Reading Elementary Rockets Report: September 2018

Sunday, September 30, 2018

RES PRINCIPAL'S BLOG - ROCKETS REPORT - Sun., Sept. 30, 2018

Dear Reading Elementary "Rockets" Families & Community Members:

It was wonderful seeing so many families at the Back to School Night! Thanks for taking the time to come by and visit!

Kudos and heartfelt thanks to:

Parents: Mr. Lord, Mr. Lanoza, and Mr. Blanchard for helping us Thursday spread the playground's wood chips - HUGE help!
Janet Maxham for volunteering in the PK classroom!
All the parents who came to the Back to School Night!
The PTO and members who donated to the Pot Luck Dinner!
Neighbor and business owner, Scott Harkins, for spreading the wood chips!

Other Items of Interest:

Highlight on the Handbook - The WCUD Family/Student Handbook is full of important information and all principals will be highlighting information in our communications to families. The family district handbook can be found on our website and hard copies can be obtained from RES. Over the next few weeks, we are focusing on attendance.

Truancy Guidelines

In the case of habitual truancy, a Social Services Truancy Report will be prepared. The preparer, the truant officer, the school Principal, and the school Superintendent will sign this report. Then, the report will be forwarded to the Social Services District Office and copied to the County State’s Attorney. A letter indicating that the report was filed will be sent to the parent. The report is confidential and includes:

Documentation of absences,
Descriptions of actions taken by school personnel to effect change in the habitual pattern of truancy, and
Descriptions of other observed student behaviors that are inappropriate to the school setting.

After the Social Services Report is filed, the caseworker may conduct an investigation that could include a parent interview, student interview, and school personnel interview.

If the results of the investigation indicate that the parent is overtly and consciously interfering with the enrolled student’s school attendance, Social Services and the school will be sent directly to the State’s Attorney for review and possible determination of prosecution of the parents.

The Windsor Central Unified District follows the Windsor County truancy protocol which is outlined below:

Picture Day - Wed., Oct. 3 is the annual picture day. Forms were sent home Friday - please check your child's backpack. Please send the completed forms back into school. Order online before Picture day with your picture ID at mylifetouch.com. Reading Elementary School's Picture ID: VJ178089Q0.

News from the RES PTO - The Leaf Peeper Breakfast is coming up on October 14^th! We are in need of food donations and volunteers to support this event. There is a sign-up sheet in the school lobby (copy attached as well), or you can sign up by emailing the PTO at RES.PTO@yahoo.com.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 10/9 at 5:30 in the Multipurpose room at RES. The agenda for this meeting includes Leaf Peeper Breakfast prep and annual elections. A reminder: The position of Chair is open! Come to the meeting and join in the fun!

Coming Soon -

Sat., Oct. 6 - 10 AM - 3 PM

Profile of a Graduate Community Dinner - The entire district will be hosting "Profile of a Graduate Community Meetings" which are an important step to constructing a unified district strategic plan. Your voice and ideas are important and valued. Please mark your calendars for Thurs., Oct. 11. We hope to have a good community turnout. If you can't make it that night, please attend one of the others scheduled throughout the district!

Afterschool Program - The Afterschool Advisory Council met and we are all excited about the success of the program to date. New programs will be offered in the next session.

Since we are a licensed program, we are bound by extensive State regulations. We ask that parents give 24 hr. notice to add a student to the program and contact must be made to Mrs. Knight and Mrs. Hatt by an adult, not just by a student when they check in in the morning. If your child is signed up for afterschool, we must have e-mail notification that your child will not be participating with at least 24 hours notice. Please email Mrs. Knight AND Mrs. Hatt, in case one of us is out of the building. The State has strict staff/student ratios, so it's a safety issue to add students without checking first if there is room. If you cancel without 24 hr. notice we will have to charge for that day to help offset the cost of staffing. Thanks for your understanding!

Invoice statements were sent via e-mail last week to families participating in the afterschool program. Thank you to all who have sent in checks to bring your account current and pay ahead as requested.

OTHER WAYS TO HELP READING SCHOOL

Sign up your Price Chopper account so RES gets points!
Offer to teach a course in the After School program - share your skills!
Turn in Box Tops for school! Each label is worth 10 cents!

BREAKFAST & LUNCH & MENU FOR NEXT WEEK:

Happening this Week:

Mon., Oct. 1 -

PE - Students should wear tennis shoes!
K/PK Field Trip to the HOP
Reading Runners 2:30 - 4 PM

Tues., Oct. 2 -

Library/Tech - please bring back library books!

