The Principal's Pen
September 9, 2022
We're still smiling about the new school year!
Mrs. Harrison's first graders
Kindergarten Builders
Ms. Shuster's second graders
Ms. Hand's Second graders learning the Norms
Ms. Hand's Second graders learning the Norms
Reading time in Ms. Shuster's class
Third grade learners
Third grade learners
Third grade learners
Student Attendance and Punctuality
Dear Julian Curtiss families,
To fulfill our Julian Curtiss goal of educating the whole child in a collaborative learning environment, regular and punctual attendance is vital to the teaching-learning process. Showing up for school has a huge impact on a student’s academic success starting in kindergarten and continuing through high school. Even as children grow older and more independent, families play a key role in making sure students get to school safely every day and understand why attendance is so important for success in school and in life.
Regular attendance develops patterns of behavior essential to professional and personal success in life. Students must be present to maximize their experiences and success, as well as the success of their classmates. Punctuality and attendance are important skills.
We realize some absences are unavoidable due to health problems or other circumstances. But, we also know that when students miss too much school— regardless of the reason – it can cause them to fall behind academically. Your child is less likely to succeed if he or she is chronically absent—which means missing 18 or more days over the course of an entire school year.
Research shows:
Children chronically absent in kindergarten and 1st grade are much less likely to read at grade level by the end of 3rd grade.
By 6th grade, chronic absence is a proven early warning sign for students at risk for dropping out of school.
By 9th grade good attendance can predict graduation rates even better than 8th grade test scores.
Absences can add up quickly. A child is chronically absent if he or she misses just two days every month!!
Clearly going to school regularly matters!
We don’t want your child to fall behind in school and get discouraged. Please ensure that your child attends school every day and arrives on time. Here are a few practical tips to help support regular attendance:
Make sure your children keep a regular bedtime and establish a morning routine.
Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before.
Ensure your children go to school every day unless they are truly sick
Avoid scheduling vacations or doctor’s appointments when school is in session.
Talk to teachers and mental health staff for advice if your children feel anxious about going to school.
Develop back up plans for getting to school if something comes up. Call on a family member, neighbor, or another parent to take your child to school.
Please note that we review absences and tardies when students want to run for leadership positions in grades 3-5 such as Student Council. Candidates cannot have more than two tardies on their record to initially run for office and we do require that representatives sustain good attendance and promptness throughout the year.
I have added the text from the Greenwich Public Schools Board Policy below. Please take time to review this policy .
Let us know how we can best support you and your children so that they can show up for school on time every day. We want your child to be successful in school! If you have any questions or need more information please contact your child’s school.
Sincerely,
Trish McGuire
GPS Board Policy on Attendance
Greenwich Public Schools
Greenwich, CT
Students
Attendance
Connecticut state law requires parents to cause their children, ages five through eighteen inclusive, to attend school regularly during the hours and terms the public school is in session. Parents or persons having control of a child five years of age have the option of not sending the child to school until ages six or seven. Mandatory attendance terminates upon graduation or withdrawal with written parent/guardian consent at age seventeen.
A student is considered to be “in attendance” if present at his/her assigned school, or an activity sponsored by the school such as but not limited to (e.g. field trips, distance learning, internships), for at least half of the regular school day. A student who is serving an out-of-school suspension or expulsion should always be considered present. A student not meeting the definition of “in attendance” shall be considered absent.
School-based and school-sponsored learning experiences are the basis for public school education. Time lost from these experiences is lost instructional opportunity. The Board of Education requires that accurate records be kept of the attendance of each child, and students should not be absent from school without parental knowledge and consent.
Definitions (related to chronic absenteeism)
Chronically absent child: An enrolled student whose total number of absences at any time during a school year is equal to or greater than ten percent of the total number of days that such student has been enrolled at such school during such school year.
Absence: An excused absence, unexcused absence or disciplinary absence, as those terms are defined by the State Board of Education pursuant to C.G.S. 10-198b.
District chronic absenteeism rate: The total number of chronically absent children in the previous school year divided by the total number of children under the jurisdiction of the Board of Education for such school year.
School chronic absenteeism rate: The total number of chronically absent children for a school in the previous school year divided by the total number of children enrolled in such school for such school year.
Excuses
Note: The use of the state approved definitions of “excused” and “unexcused” absences are for state purposes for the reporting of truancy. Districts are not precluded from using separate definitions of such absences for their internal uses such as involving decisions on areas such as promotion and grading.
