PUMA PRESS
January 14, 2021
Dear Prairie Vista Families,
We are looking forward to your children returning to school on Tuesday, January 19th!
As a reminder, it is important for students to bring back all materials that were passed out in August including Chromebooks, chargers, and headphones. Students are permitted to use backpacks and lunch boxes. Prairie Vista will be providing the majority of school supplies for your child, but if there are certain items you specifically want your child to have, you may provide those and send them in his/her backpack. Your child’s teacher will inform you if there are any additional items that will be required or any supplies needed for special projects.
The doors open at 8:10 a.m. and our school day begins at 8:25 a.m. and ends at 2:20 p.m. Students may not be dropped off until 8:10 a.m. If you bring your child to school in the morning, please be sure that he/she is here on time to ensure a positive start for the learning day.
It is your decision to permit your child to walk to school if you live in one of the bordering neighborhoods, or to allow a child to ride his/her bicycle. Students riding a bike to school must wear a helmet and walk his/her bike once they are on Prairie Vista property. If you give your child permission to do this, please write a permanent note that can be kept on file in the front office. While we keep safety as our first concern, please make sure you have spoken with your child about being responsible and making good choices once they have left the school grounds and are out of our field of vision. If it is raining or the temperature is below zero, students will not be allowed to walk or ride bikes home. In addition, if your child is consistently going to be picked up from school by car (either daily or certain days of the week), we would request a note to keep on file as well. These procedures help to streamline dismissal each day.
If you have any questions, please contact me.
In this together,
Keely Twibell
Car Rider Drop-Off and Pick-up Procedures
All parents dropping off or picking up students are required to enter the west entrance to the school. All buses will enter the ‘Main Entrance’ and stage curbside for students to enter and exit the buses. Traffic assistants and school staff will be available to supervise students at all times. No parking is permitted in the bus area at any time.
Upon buses exiting in the AM and PM, please permit the buses to exit onto Brick Road without delay. These buses have a second middle school pickup and are on a tight schedule. Your cooperation with this traffic pattern is crucial to the safety of students, staff, and patrons. A crossing guard will be assisting with traffic in the morning and afternoon.
Because your child’s safety is the highest priority for us, we are going to use a number system for families of students who are regular car riders at dismissal time. Your child will receive a yellow, numbered car tag on the first day of school. Students will also be given a car tag with their number that can be attached to their backpack in grades K- 4. Please have the driver who is transporting your child display the car tag in a spot that is easily viewable by the adult(s) at dismissal duty. The adult on duty will read your vehicle number and notify staff that your child may exit the building.
NOTE: If you find you need someone else to pick up your child, you can photograph the car tag and share it with that person. If that person can show us the photo on their phone, we will consider it your permission to dismiss your child to that individual. All persons picking up students must be listed on the student's Emergency Card AND have the car tag or a photo of the car tag. For the safety of your child(ren), cars without a car tag or no photo of the car tag will be asked to park and go into the office and show proper identification in order to pick up your child(ren).
At this time, we have a large number of families that will be transporting their child(ren) to and from school. In order to minimize the traffic congestion, families with children in grades one through five will start the drop off process at 8:10. Families of kindergarten students and siblings: We are requesting that you do not arrive at Prairie Vista until 8:15. We understand that this is only a 5-minute difference, but this difference will help with the flow of traffic.
Traffic assistants will be present to help load your children and guide traffic. Only curbside loading will be allowed. Parents/guardians are not to get out of their cars. If needed, one of our assistants will be present to help assist your child.
Arrival
Arrival begins at 8:10 a.m. for families in grades 1-5 and 8:15 a.m for kindergarten families and siblings. Please do not drop off your child before a staff member signals you to do so.
Students need to be ready to exit the car as soon as the car stops.
Staff members will wave you forward and let you know when to stop.
For their safety, students MUST exit the car from the passenger side.
Parents must stay in the car.
At all times, stay in line along the curb.
If arriving after the tardy bell, students must be escorted in by an adult and signed in at the office.
Car tags are not needed for arrival.
Please do not talk on your cell phone when you are in the car line.
Dismissal
Dismissal begins at 2:15 p.m.
Display your car tag so that it is easily viewable. If you do not have a number displayed, the staff will ask to see a picture of the tag.
