The Skippack Star
September 30, 2022
Weekly Message from Skippack Elementary
Dear Skippack Families,
I hope you had a good week. Thank you to the parents/guardians who attended our first Home and School meeting of the 22-23 school year. We value your support and partnership. Please see below for more information about our next Home and School meeting in October. All parents/guardians are welcome!
A friendly reminder that there will be NO SCHOOL on Wednesday, October 5th. Schools are CLOSED for the Yom Kippur Holiday.
In this week's Skippack Star we have information about the following: Rescheduled Picture Retake Day, Safe to Say Information, Library Birthday Book Information, Perkiomen Valley Hiring Event, Volunteer Clearances, Special Education Resource Event, Power Packs, Free Breakfast Information, daily operational procedures and Home and School updates.
On behalf of everyone at Skippack, I wish you a wonderful weekend!
Warm Regards,
Leslie Nassoiy
Skippack Elementary Principal
Important Dates
10/5 - Holiday/Yom Kippur- NO SCHOOL
10/10 - In-Service Day - NO SCHOOL
10/13 - Walk-a-thon (RAIN DATE)
10/14 - Walk-a-thon
10/19- Half Day In-Service - *Schedule forthcoming
10/21 - Trunk or Treat
10/28 - Trunk or Treat (RAIN DATE)
11/2 - Picture Retake Day
Week of October 4th
- Monday, October 3rd: E Day
- Tuesday, October 4th: F Day
- Wednesday, October 5th: NO SCHOOL
- Thursday, October 6th: A Day
- Friday, October 7th : B Day
Picture Retake Day RESCHEDULED
Safe 2 Say Presentation
Birthday Books
Volunteer Clearances Information
Perkiomen Valley School District is thankful for the support of its many volunteers. If you are interested in attending future field trips and/or volunteer at our upcoming school events, you will need to have your volunteer clearances on file, please read further to understand the details. Please consult the Volunteer Handbook as well as the information and FAQ’s below to learn more. All individuals volunteering/chaperoning as program volunteers in any capacity within the Perkiomen Valley School District are required to complete the following clearances and forms:
Pennsylvania Child Abuse History Clearance (free for volunteers)
Pennsylvania Criminal History Clearance (free for volunteers)
FBI Federal Criminal History Record Report (fingerprinting) or the Volunteer Affirmation Form if you have lived continuously in Pennsylvania for the last 10 years (free)
Volunteer Handbook Acknowledgement Form that states you have read our handbook (see page 5 of the handbook)
Tuberculosis Risk Assessment Questionnaire (see page 6 of the handbook)
Once you have completed the necessary documents, you should submit all paperwork to the Volunteer Coordinator in your child’s building. (The Volunteer Coordinator list is located on the pvsd.org.) If you have a child in more than one building, you do not need to repeat this process for every school. Submit your clearances to one building and your information will be included in a district-wide database that all schools can access. YOU SHOULD RETAIN ORIGINALS FOR YOUR FILES. Do not bring clearance forms to the District Office.
All three clearance reports must be renewed every five years. If you are not sure how old your clearances are, please email Karen Zucker at kzucker@pvsd.org for information.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR RETURNING VOLUNTEERS/CHAPERONES
If your current clearances are more than five years old, you will need to submit a new set of Pennsylvania clearances and the fingerprint report Registration ID number/Act 153 Volunteer Affidavit to your child’s building. Please keep in mind that you will need to re-submit all of your clearances before each five-year period has expired. Examples: If you obtained your clearances in June 2015, you will have to re-submit your clearances again prior June 2020 in order to remain in compliance. PV Volunteer Procedures
Special Education Spotlight
Perkiomen Valley Hiring Event
*Parent Pick Up Notes/Emails ~ Important!
If you plan to pick up your child during dismissal, please remember to send in a note or an email to our office staff, pjacobson@pvsd.org and/or syanulevich@pvsd.org and your child’s classroom teacher. Please include your child’s name, date of the pick up and the adult who will be picking up your child. This is to ensure an efficient pick up procedure process and the safety of our students.
Educational Trip Forms
Attendance Information
Attendance Information ~ If you have a child who will be absent or missing class time, please send an email (from the email you have listed in ParentVue) to: SkAttendance@pvsd.org. This will count as your call-out AND parent excuse. Please indicate in the email the date of absence, student’s grade and the reason for the absence. An absence is considered unexcused when the child’s school has not received an email providing an acceptable reason for the absence within a 3-day period. Parents may also call our attendance line at: 610-409-6060, option 1. If you do this, you would still need to submit an email with the above information in order for it to be excused. Any medical notes should be scanned or sent in with your child, send to pjacobson@pvsd.org.
Dismissal Change?
