Henry Happenings
August 28, 2022
Thanks PTO for the amazing first day messages!
Principal Message
Dear Henry Families,
We had a wonderful first week of school. It was great to see students back in classrooms, playing at recess, and building relationships with friends and teachers. We are looking forward to such a great year at Henry Elementary.
We appreciate your patience with dismissal at the end of the day. It always takes a couple of weeks to establish our procedures to dismiss 550 students in a safe and timely fashion. I have fielded a few questions about our dismissal process and I thought I would be transparent with all parents on why some things have changed.
Why did we change bus dismissal?
The one thing Mr. Wilkerson, Interim Principal, shared with me this summer was his concern about how buses were dismissed. Mr. Wilkerson was clear that bus dismissal would be his number one priority to change if he would have continued at Henry this year. He shared that last school year we had 1 - 2 students per week missing the bus. So, for the 22-23 school year, we will have all students who utilize the bus walk out with their classroom teacher to ensure each student boards the bus. Once all teachers have exited the building and dropped off their students, the buses are then dismissed from the lot.
Why do we ask for parent led walkers/bike riders to check in with a staff member?
Safety is always our number one priority. We want to ensure we are dismissing a child to their caregiver and not just trusting a child will walk out and wait if they do not see their parent/guardian. We will continue to supervise a child inside if their parent has yet to arrive at the school building.
Why did you change the car tags to numbers?
In an effort to protect family identity, we assigned each family a 4 digit number. This prevents you from having to keep your child's name displayed on a large piece of paper, and gives the ability to hang the tag from the rearview mirror for a short period of time. We have had a few issues with our spreadsheet last week, which slowed our car line down, but we believe we have solved those issues.
For arrival, please note, the school crosswalks are supervised from 8:50 a.m. to 9:05. Families should work with their children to ensure they arrive at the crosswalk between these supervised times.
We are keeping our fingers crossed our secure vestibule will be finished this week. We are making progress little by little. Stay tuned for next week's newsletter on when visitors will begin for lunch!
As always, if you have any questions please let me know.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jodi Oliver
Principal
Henry Elementary
Upcoming Dates
September 1 - PTO Welcome Breakfast for New Families @ 8:00 AM
September 5 - No School - Labor Day
September 6 - 1-2 Curriculum Night @ 6:30 PM - 7:15 PM
September 8 - 3-5 Curriculum Night @ 6:30 PM - 7:15 PM
September 14 - Early Release @ 2:00 PM
September 16 - Henry Family Outdoor Movie Night @ TBD
September 23 - Henry Picture Day
October 1 - Custodian Appreciation Day
A Message From Mrs. Goyal
PTO New Family Breakfast
Student Activity Fees-Rycor Payment System
Each student at Henry Elementary will be charged an activity fee for items such as planners and field trips. Your child's classroom teacher will explain what is included specific to the grade level. Please see the directions below to access the online payment system.
* Log into your Infinite Campus Parent Portal (if you need assistance with this, please contact the help desk at 314-415-8181, option 2 or via email at ic-parenthelp@parkwayschools.net )
* Select "More"
* Select "Online Payments"
* If you have more than one student in Parkway, please select your student's name (tab next to where it says "Summary")
* You will then see any fees assigned to your student. You may add items to your cart and proceed to pay as preferred.
* At the bottom of the page you will see a button "Adopt a Student for Activity Fees." If you would like to donate, please click on it, complete the form, add the amount you would like to donate, then click add to cart. You will then be prompted to pay online as well.
NOTE: If you are using an Apple product, please use either Chrome or Firefox when logging in to your account. Also, if you are using your mobile phone, please turn your phone to landscape mode so you can see the full screen properly.
Parkway Food Pantry
School Chromebook Reminders
As we begin the school year, please take a moment to review the following policies and procedures regarding your student’s Parkway issued Chromebook.
