Pine Tree Primary School
Fall Family Newsletter
Upcoming Events
School Information
Arrival and Dismissal
Please understand that our buses will take longer to get your children to their after school destination during the first few weeks of school. Car lines will also be longer during the first few weeks. Be patient with us! Our bus drivers are learning new faces and new places!
All transportation changes must be made in the office or sent in a note. Transportation changes will not be made over the phone at anytime during the 2019-2020 school year.
The school day is from 7:35-3:05. It is important that students stay all day. When students are checked out early, it disrupts the learning in the classroom for the teacher and the other students. Our schedule lends itself for students to be instructed in math at the end of the day.
Drop Off Procedures
Drop off Lines open at 7:05 and close at 7:35. Teachers at drop off must return inside at this time because students are entering classrooms. Please make sure to be in the line by 7:30. Being in the line at 7:35 does not guarantee your child will be let in through the entrance. Once teachers go inside at 7:35 any cars remaining in line will need to go to office.
Any student dropped off after 7:35, must be walked into the office and signed into the computer. Students may not be dropped off outside without school staff available to meet them.
Students should be ready to exit the car when you enter the drop off zone. Have backpacks ready to go. Please train your child how to buckle up, unbuckle and exit car on own. Greeters will be on sidewalk to welcome your child into the school building.
At 7:40 a.m. your child will be counted tardy.
Main Office Parking Area
Bus and Van Riders will be picked up in the bus lane at the main office entrance off Silver Falls Road.
Bus lane is for buses and vans only. There is no parking in fire lanes. Fire lanes are indicated by a red painted curb labeled “Fire Lane, No Parking.”
If dropping off a student at the office, please park in a parking spot and walk the student into the office.
Primary Traffic Flow
Silver Falls Road Entrance
Kindergarten
Students need to sit in the back seat passenger side of the car so that they do not have to walk around the car. Students need to be able to buckle and unbuckle themselves.
Drop Off 7:05-7:35
Students will exit the car by themselves at Drop Off.
Pick up 3:10 to until the last car
Pine Tree Road Entrance
Prekindergarten and Siblings from Kindergarten
Students need to sit in the back seat driver side of the car so that they do not have to walk around the car. Students need to be able to buckle and unbuckle themselves.
Drop Off 7:05-7:35
Students will exit the car by themselves at Drop Off.
Pick up 3:10 to until the last car
Students who are picked up late, will need to be picked up in the office.
The ABCS of Pine Tree Primary
Attendance: Please see that your child attends school every day except in cases of illness or emergency. Send a note when he/she returns to school. Students should arrive at school by 7:35 AM or they will be considered tardy. Drop off begins at 7:05.
Buses and Pick Ups: Please understand that our buses will take longer to get your children to their after school destination during the first few weeks of school. Car lines will also be longer during the first few weeks. Our bus drivers are learning new faces and new places!
Change of Clothes: Please leave a change of clothes in your child’s backpack all year.
Accidents happen, milk spills, and children get dirty on the playground! (Consider the season and growth spurts!) Closed-toed shoes are best for playground and gym time!
Dismissal: The school day ends at 3:10 p.m. Anyone picking up your child MUST have a car tag. Our bus transportation policy is that students maintain the same drop-off address daily, unless given a permanent change. Transportation changes must be made in the office.
Data Notebook: Your child will come home with a “Take-home Folder” each day. Please check the folder daily to keep up with what your student is learning. Our teachers will send notes and student work, as well as notify parents about student behaviors. If you have a note for your child’s teacher, PLEASE BE SURE TO PLACE IT IN THE FOLDER. Folders are checked daily. Teachers do not check backpacks.
Exercise: Students get 50 minutes of recess a day. Wear shoes that are playground safe!
Field Trips: Our classes will attend Ecoland twice this year. Permission slips must be turned in for your child to attend. Limited adults are allowed to attend due to facility rules.
Grades: Look for updated data in your child’s data notebook 3 times a nine weeks. More information will be sent home at the end of the 1st 9 Weeks.
Happy Birthday: Celebrations may occur during the last 30 minutes of the school day. Items must be pre-packaged and dropped off in the office. No parents may attend. Contact your child’s teacher to set up a day to celebrate.
Independence: In Primary school, students will learn how to work independently and develop skills to do work on their own. Teachers do not buckle students in at the end of the day. Please teach your child how to buckle their seat belt.
Join: We are asking you to join us to give your child the best experience at the Primary. If you ever need to speak with your child’s teacher, either send a note, email or call the school to set up a conference.
Know: Help your child know what items belong to them. Please be sure to label (on the outside) backpacks and lunchboxes. Write your child’s name inside coats, etc.
Lunch: Parents may eat with students beginning on September 9, 2019. NO LUNCH VISITORS ON WEDNESDAYS. On the webpage you are provided access to put money in your child’s lunch account. You will need the student id number for these accounts.
Money: Primary can only accept exact change or check. Label money with student name, teacher, and purpose of money.
