Our mission at Collins, with the help of the community, is to foster a caring and enriching environment that enables all students to grow academically and socially, to reach their individual potential as they become lifelong learners.

email: mailto:officecollins@uticak12.org

website: https://collins.uticak12.org

Location: 12900 Grand Haven, Sterling Heights, MI 48312

Phone: 586-797-4200

Attendance Line: 586-797-4299 (24 hours)

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CollinsCubs

Greetings Collins Cubs-

What a wonderful full week together in class. Students worked on many Constitution Day projects, activities, and events in the building to celebrate early. Other classrooms may be celebrating with additional Constitutional events on Monday, September 18th. We have a lovely event coming up on Friday, our PTO sponsored ICE CREAM SOCIAL! Please be sure to sign-up in advance and join us this Friday evening.

A BIG THANK YOU to ALL the parent volunteers who have been donating their time to come into the building to participate in events, preparation, substitute teaching, and helping with our busiest time of the day: lunch and recess. We LOVED welcoming some NEW faces into the lunch room and welcome ALL volunteers who have been cleared with a background check. Thank you for helping us to succeed with our mission together.

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS!!!

Have you been interested in getting involved in the school? If so, we would LOVE to have you welcome students in the morning for Arrival, during the lunch/recess time, and for dismissal. If you have the time to invest in your child's educational journey, please let us know as soon as possible. We have the background check form available in paper format and digitally as well. We can work with your schedule. :)

SAFTEY REMINDERS FOR ARRIVAL & DISMISSAL

It is extremely important for students and families to follow our safety protocols and guidelines. Students should not be exiting the vehicles at any time from the left side of the vehicle. Thank you for also crossing your children at the cross-walk where we have our crossing guards.

• CROSS WALK: Please be sure to cross your students at the cross walk ONLY. Please, not stopping or parking on the crosswalk at any time.
• DROP-OFF LINE: Please be sure to pull all the way forward around the front of the building to alleviate the traffic flow. Students should not be let out of the car until after the crosswalk has been passed.
• HANDICAP PARKING: Handicap parking is reserved for vehicles with HANDICAP passes only. Thank you for following these laws.
• STOPPING in the DROP OFF LANE: Please be sure to pull completely forward (to the edge of the Gym Wall) passed the crossing path to drop off. If you wish to watch your child get to the door and/or to give them an extra squeeze, hug/kiss by exiting your vehicle, we ask that you please choose to utilize a parking space to help ease the flow of our traffic. We sincerely appreciate your attention to this matter and thank you for helping us with our safety plan in place for traffic flow at Collins.

SECURITY UPDATE/NEW PROCEDURES TO FOLLOW:

• In adherence to our safety protocols, every member of the community must show their IDs to the camera prior to entering our sally port doors. Please have your IDs with you at all times when coming to the front office.

Early Dismissal:

• If you are planning to pick your child up from school early, please be sure to call the office ahead of time that day so that we can have them ready to go.

MEDICAL ACTION PLANS for MEDICINE:

• All students that require medicine throughout the day must have a doctor's note on file and a medical action plan completed.

Thank you for a great week together! Just a reminder that we do not have school on WEDNESDAY, September 20th for a full day of professional development for teaching staff.

Warm regards,

Principal Ciacchella

SEPTEMBER

9/17: Constitution Day (Collins Celebrates on Friday and Monday)

9/20: NO SCHOOL-Professional Development for teachers

9/22: ICE CREAM SOCIAL-PTO EVENT!

OCTOBER

10/4: STUDENT COUNT DAY!!!

10/12: PICTURE DAY!!!

10/18: NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS-TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

10/27: STUDENT HALF DAY DISMISSAL at 11:29

10:31: STUDENT HALF-DAY DISMISSAL at 11:29

DEVICE INSURANCE FOR IPADS AND LAPTOPS

THE COST OF Insurance has increased from $15.00 to $17.50 per student. The Payschools website has changed to Payschools Central. In order to purchase the device insurance parents will need their child(ren) student ID number (which can be found on the report card) and create a NEW Payschools Central account. The directions for creating an account can be found at: https://www.uticak12.org/domain/85

Please note that the final date to enroll in the optional device insurance plan as it has been extended.

Get ready for picture day by pre-ordering your pictures online! Please use the login information below to help you set up your picture day account.

BEEP! BEEP! 🚌 SCHOOL STARTS PROMPTLY at 8:25

Thank you for being mindful of others as you enter and exit the parking lot. Our school starts promptly at 8:25 and we end at 3:15.

ARRIVAL TIMES:

• Begin exiting vehicles at 8:20 am
• First bell rings at 8:25 am

DISMISSAL TIMES:

• Half-Day 11:29am
• Full-Day 3:15pm

🚗CAR DROP-OFF LANE-PLEASE FOLLOW THESE GUIDELINES

Please notice the map that is included below. We have two lanes at Collins that are marked. As you enter the parking lot, the lane closest to the sidewalk is for dropping students off and moving along. We ask that you please pull all the way forward to keep the traffic moving continuously.