If you need to make an unexpected dismissal change for your child during the day, please contact the main office via telephone (610-409-6060) by 2:30 PM, if possible.
PV Power Packs
PV Power Packs is a weekend food program for students experiencing food insecurity. Bags of food, including 2 breakfast items, 2 lunch items, 2 snacks, and 2 fruits, are sent home with students prior to every weekend. There is no financial information required to participate in this program and students pick up their bags from their counselor or designated person every week.
For more information regarding how to receive a Power Pack for your child or to make donations to the Power Packs program, click here: https://www.pvsd.org/families/pv-power-packs/
Free Breakfast Program - Opt Out
Governor Tom Wolf announced free school breakfast for all students across the commonwealth this school year. The Universal Free Breakfast Program will go into effect on October 3, 2022 and run through the end of the 2022-23 school year. Note: this applies to breakfast only. For lunch, families in need can apply for the free or reduced school lunch program. Visit our food service webpage for information. Below is additional information about the free/reduced lunch program as well as the option to “opt out” of free breakfast meals for your child.
The free breakfast program will be available at each school. Students interested in obtaining breakfast will be expected to report to the cafeteria upon arrival at school. They will need to input their 6-digit ID when picking up their meal. They will eat their breakfast in the cafeteria prior to reporting to class.
We are aware that some families may prefer that their students not participate in the free breakfast at school (in some instances last year, students were eating two breakfasts - one at home prior to school and one after arriving at school). Families may choose to “opt their child(ren) out” from obtaining breakfast using this form. If a family opts out, the student’s account will be flagged and breakfast will not be available to them. You may change this preference at any time by contacting our Food Service department.
Free & Reduced Lunch Program
The federal funding to provide free meals expires with the start of 2022-23 school year. This means families will need to apply for the free or reduced school meals program if needed. Visit our food service webpage for information and to access the application. In the event you need assistance, do not hesitate to reach out to a representative of the Food Services department.
Flexible Instructional Days (FID) in 22-23
The Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) approved the use of Flexible Instructional Days (FID) as an alternate form of instruction in response to inclement weather or other emergencies. On a FID day, instruction will be virtual. FID assist schools in meeting the required 180 student days. PA Schools may use up to five (5) FID per school year - in PVSD, we will utilize FID when all 3 inclement weather days built into the district calendar are used.
For more information and and the elementary FID schedule, CLICK HERE.
Home and School Information
WALK-A-THON
Friday, October 14th
Students come out to the fields (located behind the school) by grade and complete as many laps as possible in 45 minutes (Kindergarten will walk for 30 minutes). All parents are invited to attend during their child’s time slot and cheer on the students! Please plan to check in at the Home and School Welcome area outside, as all visitors will need to provide their ID to be on the school grounds. It’s a great day of exercise, fun, and school spirit! Email us directly at skippackwalkathon@gmail.com with any questions.
Here's the class schedule:
9:00 - 9:45 am: 2nd Grade
9:50 - 10:35 am: 1st Grade
10:45- 11:15 am: AM Kindergarten
11:25 - 12:10 pm: 3rd Grade
12:45 - 1:30 pm: 4th Grade
1:35 - 2:05 pm: PM Kindergarten
2:10 - 2:55 pm: 5th Grade
TRUNK OR TREAT
Friday, October 21st from 6pm-7:30pm
Join us Friday, October 21st from 6pm-7:30pm at Skippack Elementary and enjoy a night full of fun for our Skippack Community. Children are welcome to dress up and enjoy a safe trick or treating experience. We will need lots of trunkers and candy donations this year. Rain date is October 28th.
SPIRIT WEAR Closes October 23rd
Please support Home and School and show your school spirit!
https://skippackelem.itemorder.com/shop/home/
HOME AND SCHOOL MEETING October 25th at 9:30am, Faculty Lounge
All parents are welcome to attend and this is a great way to hear what is going on and get involved! Meetings alternate between mornings helda t 9:30am in the Faculty Lounge and 7:00pm in the school library. For information on getting your clearances to volunteer and attend field trips, please visit: https://www.pvsd.org/families/volunteer-procedures/
Join us on our FACEBOOK page to stay up to date on all the latest information. We are very careful to only allow current staff and parents/caregivers of students at Skippack to join the page, so please answer the questions that pop up after your request to join the group. If you have requested to join, but have not answered the questions, your request will not be accepted. https://www.facebook.com/groups/skippackhomeandschool/
If you have any questions about Home & School or would like more information, contact us at skippackhs@gmail.com.
Skippack Elementary
Email: lnassoiy@pvsd.org
Website: www.pvsd.org
Location: 4081 Heckler Road, Collegeville, PA, USA
Phone: (610)409-6060
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skippackelem
Twitter: @Skippack_E