Baker Bits
Friday, August 24, 2018
WELCOME TO BAKER ELEMENTARY
Upcoming Dates
Fri, Aug 24 - Teacher placements available in the portal @ 4:00 PM
Tues, Aug 28 - Baker Open House - 5-6 PM
Fri, Aug 31 - All WUS offices are closed for Labor Day weekend
Mon, Sept 3 - All WUS offices are closed for Labor Day weekend
Tues, Sept 4 - First day of school for all Young 5's, Kindergarten & 1st Grade Students
Tues, Sept 4 - First day of school for all T/Th AM & T/Th PM Preschool Programs
Wed, Sept 5 - First day of school for Extended Day Preschool & M/W/F AM Program
Wed, Sept 12 - Parent Workshop. Baker Media Center @ 9:05 AM
Mon, Sept 17 - WEPA Meeting @ Steeby Elem. Media Center @ 6:00 PM
Wed, Sept 26 - Picture Day at Baker Elementary. All Grades
Thurs, Sept 27 - Picture Day for T/Th programs
Wed, Oct 10 - Parent Workshop. Baker Media Center @ 9:05 AM
Mon, Oct 15 - Parent/Teacher Conferences - By Appt Only
Wed, Oct 17 - Parent/Teacher Conferences - By Appt Only
Wed, Oct 31 - Half Day for Students. Baker will dismiss at 11:55
Wed, Oct 31 - Fall Parties
Parent Portals
All OLR (online registration) should be completed by Friday, Aug 24. Below are instructions on how to complete the OLR on your parent portal. 1)Log in. 2)Scroll your eyes all the way to the left and then down. 3)Click on the highlighted blue link that say "Online Registration". 4)Once you complete all the information for all the students in the home, you will click the red "submit" button. 5)You will then receive an email verifying the OLR is complete. Please contact the helpdesk if you forgot your username or password. helpdesk@waylandunion.org or call 269-792-6611. Also, just a reminder - all new families will need to set up a parent portal.
If you are still receiving emails and phone calls saying you need to complete the portal, there was most likely an error and your child's OLR is not complete. This usually has to do with a younger child attending WUS.
August 24 - all teacher placements for the 18/19 school year will be available on the parent portal. Snail mail will not be sent. Please check your portal on a regular basis to make sure you are up-to-date with all current information for Baker Elementary.
PRESCHOOL START DATES
T/Th AM classes - Start Tues, Sept 4 @ 9:00 AM
T/Th PM classes - Start Tues, Sept 4 @ 12:30 PM
Ext Day Preschool - Starts Wed, Sept 5 @ 9:00 AM
M/W/F AM - Half Day Program - Starts Wed, Sept 5 @ 9:00 AM
GSRP - Open House & Orientation - Monday, Sept 17
GSRP - First Day, Tues, Sept 18 @ 9:00 AM
All preschool drop offs DO NOT begin until 8:52 - No preschool aide is on duty until that time. Preschoolers DO NOT enter through the front doors. They use the East End doors exclusively.
open house precautions and reminders
join the wepa fb page
WEPA (Wayland Elementary Parent Association) is a parent-led organization that helps to promote communication between parents, teachers and staff of Baker and Steeby Elementaries in the WUS district. We hold fundraisers to supplement activity costs, supply costs and miscellaneous expenses for the staff and students of our elementary schools not covered by our schools' budgets. Our fundraisers also fund our community-friendly events such as the Carnival, Popcorn Fridays, Family Movie Night, Mom/Son Event and the Daddy Daughter Dance, as well as cover the cost of items such as student t-shirts and Teacher Appreciation lunches. WEPA volunteers also provide additional support for open houses, book fairs and food drives, among other activities.
Our meetings will be held @ 6:30 pm at Steeby Elementary. A sitter is provided. Here is a tentative schedule for the 2018-2019 school year:
September 17, October 15, November 19, January 21, February 25, March 18, April 15, May 20
Dates and location are subject to change, so please check this page often!
President.. Tonya Lyons
Vice President... Kacie Bowyer-Bultje
Secretary... Becky Hohnke
Treasurer....Lillian DeKoning
MORNING DROP OFF PROCEDURES
Families who drop students off in the morning should not start arriving before 8:45. There is no reason to arrive before this time. We cannot have students dropped off before 8:45 because there are no adults on duty to watch your student until that time. You may see someone outside earlier than 8:45 setting up cones; however, they are just getting things ready. Drop off will not begin until 8:45.
Also, just a reminder—PLEASE, do not park in the drop off lane for any reason. This disrupts the flow of the drop off traffic as well as the flow of bus traffic when waiting for a line up of cars. When dropping students off in the morning, please drive slowly. Cars should pull up as far as possible when letting the child out of the vehicle. If you must hug and kiss your child goodbye in the morning when you drop them off, then please park in the front lot and walk your child to the font door.
An adult is in the front loop to help assist students out of the car. The drop off lane runs smoother if the student is on the passenger side in the back seat when you drive through. There is no reason for a parent to exit their car if they are using the drop off lane.
Pick Up Procedures At The End of The Day
Parents who are picking up children are expected to park in the front parking lot or on Sycamore Street in front of the building and walk to the front entrance to secure your child. Parents who are picking up their children after school should not park in the parking lot within the bus loop. This parking lot will be closed to all traffic during scheduled bus drop off and pick up times. Other than buses, no vehicle traffic should be present in the bus loop during school hours.
Parents picking students up from school are asked to wait outside until school dismisses. Parents are not allowed to wait for students in the office.