• Located at the MAIN ENTRANCE.

PLEASE PULL FORWARD ALL THE WAY to keep traffic moving.

• Students should be seated on the PASSENGER side of the car to exit quickly.
• As soon as your child has exited your vehicle, please continue to pull forward to exit the parking lot.
• Cars must remain in the drop off lane while dropping off, NO PASSING
• We all must OBEY our CROSSING GUARDS at all times.
• Please do NOT LEAVE your car unattended in the drop-off / pick-up zone.
• The SECOND lane closest to the parking lot itself is for a driving thru lane and will be utilized if you need to park your vehicle for whatever reason.

🚌BUS LANE: THEY WILL LOAD and UNLOAD IN FRONT OF GYM

• All students will unload and load by the buses in front of the GYM.

STUDENT LINE-UPS in MORNINGS-Please look for signs on the buildings.

1. 1st/2nd Grades: Line up by DOOR 9
2. 3rd/4th: DOOR 7
3. 5th Classroom Doors
4. SIXTH GRADE: DOOR NEAR GYM NEXT TO THE MAIN DOORS
5. KINDERGARTEN: Will line up by their classroom doors and exit by classroom doors from ROOM 12, 13, and 15.

***IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL, PLEASE SIGN UP TO HELP WITH ARRIVAL/DISMISSAL!!! WE WOULD LOVE YOUR SUPPORT!***

DISMISSAL PROCEDURES:

• Students riding the bus will exit from their arrival doors, with exception of K students-they will go through to the GYM doors.
• KINDERGARTEN ROOMS 12/13/15: Exits from their respective classroom doors.
• 1st, 2nd: Door 9
• 3rd/4th: Door 7
• 6th Grade DOORS NEAR GYM.

SUPER CUBS SHOW THEIR P.A.W.S!

P: Positive Choices

A: Act Responsibly

W: Will be Respectful

S: Shows Integrity

All Collins Cubs are expected to follow protocols and procedures while showing their PAWS! That includes inside the classrooms, during the hallways, on the playgrounds, and for arrivial/dismissal as well. Teachers will be on the lookout for ways to celebrate students showing their PAWS and have a chance to earn incentives.

Please review all Utica Community Schools behavior policies in the Parent Handbook attached to the link below. It is expected that all UCS policies and procedures will be adhered to at any/all school functions and on school properties. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Just a friendly reminder to make sure all POWERSCHOOL FORMS have been reviewed prior to the start of school on 8.29.23! :)

All meals are free this year thanks to the Michigan School Meals law (2A). Students that would like to be eligible for benefits, such as pay-to-participate sports, college entrance/AP testing fees, summer EBT cards and more need to complete the Eligibility Benefits Form or the School Meals and Summer EBT Form (2B). These forms are available at https://utica.familyportal.cloud. Please encourage your parents to complete these forms to ensure our Title I and other specialized funding is received from the state. Paper applications are arriving at your schools this week. For Elementary schools please only send 1 copy home with either the oldest or the youngest child in the family. Secondary schools please have paper copies available in your main offices.

Students with food allergies that wish to use school meals must have a Special Dietary Needs form (11A) completed and signed by a physician. Forms need to be turned in to the office of Food and Nutrition Service. Without this form we cannot make accommodations. This form must be updated every year to ensure accuracy. Since all schools have vegetarian options, parents do not need to complete a form for that option.

PaySchools has improved its platform this year to provide a system that is consistently more reliable and user friendly. The end result for parents will be that the information they need will be personalized for their child.

As a result, families will be asked to recreate an account (even if you previously had a PaySchools account). Once created, you will be provided with those product choices that directly relate to your child.

Just follow these easy steps:

Create an account from your computer or tablet at: www.payschoolscentral.com

Complete the account registration by selecting register, enter your profile details, setting up your password via the email link that will be sent to you, then logging in.

Add your children to your account using their student ID numbers. ID numbers are found on their report card available through PowerSchool.

If you like, enter credit card and/or banking information as forms of payments to use with your PaySchools account.

A complete guide (with screen shots) is available at this link.

Need help with your PaySchools Central account?

8:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. ET (M-F)

psc_help@payschools.com

877-393-6628

Are you interested in volunteering in our school for school functions? If so, we would LOVE to have you volunteer as a COLLINS CUB! Please be sure to complete the following form and return it to school as soon as possible so that we may welcome you into our classrooms. Thank you!

Please see the attached flyer if you are interested in working with us!

APPLY ONLINE at: http://uticak12.tedk12.com/hire

Mrs. Meghan Ciacchella, Ed.S.

Principal of Collins Elementary

Email: collinsquestions@uticak12.org
Website: https://www.uticak12.org/Collins
Location: 12900 Grand Haven Drive, Sterling Heights, MI, USA
Phone: (586)797-4200
Facebook: facebook.com/collins