A student’s absence from school shall be considered “excused” if written documentation of the reason for such absence has been submitted within ten (10) school days of the student’s return to school and meets the following criteria:
For absences one through nine, a student’s absences from school are considered “excused” when the student’s parent/guardian approves such absence and submits appropriate documentation to school officials.
Such documentation includes a signed note from the student’s parent/guardian, a signed note from a school official that spoke with the parent/guardian regarding the absence, or a note confirming the absence by the school nurse or by a licensed medical professional, as appropriate. Documentation should explain the nature of and the reason for the absence as well as the length of the absence. Separate documentation must be submitted for each incidence of absenteeism.
For the tenth absence and all absences thereafter, a student’s absences from school are considered excused for the following reasons:
Student illness (must be verified by a licensed medical professional to be deemed excused, regardless of the length of the absence);
Student’s observance of a religious holiday;
Death in the student’s family or other emergency beyond the control of the student’s family;
Mandated court appearances (documentation required);
The lack of transportation that is normally provided by a district other than the one the student attends (no parental documentation required);
Extraordinary educational opportunities pre-approved by District administration and to be in accordance with Connecticut State Department of Education guidance.
A student’s absence from school shall be considered unexcused unless:
The absence meets the definition of an excused absence and meets the documentation requirements; or
The absence meets the definition of a disciplinary absence, which is the result of school or District disciplinary action and are excluded from these State Board of Education approved definitions.
When the school in which a child is enrolled receives no notification from a parent or other person having control of the child is aware of the child’s absence, a reasonable effort shall be made by school personnel or volunteers under the direction of school personnel to notify by telephone and by mail or email such parent or other person having control of the child.
Responsibility for completion of missed classwork lies with the student, not the teacher. Unless a student has an extended illness, all make-up work will be complete within five days after the student returns to school.
Excused Absences for Children of Service Members
An enrolled student, age five to eighteen, inclusive, whose parent or legal guardian is an active duty member of the armed forces, as defined in section 27-103, and has been called to duty for, is on leave from, or has immediately returned from deployment to a combat zone or combat support posting, shall be granted ten days of excused absences in any school year and, at the discretion of the Board of Education, additional excused absences to visit such child’s parent or legal guardian with respect to such leave or deployment of the parent or legal guardian. In the case of such excused absences such child and parent or legal guardian shall be responsible to obtaining assignments from the student’s teacher prior to any period of excused absence, and for ensuring that such assignments are completed by such child prior to his or her return to school from such period of excused absence.
Chronic Absenteeism
The Board of Education, in compliance with statute, requires the establishment of attendance review teams when chronic absenteeism rates in the District or at individual schools in the District meet the following circumstances:
A team for the District must be established when the District chronic absenteeism rate is 10 percent or higher.
A team for the school must be established when the school chronic absenteeism rate is 15 percent or higher.
A team for either the District or each school must be established when (a) more than one school in the District has a school chronic absenteeism rate of 15 percent or higher or (b) a District has a District chronic absenteeism rate of 10 percent or higher and one or more schools in the District have a school chronic absenteeism rate of 15 percent or higher.
The membership of attendance review teams may consist of school administrators, guidance counselors, school social workers, teachers, chronically absent children, parents or guardians of chronically absent children, and representatives from community-based programs who address issues related to student attendance by providing programs and services to truants.
Each attendance review team shall be responsible for reviewing the cases of truants and chronically absent children, discussing school interventions and community referrals for such truants and chronically absent children and making any additional recommendations for such truants and chronically absent children and their parents or guardians. Each established attendance review team shall meet at least monthly.
The District shall utilize the chronic absenteeism prevention and intervention plan developed by the State Department of Education.
The District shall annually include in information for the strategic school profile report for each school and the District that is submitted to the Commissioner of Education, data pertaining to truancy and chronically absent children.
The Principal or his/her designee of any elementary or middle school located in a town/city designated as an alliance district may refer to the children’s truancy clinic established by the Probate Court serving the town/city, a parent/guardian with a child defined as a truant or who is at risk of becoming a truant. (An attendance officer or a police officer shall deliver the citation and summons and a copy of the referral to the parent/guardian.)
Dismissal
No school, grade, or class may be dismissed before the regularly scheduled dismissal time without the approval of the Superintendent or his/her designee.
No teacher may permit any individual student to leave school prior to the regular hour of dismissal without the permission of the Principal.
