Hearst Weekly Update
August 25, 2019
Principal's Message
Good afternoon Owls,
We're so excited for the start of the 2019-2020 school year and can't wait to see all of our K-5 Owls tomorrow morning and our PK Owls starting on Thursday! Although there have been a few unexpected issues leading up to the opening of school, our Open House on Friday afternoon made it clear that it's going to be a joyful, fun, and learning-filled year at Hearst. Below are important notes about the logistics of tomorrow and the school year, so please be sure to read through the information and reach out to your child's teacher, the main office, or me with any questions. Also, if you see any of our gardening gurus, all volunteers from the Hearst community, please be sure to thank them for making the outside of our school as beautiful as the inside. Have a great afternoon and see you at 8:30 in the morning on the soccer field for arrival!
In partnership,
Principal Jen Geoffroy (pronounced Jeff-roy; formerly Thomas)
Upcoming Events
- Monday, August 26 - First Day for K-5 students
- Thursday, August 29 - First Day for PK students; PTA Welcome Back Breakfast
What I'm reading this week: The Speed of Trust, Stephen M.R. Covey
About Us
Email: attendance@hearstes.org
Website: www.hearstes.org
Location: 3950 37th Street Northwest, Washington, DC, United States
Phone: (202) 282-0106
Facebook: facebook.com/hearstes
Twitter: @hearstes
News and Announcements from Hearst
Arrival and Dismissal on the First Day of School
Dismissal is at 3:15pm every day. Students who stay for any after school programming will be transitioned to the gym, where they will be met by after school personnel. Students who get picked up at 3:15 will wait for pick up with Hearst staff on the front plaza and we'll have cones designating where each grade level will wait for pick up. Please be sure that your child knows his or her after school plan and that this information is also communicated with your child's teacher.
Update on the Hearst Playground
Items to Be Left at Home
Food and Nutrition Services at Hearst
Breakfast is free to all DCPS Students. If you would like to see whether or not your child qualifies for free or reduced priced means, please complete this application: SY19-20 FARM Application.
Any student that requires a different meal than what is being served (due to medical, food allergy, or philosophical reason) must complete this form (SY19-20 Dietary Accommodation Forms) and submit it to the school nurse. This allows us to create menus and prepare meals that reflect the unique needs of the student. After submitting, the school nurse must send in the completed forms to Food and Nutrition Services (FNS). Please keep in mind that it can take 3-4 weeks from the time forms are received by FNS from the school nurse for dietary accommodations to be made in the cafeteria.
Other Helpful Links:
DCPS Website | Food and Nutrition Services
37th Street Traffic
We love our Sidwell neighbors and want to play nice with them. Although Sidwell's first day of school is September 3, let's not wait until then to develop our drop off routines. Be sure that when you’re dropping off your Owl in the morning, you’re not parking in Sidwell’s drop off line on their side of the street. We can keep the traffic on 37th Street moving in both directions if the drop off zones in front of both schools are used for dropping off and not parking.
“But what about the buses in front of Hearst?” you may ask. “They block traffic on 37th Street too,” you may think. During morning arrival, bus attendants are responsible for getting students off the bus safely at school. After handing off students to another adult on the playground or inside the school building, bus attendants are required to look on and under every seat to ensure that students are no longer on the bus and that student belongings have not been left behind. In addition to actually driving the bus, drivers must conduct inspections to ensure that the vehicle’s safety features are operational before they pull away from the school. On top of all of these official duties performed for the safety and security of our students, drivers and attendants have been on the bus for close to two hours by the time they arrive at school in the morning and sometimes simply need to use the bathroom.
At afternoon dismissal, after drivers conduct the safety inspection, bus attendants are responsible for ensuring that the students safely board the bus and that students are wearing their seat belts before the bus departs. As parents you know that it can be a challenge to get one child in and out of a car on some days. Knowing that we have as many as eight kids on a bus on any given day, I hope your empathy and patience eclipse any frustration about the traffic on 37th Street. Thanks for your understanding and cooperation!
Attendance
Reminder: Hearst is a Nut Free School
Reminder: Administration of Medication at School
Link to medical forms.
In a medical emergency, first call 911 and contact the parent of the child who is having the emergency. During medical emergencies, appropriate medical services can be provided to a child of any age without parental consent when the health provider believes the child is in immediate need of such services and such services are the only alternative to probable death or serious physical or mental damage.11 Students should not go to the hospital alone. A DCPS staff member should accompany them and remain until a parent or emergency contact arrives.
Reminder: Volunteering at Hearst
All volunteers, including parents and anyone chaperoning or attending a field trip with Hearst students, must complete the DCPS Clearance process before volunteer services can be provided. To complete the DCPS Clearance process, complete the following steps:
- Complete the online Clearance Application found here.
- Complete a TB test or obtain documentation showing cleared TB test results from the last 12 months.
- Report to DCPS Central Office (1200 First Street NE, 10th Floor) during operating hours to complete the fingerprinting process Monday through Thursday from 8 am to 5 pm and Fridays from 8 am - 3 pm. TB test results must be provided upon reporting to Central Office for fingerprints*. Individuals who fail to produce TB test results from the last 12 months will be denied fingerprinting services.
- Wait 3-10 business days for a clearance letter, indicating cleared fingerprinting results.
News and Announcements from DCPS
Annual Health Forms Required for All Students (Due 10/31)
Join the Student Safety Task Force!
DC Public Schools is establishing a citywide Student Safety Task Force in order to engage families around the implementation of sexual misconduct policies and protocols, as well as student sexual health curricula. The task force will consist of 20-25 individuals and will meet from 6:00-8:00pm at DCPS Central Office (1200 First St NE) on the following dates:
- September 25
- October 30
- November 20
The application can be found at bit.ly/DCPSstudentsafety and the deadline to apply is September 3rd.
News and Announcements from Other Organizations
First W3EdNet Meeting of the School Year: Monday, September 9 at 7pm
Come out to the first Ward 3 - Wilson High School Feeder Education Network (W3EdNet) meeting of the year on Monday, September 9 at 7pm at the Cleveland Park Library!
We will be welcoming staff from DC Public Schools'. Office of Strategic School Planning and Enrollment (either Teresa Biagioni or Claudia Lujan) to talk about the opening of the Stevens School, which will be opened as a PK3 and PK4 early childhood center at 1050 21st Street in 2020-2. They will also talk about other school planning developments.
We will also be welcoming staff from the Office of Operations (either Patrick Davis or Andrea Swiatocha) to talk about an update on renovation plans for schools in the Wilson Feeder pattern.
At our first meeting of the school year, we especially welcome new representatives from schools in the Wilson Feeder pattern to come introduce themselves and to share their priorities for the year.
Thanks,
Brian and Melody
Other meetings this year:
Monday October 7 (also at Cleveland Park Library)
Tuesday November 12
Monday December 9
Monday January 13
Monday February 10
Monday March 9
Monday April 6
Monday May 11
Monday June 8