Satellite News

Email: nkimmel@scentral.k12.in.us
Website: www.scentral.k12.in.us
Location: 9808 South 600 West, Union Mills, IN, USA
Phone: 219-767-2269
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SouthCentralElementary/

Satellite Families,

Please look through this newsletter for important events and information at South Central.

Halloween costumes may be worn to school on Thursday, October 31st. Costumes should be school-appropriate, i.e. no blood, no weapons, no masks with costumes, nothing grotesque. Individual classroom teachers will share what they are doing to celebrate within their classrooms. Look for more details to be shared by your child's teacher. Feel free to send in treats to pass out within the classroom. All treats MUST be store-bought and pre-packaged with an ingredient list displayed on the packaging.

Go Satellites!

Nick Kimmel

September 30th-October 4th: Book Fair (see information below)

October 4th-October 14th: Fannie May Candy Fundraiser

October 11th: Last day of the 1st Quarter

October 17th-18th: No School (Fall Break)

We are looking for donations of bags of candy for our PreK-2nd grade South Central Elementary Halloween Parade through the Junior-Senior High School. If you are willing to donate, please send in sealed bags of candy to the elementary office by Friday, October 25th. Thank you!!

South Central’s K-12 art departments plan to publish a 2025 calendar featuring students’ artwork. Each month will feature a student's artwork from the corresponding grade from the 2023-2024 school year. Kindergarten will have the cover, 1st grade gets January, 2nd grade gets February, and so on. We plan to sell these as a fundraiser for our departments. We are looking for sponsors to help with the upfront printing costs. The page for each month will have the logo of the business sponsor below the month grid. Months can be sponsored for $150 each and chosen on a first-come, first-served basis. We have spots open for the cover (kindergarten) through December (seniors). If you are interested, please email Mrs. Etheridge (etheridge@scentral.k12.in.us) your top three choices for the month you would prefer to sponsor. Checks can be sent to and made out to South Central High School (attn: Katie Etheridge). Payment will secure your spot.

Student winners will receive a free copy of the calendar and a yet-to-be-determined reward.

https://1stplace.sale/33615

Due to changes in Indiana legislation, the following absence guideline have been updated for the 2024-2025 school year at South Central Elementary school:

Absences

In order that the school is certain of the safety and whereabouts of students, parents/ guardians must phone the school between 7:30-9:00 AM to inform the school secretary of a student’s absence, the reason for the absence, and the length of time the student will be absent.

When returning to school, a note from a parent/guardian or doctor must be provided if a parent has not contacted the school office earlier. After five (5) consecutive days absent, a doctor’s note is required for re-admittance to school. Absences of more than two (2) hours in grades K-6 will be considered a half-day’s absence.

Attendance checks will be done weekly. If unexcused absences become a chronic problem, the following may occur:

1. Parent will be contacted by email or letter for three (3) day absences and above.

2. Parent will be contacted by email or letter for five (5) day absences and above.

3. Parent will be contacted by email or letter for seven (7) day absences and above.

4. Juvenile probation and/or DCS may be asked to intervene at ten (10) days.

EXCUSED ABSENCES

Excused Absences from school may be granted for all or part of a day when the parents notify the school promptly for such reasons as:

1) Absences excused by Indiana Law

a) Absence due to student’s illness or injury.

b) Absence due to death in the immediate family.

c) Absence arranged in advance through parental contact with the principal or his/her designee.

d) Absence of an unusual or emergency nature that is approved by the principal or his/her designee.

e) Illness for which there is verification from a doctor or school nurse that states the student should not be in school for specified days.

f) Court appearance.

g) Service in the state legislature.

h) Recognized religious holidays.

2) In addition, a student will not be counted as absent from school for the following reasons when legal documentation is submitted:

a) An absence due to approved school-related field trips, rehearsals, contests, etc.

b) Court appearance when required by legal authorities. (A student is expected to attend school except for the time of the court appearance.)

c) Homebound or institutionalized student. (A student must be receiving tutoring).

UNEXCUSED ABSENCE/TRUANCY

An unexcused absence is an absence from school for all day or for any single part of the day for activities such as family errands, missing the bus, recreation, or instances when a parent contact with the school has not occurred. In most instances, an unexcused absence would violate the Indiana mandatory school attendance law.

Truancy is absence from school for all day or any part of the day initiated by the student without parental/guardian consent under circumstances not covered by law or recognized by the school. Truancy is a serious matter and administrative action will be taken as follows:

1. Students will be required to make up work missed; and,

2. A parent will be notified.

Excessive absences and/or truancy may be reported to Project ATTEND and appropriate services provided.

TARDINESS

Since punctuality is an important value for everyone, tardiness will be handled as a rule infraction and will be dealt with accordingly. A student who is late for school is to report to the school office to sign in. Parents/Guardians are requested to send a note or phone the school to explain the tardiness. Habitual tardiness will result in referral as a disciplinary matter to the principal. This includes tardiness to school in the morning. Additional instruction time may be required of students who are frequently tardy.

PROJECT ATTEND

Project ATTEND (Aiming Toward Truancy Elimination and Non-attendance Decrease) is designed to assist children and their parents in an effort to eliminate excessive full/partial day absenteeism and excessive tardiness. When the school has exhausted all options in dealing with excessive absenteeism and/or tardiness, there may be a referral to the Project ATTEND Program. This program provides a partnership between families, juvenile probation officers, a juvenile deputy prosecuting attorney, a representative from the Office of Families and Children, a representative from Family Court, and the school. This program is voluntary; however, if a student’s attendance does not improve after the services offered by Project ATTEND, the child may be referred to Juvenile Court and charges may be filed against the parents for educational neglect.