Staff members will wave you forward and let you know when to stop. Even if you see your child, continue to pull forward and your child will come to you. This allows for several vehicles to pick up children at the same time.
For their safety, students MUST enter the car from the passenger side.
Please do not talk on your cell phone when you are in the car line.
Your cooperation and patience with the traffic and student safety while visiting Prairie Vista is greatly appreciated. Remember, this is for the protection of your child and the safety of all.
COVID-19 SCHOOL ATTENDANCE REFERENCE SHEET
Attached below is a resource for parents that helps provide information regarding when students should isolate and quarantine and for how long. This resource is provided by the Indiana Department of Health.
Students who are isolated or quarantined will NOT be enrolled into a virtual classroom. They will remain under the guidance and instruction of their current in-person teacher who will provide make-up work for the time the student is absent.
Back to School Checklist...
PRIORITY::
Check with your child EACH morning for signs of illness. - See graphic below
If a child has a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher, they should NOT come to school. Email prairievistaattendance@phm.k12.in.us
If your child has a sore throat, a cough, diarrhea, severe headache, vomiting, or body aches, consider calling their doctor immediately.
If your child has had close contact with a COVID-19 case, they should NOT go to school. Please contact the school to inform us of a known exposure.
OTHER ITEMS::
Students must wear a mask on the bus and into the school Day 1. (NOTE: Prairie Vista masks and lanyards will also be distributed to students once they are at school.)
Refillable water bottles may be brought to school. (NOTE: Make sure their name & grade level is prominently displayed. Water bottles will be thrown away if they are left behind with no name).
Please consider using a brown disposable lunch bag as well as a disposable drink (like a field trip lunch) for your child's lunch IF you are packing. This will help the staff tremendously with time management as we will not be using classroom lunch totes for safety reasons.
MASK INFORMATION
NEW EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ABSENCES & CHANGES IN DISMISSAL SCHEDULE
Please email prairievistaattendance@phm.k12.in.us and your child's teacher to let the school know of an absence, late arrival, early dismissal, or change in dismissal schedule. Please put your child's name and grade in the subject line.
ALL CHANGES ARE DUE BY 12 PM - NO EXCEPTIONS.
MEDICATION:
TRANSPORTATION:
Tools for accessing your child’s school bus information:
Want to know your child’s bus route? Enter your home address and infoFinder i will show you route information such as scheduled stop times and locations.
Bus route information:
To change the student’s home address, use this form.
infoFinder i is the first place to look for bus route information!
Calling your school office is a good way to verify bus routes, stops, and schedules
To request a review of a current bus stop, use this form.
To request an alternate bus stop location, use this form.
*Adobe Acrobat Reader will be required to view the pdfs on this page. If you do not have Adobe Acrobat Reader, please visit Adobe’s website, at this link www.get.adobe.com/reader/, to download your free version.
Avoid your child standing at the bus stop in the rain or and snow by tracking your child’s bus in REAL-TIME! With GPS tracking, you can track your child’s bus LIVE letting you also know exactly what time your child is dropped off. Follow the steps to create your account today! You can use Here Comes the Bus on your desktop, laptop, or tablet. Make sure to also download the app and use it on your smartphone.
Kids Club Information
Cold Weather—Warm Clothing
Cold weather is here...
Please remember to send children with adequate outerwear for recess. Outside recess generally occurs if the outside temperature (wind chill included) is above 0 degrees. Because children are on the playground for approximately 25-30 minutes either before or after lunch, it is important that your child is dressed appropriately during the cold weather months: coat, hat, mittens, boots, and snow pants.
If the playground area is snow-covered and your child does not have snow pants and boots, they will have to remain on the shoveled pavement during recess.
Return to Learn Plan
Below is a copy of the Prairie Vista Return to Learn Plan. Our goal is to protect every member of our community by adopting precautions that are known to reduce the potential for virus transmission in our school community. We are keenly aware that the situation is very fluid and that there are many different pieces of information coming out every day. We will make all decisions based on guidance from the appropriate agencies and we will keep you updated.
Here is a link to the P-H-M Return to Learn, Re-entry Plan for Fall 2020, and a link to the Answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ).