Schwenksville Family Newsletter
January 7, 2023
Happy New Year 2023!
You will find the following topics in this update:
- Schwenksville Family Information Site
- Volunteers Needed
- MLK Day of Service
- Safe Bus Riding Expectations School-Wide Community Meeting
- How Sick is Too Sick for School?
- Week of January 9th Cycle Days
- Important Dates
- Story Time With Maggie!
- Schwenksville Podcast: "I Have A Question For You"
- Coffee and Tea with Mrs. V.
- Dismissal Reminders
- 3rd Grade Students - Safe Touches Program
- Recess
- Home & School Association Updates
- Garden Club Updates
- Free & Reduced Lunch Program
- PV Power Packs
- FIDs (Flexible Instructional Days) - Traditional and Virtual “Snow” Days
- Community Bulletin Board
Please note that this newsletter may be translated into any language by choosing the language you need in the box to the right.
Tenga en cuenta que este boletín se puede traducir a cualquier idioma eligiendo el idioma que necesita en el cuadro a la derecha.
Schwenksville Family Information Site
The Schwenksville Family Information Site has been created to help families easily access information in one location. You can bookmark this link, find the link in SW Family Newsletters, and on the Perkiomen Valley School District Schwenksville Elementary School webpage.
There is a tab named "Newsletters" where you will find each SW Family Newsletter posted so you don't have to search through emails to locate it.
SW Family Site - Please check it out. There is a lot of helpful information available.
Volunteers Needed
Please follow this link for specifics regarding Volunteer Clearances Information.
MLK Day of Service
We are looking forward to the 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service on Monday, January 16th and hope you can join us! See below for information about the variety of opportunities for our families, including In Person and Take Home options, as well as details about the Drive-Thru Donation Station.
This year's event features both In Person and Take Home opportunities. The Day of Service will take place in the Perkiomen Valley High School Cafeteria from 8:30 am – 12:00 pm. The day is broken into two sessions, 8:30 am & 10:30 am, where elementary and middle school students can take part in service activities to benefit both local and international organizations.
If you are unable to join us for the In Person opportunities, we are offering a limited number of Take Home service projects for both elementary and middle school students. To participate in the Take Home activities, select the Take Home option in the sign up link below.
Join Us!
Use this link to sign up for either In Person or Take Home opportunities
Please note:
- Participants are asked to choose only one option: In Person or Take Home.
- Sign up for Take Home options will close on January 9th so that materials can be distributed.
- Sign up for In Person will be open through January 16th. Spaces are limited and subject to availability.
Drive-Thru Donation Station
We will again be hosting a Drive-Thru Donation Station at Middle School East. Goods can be dropped off on Monday, January 16th from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm. We will be collecting for the following organizations:
- Perkiomen Valley Post Prom
- Formal Wear
- Shoes, Purses, Accessories
- Any other clothing items bag separately from formal wear
- Formal Wear
- Perkiomen Valley Spirit Wear (Non-personalized items)
- If your “Little Vikings” have become “Big Vikings” and you would like to donate their gently used PV Spirit Wear here is your chance.
- We will be collecting all sizes and all PV School Spirit Wear
- Daily Bread Community Food Pantry
- Non-perishable goods
- personal care items
- supplies for babies and pets
- Lions Club
- Used glasses (both prescription and any other types of glasses)
Please contact Mr. Steve Willis (swillis@pvsd.org), Coordinator of Equity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement, with questions.
Safe Bus Riding Expectations
We reviewed safe bus riding expectations in the following ways this year:
- During the first week of school we reviewed the expectations in classrooms
- During our first School-Wide Community Meeting in September
- All students met by bus on a bus during the school day to practice and review the expectations in October
- When issues arise Mrs. Venza meets with individual students, individual buses and/or rides buses home
- During our second School-Wide Community Meeting in January
At each of these meetings were shared and practiced the following expectations:
Boarding the bus safely - using left hand to hold on to the railing
- Sitting in assigned seats
- Sitting properly - back against the back of the seat, legs in front of us, backpacks on our laps
- Keeping hands, feet, and belongings to ourselves
- Keeping belongings in backpacks - nothing should be taken out of backpacks while on the bus including electronic devices
- Volume level - practiced talking at a level 1 (partner talking)
- Following directions given by the driver
- Exiting the bus safely - unloading at school seat by seat while everyone else remains seated. Using right hand on the railing when exiting the bus
The time that students spend on the bus should be an enjoyable, safe experience where everyone is following the safe bus riding expectations so that the driver may focus on driving and getting everyone to/from school safely.
Thank you to Mrs. Clelland for being the narrator for our safe bus riding skit. Thank you to Mr. Silver, Mrs. Rice, Mrs. Town, Mrs. Hyman, Mrs. Strano, Mrs. Conaron, and Mrs. Long for being actors in the skit!
Week of January 9th
- Monday, January 9th: F Day
- Tuesday, January 10th: A Day
- Wednesday, January 11th: B Day
- Thursday, January 12th: C Day
- Friday, January 13th: D Day
Each school day has a letter day designation, A through F. Please note when we have an unscheduled day off (ie, snow day) that letter day gets moved to the next day we are in school. This holds true for the entire district.
Important Dates
January 10th - Garden Club Meeting - Library - 6PM
January 11th - 2nd & 3rd Year Band & Orchestra Concert - Middle School East - 6PM
January 16th - No School - Martin Luther King Day Observance
January 23rd - Home and School Association Meeting - Library - 7PM
January 25th - Half Day - Teacher In-Service Day *Early Dismissal
Story Time With Maggie!
January 13th is Maggie's 2nd Birthday! Attached is a coloring page of Maggie with a party hat on that students may color and turn in to be entered into a drawing for a special Story Time with Maggie Birthday party!
Students should give their colored picture to their teacher by January 13th. 12 names will be randomly chosen to celebrate Maggie's Birthday. The party will be held on January 19th.
Coloring Page (copies will also be available on the table across from the office).
Schwenksville Podcast: "I Have A Question For You"
If your child is interested in being featured on the Schwenksville Podcast called "I Have A Question For You" please complete this form.
Coffee and Tea with Mrs. V.
Each month I will send out a new sign-up. This month's date will be January 31st from 9:15-10:00.
I look forward to talking with you!
Coffee and Tea with Mrs. V. - January 31st from 9:15 AM-10:00 AM Sign-Up
How Sick is Too Sick for School?
As you may have noticed the cold and flu season are off to an early start this school year with many in our school community being impacted.
While there are fewer severe COVID occurrences, RSV and Influenza (FLU) cases are surging with hospitals across the country reaching a concerning point.
Below are reminders of policy and procedure to follow if your child is ill.
If your student becomes ill at school they must report to the nurse. Safety dictates that students not go to the bathroom to deal with an illness on their own.
A parent/guardian or emergency contact will be called by the nurse if the nurse determines the student is too ill to remain in school, has a temperature of 100.0 degrees or more, has vomited or has diarrhea.
It is recommended that a parent or designee pick up a sick or ill student within an hour of being notified by the nurse.
The student must be fever free for 24 hours without the use of medications (i.e. Tylenol or Advil), and 24 hours without vomiting or diarrhea before returning to school.
For specific identified infectious diseases, students will be excluded from school according to the Office of Public Health guidelines.
Students are not permitted to carry any medications in school. All medication, including over the counter medications, must have a physician order and brought to the nurse’s office for dispensing.
Continuing to teach your student to use tissues, and to cover their sneeze/ cough along with hand washing and the use of hand sanitizers may help reduce the risk of illness.
Dismissal Reminders
Carline
Your cooperation with having these things prepared will assist us greatly in ensuring the safety of all students and help continue the extremely quick and efficient carline process.
Walkers
Please remember that no students should be picked up by a vehicle on Second Street. Doing so clogs the road and creates an unsafe situation with children crossing the road in a non designated crossing area. If you are picking up your child in a vehicle, please contact the office to sign-up your child for carline pick-up. Carline takes approximately 10 minutes from start to finish once dismissal begins.
If Someone Else Is Picking-Up Your Child
If someone other than the people listed on your child's "May Be Released To" list, will be picking-up your child, the office must be notified before 2:00 PM. Please be sure to tell the person picking-up your child that he/she must have their ID with them or the child will not be released to them.
Your cooperation and understanding that these processes are in place for everyone's safety is very much appreciated.
3rd Grade Students - Safe Touches Program
Dear Third Grade Families,
Annually we partner with the Victim Services of Montgomery County to provide educational programming to our third-graders focused on safe touches. Victim Services will be presenting a "Keeping Touches Safe and Healthy" (Safe Touches) program for third-graders at all four of our elementary schools in January 2023.
Victim Services has provided a parent informational flyer with more details, which is attached to this email. The flyer also includes information regarding a virtual parent meeting on January 10, 2023 at 6:00 pm. In addition to a preview of the Safe Touches program, this optional meeting will also provide parents the opportunity to learn about child sexual abuse, how to talk to your kids about it and how you can help prevent it. Use the link below to register in advance for the parent meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Link to register: Parent Informational Meeting.
The dates for the student programs for each school are listed below.
- Evergreen Elementary ~ January 18
- South Elementary ~ January 19 & 20
- Skippack Elementary ~ January 17
- Schwenksville Elementary ~ January 19 & 20
Thank you for your attention to this message.
Attachments:
Recess
Students are outside for up to 30 minutes during recess. The playground can also be windy, causing it to feel colder than the actual temperature. Please be sure students are dressed appropriately for these colder days with coats, gloves, hats, etc. Thank you for your cooperation.
If your child is in need of a new winter coat, please reach out to your child's teacher or school counselor. We can help with this.
Mrs. Cindy Strano - cstrano@pvsd.org (Kindergarten, 2nd grade, and 4th grade)
Mrs. Jill Hyman - jhyman@pvsd.org (1st grade, 3rd grade, and 5th grade)
Please send an extra change of clothes for students to keep in the backpack in the event of a spill, accident, or get muddy at recess.
Home & School Association Updates
Schwenksville Home & School Association Weekly Update
Happy New Year!
Events
BINGO: At the Movies!
Friday, January 20, 2023 (Snow date 1/27) at PVHS
Bingo night is fun for adults and kids! In addition to 10 Bingo games with prizes, we will have close to 40 baskets that we will raffle off! Some items include Flyers and Eagles autographed memorabilia, a $200 gift card to 422 SportsPlex, gift cards to local restaurants, as well as several registration donations for CPYA baseball, Perkiomen Valley Football, etc. Schwenksville staff members will also be in attendance!
Registration is only $5 per person! Please sign up here: Registration Sign-Up
Payment and registration are due by Friday 1/6! NO TICKETS WILL BE AVAILABLE TO PURCHASE THE NIGHT OF THE EVENT.
Grade level basket donations:
Kindergarten: “Snow Day”- Winter Theme
First Grade: “Encanto”- Family Game Night
Second Grade: “Luca”- Beach Theme
Third Grade: “Space Jam”- Sports Theme
Fourth Grade- “Ratatouille”- Food/Cooking/Dining out
Fifth Grade: “Night at the Movies”- Movie Theme
All donations can be sent in to the office by Friday 1/6.
Fundraisers
Pretzels: Pretzel day is January 18. Money is due January 13. $6 for the year or $1 for the month of January.
AmazonSmile: Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible AmazonSmile purchases when you shop at AmazonSmile
Next Meeting
- Schwenksville Elementary School Library
- January 23rd - 7:00 PM
H&S Information
Email / Website / Facebook / Calendar of Events
Nicole Vozzolo – Co-President / Nikki Hartman – Co-President
Denby Guellich – Vice President / Jill Podbutzky – Secretary
Sarah Nickels – Treasurer / Rene Adelsberger – Asst. Treasurer
Garden Club Update
Garden Club will be meeting on Tuesday Jan 10th at 6 PM in the Library!
Darlaine Manning, from the Penn State Extension office, will be speaking about blue bird nesting boxes, other cavity nesters, habitat, and how to care for the boxes. In early spring, Garden Club will be installing 6 nesting boxes around the school (1 for each grade) using the funds raised during Penny Wars.
Come on out to learn more about our plans, as well as how you can help support native bird habitats in your own yard!
Free & Reduced Lunch Program
In the event you need assistance, do not hesitate to reach out to a representative of the Food Services department.
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. Bags are delivered to the students' classrooms for them to take home prior to the weekend.
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/
FIDs (Flexible Instructional Days) - Traditional and Virtual “Snow” Days
As the weather begins to turn, I thought it best to remind everyone about the possibility of FIDs (Flexible Instructional Days) in response to inclement weather. After utilizing all three (3) built-in inclement weather days, the District may implement a FID to provide virtual instruction to students. FIDs assist schools in meeting the required 180 student days while avoiding the need to extend the instructional calendar year. PA Schools may use up to five (5) FIDs per school year.
Learn more on our website.
Community Bulletin Board
Wondering about family and community events in the area? Curious to learn about local sports clubs and other opportunities? Visit our online Community Bulletin Board!
To submit an event for posting, please send a PDF version of your flyer to webmaster@pvsd.org for review.
Please note that Community Bulletin Board items may contain links to websites of organizations outside Perkiomen Valley School District. Items are posted to this bulletin board as a free service to the community, and should not be interpreted as being sponsored or endorsed by the district.