Central Hub
July 2022 Edition
Message from the Principal
Dear Central Parents,
It is hard to believe that school begins in two and half weeks on Wednesday, August 3rd. Our hard working custodians have spent the entire summer thoroughly cleaning the building. Additionally, our much-appreciated PTO is gearing up to welcome families, provide volunteer opportunities, and support our school. Probably the most excited about your return are all of our teachers and staff. They cannot wait to see your children. We are indeed a joyous and caring community with the common goal of nurturing responsible, kind students, while promoting a high-level of learning.
Personally, I cannot wait to see our new and returning students! Most of all, I am looking forward to building a partnership with you as parents. Central Elementary is a safe and special place to learn and grow.
Enjoy the last two weeks with your children making summer memories. See you soon.
Sincerely,
Julie Thacker, principal
Important Back to School Information
Here are a few important dates, information and reminders for you so we can make the transition from summer to Central easy for everyone. You are welcome to call or email me, the principal, Mrs. Thacker, with any questions or concerns. jthacker@plainfield.k12.in.us
Class placement information will be emailed Tuesday, July 26 Please look for a letter from your child's teacher in the mail, following the email.
Supply Drop Off Sunday, July 31st from 4:00-5:00 We are thrilled to have the opportunity to have your child come into our school to drop off supplies, so he/she is not carrying so much to school on the first day. Please note that you can arrive between 4:00-4:30 (grades K-2) and 4:30-5:00 (grades 3-5). We ask that you not linger in the school, but drop supplies off in your child’s locker and head outside for a popsicle and time on the playground.
School Supply List You will find our school supply list by clicking on the following link: 2022-2023 Central Elementary School Supply List
Car Rider Request Form Will you be picking your child up from school this year? In order to have your child picked up by a parent or guardian after school, you will need to fill out the 2022-2023 Car Rider Number Request Google Form
Transportation Information Bus- You will be contacted by the bus driver a week before school starts with information regarding the pick-up and drop off times for your child. For any questions or concerns regarding transportation, please call their office at 317-838-3632. Add/Cancel Bus Service- You will need to fill out the Transportation Data Form to add or cancel bus service.
First Day of School Wednesday, August 3rd Students may arrive at 8:30. The tardy bell rings at 8:50. Please note that for security reasons, parents are not permitted to walk their child to their classrooms. We will have people here to help children safely get to class. DOORS WILL NOT OPEN UNTIL 8:30. You cannot drop your children off until 8:30. If you are tardy, you need to walk with your child to the office and sign-in.
School Safety Meeting Monday, August 8th at 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m. Safety is our number one priority here at Central. I encourage you to join the in person meeting to hear all the efforts we have made and will continue to make to keep your child safe at school.
Central School Picture Day is Friday, September 9
Information will be sent home with your child as we get .
Important Back to School Dates
Health Protocols
Health of our Students:
We are committed to protecting the health of your student and others. Please help us by following some simple guidelines to make sure that healthy students are able to continue learning in-person.
- If your child has a fever of 100.0 or higher, please keep them home until they have been fever-free (without the help of fever reducers) for 24 hours.
- If your child tests positive for COVID, please keep them home for 5 days from symptom onset. They may return on day 6, as long as symptoms are improving. Please let your school nurse know that your child has tested positive for COVID.
- Please note that these procedures could change with additional requirements from the Indiana State Department of Health. Should changes be necessary to these procedures, we will communicate them with parents as quickly as possible.
A Note From the Central PTO President
Hello Central Elementary Parents and Guardians,
We are excited to continue volunteering our time and trying our hardest to make a difference at Central in 2022-2023. PTO has big plans this year to continue engaging students, appreciating teachers and staff and to serve our community and school.
We'd love for you to join us in supporting Central from home or in person. From tasks that take 20 minutes to coordinating an event.....every volunteer opportunity is important, valued and appreciated.
Please feel inspired to reach out to us if you have questions, ideas, want to be involved or if you just want to chat. If you are interested in getting involved, be sure to fill out the volunteer form that will come home at the beginning of the school year! We look forward to serving Central's staff, students and families this year with you!
Bree Setterlof
PTO President
Part-time Small Business Manager
School Principal's Wife
Mom to 1st & 6th grade girls
First Week of School Help
The first week of school is rapidly approaching and we need some volunteers to make back-to-school a success! We need help at the bus lane and front door getting our Central Champs to and from their classrooms. We also need some help during K and 1st grade lunchtime during the first week. Please see sign up details below, and thanks in advance for getting the year off to a great start!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/904054CA4A628A57-first
For this in-person volunteer opportunity, Central will require you to have a background check on file. If you haven't done this recently, do so here: https://secure.safevisitorsolutions.com/Safe/Volunteer/plainfield2807/volunteer
How Central PTO Supports Central
Time Schedules and Calendars for Schools 2022-2023
Below are the board approved school start times for the 2020-2021 school year.
Student Day: 8:50 a.m. -3:50 p.m.
Students may be dropped off beginning at 8:30. Doors are locked until this time.
Middle School
Student Day: 7:50 a.m. -2:50 p.m.
High School
Student Day: 8:05 a.m.- 3:05 p.m.
School Clinic
Every school has an RN full time on staff. We are fortunate to have Ms. Deborah Bowen at Central. Our nurse administers medication, organizes vision and hearing screenings, and takes care of your children at school. If your child has a medical condition or takes prescription medication during school hours, please contact Nurse Bowen at dbowen@plainfield.k12.in.us or at 317-838-3652.
Medications and over the counter medicine Please note all medication must be delivered to school and picked up from school by a parent. Medications must be in their original packaging; prescription medications must include documentation of the student as the person to whom medication was prescribed (i.e. prescription label).
Asthma Paperwork- please contact Nurse Bowen for the form.
