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OFFICE HOURS  -  CENTRAL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL:

The school office is open from 8:00 – 4:00 each day school is in session.  The school has two phone lines, 342-6611 and 349-5250.  The phone should be manned at all times between 8:00 and 4:00.  Seldom should Mrs. Gabehart and I both be away from the office at the same time.  If you get no answer, please wait a few minutes and try again.  One of us should be back at the office.  The one exception to this is Friday mornings between 8:15 and 8:50.  This is when I schedule our weekly staff meetings and I feel it is important for everyone to be in attendance.  On Friday mornings, if you need to get a hold of us, please try before 8:15 or after 8:50.

ENTRANCE REQUIREMENTS:

            Presently, for your child to enroll in public elementary school he/she must be five (5) years of age on, or before, July 1 of this year to enroll in kindergarten.  They must be six (6) years of age by this date to enroll in first grade if they have not been enrolled in kindergarten.

            Before we can enroll a child, we must see proof of birth and an up to date immunization record for each child.  Mrs. Lee, our school nurse, will verify that the immunization records are current.

Patrol duty is a year-long obligation, (there may be nine week periods where you are not assigned to a duty station).  I need you out there no matter how bad the weather is.  If school is in session, I need you out there.  Please don’t come and tell me that you quit the first time the weather gets cold.  If you cannot do this all year long, please come and tell me now.

• All Patrol persons should be on their patrol stations by 8:20 each morning.  In the afternoon, they should remain on station until the walking traffic has passed.

• YOU ARE THERE TO STOP STUDENTS  --- NOT CARS !!!

• Difficulty with students obeying you should be reported to Mr. B

• You are responsible for checking out the weather and dressing accordingly.  If it is going to rain, bring your rain gear.  If it is going to be cold, dress warmly enough.  You will be out there in the weather approximately 40 minutes each morning.

• YOU ARE NOT THERE TO VISIT, OR PLAY, WITH YOUR FRIENDS.  YOU ARE THERE TO HELP CHILDREN CROSS THE STREETS SAFELY!!!

ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL TIME: 

            School begins for our students at 9:00 a.m.  They may enter the building at 8:50 and the tardy bell will ring at 9:00.  Students will be dismissed at 3:20 p.m. 

            Our Kindergarten classes  are as follows:

                        Morning Kindergarten -  9:00 – 11:40

                        Afternoon Kindergarten  -  12:40 – 3:20

            We do provide breakfast for the students.  Any students eating breakfast should arrive at school at 8:30 a.m.  This gives them 20 minutes to eat breakfast and they may go to their classroom at 8:50.  Students arriving after 8:45 will not be served breakfast.

            There is no reason for any of our students to be here prior to 8:50 except for those eating breakfast.  No one should be here before 8:30.

BICYCLES / SKATEBOARDS / ROLLER BLADES:

            Students are allowed to ride bicycles to and from school.  We do ask that you teach them proper bicycle safety before you allow them to ride to school.  Most of them have to cross some very busy streets to get to Central and home.  If they do ride a bike to school, they will need to have a lock for it once it is in the bicycle rack.  We have had instances where bicycles have been taken because they were not locked.  We also ask that students do not “trail”, (ride double), each other on bicycles.  This is never safe.

TEXTBOOK RENTAL:

            Textbooks are a great expense to the school system.  It is our responsibility to provide textbooks and workbooks to all our students, and your responsibility to pay for your child’s books.  An application for lunch/textbook assistance is sent home with every child on the first day of school.  Should you qualify for this assistance, your textbook rental will be paid except for a small portion that is used for consumable items.  Anyone who does not qualify for assistance should have their book rental paid as quickly as possible.  Textbook rental for the 2004-2005 is as follows:

BUILDING SECURITY:

For security reasons, all exterior doors will be locked except for the main entrance doors  on the northeast corner of the building by the flagpole.  All visitors, parents and others, must check in at the office and receive a Visitor Pass to proceed into the building.  This pass lets everyone in the building know that you have checked in, and been given permission to be in the building.  We may know you in the office, but not everyone else in the building does.  Should any adult see anyone without a Visitor Pass, they will stop you and ask you to go to the office for a pass.