No student may be permitted to leave school at any time other than at regular dismissal without the approval of the student’s parent/guardian. If a court official with legal permission to take custody of a child, or if a police officer arrests a student, the parent/guardian should be notified of these situations by the administration.
(cf. 5142 - Student Safety)
(cf. 5113.2 - Truancy)
(cf. 6113 - Released Time)
Legal Reference: Connecticut General Statutes
10-184 Duties of parents (as amended by PA 98-243 and PA 00-157)
10-185 Penalty
10-198a Policies and procedures concerning truants (as amended by P.A.11-136, An Act Concerning Minor Revisions to the Education Statutes and PA 14-198, An Act Concerning Excused Absences from School for Children of Service Members, and PA 16-147, An Act Concerning the Recommendations of the Juvenile Justice Policy and Oversight Committee)
10-198b State Board of Education to define “excused absence,” “unexcused absence,” and “disciplinary absence”
10-198d Chronic absenteeism (as amended by PA 17-14)
45a-8c Truancy clinic. Administration. Policies and procedures. Report. (as amended by PA 15-25)
10-199 through 10-202 Attendance, truancy - in general
Action taken by State Board of Education on January 2, 2008, to define “attendance.”
Action taken by State Board of Education on June 27, 2012, to define “excused” and “unexcused” absences.
PA 17-14 An Act Implementing the Recommendations of the Department of Education
Board Meeting, September 8, 2022
I have included the video presentation of the Assessment Report and the Summer Curriculum Report which all provide good information on our practices moving forward.
The entire meeting is also available to watch on video at BoardDocs below.
Shifts in Assessment 2022-2023
Summer Curriculum Institute Report
Breakfast Program
We have opened the cafeteria for students in grades K-5 who would like to eat breakfast at school. Students who are signed up may come at 7:30. Children being dropped off for breakfast should be dropped off at 7:30 in order to leave enough time to eat their breakfast prior to going to their classroom at 8:00. Families are required to sign up in advance for this program.
Welcome Calls
This year Julian Curtiss will continue to make parents partners in their child’s education. Families As Partners In Learning is a program to build and strengthen family engagement that all eleven GPS elementary schools will be implementing this year. At the core of family engagement is the ability of teachers and families to share important information that will support the student's learning and achievement. The first strategy in this program is the Welcome Calls that general classroom, Special Education, English Language Learner and Advanced Learning program teachers are making to their students’ families this month. Teachers learning about the student through the lens of parents is important at any time during the school year, but can provide a head start on being able to serve a student well at the beginning of the year. We look forward to adding more tools for teachers and families during the year, to strengthen family engagement and build the kind of partnerships that support student success.
KINDERGARTEN PARENTS MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Ringing In Ceremony on Friday September 16th at 9am on the Large Field!
On Friday, September 16th, the Julian Curtiss School of World Languages will welcome all incoming Kindergartners and formally induct them into the school at its annual Ringing In Ceremony. Each Kindergartner will ring a Julian Curtiss school bell, signifying the beginning of his or her education at Julian Curtiss. The Ringing In Ceremony is a long-standing tradition at Julian Curtiss and we encourage all kindergarten parents to be in attendance for this special day. All parents are invited to attend.
This is a full day of school and students will return to their classrooms with their teachers following the ceremony. The ceremony should be approximately thirty minutes long.
From the Social Worker
Hello JC Families!
Filling in the Blanks is a program that provides Weekend Food for your child delivered directly to the school. Follow the link Julian Curtiss Elementary School to register your child. If you have questions please contact Luca Palombo at operations@fillingintheblanks.org
Meredith Odinak, MSW
she/her/hers
Social Worker | Julian Curtiss
(203) 869-1896 x3371
From the office
ABSENCES
SCHOOL DISMISSAL MANAGER
Principal Trish McGuire and Assistant Principal Matthew Hartigan
Email: Trish_McGuire@greenwich.k12.ct.us
Website: https://jcs.greenwichschools.org/
Location: 180 East Elm Street, Greenwich, CT, USA
Phone: 203-869-1896
Save the Date
September
5 No School Labor Day
14: General PTA meeting 8:30am
16: Kindergarten Ringing In Ceremony 9 am
19-23: Penny Wars
23: School Photo Day
30: Family Fun Night 5:00-7pm
26 No School Rosh Hashanah
October
5 No School Yom Kippur
13 6:00-7:30 PM Open House
20 United Nations Day Parade
21: International Food Tasting
26 Early Release Day for Students - 12:45 dismissal
29: Zombie Run (on campus) with Trunk or Treat