Newsletters: A class Newsletter will be sent home every week. This will provide you with what your child will be learning for the following week. It also provides you with important information happening at school.
Nametags and Numbers: Please have your child wear their name tag the first 3 days of school. Students will have a class number that is from 1-22 to learn. Students will have a 5 digit lunch and computer lab number to learn.
Office: Please contact the office and let your child’s teacher know if there are changes in contact information. It is important that we are able to reach you. Only people listed in Skyward Family Access can be on campus or pick up your child. Have your ID ready when you come to the office.
Parties: We will have various parties and special events throughout the school year. Please look for information from your child’s teacher on how you can participate in these special events.
Pictures: If you opt out of pictures at registration, your child will not be in the yearbook, class pictures, or on the website.
Quality Work: Be looking for a letter about how to access your students Seesaw Family Journal to see the great work your child is doing in class!
Rest: Get your rest every night! Children at the Primary need about 10-11 hours of sleep a night.
School Supplies: If you did not bring them to “Meet the Teacher”, please drop off your child’s school supplies in the office!
Prekindergarten Supply Drop off is August 13 or 21.
Kindergarten Supply Drop off is August 28.
School supplies may run out during the year. Donations are always welcome.
Transportation: Transportation tags will be placed on your child’s backpack the first day. Please leave these tags on your backpack all year to help assist up with transportation each day. Kindergarteners will have a breakfast tag on their backpacks.
All transportation changes must be made in the office or sent in a note. Transportation changes will not be made over the phone.
Updating Information: Changes in phone numbers, addresses, guardianship, and transportation need to be made in the office.
Volunteer: If you would like to volunteer in the classroom, sign up on the parent website: http://www.ptisd.org/page/Home.Parents
Welcome: Parents and other visitors are welcome at the Primary. All visitors must check in at the office to receive a badge from our Raptor system. Please have your ID ready to be scanned.
X Y Z: We’re eXcited to work with You and Your child this year. Make sure he/she gets plenty of ZZZZZZZ’s each night as we have a fantastic year planned!
School Attendance
All In, Every Day!
Pine Tree Primary Attendance
School Goal: 97% of students at school, everyday
School Wide Incentives
98% Attendance- Dress Up Day
97% Attendance- Dance Party in the Hall at the end of the day
Class Incentives
100% Perfect Attendance per class- Announced on Announcements plus extra 10 minutes of recess
Thank you for helping your student be on time, every day.
Pre K students who are absent, tardy, or checked out early more than 10 days could be removed from the program if attendance does not improve.
Kindergarten students with more than 10 absences are subject to truancy laws. This may involve a court appearance as well as summer school or retention. Students with 18 or more absences (excused and unexcused) may lose credit for kindergarten and be required to attend summer school.
Guidelines for School Attendance because of illness
Your child will have many new experiences during this school year and that may include illnesses from a 24-hour virus to head lice! If your child is running fever (anything above 100), experiencing diarrhea, and/or vomiting. Please keep the student home for a minimum of 24 hours after the fever, diarrhea, and vomiting have stopped without the use of medication. This way we can protect the children in the classroom and your child from catching something else while their own defenses are down. Please send a note to the teacher when your child returns to school after an illness. Also, please send a copy of any medical information we might need (such as emergency reports or new orders from their doctor).
Attendance Tips
School days are based on minutes not days. We want your child to have the best quality education. In order to ensure that your child receives the best education we need your help.When your child is late, tardy or picked-up early they are missing quality learning time. It is important that you get your child to school on time. Doors open at 7:05 - 7:35. You can either drop them off in the office or drive through the car line. Bus transportation is available if you would like your child to ride the bus. Only our campus PK & K ride our buses. If your child is out because of a doctor’s visit please bring the excuse so we can excuse the absence.
Only 3 parent note’s will be excused per semester either handwritten or via email. All others will be counted unexcused.
Your child will receive after school detention if they have 3 tardies, 3 unexcused absences or the child has been signed out early 5 times.
The safety of all of our students is our utmost priority, and we must make sure that all our children leave in the custody of the appropriate parties. For that to happen, we only allow children to leave in our automobile lines after school hours. To help with this process, we ask for a cut off time of 2:30 pm for students to be checked out from our office. After this time, it becomes very difficult for our staff to maintain order with our dismissal process.
Of course, we ask for these instances to be limited to emergency situations, and all early check outs are documented through our attendance system.
Students with excessive absences in Prekindergarten will be removed from the program. Students with excessive absences in Kindergarten will be referred to Truancy Court. More than 10 absences, excused or unexcused, per semester are considered excessive.
Find us on Social Media!
Pine Tree Primary School
Email: cparsons@ptisd.org
Website: http://www.ptisd.org/page/pps.homepage
Location: 180 Silver Falls Road, Longview, TX, USA
Phone: (903)295-5091
Facebook: facebook.com/pinetreeprimary
Twitter: @pinetreeprimary