Prairie Wind Elementary

What is the Campus Portal for Parents?

• The Campus Portal for Parents, part of the Omaha Public Schools student information system, allows parents and guardians to monitor their children's academic progress online. Using the internet, parents will be able to log in and view district and school announcements, schedules, current and final grades, missing assignments, attendance, immunization records, account statements and class newsletters. Additionally, parents will be able to email teachers and print a variety of reports including IEPs, current progress reports, current report cards (secondary only) and unofficial transcripts.

Campus Portal for Parent Documents

• Portal Login and Navigation

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

• Portal Login and Navigation - Spanish

  
  

The Prairie Wind car tags used for dismissal will be coming home this week. The vendor should be delivering two car tags per family to Prairie Wind on Monday. We will work to get those delivered to each family on Tuesday so please check your student's backpack for the car tags. You will need to hang them on your rearview mirror so we can input your families number. This will let the teacher know that your child or children's vehicle has arrived and is ready to pick them up.

Starting today we will be moving the large ZUM school buses pickup and drop-off location to the back parking lot area. The larger buses struggle to make the turn into the first parking lot with cars lined up in one lane. It makes for a really tight turn in for the lane the buses and daycares utilize. Those larger buses also take up a lot of the parking lot and does not allow us to open up the area closest to the school for parent drop off and pick up. We will now have those school buses turn into the second entrance to the school so that area will be blocked off to families. We want to ensure the safety of everyone and it becomes dangerous if vehicles are traveling both ways. Students will load and unload those buses from the playground so they will now exit from the gym doors and walk safely to their school bus with traffic blocked to this area.

The second lane in the first entrance will still be utilized for daycares and the smaller special education buses. However, once those vehicles have completed drop off or pickup we will be able to open up the front parking lot area for two more rows of vehicles. This will allow us to fit more cars into the school parking lot at one time and make for a faster arrival and dismissal process.

Get the Zum App for Transportation

Zūm Parent App

With Zum app, you can better protect your student's safety by:

1. Tracking your student’s ride in real-time and receiving ride updates
2. Knowing the driver profile and vehicle assigned to transport your student
3. Viewing pick-up and drop-off time estimates
4. Starting real-time chat with our support team if needed
5. Canceling rides when necessary

Download the Zūm App (iOS) (Android) from your carrier’s App Store

Zum App Directions

September:

2nd- Labor Day/ No School for students

24th- 2 hour late start (more information to follow)

October:

1st-Picture Day

4th- No school for students/district curriculum day for staff

11th-First Quarter Ends

23rd- Parent Teacher Conferences begin

24th-No school for students/Parent Teacher Conferences

25th-No school for students

29th-2 hour late start

November:

5th-No school for students/Teacher planning day

25th-29th- No school/ Thanksgiving Break

December:

20th-No school for students/Teacher planning day

23rd-January 3rd-Winter Break

Specific details for events will come out closer to the event.

This list is complete as of today. Events will be added as necessary.

You can always check back for updates.

Thank you!

Notes from the nurse:

Change of clothing policy: It is recommended that every student bring a change of clothing to school when their clothing gets soiled. If the child has none at school, we will call parents for help in providing dry garments. If that isn't possible, the student will remain in their clothing with the exception of bathroom accidents.

* Physical and Vision exams are due for those new to the district.

*Please notify the health office if your child needs any medications :daily, as needed, or over-the-counter medications at school.

Mrs. Hansen RN, BSN, MSML

531-299-1982

Attendance

Contact the main office if your child will not be in attendance or late. If you will be picking up your child early for any reason, please call the office 5 minutes ahead of time, if the dismissal procedure for your child has changed (another person is picking up, no bus, etc.)

Please provide a doctors note for any appointments so we can mark the absence as medical and excused.

Phone: (531)299-1980

Important Information from Prairie Wind

Building Security

For the safety and security of our students and this school building, anyone entering the building must stop in the office first.

Drop Off Zone

We ask that you please continue to pull all the way down to where security directs you. We have two lanes that can drop off simultaneously. We can then unload around 10 vehicles rather than a couple at a time.

We have staff members assisting your child across the crosswalk and to breakfast or the classroom at the cafeteria doorway. This assistance is provided for all student's morning arrival. REMINDER: School doors don't open until 8:35 AM for classroom entrance and breakfast opening hours.

We ask again for you not to arrive for end of the school day pick-up until 3:50pm to prevent traffic flow congestion issues.