APPOINTMENTS

1. Students going to appointments are to bring a note to the school office from a parent/guardian stating the time of the appointment and reason for release.

2. The student will be released from the school office (not the classroom) to the parent/guardian after the child has been signed out.

3. When returning from an appointment, the student is to come to the school office to sign in before going to class.

4. An appointment of more than two (2) hours is considered a half-day absence from class and make-up work assigned by the teacher is allowed one day for completion.

PLANNED FAMILY ABSENCE

South Central Elementary recognizes that vacations and out-of-town trips do not always coincide with school vacations. In order to be fair to both the school and the students involved, parents desiring to have their child(ren) absent from school for family trips must follow these procedures:

1. The parent/guardian should arrange with the principal at least five days in advance for the student to be out of school.

2. The student will be counted absent, and the absence will be marked excused.

3. The parent(s) must tell the child’s teacher of the planned absence. The student is responsible for work missed during the absence. At the discretion of the teacher, homework may be provided in advance if appropriate assignments are available. The amount of time allowed for make-up work shall be one day for each day absent.

4. When the above arrangements have been met and the work is made up on time, there will be no penalty for their classwork.

**Please note that there will be no approved anticipated absences during the weeks of ILEARN testing.

For students in PreK-2nd grade, please keep a full change of clothes in your child's backpack in case of spills, accidents, etc.

If your child is a car rider at the end of the school day, you must have an orange sign with your last name displayed on the dashboard or visor visible for our staff to see. Starting Monday, August 19th, if you do not have an orange sign, you will be directed to pull to the front of the school, wait for the buses to be released, and then come into the school office to have a sign printed and pickup your child. This procedure is for the safety of our students and for the efficiency of our pickup line. If you need an orange sign, please contact the school office.

Also, if there is going to be a change in plans for picking up your child, you must notify the school office by 2:00 pm that day. If at all possible, please send in a note ahead of time with the week’s plans if there is a change to the normal schedule. If you are picking up your child early from school, please do so by 2:30 to eliminate traffic in our parking lot for our buses.

The South Central Community School Corporation is using the Raptor Visitor Management System to check guests into our buildings and print visitor badges. This system will help to protect our students from unwelcomed visitors.

All visitors who wish to enter the school beyond the office area will be asked to present a valid state-issued photo ID. Acceptable forms of identification include a driver's license, military ID, or passport. This management system will scan the ID and print a visitor's badge with a picture. It will also check the sexual predator database to ensure that known predators are not approved to enter our schools. Admittance of visitors without a state-issued ID will be determined by administration.

A visitor's badge will not be necessary for those who visit to pick up or drop off an item in the office, to attend a conference with a teacher in the office, or to attend open house or other school events. Also, our visitor system does not replace our process of performing limited criminal history checks. Field trip chaperones will be required to pass criminal history background checks. Background check forms will be sent to chaperones within 30 days of a class field trip.

The safety or our students is our highest priority, therefore, visitors will not be allowed to join our students during their lunch hours.

South Central Schools will continue with our weekly delayed start Wednesday during the 2023-2024 school year beginning Wednesday, August 23, 2023. The delayed student schedule will allow the teachers to participate in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) each Wednesday morning. Student bus routes will be delayed by 30 minutes on Wednesday mornings to accommodate the delayed start of the student school day. Supervision will be available in the North Gym beginning at 7:00 AM for students whose parents must drop them off before the bus arrives. In the event of a 2 hour delay on a Wednesday, students will enter the building at 9:55 AM.

All students MUST be dropped off in the back of the school. This year we will utilize both lanes for drop-off. If a student is dropped off in the lane closest to the school, the same procedures will be in effect. Please utilize the sidewalk closest to the building. If a student is dropped off in the second lane from the building, the student should exit the vehicle and use the sidewalk closest to the parking lot. The student should then cross at the crosswalk where a staff member will be present. Students may be dropped off beginning at 7:00 AM. Please do not drop off students earlier as there is not an adult present to supervise.

All cars exiting the back parking lot in the morning need to exit using the north exit only. U-turns in the back parking lot are not permitted.

For afternoon car line pick-up, you MUST display the official South Central Elementary car sign that has been provided to you. Signs from last year will continue to be used this year.

*Please stay in your car during afternoon car line pick-up. Parking in the parking spaces and walking across to pick-up your child will not be allowed.

*Car signs MUST be visible on the passenger side either on the vehicle dashboard or sun visor.

It is very important that you keep these car signs in a secure place. Car signs must be obtained from the elementary office and include student last name.

*Please do not pull ahead of the line or park in a space. Students will NOT be allowed to go across traffic in order to get into a car. Please stay in the line for pick-up.

*Anyone without a car sign will be required to appear at the office and present photo identification. The school must have received a call/note from the parent or guardian providing permission for the student to be released to this person (if it is not the parent/guardian).

*If you have lost your car sign, or need additional ones, please come by the office to pick up a new one. They will be provided at a cost of $1.00 each. Everyone who needs a car sign will initially receive two.

*Make sure transportation arrangements have been made before your child arrives at school. Written notification from home or a phone call to school will be required in order to change afternoon transportation arrangements. You must contact the school office prior to 1:00 PM if you need to change afternoon transportation.

*Due to the quantity of car riders at the end of the school day, we are asking that if your child needs assistance being buckled in, please have your student get in the vehicle and pull forward. This will allow the line to continue to move.

*Afternoon pick-up time begins at 2:45 PM. Please be prompt when picking up your child.

Because this policy is to protect our students, we cannot make exceptions. Our goal is to make certain that your children are safe.