Notes from Split Rock Elementary

I hope this message find you well and that you've been enjoying a wonderful summer with your loved ones. As the summer continues, I wanted to take a moment to check in, offer some updates, and let you know that our summer mailings will be going out soon!

We're thrilled about the upcoming school year and excited to share that the building is almost ready to welcome everyone back. We've made some fantastic updates, including a newly renovated nurse's office and HVAC improvements to keep us comfortable through both the winter and summer months!

A big thank you goes out to our custudial staff for their hard work in getting the building in shape for the new year. Their dedication esnures that we're ready for a great start.

This message marks the beginning of our weekly blogs, where we'll gradually share all the important information you'll need for the year ahead. Again, please keep an eye out for our summer mailing, which will be on its way to you shortly.

Enjoy the remaining weeks of summer, and we look forward to a fantastic school year together!

BE AWESOME!

Mr. Kimpland

Some of the summer work to the building involves a new transfer switch which will allow us to connect our new portable generator to the building in the event of a prolonged power outage. With that said, in order to complete the installation the power needs to be shut down to the entire building for a period of two days. Therefore the office will be closed on Tuesday (8/20) and Wedneday (8/21) to all this work to be completed. Thank you for your understanding.

We look forward to welcoming the graduating class of 2037 on Tuesday, August 27 at 9:00am! This is a wonderful opportunity for our newest Wildcats to begin to acclimate to the building and meet their teachers and classmates for what will be an amazing start to their academic career! Parents will get to hear from myself, school nurse, ADAPEP counselor, PTO and the transportation department to obtain the necessary information to ensure a smooth transition (more detailed informatoin can be found in the summer mailing)!

Split Rock will welcome any and all families to visit the building on Tuesday, August 27 from 11:00am-2:00pm! Our wildcats and families can take this opportunity to find their classrooms, tour the building at their convience and stop in to say hello to Mr. Kimpland! Please note teachers might not be present during the visit.

As we launch the ParentSquare Communications system over the rest of this month, please be on the lookout for more information to your email, text, and eventually to the ParentSquare mobile app!

• You should have received an electronic invitation to download the ParentSquare app to your phone and to activate your account. (You will also be able to access this information from your personal computer.) If you did not receive this invitation, please email publications@westgenesee.org ,and we will follow-up on sending that email.
• Review your contact information, and you may be asked to verify your information. Please feel free to make corrections as we will be notified and will update our Student Management System (Schooltool). After we update the the Student Management System (Schooltool) the correction will show in your account. If you have any questions, please contact centralregistrar@westgenesee.org
• Receive intermittent posts and information with tips on the use of ParentSquare. (See a tip below about adjusting your Notification Settings.)
• Receive a hard copy instructional page in the mid-August mailing that will come home from your home schools.

The ParentSquare application is used throughout the region in many school districts. We believe this will offer authentic communication capabilities within our school community with features that include: two-way translatable messaging; direct messaging with staff; sign-up forms for events (like field trips, parent conferences, etc.); and submittal of attendance notes directly via the app.

Note: Parents who work in other school districts that use the ParentSquare format will have the ability to combine accounts, if desired, for professional use and as a parent.

*Due to the timing of establishing accounts for students after the start of the fall athletic season, fall coaches may continue with other formats during the fall season.

Please accept our continued thanks for your partnership with strong communication and relationships.

Users can fine-tune their notification settings for posts for each school and district. For General Announcements, you can select Digest, Instant, or choose to turn off notifications altogether (excluding emergency alerts and notices.) You can choose to receive email, text, and/or app notifications.

A secondary parent/guardian contact may want to turn off all notifications except for emergency alerts (This is particularly useful if their partner parent/guardian manages school-related daily activities).

ParentSquare allows users to customize their notifications by notification type and select their preferred delivery method for each school and district.

You can set the frequency of notifications for posts. The Instant setting will send all post notifications in real time. The Digest setting sends direct messages, alerts, and time-sensitive posts instantly, but sends all non-time-sensitive posts at the end of the day, reducing the number of notifications you receive daily. Note: we recommend the Digest setting.

Notification types include:

• Urgent Smart Alerts & Notices - urgent alerts, attendance notices, and auto notices marked as critical notices (cannot be disabled).

• General Announcements & Messages - posts, direct messages and reminders.

• School Alerts - smart alerts and other student notices.

Under General Announcements, you can select how often you want to receive notifications for posts. Select Off, Instant or Digest notifications.

• Off: no notifications about posts will be sent to you. Emergency Alerts and Notices will still be sent. School Alerts will still be sent if turned on.

• Instant: you'll receive an email and/or text and/or an app notification every time a notice or message is sent.

• Digest: you'll receive an email and/or text and/or an app notification once a day in the evening with all posts from that day.

The default setting is typically Digest, so that you receive all notices and post messages in one convenient notification once a day. All emergency notifications still come through instantly, and a school can override settings as needed for an urgent message. If you choose Instant notifications, and have multiple children in multiple schools, that can add up to a lot of messages.

How to Update Notifications on a Phone

Click here for a printable PDF.

How to Update Notifications on a Phone and/or a Web Browser:

Click here for a web article (Note: To see web article and video you will need to be logged in to ParentSquare.)

Here is a great video from ParentSquare to help you with the basics of navigating the ParentSquare app! (About 15 minutes long, but well worth the time…) Note: please pay special attention to messaging and posts. A few other features such as forms, permission slips and sign-ups will be coming after our initial launch.

We are pleased to inform you that West Genesee CSD will be implementing a meal certification option available to schools participating in the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs for 2024-2025.

What does this mean for your child(ren)?

All students enrolled at West Genesee CSD are eligible to receive a healthy breakfast and lunch at school at no charge to your household each day of the 2024-2025 school year. A full meal must include a serving of a fruit or vegetable for breakfast and lunch. If a fruit or vegetable is not taken, the student will be charged a la carte for their meal. Milk is included as part of the free meal. Milk is also available for purchase.

No further action is required of you. Your child(ren) will be able to participate in these meal programs without having to pay a fee or submit an application.

If you have any further questions, please contact us at ecullen@westgenesee.org.