Chromebooks are the property of the Parkway School District and should be kept in the same condition as when originally assigned to the student. Students should not remove their protective Gumdrop case from their Chromebook for any reason. The case is designed to prevent severe damage, so it’s very important that the device remains in its case. Although these devices are assigned to students, they remain the property of the Parkway School District and should NOT be personalized with stickers, decals, drawings, etc.
Parkway is changing the way we support our Chromebook fleet. Parents will no longer register for insurance. Instead, Parkway will be moving to a per-incident, fines-based model for repairs related to Chromebook damage. These fines will only apply to the Chromebooks that will be traveling with the students, grades 3-12. Students in grades K-2 will leave their devices at school unless otherwise directed by school administration. Chromebook fines will be assessed for damage that is not covered by the manufacturer’s warranty (i.e. broken screens, damaged keyboards, broken/missing case, missing/damaged charger, etc.). Rycor, Parkway’s online payment processing system, will be used to record and collect all Chromebook related fines.
The amount of the fine will vary depending on the total cost of the parts needed to repair the Chromebook.
Minor repairs ($25 fine) - Repairs that require parts valued under $200
Major repairs ($50 fine) - Repairs that require parts valued over $200
Update Your Family Profile
Please complete your annual update of your Family Profile by following this link. It is important that we have up-to-date phone numbers, email addresses, and emergency contacts for all students. Please carefully review the emergency contacts for your child. Only parents and individuals listed as emergency contacts are authorized to pick up your child from school.
Access the School Calendar
The Henry School Calendar has been updated for the 2022-2023 school year with school-wide events and information (as much as can be planned at this time).
Please click here to access a printable district calendar that includes days off school and early release days.
You can access the school calendar by visiting our website (click here).
You may wish to load the calendar into your personal electronic calendar. Please use this web address to access the calendar from other applications: https://www.parkwayschools.net/site/handlers/icalfeed.ashx?MIID=15. You can copy and paste this into any calendar product that supports the iCal format (i.e. Google Calendar, iOS devices, Android devices, and Microsoft Outlook). Detailed instructions are available by clicking here.
Yearbook Photo Submissions
If you are having difficulty with this form, you may email your photos (with optional names and descriptions) to Mr. Call (ccall@parkwayschools.net). Please make the subject PHOTOS FOR YEARBOOK.
Kindergarten Yard Signs
Thanks to our PTO for your partnership on this endeavor!
Free/Reduced Lunch
If you would like to apply for the free and reduced lunch program it is available for online submission at this link. Please contact the Henry office if you would like to request a paper copy. If you think you may qualify, please fill the forms out completely and return/submit them promptly. Students are charged the full price of their meals until the application is submitted and then, if approved.
Visitor and Volunteer Information
We are excited to welcome volunteers and visitors back to Henry! This connection is something that we have greatly missed but we will continue to go slow and take caution. We want to explain the difference between a volunteer and a visitor. This difference is important because a volunteer is required to have a full background check as outlined below.
A Parkway volunteer is an individual who has an opportunity to be alone with a student.
A Parkway visitor is an individual in a school for a limited period of time who does not have the opportunity to be alone with a student.
Parkway Volunteers must go through the background check process outlined below.
Parkway Visitors do not need to go through the background check process.
Per Missouri Statute 168.133, those who wish to volunteer must complete a fingerprint
background check through the Missouri State Highway Patrol and FBI. The cost for the
background check is $41.75 and is the responsibility of the volunteer. Please reach out if you
need assistance. The background check will remain current as long as a volunteer stays active.
If a year passes, the volunteer will need to complete and pay for another background check.
Volunteers may complete the App Garden/TransAct (Parkway volunteer tracking software) now. Use this link to start App Garden/TransAct Application. It can take volunteers anywhere from 4-6 weeks to be approved so please do not delay if you plan to assist in the coming months.
Henry Elementary School
Email: joliver2@parkwayschools.net
Website: https://www.parkwayschools.net/Domain/15
Location: 700 Henry Avenue, Ballwin, MO, USA
Phone: 314-415-6350
Facebook: facebook.com/henryelementaryschool
Twitter: @BulldogsHenry