apply each year. For every student who turns in the free and reduced lunch application and qualifies, the school receives federal funds that benefit the students and teachers at the school.

Parents, guardians, and family members interested in serving as a school volunteer must complete the Wake County Volunteer Registration process through the new MyVolunteer system before serving in this capacity. You may register at home or online at any Wake County Public School and must re-register for this school year.

• On the MyVolunteer site, you will find disclosure and authorization forms, the WCPSS Volunteer Agreement, as well as a summary of rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. You must review these documents and provide the requested information.

• Make sure you include your name and contact information when you begin the registration process. If you leave the CRC background site before completing your contact information, you will have to begin the process again.

• You must include your social security number to register to volunteer. If you do not have a social security number, please contact volunteers@wcpss.net or call 919-694-8233.

• You will be notified by the MyVolunteer system if you are approved to volunteer.

Click the link below to start your volunteer registration:

https://myvolunteer.com/wcpss/volunteer/login

For technical support, contact the CRC Customer Care Group at 877-272-0266 ext. 0 or customercare@mycrc.com.

SchoolCash Online is an easy to use and safe way to pay for your children’s school fees. Now, with a few clicks, you can pay for your events, class trips and so much more from your own home. All you have to do is register an account, attach your children and in no time you will be able to make payments online. We accept many different payment forms so come in and check us out!

Online payments will be the same amount as cash/check payments. Link HERE

Starting this school year, parents of students who ride the bus now can receive up-to-the-minute notifications via text and/or email when their child’s bus is delayed. The system has been piloted in a number of schools this spring and has worked well, saving staff time and providing parents information quickly. To receive the notification messages, parents will need to make sure they have given permission to receive text and/or email notifications via SchoolMessenger. Text Message

If you have opted out and want to receive text messages, simply text YES to the number 67587.

Bus delays also can be viewed by clicking on the Live Bus Updates link on an individual school’s transportation page, or by visiting wcpss.net/busupdates. Parents also can still track their child’s bus using the Here Comes the Bus app. Learn more.

Supply Lists for ‘24-’25-English/Spanish.

Office-919-577-1300

Fax-919-670-361

School Website: www.wcpss.net/hollyridgees

Principal: Danielle Clark, dclark2@wcpss.net

Assistant Principal: Kristy Smith, ksmith17@wcpss.net

School Secretary/Bookkeeper: Gracia Gartland, ggartland@wcpss.net

Front Office Receptionist: Stacy Waldron, swaldron@wcpss.net

Data Manager/ Attendance: Teresa Gomez, tgomez@wcpss.net