Welcome to the 2018/2019 school year! There are a variety of communication methods in our school community - ParentSquare, www.glenparkschool.org, direct email, bulletin boards, Class Dojo, Bloomz, teacher newsletters, phone calls, our information kiosk (in the Brompton yard), and we even have a Glen Park School Facebook page. It is now also possible for you to leave a message on our main phone number in a voice mailbox that is checked each morning.
In addition to all these other ways, I will be sending a monthly newsletter with school wide information, district updates, and other news like that, in English and Spanish. This will be sent on paper and on ParentSquare in order to reach as many families as we can. In that spirit, here is the August newsletter!
Our instructional day starts at 8:40 am and ends at 2:40 pm. In an effort to protect as much instructional time as possible, and to be sure we are providing a student-centered experience during those hours, the Instructional Leadership Team is encouraging a shortened, student-centered Clap-In three days a week. Our rationale is that students not be asked to be silent in a group of 400+ for very long for announcements that are not directed to them, and the added benefit is that the classes scheduled for the first block of specials will get their full time for PE, art, dance, etc. So, we will do extended announcements for the community on Monday and Friday mornings and shortened announcements intended for students on Tuesday through Thursday. If we find this needs adjusting, we can always do that.
It is understandable that students will arrive late or need to leave early from time to time for medical appointments, family emergencies, and even on mornings when it is especially hard to get things moving. If your child arrives after clap-in and before 9:10am, they should go to their classroom. The teacher will mark them as tardy in the attendance system. If your child arrives after 9:10, they need to go to the office and get a tardy pass from Elizabeth. The teacher will mark them as tardy past 30 minutes in the attendance system. If you need to pick up your child early, please go to the main office to sign your child out. Elizabeth will call to have your child meet you at the office. Please do not go to the classroom.
Thank you for a wonderful first day of the school year! It was great to see our community together again after the summer break.