            At the beginning of the year, we have a number of parents who want to walk their child to their classroom. They also want to go to their classroom to pick them up at the door at the end of the day.  We are asking that you not do this.  Your child will quickly learn their way to their classroom and we will have adults there to assist them.  The teachers will escort your child to their exit doors at the end of the day.  The teachers will tell you which doors these are and you can meet your child there.  This works very well for the students and us.  It also eliminates “strangers” inside the building.

            Parents are always invited to come in and have lunch with your child.  All we ask is that you stop by the office and get a pass.

            This may create a little inconvenience, but it is being done for the safety of your children and has worked well for us.

FIRE AND TORNADO DRILLS:

We will be conducting fire and tornado drills with the students.  These will be explained to the students and we will practice before the first one happens.  We will have fire drills once a month throughout the year.  Tornado drills will be held four times a year along with the State Wide Tornado drill that every school will do on the same day in March.

TELEPHONES:

            We have telephones available for the students to use in emergency situations.  We will not let the students use the phones to call home to see if they can go to someone’s house after school.  Our phones are busy most of the day with teachers and others making school related calls.

            Our phones become very busy towards the end of the day.  If you need to get a message to your child, please call as early in the day as possible.  Try to avoid calling the last ten minutes of the day asking us to get a message to your child.  Should they be out to recess at that time, or have a special class where they are not in the room, it becomes difficult to get a message to them before they are dismissed.

            Many of our calls involve students forgetting to bring their glasses or homework from home.  Help us eliminate this by making sure your child has everything they need before they leave for school.

PTO:

            All our parents are members of the Central Elementary School PTO.  The PTO has been wonderful to the students of Central School.  They have purchased numerous items for the school and have been very generous in helping fund fieldtrips, fluoride, Bradford Woods and many other activities for those students who could not afford them.

            The PTO sponsors three parties for the students throughout the year. (Halloween, Christmas, Valentine’s Day.)  All treats are provided and PTO volunteers help put on the parties.  We have two PTO fundraisers during the year.  In Sept. we have our fall sale.  Usually we sell Christmas items.  In the spring we have our candy bar sale.  The PTO also sponsors Market Day,  Open House, Mentor Program Lunches, Treats for ISTEP testing, Grandparent’s Night/Chili Supper/Book Fair, Santa’s Secret Shop, Christmas Program, Recorder Recital, Spring Carnival, Kindergarten Graduation, Fifth Grade Recognition Night, DARE Graduation, Activity Day and lunch for the whole school on Activity Day.  Along with all of this, the PTO has purchased

Digital Cameras for the school, a new stage curtain, a TV/VCR for our additional first grade classroom, two refrigerators for the school, a new camcorder for the school and we have additional money left over.

            Please get involved in the PTO.  It does a lot for the students and teachers of Central School.  The PTO is governed by an Executive Committee made up of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Head Room Mother, Teacher Representative, and Principal.  We try to meet on the second Tuesday of each month at 3:30 p.m. here at school.

            We will be contacting you the first of the year looking for room mothers to help with parties.  We will also be contacting your throughout the year looking for volunteers for our different activities.  If you can help us, please do.  It only takes a little time and it benefits the kids a great deal.

MEDICATION:

            Any medication sent to school must be turned in to the office and administered through the clinic.  Medicine must be in the original container and accompanied by a note from the child’s parent.  State law says we cannot send medicine home with a child from school.  It must be picked up by an adult 18 years of age, or older.  If you will check with the Pharmacist, they will give you an additional container for the medicine.  Send only the medicine that your child needs to take at school and we can avoid the hassle of transporting medicine back and forth.  EpiPens and inhalers are an exception to this rule.  They may be transported back and forth with the students.

DOCTOR AND DENTAL APPOINTMENTS:

            We realize that you cannot always control the time of Dr. and Dental appointments.  If at all possible, try to schedule them so that they disrupt school as little as possible.  If you must take your child out for an appointment, you must sign them out at the office and we will have them come down to meet you.  We cannot send them out to your vehicle unless someone signs them out. 

MEDICAL INSURANCE: