The Big Cat Courier

This past week at HBS we had a tremendous amount of fun with Spirit Week, our monthly Big Cat assembly, and all kinds of fun learning activities to kick off winter recess. We also saw the changing of the seasons from autumn to winter on Thursday night, even though the forecast is making it feel more like the first couple of weeks of November! While sledding and winter activities are always fun on a school break, I think that those of us who enjoy shoveling snow far less than some others may can count ourselves lucky for a little while longer.

With that, everyone here at HBS would like to wish you Happy Holidays, a safe winter recess, and an amazing New Year!

If you are like me and are always on the lookout for family friendly activities for school breaks, here is a link to a site titled, " Master Guide to Winter Fun in and around Hartford, CT". While it isn't an exhaustive list, it is pretty extensive so if you find yourself with a free day or two and are looking for family options, check it out! https://hartford.kidsoutandabout.com/content/master-guide-winter-fun-and-around-hartford-ct

This time of year is traditionally a festive and joyous one for children and families. Unfortunately, there are those in our community who have found themselves in need of some help. The Enfield Food Shelf works tirelessly to uphold it's mission, "ENSURING NO ENFIELD FAMILY IN NEED IS WITHOUT FOOD ASSISTANCE". If you or somebody you know is in need of assistance or if you are able to make a donation on behalf of fellow community members who have fallen on hard times, please follow the link for more information: https://enfieldfoodshelf.org/

Enfield Public Schools is looking for good people to help us do good work for students. If you're looking for meaningful work where you can make a real difference in the lives of others AND need to keep child friendly hours, EPS may be the opportunity you've been looking for! From Paraprofessional and Behavior Technician positions to Long-term and Building Substitute positions, our available career opportunities run the gamut of possibilities. Follow the link to our current postings for more information about available positions: https://enfield.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx

Below is the lunch menu for the coming month:

Early Release to Start Winter Recess today, 12/22

Happy New Year! Monday, 1/1/24

Return to School after Winter Recess on Tuesday, 1/2

No School in Recognition of MLK Jr Day on Monday, 1/15

Virtual PTO Meeting on Tuesday, 1/16

Early Release on Wednesday, 1/24

Research is showing that children who are chronically absent in the primary grades are much less likely to read at grade level by the third grade, making them four-times more likely to drop-out of high school.

The statistic above is a frightening one but one that both schools and families need to pay attention to. A designation of chronically absent describes students who are absent 10% or more of the school year. That sounds like a hard threshold to reach but when you consider it takes fewer than 2 absences each month to reach it, the importance of good attendance starts to present itself. Furthermore, the total number of a student's absences are counted rather than just those that fall into the unexcused category. In addition the the 10% threshold for a chronically absent designation, any student with four or more unexcused absences in a month is also designated as truant.

As a primary building (and many of us parents ourselves), everyone at HBS understands that childhood illnesses occur. However, it is essential to students' successful acquisition of academic skills and later scholastic success that they are in school as often as possible. Thank you for your partnership on this important issue.

Getting signed up for both PowerSchool and SchoolMessenger is vital for Henry Barnard and Enfield Public Schools to share important information with you. PowerSchool is our main student information platform and includes things like your child's Report Card, Progress Reports, Emergency Contact Information, etc. SchoolMessenger is the platform we use to send you important automated calls, emails, and texts. If you haven't updated your contact information recently or logged in to either platform to manage your contact preferences, it's likely that you are missing important updates from our school and our school district.

Families may access both platforms on the front page of the District's main website. Both can be found under the "Quick Links" section and appear as big red buttons. You can find our website at:

https://www.enfieldschools.org/

While it can feel tricky, planning ahead for Early Release Days alleviates a tremendous amount of stress and anxiety for your child. Students who mistakenly don't get picked up at 1:50 or who are returned to school by the bus company because there was nobody at the bus stop to get them off the bus are often fearful of the situation. While I can assure you that your child will always be safe in the main office until you arrive, students often arrive shaken and scared about what happened and what might come next. Families can easily stay informed about when Early Release Days are planned throughout the year by keeping a copy of the school calendar handy and by relying on SchoolMessenger reminders that are sent out by EPS. Please see the section above about schoolMessenger and PowerSchool to make sure those channels are open to you. You can also access the school calendar at:

https://www.enfieldschools.org/calendar/2023-24_school_calendar

Please note that there are three early release days coming up soon (11/29, 12/6, and 12/22).

