Hello Parkwood Families,

I hope everyone stayed safe, dry and kept power over this stormy weekend!  I also want to thank all of my Parkwood families for their patience and flexibility as we navigated our first remote learning day.  Please make sure that all students bring their Chromebooks fully charged and ready for another week of amazing learning at Parkwood. 

Here are some reminders for the week:

Breakfast & Lunch:  I want to remind all of our parents that this year breakfast remains free at all DPS schools.  However, lunch is no longer free and child nutrition will be sending balances to families this month for the beginning of the year.  Lunch is currently $3.75 daily and if you do not have money on your child’s account, that balance has accumulated.  If you need assistance with lunch this school year, please fill out this link or request a form from the front office.  Ms. Jacqueline Boone, our school secretary, will be happy to assist you.

Teacher Workday:  Wednesday, October 5^th is a teacher workday for all traditional calendar DPS schools.  Students will not attend school on Wednesday.  Please refer to the district school calendar provided and linked here for important dates.

Progress Reports:  All families should have received access to their student’s progress reports on September 28^ththrough their parent portal.  If you do not yet have a parent portal account or cannot access your account, please reach out to Ms. Joann Brosh, our data manager at joann_brosh@dpsnc.net and/or Ms. Jacqueline Boone, our school secretary at Jacqueline_campbell@dpsnc.net, to assist with creating or accessing your account.  Please request a paper copy through your child’s teacher if you cannot access your parent portal.  It is imperative that you gain access to your account immediately to receive future progress reports and report cards.

COVID Protocols and Information:

As we move into the cold and flu season, we are seeing more students with symptoms.  If your child has a fever and is showing signs or symptoms that are COVID-19 related it is important to keep your child at home to ensure they receive rest and are symptom free without medication for 24 hours before returning to school.  If your child has symptoms, please get your child tested to ensure they are not positive for COVID-19.  This year we will continue to follow protocols that will help us limit exposure and contact trace COVID-19 within our school buildings.  It is important to notify your child’s teacher when your student is sick or has tested positive for COVID-19.  If your child test positive, they will need to quarantine for five days and will need to mask when they return for an additional five days.  We will continue to test students at the school but at a limited capacity this year.  If you are interested in getting your child tested at the school, please fill out the COVID-19 testing Online Student Registration link.  Please refer to this slide for additional information about COVID-19 protocols.

Arrival, Dismissal, Tardies & Attendance:

As an early start school, we know as the temperature begins to drop and students are waking up while it is still dark, it gets harder to get to school on time.  Please have your student at school by the instructional bell at 7:45am.  It is very important that students are in their classrooms and ready for instruction at the beginning of the day.  This sets the tone for the day and creates an environment for academic success.  All students that arrive after 7:45am, are tardy, and will need to report to the main lobby to give their name to the front office.  Please do not drop students off at the top lot after 7:45am.  The black gate to the E building will be closed and students will have to walk down the sidewalk to enter into the main building.  Please bring your student to the front of the school after 7:45am.  All students in both carpool lines are to be dropped off at the specified location where staff are available to guide them to the school building.  Please do not drop off students in the parking lot.  This is dangerous and can lead to an accident.  We want to ensure all of our students are safe at all times.  Dismissal procedures begin at 2:15pm and end at 2:45pm.  Please make sure you have your student picked up by that time.

Parkwood Reads to Succeed:

At Parkwood, we support any initiative that promotes early reading readiness with our students.  As a school, we want all of our Parkwood Panthers Pre-K through fifth grade to love books and to be the best readers they can be!  We know that we build great readers both at home and at school.  Every week we will be sharing tips so you can help your readers at home throughout the year.

Our first tip is to make reading fun at home and set it up as a happy time together.  Some suggestions are to tell bedtime stories, laugh with a joke book, snuggle on the sofa with a picture book.  You can make a weekly library date with your child and go to the park afterwards.  Other ways are to read a good cookbook and pick a recipe to make together.  The idea is to be intentional and create fun reading moments on a regular basis. This week make it your goal to fit in one happy reading routine a week, and get started now!

Visitor Information:

We are extremely happy to welcome our families back into the building.  However, there are still guidelines we are expected to follow to ensure the safety and health of our staff, students and families.  Parents and guardians of students in all grades are no longer permitted to walk students to class.  This does not include parent/teacher conferences, parent meetings, or in-person school hosted events.  This is to reduce traffic within the school building at a very busy time in the morning and limit interactions and exposures for all of our school community.  All visitors must adhere to current masking policies, at this time mask are recommended but are not required.

There are many ways to stay connected to our community.  Please follow Parkwood Elementary on our Facebook page and website.

Please reach out to me if you have any questions or need assistance!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend and as always Parkwood Panthers…Show PRIDE!