Back to School Parent Newsletter
Dr. Malinda McKillip, Principal
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Please allow me to take this opportunity to welcome you and your family to the 2023-2024 school year! The staff has been working very hard this summer to prepare for a wonderful new school year with many exciting student activities to complement quality instructional programs. We look forward to welcoming all of our students back to school on Monday, August 28th. We encourage your child to wear red or French Creek spirit wear to kick off the new school year!
We would also like to cordially invite you and your children to attend an Open House/Meet and Greet tomorrow (8/24) from 1:30-3:00 PM. This will be an opportunity for your child to locate his/her classroom and for parents to meet teachers in advance. We hope to see you there!
Please accept my apologies in advance for the length of this newsletter, but it is very important to me that families have all of the information necessary for a very successful school year. I also hope parents will reference this information as needed. Please think of it as one stop shopping! A link for this newsletter will be posted on the French Creek website under Principal's Corner as well.
As always, please reach out with any questions or concerns. It is extremely important that families contact the school directly for accurate information rather than obtaining information from other sources such as non-school sponsored social media sites. While I have found responses posted are very much well intended, the information shared may be inaccurate, outdated, or pertaining to another school within the district. Please contact us and encourage others to contact the school directly to help prevent unnecessary miscommunication and confusion.
I look forward to serving our very special school community throughout the upcoming school year!
Sincerely,
Dr. Malinda McKillip
2023-2024 District Calendar
Student Supply List
First Day of School (Monday August 28th)
Students in grades 1-6 will be directed to the multi-purpose room upon arrival to school. Kindergarten students will be escorted directly to their homerooms. Please assure your child there will be ample teachers and staff on hand to provide any necessary assistance.
Don't forget to encourage your child to wear red or their French Creek spirit wear on the first day of school as we will be celebrating our French Creek school spirit!
Annual Information Update...An Important Must Do!
Below are important instructions to guide you on how to update your child's annual information in Skyward. Thank you in advance for updating your emergency contact information and completing the updates at your earliest convenience.
To complete the Annual Information Update Process:
- Login to Skyward
- Click the Annual Information Update tab on the left
- Select a child
- Fill out the forms on the page
- When finished all steps, click Submit Annual Information Update (If the submit button is greyed out, you must go back and complete all sections.)
After the student’s Annual Information Update has been submitted successfully, you will receive an email confirming your Annual Information Update has been submitted. You will need to complete this process for each child. Can’t remember your Skyward Login information? Click the “Forgot Login/Password” link on the Skyward login screen. Only the primary guardian will have access to complete the full Annual Information Update; however, all parents will be able to update their individual contact information via the Annual Information Update tab. If you have any difficulties, please contact the school office for assistance.
Ongoing Home and School Communication
It is extremely important that there are open lines of communication between home and school. Please expect to receive newsletters from the school and your child’s teacher on a regular basis. It is also very important for you to become familiar with our French Creek website.
The Elementary Parent/Student Handbook is available under the “Quick Links” section of our website. Please review it carefully with your children prior to the first day of school.
Email and Phone Correspondence
As a friendly reminder, please contact the main office during the day at 610-469-5104 with any time-sensitive messages. The office is open from 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM. Calling, rather than emailing, ensures that your message is immediately received by the appropriate staff member. It is important to note that we are busy instructing students during the school day; therefore, we are unable to check email regularly. However, all of your messages are important to us. Please expect a response within approximately 24 hours. As always, please reach out to me with any questions or concerns.
Expectations for Student Behavior
Please take some time to remind your child about appropriate behavior in school. As a reminder our building rules include:
1) Keep our school a safe place by making good choices
2) Be respectful by using kind words and actions
3) Keep hands, feet and objects to oneself
4) Act calmly and quietly at school and on the bus
5) Follow directions the first time they are given
Bussing and Transportation
2023-2024 bus assignments have been posted in Skyward Family Access. If you have questions or concerns regarding your child’s bus schedule, please contact the OJR Transportation Department at 610-469-5187. Please note that the OJR Transportation Department does not allow younger students to exit the bus without an older sibling or parent visibly present at the bus stop. Please help by making sure your child is properly received when they exit the bus each afternoon. If a parent or older sibling is not present to receive a little one, the bus driver will return the child to school.
It is important to note that buses may not be running exactly on schedule the first few days of school. However, if there are any significant delays during the school year, the Transportation Department will send out an email FYI to parents with a revised arrival time.
Please note that bus passes to ride a different bus to or from school, other than the bus assigned to your child, will only be issued for true emergency situations. Bus passes will not be issued the first 3 weeks of school.