Please be attentive and cognizant of all school crossing guard officials and adhere to their requests during student morning drop-off and pick-up times. Our goal is to ensure your child's overall safety.

School Finalsite Communication

We will be using Finalsite for mass communications to families. All newsletters, updates and reminders will be sent via email or text. Please make sure to contact the office if you need to update your contact information.

Birthday Celebrations

We ask that only non-food items be brought for birthday celebrations. We also ask that no latex balloons be brought to school. We have students with severe food and latex allergies that we want to keep safe. Please check with your child's teacher to discuss day and time for non-food items to be dropped off.

Drop off is 8:35AM, that is when breakfast is open and staff are on duty.

Please have student(s) ready to get out when you pull up.

Pull all the way down if able.

If you need to get out to assist your child, go into the parking lot lane and park, not the main drive.

If your student is NOT eating breakfast, they still must enter through the cafeteria doors.

Grab and Go Breakfast-If your student is eating breakfast, they need to enter the building through the cafeteria doors. They may not enter through the main doors.

The dismissal process has changed this school year. Every family has been assigned a number that will be displayed on a car tag that you will need to hang on your rearview mirror. Please check your student's backpack for this. Prairie Wind car tags have been professionally made and they should be delivered to Prairie Wind this afternoon. Once they arrive, a notice will go out to families and every family will receive two car tags for two different vehicles, but with the same number that was assigned to that family.

When parents pull onto school grounds, outside staff will input your family number to indicate that you have arrived. Classroom teachers will get your student(s) ready to dismiss. How this works- We will enter your Family Number into an app on the iPad, this will send a notice to the families classroom teacher or teachers that you have arrived. Staff will be strategically placed in the building and outside to ensure your child is safely and efficiently dismissed. All students being picked up or walking will dismiss out the main front doors. This dismissal will be staggered based on your arrival time. Students will NOT be dismissing out of any other doors.

It will be extremely helpful if you let your student(s) know your preferred lane for pick-up. This will help them know to look for you in the main drive or the parking lot lane. Once your student(s) are loaded, you can pull out of the pick-up line to leave.

What you will need at dismissal:

You will need to place your car hanger number on your rearview mirror so it is clearly visible to the outside staff.

You will need to pull all the way down to the end of the parking lot (as cars move ahead, you move ahead). If you are picking up on the main drive, after buses and daycare has departed, pull all the way forward. ALL students will exit out of the main front doors.

**Kindergarten students-dismissal will remain the same for parents who walk up to get kindergarten students. Kindergarten students will be located on the kindergarten blacktop which is directly to the left of the front doors. If you are choosing to drive through for pick up, parents will still pull up like all other vehicles with their family number visible.

**Walk up parents- Your child's classroom teacher will be located out front, you can provide them with your family number so teachers are aware you are ready to pickup. Your student(s) will then be dismissed. Parents do not need to enter the building. If you need to go into the building to pick up your student, you MUST stop at the office for a visitor badge and to sign the check out sheet.

**Each family will receive 2 car hangers. If you would need additional ones, please contact the office. It is imperative not to lose your issued designated car hanger numbers. Please clearly display upon arrival so there is no confusion so we can expeditiously release your child for pick-up.

WE WILL BEGIN DISMISSAL (ENTERING NUMBERS) AT 3:55PM. PLEASE DO NOT ARRIVE AT SCHOOL BEFORE 3:50 TO PREVENT AN INITIAL BACKUP. The line moves very fast once we begin the dismissal process.

Thank you for everything!

Early Pickup for Students

If you are picking up your students early for a doctor's appointment, etc. please call the office at least 5 minutes ahead of time and we will have your child ready to go at the designated time. Parents will need to come into the office to check out your student(s).

STUDENT SAFETY

Student safety remains our top priority in the Omaha Public Schools. We now have a Visitor Management System to ensure we are provided the most secure environment. Visitors will need to ring the outside doorbell. Once the secretary answers, she will verify your student's name and the visitor's name prior to opening the front door. If the visitor's name is not in our system, they will not be let into the school. We ask that you understand that it may take a few minutes to gain access into the school while the secretaries verify your information. Please make sure you have updated contact information and that your emergency contacts are current.

Visitors will need to use the kiosk to get a visitor badge. This will require you to get a photo taken and use the printed visitor badge with your photo.

Large events such as holiday celebrations, music programs and family nights will not require the same check in process. Entrance into these events will be monitored by staff.

Location: 10908 Ellison Ave. Omaha, NE 68164

Phone: 531-299-1980