Free Lunch Program available for Enfield Public Schools students during the winter break (in December) courtesy of Enfield Food Shelf and Enfield Loaves and Fishes:

Lunch Link started as a collaboration between Enfield Food Shelf, Enfield Loaves & Fishes, and Allied Services to provide no cost lunches to K-12 students in need during summer vacation when school lunches were not available. Feedback from the Enfield community and Enfield Schools indicates there may be a need to expand Lunch Link to include any school break greater than two consecutive days.

Beginning Christmas Break, 2023, Lunch Link will provide free lunches available for pickup on December 27 and December 29 at 96 Alden Ave. Please visit our website or www.enfieldloavesandfishes.org and visit the Lunch Link tab in order to register or inquire for more information.

We all know how important it is for students to attend school and that good attendance is tied directly to positive student outcomes, both academic and social/emotional. However, what happens when a student is absent? The EPS BOE policy on attendance has the answers to all your attendance questions. The policy can be found in the Elementary Handbook at:

https://viewer.joomag.com/eps-elementary-handbook-2023-24/0028781001692965944?auth_sso=1

As noted in the EPS BOE attendance policy, letters outlining current student attendance are sent home to alert families of their child's absences. The letters are sent to families when their child has reached absence number 5, again at 9, followed by one at 10, and then every few absences after that.

The letters report overall absences from school rather than just unexcused absences. The State collects student attendance data yearly and looks only at overall absences, which mirrors the letters sent home to families.

If you have any questions regarding what an excused vs unexcused absence is, or when the State deems a child to be Truant and when they are assigned a designation of Chronically Absent, please take a look at the policy. If you still have questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us here at the school so we can help.

Not all emergency student medications have been delivered to school by families yet.

If your child requires any emergency medication (such as for asthma, severe allergies, seizure etc.), please submit a doctor’s order for the current school year and if you haven't already done so, supplying the medication to the nurse as soon as possible. If a child’s physical form states, by the Doctor, that they require emergency medication (e.g., Epi-Pen and rescue inhaler), then it is required for them to have the medication in school.

Please note that any child that does not have the required medication will be unable to participate in any out of school activities/ field trips. Grades 1 & 2 are planning a field trip in just a couple of weeks so please make sure that any emergency medications are dropped off to the nurses as soon as possible.

The health and safety of our students is our main priority. Thank you for your help.

Some version of this post has become a fall newsletter tradition over the past few years. I think it is important to revisit it and to stress the fact that as your child's school, we are here to help you with any questions or concerns that you may have.

Having said that, please make us your first stop rather than Facebook, Nextdoor, The Enfield Forum, etc... Social media platforms are a great way to share photos and cute pet videos with your friends and family but not an effective way to solve an issue that you feel needs to be addressed. Unfortunately , what Social Media is terrible at is solving problems. If something school related ever comes up that you are unhappy with, don't understand, or otherwise need help with, please contact the school directly so we can help. Whether you reach out to your child's teacher, a specialist, an interventionist, our nursing staff, the front office, or any of the other people who work in the building, we are all here to help.

Please know that as a school, we cannot respond to concerns expressed on Social Media platforms. While every school would love to, we cannot due to student confidentiality. As is typically the case in any Social Media post, there is more to the situation that we, unfortunately, cannot address in a public forum.

We ask that if you find an individual expressing some kind of question or concern regarding our school on Social Media, please refer them back to the school so that we can assist them in bringing the issue to a positive resolution. We are always here for our students and their families.

If a child is being dropped off, we will be using the doors in the back parking lot in between the library and gymnasium. Please remain in your car as you loop around the back lot to drop your child off at the doors. If you are the family of a walker, please look for the orange traffic cones at the drop off doors to guide you safely into that space.

Please note that during arrival times, the front doors to the school are being reserved to receive bus students only. All other students, will use the doors in the back parking lot between the library and gymnasium. If you need to speak with somebody from the main office in person, please plan to do so before or after student drop off to alleviate congestion at the front doors.

Please remember that when a school bus, of any size, is stopped with it's lights on and it's "Stop" sign extended, other vehicles must stop as well. Vehicles may only pass by a bus if their lights are off and their "Stop" sign is not extended. It can feel frustrating to have to wait while a bus is unloading but it's the law.