Let Me Introduce Our New Assistant Principal: Brady Edwards
Add School Events to Your Calendar!
We are still updating our calendar for this year, but I am sharing our Central Elementary Parent Calendar. I am hoping this will help you to have all our important events at your fingertips.
(Disclaimer: Every phone is different. If you have a Google calendar, it will work for sure; others will have different steps to follow, but your phone should prompt you.) Note - for Google, you need to be on a computer to add the calendar.
Link to VIEW ONLY the Central Elementary Parent Calendar
Transportation
Providing a safe arrival and dismissal system is extremely important to all of the staff at Central Elementary. To achieve that, Central utilizes a number system when dismissing our car rider students.
Arrival- If your child will be dropped off by a parent or guardian in the mornings,
please follow these procedures:
Enter the parking lot from Wabash Street and pull forward to let your child get out of the car on the passenger side. Doors are locked until 8:30am. Once doors are unlocked and staff members appear, your child may exit your car.
Dismissal- Please the Car Rider number tag in your front car window for pick up. Please enter off of US 40 onto Wabash Street. There will be two lines, which form into one around our horseshoe. A dismissal teacher will radio for your child to be walked out from the gym. You can also park in the lot/grass parking for the funeral home and enter the gym at Door #8 on the east side of our building.
- Please make sure to list in your car rider request sheet all parent names and anyone else, such as a grandparent, aunt/uncle or babysitter, who will be picking up your child. Any additions or changes to your pick up list must be made by calling the office at Central. No child will be released at dismissal to someone who is not on their pick up list.
Bus- If there will be a change in your child’s regular after-school transportation routine, you must send a note to your teacher and call the front office on that day before 1:00 p.m. If NO note or call is made, the child will go their REGULAR way home that day.
Changing the End of the Day Transportation Routine
The following information is from our handbook:
If your child is to go home a way different than their normal arrangement, you must send in a note to the teacher with instructions as to how the child is to go home. We will not allow a child to go home a different way without a note. Please make these arrangements before school or by 1:00 p.m. at the latest. NEW THIS YEAR, Children will NOT be allowed to ride a different bus to or from school. All children have assigned seats on the bus.
If you call requesting that your child become a car rider, you are required to come into the
school office to sign out your child no earlier than 3:45 p.m. Your child will be waiting in the office lobby until you sign them out. Signing your child out prior to 3:45 does affect your child’s attendance, as it counts as a partial day present.
If you call requesting that your child ride a bus home instead of being a car rider, we will need to verify that we are speaking to the child’s parent/guardian by asking certain questions or through caller ID on our phone system. To make this smoother, please call from one of the phone numbers that you have registered with our school as contacts.
Finally, please note that e-mail notifications of changes for the end of the day ride home are not accepted. We are not able to ensure that the email will be read in time.
Food Service Information
School Lunches
School Lunch Prices- Breakfast $1.70 and Lunch $2.70
Pack- You can pack your child a lunch box, just make sure it has the child’s name on it somewhere.
Free/Reduced Status- Applications for Free/Reduced lunch and textbook status can be submitted after July 1, 2022 online on Lunch/Textbook App Website.
Food Allergies If your child suffers from food allergies, we are prepared to help ensure they enjoy meals that are both safe and nutritious. Please fill out the correct form and return to Kelly Collins, Director of Food Services at kcollins@plainfield.k12.in.us. If you have any questions regarding the forms please call Kelly Collins 317-839-2578. Links to forms are below
Request for Special Dietary Needs
Textbook Rental Fees
Every student in Plainfield Community School Corporation is responsible for paying textbook rental fees every fall. This fee covers costs for workbooks, textbooks, online resources and other consumables used throughout the school year. Students who qualify for Free/Reduced Lunch Status also qualify for Reduced TBR. More information on this will be sent out early in the school year.
PowerSchool Student Management System
The Plainfield Community School Corporation uses the PowerSchool Parent portal, which gives you access to your child’s grades, lunch account balance, bus schedule, and registration for returning students for the next school year. Since you are new to Plainfield Community Schools, an account was created for you and your username and temporary password will be sent home on August 3, 2022.
Please complete the steps below to finish setting up your account.
Navigate to the PowerSchool page.
Please use the following link to access your account:
https://powerschool.plainfield.k12.in.us/public/
Bookmark this page to make it easy to return to
Sign in. Now you are at the sign-in page for PowerSchool.
Type in your username that was given to you. You can change your username once you sign in
Type in your temporary password of abc123 & press the sign-in button
Change your password. You will have a screen with 3 boxes:
In the top box type in abc123
In the next two boxes, type in a password you will remember and press the sign-in button. You can then use the menu on the left to navigate the pages-check grades, lunch balance, bus information and register for the next school year are all done through this site.
If you forget your password- call the office and they can immediately reset it. The “reset password” link on the website can take up to a week to go through, so please call the office instead.
There is also a PowerSchool app you can download onto your phone that you can use to check grades, attendance, etc. The school code you will need for the PowerSchool app is CJKF.
ParentSquare Communication System
Our school and teachers will be using Parent Square to communicate newsletters, upcoming events and notices, classroom news, updates, sign-ups, etc. Please keep an eye out for this and make sure you mark ParentSquare “safe” in your email inbox so it doesn’t go to your spam. You will be able to choose preferences to email, phone/text, or app notification (if you download the app).
Computers
Students will use a computer at school. The Plainfield Community School Corporation (PCSC) recognizes that access to technology in school gives students greater opportunities to learn, engage, communicate, and develop skills that will prepare them for work, life, and citizenship. We are committed to helping students develop 21st-century technology and communication skills. To that end, we provide access to technologies for student and staff use. You may review the Student Acceptable Use Policy for more details.