Monday, August 30, 2021

Great Day 1!

 Dear Wines Families, 


Thank you for a great first day back at Wines. All in all it was a GREAT day! Bussing is always a bit of a work in progress each year and with changes to start times across our all of our district schools and new routes etc., there were a few hiccups. But I'm confident that over the next few days everything will take shape and become more efficient. I greatly appreciate your patience. 

I want to just share a few updates this evening. 

Driveline: I was pleased with our first Driveline dismissal with the entire school population today. This will only get more efficient over the days to come. Most students were sent home with a yellow envelope today with various items including Driveline numbers to display. Our fifth grade did not receive their envelopes today and a couple of other classes didn't either (busy day in the office!!). Everyone will have theirs by tomorrow. In the meantime, if you do not have your number, please use a homemade sign. 

Lunch: Lunch went very well today with brand new procedures. Everyone ate inside, but we maximized outdoor opportunities. Beginning tomorrow, we will have all 3rd-5th graders eat lunch outside (weather permitting). We will likely add 2nd grade on Wednesday. I'm confident we will be able to have all students outside for lunch before the week is over. While we want to provide outdoor lunch opportunities, it is also crucial that we firmly establish our regular indoor lunch procedures--particularly with our youngest students. We'll plan on eating lunch outside as often as is possible. With that said, I want to reiterate that I feel very good about our seating arrangement/spacing/procedures for indoor lunch. 

Speaking of lunch, I want to thank everyone who has volunteered or has been hired to supervise at lunch. We have a good sized crew. However, we may need more people. There has recently been an increase in applicants. If you have applied online, please send me an email and let me know you applied so we can discuss the opportunity (I have many applicants and at this point I'd like to just speak to Wines families or neighbors). 

Finally, just a quick story. My twin boys are in 8th grade at Forsythe. I am the morning person in our house so I do breakfast, make lunches, etc. Since middle schoolers did not eat lunch at school upon their return last year, it occurred to me this morning that the last school lunch I made for my boys was March 13, 2020 when they were in 6th grade. I packed the same lunch they had always had in the same lunch boxes. This morning my boys looked at me like I was sending them to Kindergarten. They were less than thrilled with the "Go-gurt" I packed. Clearly, 8th grade is a million miles from 6th grade--so we'll have to hit the store this weekend for new lunch boxes and revised menus. 

Have a great night. Looking forward to tomorrow! 

David

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Back to School Reminders: See you Monday!!!

 

Dear Wines Families, 

We are so excited to welcome the kids to school on Monday! In anticipation of Monday, I want to send one final message with important reminders. 

Driveline
You should have received your family Driveline number via email today. Even if your child is not picked up by car, you are still assigned a number. For Monday, please make a homemade display of your number to show in the pickup line. Something the size of a standard piece of paper would be perfect. During the first week of school, your child will be sent home with more permanent number to display. Please let us know if you need more copies during the school year. Please note that siblings have the same Driveline number. If you are parking your car in a legal parking spot and meeting your child at the end of the day, please find the Driveline staff member and show them your Driveline number. I am usually facilitating Driveline at the main entrance and Ms. Schemanske is usually in the Cooley lot. Please note that parking is extremely limited. 

Car Safety
Parents, please plan on having your student enter and leave your car from the passenger side. Also, if your child is in a car seat, please practice with your child to learn to buckle themselves in and out so parents do not need to leave the car. 

School Hours
My apologies that I had a small typo in the Family Handbook with school start and end times. The school hours are 8:45-3:48. First bell is at 8:42. We will begin allowing students to leave cars at approximately 8:40. Please wait until a staff member alerts you that it is time to release kids from your cars. The rolling Driveline dismissal will begin at 3:40. 

IMPORTANT: Parents are currently not allowed to enter the school
I know it is a tradition and a comfort to kids (and parents!) to accompany your child into the school building on the first day of school. Due to COVID mitigation strategies, at the current time parents are not allowed to enter the school building. Please know that we will have lots of adults here to support kids getting where they need to be. If your child is anxious, you may want to consider practicing drop off routines this weekend. 

1st Day Coffee
We will be hosting families for an outdoor fist day coffee on the lawn at the front of the building on Monday starting at 9:00. We ask that if you are joining us, that you drop your child off, leave campus, and then come back to park. This avoids congestion. 

Parent Orientation Video
If you weren’t able to attend last evening’s Parent Orientation, below is a link to the recording. I encourage everyone to view it. 

Also, HERE is a link to the slide deck from last evening. 

As I’ve said more times than I can count over the past month or so, I am so excited for school to start Monday. This is going to be a great year!