Wed., Oct. 3 -

Art
Picture Day

Thurs., Oct. 4-

Music & Band

Fri., Oct. 5 -

Spanish

Sat., Oct. 6 -

Open House Spring Brook Farm 10-3

Mon., Oct. 8 - NO SCHOOL

Mark Your Calendar/Upcoming Events:

Tues., Oct. 9 -

"Web of Life" Field Trip - Gr. 6 begins all week
PTO Meeting - 5:30 PM - RES Library

Thurs., Oct. 11 - Profile of a Graduate Dinner & Presentation

Dinner - 5:30 - 6
Presentation 6 - 7:15 PM
Childcare provided
Community members and families are welcome.

Sat., Oct. 13 - Fire Prevention Fair - see above
Sun., Oct. 14 - PTO sponsored Leaf Peeper's Breakfast 9 - 11 AM
Mon., Oct. 15 - WCUD Board Meeting at Reading Elementary School

Thoughts to Ponder:

LIFE AT READING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL:

Sunday, September 23, 2018

RES PRINCIPAL'S BLOG - ROCKETS REPORT - Sun., Sept. 23, 2018

Dear Reading Elementary "Rockets" Families & Community Members:

Kudos and heartfelt thanks to:

Abby Rowlee for the amazing photos of Reading Runners!
Volunteers and parents helping with Reading Runners!
All of you who have your lunch and afterschool accounts paid for September.

Other Items of Interest:

Appointments During School

Early Dismissal

Students must be signed out in the office when being picked up early. Similarly, if a student returns during the day after an appointment, the student must be signed back in before returning to class. No student will be placed into the charge of anyone not approved by the parent(s) and/or legal guardian. It is helpful to let both the school office and your child’s teacher know that you will pick him/her up early so that homework and/or other information may be shared prior to departure. This procedure is done for the protection of the students so the school knows the whereabouts of all students during school hours.

Late Arrival

Students are expected to arrive by their school’s start time. Attendance, notices for the day and lunch counts are all done the first 10 minutes of the day. Arriving at school late disrupts the day for your child as well as for the class. The principal will contact you if a pattern of tardiness develops and will discuss solutions to this issue with you.

All students arriving at school after our scheduled start will report to the office. A tardy slip will be written and the student will give it to the teacher in the classroom. We realize that there are legitimate reasons for being tardy, i.e. doctor and dental appointments, family emergencies, etc. Contacting the front office ahead of time regarding a legitimate reason for late arrival may result in an excused tardy.

Back to School Open House - Wed., Sept. 26, 5:30 - 6:30 PM. We changed our date as the high school scheduled it the same night as ours. This evening is not for parent conferences, it's just a brief presentation by your child's teacher. Parent conferences will occur in November.

The PTO will have a table and are looking for volunteers. Please see the PTO e-mail about potluck details.

There will be a table for information from the Girl Scouts available in the library. Please stop by and see the new updated RES library!

Classroom Donations Needed - Gr. 5/6 is in need of the following items:

#18 Clear Soda or Seltzer 2 Liter Bottles with Caps - please rinse clean.

Thank you. Ms. Collins

Coming Soon -

Afterschool Program - We welcome Mr. Chuck Vanderstreet and Mr. Bill Rauscher working as program aides in the program. Mrs. Maxham also helps us out two days a week. We have a fantastic program, but we're still looking for teachers and volunteers! Last week, Reading's chef, Paitra Martin, baked with our students in the program. Kip Dixon, the PE Teacher from WES and Killington, is the guest teacher on Mondays for PE Power! He helps out with Reading Runners and then runs outdoor games with the students! If it is rainy outside, we've been doing "Go Noodle" with the students. It is an online program that helps burn some of that energy off or to help us calm down.

Invoice statements will be sent home this week to students participating in the afterschool program. Thank you to all who have sent in their checks bi-weekly!

PE Message - Happy Almost Fun-Day Monday friends and families! Hope everyone got out and enjoyed the fall-like weather this weekend. Finally comfortable temps! Great sleeping weather! I will be checking in with our children to see what outdoor activities they were involved in this weekend. This weeks P.E. plan is to start challenging/cooperative relay race activities. There will also be aerobic, flexibility, strengthening and hand-eye coordination exercises. We have a lot to do in a short period of time! Please stop in and say hello at our Back to School night on Wed. See you soon! Mr.(Coach) Drost

OTHER WAYS TO HELP READING SCHOOL