To better support orderly traffic flow on campus and on Shaker Road, please stick to the right lane of the entry driveway. This will allow buses to line up and use the left lane leading down to the loop in the front of the building. It is also helpful in keeping the drop off line moving efficiently if students have their backpacks ready and have said their goodbyes before the vehicle pulls up to the arrival doors.

During the first two weeks of school, all non-classroom teachers will be strung through the halls of our building to help students to their classrooms. It will be helpful if you label your child's backpack with their name and room number/teacher.

If you are dropping your child to school tardy, please park in the front lot and walk your child to the front door. Ring the doorbell and we will assist you right away.

All schools in CT, including HBS, are required to hold a variety of safety drills to prepare students and staff should a real school emergency ever present itself. We typically hold at least one each month and practice everything from what to do in the event of a heating system failure all the way through what we'd do in the event of a fire on campus. This past week we conducted a Fire Drill at Henry Barnard under the supervision of our District's Security Director and the acting Fire Marshal. As expected, the students and staff did an amazing job!

The joint Barnard/Crandall PTO is getting ready to kick off another school year in support of our students, families, and staff. Virtual meetings are held monthly and all families are encouraged to sign on to see what the PTO is all about. Take a look at the meeting schedule below and I hope to see you at October's meeting.

If you are still not signed up for the Remind App or still have questions about it, please follow this link for more information:

https://help.remind.com/hc/en-us/articles/4409807883149-Frequently-asked-questions-for-parents

Enfield Public Schools uses mySchoolBucks as a payment platform for our school lunch program (iPad insurance is paid on mySchoolBucks as well). With mySchoolBucks, you can register for an account, view account balances or recent lunch purchases, add money to the account and setup low balance alerts. You do not have to put money on account online to have an account and view lunch transactions.

Information for mySchoolBucks is available is available at the following link:

https://www.enfieldschools.org/search/default.aspx?q=mySchoolBucks&type=0,

Enfield Public Schools is a 1:1 district meaning every student receives an iPad for use at school and at home. These learning tools should be charged at home each night and return to school with your child in the morning to be used in the classroom. They are equipped with learning applications to help students learn the skills they need to find success in school.

As seen above, iPad insurance may be purchased through mySchoolBucks. The insurance is optional however, if an iPad malfunctions or is damaged, the student's family will be billed the full amount for the repair or replacement if insurance wasn't purchased. If insurance was purchased by the family, the $25 cost of the insurance is the only charge. If a new iPad is issued to a student, a new insurance policy must be purchased as the insurance only covers the one device.

The Student Handbook is packed with information for families about dates, policies, procedures, and more. Please take some time to take a look through the document. It can be found at the following link:

https://viewer.joomag.com/eps-elementary-handbook-2023-24/0028781001692965944?auth_sso=1

The PTO at HBS and our sister school, Prudence Crandall, have a unique partnership. Last year, the two groups started the process of joining together to help facilitate more continuity for students and families between the two buildings. By meeting together, planning together, and even holding many events/fundraisers together, we have the opportunity to not only get to know our new families but keep in touch with the families who have moved on to Crandall.

Having said that, all the good work that the PTO puts into our schools translates directly to a richer educational experience for our students. They help fund fieldtrips and educational experiences that we would otherwise not have available to our students.

The PTO meets once each month. Meetings usually run for less than an hour and are dedicated to school updates and planning for upcoming events. Please consider being a part of the PTO. Many hands make light work!

For more information, please follow the link: https://enfieldpto.com/henrybarnard

Henry Barnard School is proud to be one of the two Family Resource Center locations in Enfield. The FRC is available to help families who find themselves in need connect with services across town. From finding winter clothing for students to helping families through parenting and support groups, the FRC has been a wonderful support for families here in Enfield.

For more information, please follow this link: https://www.enfield-ct.gov/375/Family-Resource-Center

The ERfC, or Enfield Resources for Children, not to be confused with the FRC above, offers quality before and after care for students at Henry Barnard School. If you have any questions about before and after care for your child, reach out to this longstanding partner organization.

Follow this link for more information: https://erfcinc.org/

Email: jgraham@enfieldschools.org
Website: https://henry.sharpschool.com/
Location: 27 Shaker Road, Enfield, CT, USA
Phone: (860) 253-6540
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EnfieldPublicSschools/
Twitter: @EnfieldPS