Winecoff Newsletter for Families
September 1, 2021
Welcome Back!
- Mrs. Cook
How Was Your Day?
Questions to Ask Your Child
Aaaagggghhhh! It would drive me crazy! I wanted to be "in the know" and feel like I was still a part of his life while he was at school. These one word, vague answers just didn't help me. Anyone else feel that way?
Try changing up the questions that you ask to ones that are more open-ended or at least require more detail to answer:
- What was the best part of your day? Why?
- Who did you sit with at lunch? (start learning the names of their friends)
- What was your least favorite part of your day? Why?
- Tell me about a time that you laughed today.
- Show me some of the work that you completed today and explain about it
Check out your child's teacher's Canvas Page and you can see what they are learning about and you can ask specific questions about those topics.
Read to child or listen to your child read as much as you can. You will soon begin to recognize how their reading is improving. Model reading with expression. Ask them questions about what their reading:
- What is your book about?
- What happened in the beginning, middle, end?
- Tell me about the main character(s).
- Do you like this book? why or why not?
Transportation Updates & Procedures
Bus Transportation
Procedures for Late Buses
- Families are notified via a connect-ed phone message for late buses and/or bus number changes. If you are not receiving these phone calls, please send your updated phone numbers to your child's teacher so that they can be updated in PowerSchool.
- In the morning, if your bus is late, your child may wait on the bus and arrive to school late. If this is the case, your child will not be counted tardy and they will have the opportunity to eat breakfast. You may also bring your child and use the car rider line to drop them off in the back of the school.
- In the afternoon, if your child's bus is late, they will wait safely inside the school until their bus arrives. However, if you'd like to pick them up instead, please use the car rider line to pick them up in the back of the school. You will receive a blue car rider car tag to display so that we know where to get your child from and bring them to car riders. The car rider line closes at 3:30pm, so if you arrive after that, you will need to go to the front office and pick up your child. Please be sure to bring a photo ID.
- Once students are loaded onto the late bus, we cannot pull them off of the bus if you arrive to pick them up. This is to keep students safe and also allows the bus to leave quickly and take students home.
Car Riders
Morning: 7:45 - 8:15
Afternoon: 2:55 - 3:30
Procedures
- In the morning, each staff member unloads at least 2 cars at a time. Please have your child packed up, hugged up, masked up and ready to get out of the car when it becomes your turn to drop off.
- Please make sure your child has a mask with them. We are running through our supplies very quickly and we need your help by making sure your child has a mask.
- Please always remain in your cars.
- Our staff members are also arriving to work and will travel down the exit lane into the back parking lot in order to bypass the car rider line and park their cars. Staff will enter the parking lot from Winecoff School Rd. and make a left hand turn into the parking lot. They will have a yellow car tag hanging from their mirror so that you will know who they are. Please be cautious and considerate of them as they arrive to work. Ensure that you are all the way to the right hand side in our back parking lot to allow them safe entry to park. The sooner we staff in the building and on duty, the sooner we can unload our car riders!
- Please always make a right hand turn into our back parking lot. We do not permit cars to enter by making a left hand turn (coming from Winecoff School Rd) for 2 reasons: 1- blocks the fire department from sending emergency vehicles out and 2- it blocks cars exiting our parking lot.
- In the afternoons, please have your yellow car rider tag visible on your dashboard. Not only does this ensure student safety, but assists our staff member in calling student names to have them come out and wait for you.
Please remember that you cannot block any intersections or traffic circle entrances/exits while waiting in the car rider line. We have to be considerate of traffic that is just passing through.
Thank you for your assistance in assuring we keep students, staff, and all vehicles safe in our car rider line.
Checking Your Child Out Before Dismissal
Please follow these procedures:
- You must have a photo ID in order to check your student out early.
- Our office staff will verify that you are able to check the student out
- Students will be signed out in our Lobby Guard system (need your ID to complete this step)
- Students will then be called from the classroom to be dismissed to you
Note: Early check outs are recorded and as the accumulate, they will count as an absence per CCS Attendance Policy.
Health & Safety Protocols
- Masks are required and staff help remind students to wear theirs correctly (over nose, under chin, snug fitting)
- Disinfecting high touch surfaces routinely throughout the day.
- No drinking from water fountains directly-- students can fill up water bottles instead or have a small cup from the teacher to use.
- Social distancing to the greatest extent possible, at least 3ft between students
Please contact our School Nurse, Ms. Banko, if your child has been exposed to someone who has tested positive while not at school. Also contact her if your child is experiencing any COVID symptoms (fever greater than 100.4, new cough, head cold symptoms/congestion). Our nurse will walk you through next steps and help you understand the information.
Please do not send your child to school if they are sick.