The end of the day routine takes about 4 days to establish. Safety is our main concern. Baker staff will take end of the day dismissal very slowly at first. This will be a very long and what may seem like a tedious procedure for the first week. THIS END OF THE DAY PROCEDURE DOES GET BETTER, EASIER & FASTER by week number two! Baker staff is establishing names and faces of our students as well as names and faces of parents and care givers who pick up at the end of the day. PLEASE BE PATIENT. We have tried many different end of the day pick up procedures and this has been the safest, best practice so far. So as frustrating as this may be to new parents, the end of the day pick up procedure will stay as is; parents are required to sign students out and wait for their individual student to be release one by one at the front door.
Please remember - once your child learns the end of the day routine and where to stand and wait, once staff sees a caregivers face a few days in a row and once parents have a better idea of their child's individual dismissal time ... the end of the day procedure WILL go smooth!
PLEASE NOTE - Children under 16 years of age are not allowed to pick up younger siblings and sign them out. It is the parents/caregivers responsibility to meet their child at the door at the end of the day. Children under 16 trying to pick up a younger child will be send back to the vehicle to get the legal adult.
NOTE: Parking on the south side of Sycamore Street is illegal. Tickets have been issued during open house and the first week of school for people who violate the no parking signs. Also - there is no parking in designated hadicap parking spots without a handicap license plate or a sign on the mirror. Also - the nurses parking spot is designated for her only.
BUS INFORMATION
PLEASE LOG IN TO YOUR PARENT PORTAL AND VERIFY YOUR CHILD'S BUS INFORMATION TODAY
Busing the first week of school is very hectic. Be assured, as routines are established the busing WILL get better. Drivers are trying to verify every student who is put on their bus to make sure they are being delivered to the correct address. Many of our young students have never ridden a bus before and all these routines are new experiences for them. You can expect buses to run about 30-45 mins slower than anticipated during the first two days of school. Each day will get smoother and faster. By Friday of the first week, busing will be tweaked closer to the "normal" expected times. Also - do not expect the pick up procedure to be any less hectic the first week. This too takes time to establish a routine.
If you intend for your child to ride the bus to and from school, we have found it is more successful to start those routines from day 1. This is less confusing to the younger students.
Establish Your Child's Routine
As a school, we are trying to establish routines for our little ones. We can not stress enough how important it is to be on time for school each morning. The first 30 minutes of class sets the tone for the day. Within the first 15 minutes of school, classes are doing the following: hanging up coats (& eventually snow pants), changing shoes (& eventually taking off boots), going through backpacks with the teacher and pulling out notes and homework, making a lunch choice, saying the pledge of allegiance and they are starting their morning work. The teacher usually gives instruction and the students do a short pencil to paper writing assignment. When a student walks in late - the entire class is affected by the interruption. It also causes a lot of anxiety for the student who is late. If the teacher is in the middle of instruction, the child does not get to have the personal greeting and assistance the teacher can give during the regularly scheduled routine time. Also, many of our classes leave for specials at 9:15. Students arriving late often walk into an empty classroom. This can cause tears, fear and confusion. Please make every effort to have your child here on time in the morning. Drop off begins at 8:50. Students are allowed to head to class at 9:55. School begins and students are expected to be in their seats at 9:05. We hope this helps you understand the morning routine classes experience as well as how being late to class can affect your child and others.
Homework is another routine we are trying to establish. If your child has homework in their backpacks, please have them return it to the teacher on time. This teaches them responsibility.
Volunteering at School
Medications at School
Medications at school can only be given if a parent signs a medication release form. Antibiotics, cough drops, Tylenol, cold medicine, etc, should not be sent to school with students. If medicine must be given to a student at school, parents should drop the medication off in the office with a signed medication form. You will find medication forms on our district website, waylandunion.org, under the tab for parents. There is one form for both over the counter and prescription medication.
BLUE EMERGENCY FORM
Your child’s safety is our first priority. At Baker we practice safety protocols. The Baker staff wants to be helpful and responsive in all situations. Sometimes emergency situations arise for families as well. Even though you may have completed emergency information through the parent portal, this information will be kept in paper form, so no matter the situation, we have contact information for you and those you trust, to pick up your child from school. PLEASE FILL THIS BLUE FORM OUT AT OPEN HOUSE. If you have more than one child at Baker Elementary, you can put all student’s names on one form.
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SCHOOL AND HOME
Just a reminder...WUS is trying to be as paperless as possible. All school and district information can be found online at the district website— www.waylandunion.org. Click on Baker Elementary for specific school information.
Baker Elementary does not have a facebook page. You can join the WEPA facebook for both Baker and Steeby Elementary. The WEPA committee does a fantastic job reminding parents of upcoming events, school closings and district happenings.
Most teachers are set up to send group email, such as class newsletters, to all their parents. If you have not been receiving email from your child’s teacher or from the school office, please verify your email address with the school.
At this time, WUS and Baker Elementary have sent many messages, emails and phone calls to our families. If you have not received messages or emails, you will want to call the office and make sure your portal is set up correctly. REMEMBER—It is parent’s responsibility to update any changes in the portal; phone number changes, work phone number changes, child care changes, emergency contact changes, etc.. There is also an Infinite Campus app you can download to your phone.
School lunch menus are available at the following link. http://wayland.nutrislice.com/menu/baker/lunch/2017/9/4/ There is also a Nutrislice app for smart phones so the daily lunch menu can be right at your fingertips at all times.
Peachjar.com is other way to keep up-to-date on things happening in the district. You can access Peachjar from the WUS home page. Here is where you will find information for a variety of classes and team sports offered by WUS Community Education.
lunch information
EQUIPPING PARENTS WORKSHOP
HAND2HAND
Do you have a student who could benefit from the Hand2Hand program? We will be signing students up for this benefit later in the month of September. Parents will need to sign a permission form.
HUGE THANK YOU to Connie Pifer, Linda Holcolm & Vicki Hooker from Gun Lake Community Church who organize and facilitate this service weekly for our students!