Drop Off Procedures
With the start of the school year quickly approaching, I would like to take this opportunity to remind families about student drop off and pick up procedures. Please remember that we begin welcoming students at 8:15 AM. Students should not be dropped off and left unsupervised prior to 8:15 AM.
When dropping off students in the morning, parents should proceed to the rear of the building, travel down to the turn around and then pull up alongside the curb at Door #10. Parents must refrain from pulling out in front of other cars without properly moving through the procession.
Please note that the instructional day begins at 8:30 AM and students should already be in their classrooms at this time. Students arriving after 8:30 AM should be escorted directly to the main office by a parent. There is no parking permitted in the front of the building. This area is needed for our school buses. Please park in the visitor lot and accompany your child to the office for a proper sign-in.
Pick Up Procedures
Please note the school day ends at 3:10 PM. Parents picking up their children should plan to arrive between 3:00-3:05 and proceed to the designated pick-up area located in the rear of the building. Please follow the drop off procedures outlined above and pull up alongside of the curb at Doors 8, 9 and 10. Students will be escorted out to your vehicle. Please make sure to have a sign posted in your passenger side window with your child's first and last name clearly visible. We are asking parents who are new to the building to have a copy of their photo ID ready at parent pick-up for security purposes.
Pick Up Patrol: We will be utilizing PickUp Patrol for all dismissal procedures. Please enter your child's default dismissal plan (Bus Rider, or Everyday Pick-Up). Parents will then enter changes if and when their child's dismissal routine differs from the daily default setting. Please refer to the Pick Up Patrol registration email you should have received. Many thanks to all of our parents who have already registered their children. Paper notes will no longer be accepted after September 5th.
Lastly, please be on time for parent pick up. We do not dismiss the rest of the building to the buses until every student is picked up by a parent and accounted for by the staff.
*Parents must still call the Attendance Line for any absences or late arrivals. Please do not utilize PickUp Patrol for absences.
Food Service and SchoolPay
Please click here to view the parent letter from Chartwells regarding all food service related matters.
SchoolPay is our district's electronic payment processing service. Please visit SchoolPay.com to make online payments for school related fees and registrations. As per District policy and consistent with prior years, account balances from the 2020-2021 school year will be carried forward to the new school year. Please direct SchoolPay questions to 888.88.MYPAY (phone) or email support@schoolpay.com. If you have an email on file with the school, an account has already been created on your behalf. Simply go to SchoolPay and click Find My Account and enter your email address. If you are in need of assistance with any food service concern, please contact the Food Service Office directly at 610-469-5701. Applications for free and reduced lunch are posted on the OJR website under the “Parent” tab.
Breakfast and lunch menus are available on the French Creek website.
Back to School Night
Parent Involvement and PTA
Parent involvement is essential to help promote our students’ learning. All parents, guardians, and teachers are welcome to become members of the PTA regardless of the amount of time you can give to support additional programs and activities. I encourage everyone to actively participate in our PTA and join us for meetings throughout the school year.
If you have not done so already, please take a moment to visit and join our PTA webpage. This site offers parents the opportunity to sign up for email notifications, receive information related to upcoming special events, student clubs, and family togetherness activities in one convenient location. The site also offers parents the option to make online payments for PTA membership and PTA sponsored after school clubs.
Attendance
Student Travel
Please note OJR Board Policy limits non-school sponsored travel to 5 school days per year. For your convenience, the non-school sponsored travel form is available online by clicking here and is also available via Skyward. Please note that we will be discontinuing the use of a printed travel form and transitioning completely to Skyward by January 2024.
To help with the transition to an all-digital system, please click here to watch a brief video showing you how to quickly and conveniently fill out the form using your phone or mobile device.
Please note student travel cannot be approved during the first or last 10 days of school or during PSSA testing. All travel requests must be approved by the building principal in advance. Forms submitted after the fact will not be approved and the absences will be marked unexcused.
Stay Connected
Twitter: @OwenJRobertsFC
Facebook: Click here for FB link.
Instagram: @French_Creek
Photo Opt Out
Volunteer Forms
Please be reminded that all volunteers, homeroom parents, and field trip chaperones must have proper clearances on file with the district via Raptor. Please click here to access the required forms and applications under the “Quick Links” tab on our French Creek website.
Birthday Celebrations
OJR does not allow food-related treats to be distributed for birthday celebrations. If you would like to send in something special for your child’s birthday, please consider sending in a book for the class, pencils, stickers, etc. Thank you in advance for your cooperation and understanding.