The Sycamore Scoop
March 23, 2021
Important Dates Ahead
All hybrid students will return full-time, five days a week, on Monday, April 5.
Change in VLA Food Pick Up Starts After Spring Break
As we prepare to welcome students back to in-person learning, five days a week, I wanted to make you aware of a change to the Wednesday VLA food pick-up. We will continue to have pick-ups at Tussing, Ridgeview and Harmon. However, the pickup time will be one hour earlier from 10am – 11am starting on Wednesday April 7, 2021.
There are a couple of reasons for this move:
Personnel shortage. Because of Covid-19 all of the kitchens are down employees from where they were before Covid-19. We are using the substitute cooks that we have to fill-in for the staff that we don’t have. With that being said, we are short on substitute cooks as well.
The Health Department has implemented new guidelines on the way that we serve food. These guidelines alter the way we have served in the past due to the restrictions on self-serve. Items that are self–serve will need to be individually packaged. This will require more time to package the food.
We know that this can be an inconvenience to families, but the move is necessary. By moving the pick-up time one hour earlier, this will allow us to hand out the meals in a safe and efficient manner.
Help Keep Our School Grounds Clean
Pickerington Schools is on the May 4 Ballot
The reality is, our district is rapidly growing and we are running out of space to continue providing our current level of educational, co-curricular and extracurricular opportunities to our students.
If passed, the bond issue will fund the current phase of the District’s Facility Plan which would: build a new junior high school building; renovate Ridgeview Jr. High into a K-6 facility and Heritage Elementary into a Welcome Center and Preschool; upgrade safety vestibules; and, add learning spaces and capacity to common areas and activity spaces throughout the district.
If passed on May 4, the bond issue will also fund future phases of the Facility Plan at no additional cost to taxpayers by bringing $53 million in matching funds from the state! Future projects would include renovations to: Tussing Elementary School, Diley Middle School, Harmon Middle School and Lakeview Jr. High School.
Completing the first two phases of Pickerington School’s Master Facility Plan will allow the District to meet the enrollment growth needs facing our district now and be prepared to continue providing safe and engaging learning opportunities to our students into the future.
If the bond issue fails, the district will need to divert money from the daily operating budget in order to pursue temporary options to accommodate enrollment growth. The growth we are experiencing and our facility needs will become even more urgent as classrooms and buildings become more crowded. In addition, there is no guarantee that the state can make available matching funds through OFCC in future years. Learn more about the May 4 bond issue here.
Information about voting is available at: www.VoteOhio.gov. The voter registration deadline is April 5 and early voting begins April 6.
Online School Store
Exciting Events Happening in the Library
We wanted to give you a heads up about a few things coming up in April in our library here at SCE. First of all, students have been introduced to SORA, an app that gives students access to over 2,000 ebooks available through Pickerington Schools. In addition, Mrs. Trotch, will be coordinating with the Pickerington Public Library to get all students a library card to the Pickerington Library. Students will complete a kid card application during their library time in April. In doing this, students will be granted access to thousands of digital titles through the Pickerington Library App. In addition, this card will allow for up to three print items to be checked out in-person. What a great resource to keep our kids reading all summer.
Additionally, the second week of April, Mrs. Trotch will be starting a painting project with the students for a rock garden for our school. Thank you to our wonderful PTO for providing all supplies for each student! The paint that students will be using is non-washable, as these rocks will be placed outside, and must withstand Ohio weather. As the date of this project gets closer, we will notify you of exact dates that we would encourage your student to wear old clothes to school or bring a shirt to put on over their clothes. Stay tuned for more details.
Panorama Survey this Spring
We thank you and your family for being our partners as we work together to educate the children in our district. Pickerington Local School District values input from our community, and we need to hear from your child(ren). Their voices are important as we work to improve the overall school experience for students and their families.
We would like your child’s feedback via a 20-30 minute online survey that s/he will be completing at school or home. The survey will provide us with social and emotional learning (SEL) information. SEL is the process through which children and adults apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions. These are the skill sets that promote success in life.
We are asking that all of our students in grades 3-12 participate in the surveys, as their feedback will provide important insights into their school experiences for direction in planning to meet their needs. If a student does not feel they have enough information to answer a question, they will be able to skip the item altogether.
We are partnering with Panorama Education to support us in the survey process. To view the PLSD survey content, please feel free to copy and paste the following links into your browser:
Grades 3-5 SEL Competencies SEL Supports
Grades 6-12 SEL Competencies SEL Supports Equity & Inclusion
Please notify us if you do not want your child to participate in the survey by filling in the information below and returning it to the school by April 2. To opt-out, you may provide the form below or an email to your child’s School Counselor.
We thank you in advance for your support. If you have any questions about the survey, please do not hesitate to contact Cathy Ely, Prevention & Intervention Services Coordinator, at 614-548-1813.
English: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1JZvFQ2dD_qcLOUqzYT0VRQmws2SdYPs3BFq2GXViKUM/edit?usp=sharing
Spanish:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GTGCpRohGV6n09iHhg7UoKi1tUK9UAAAr3LbOJZ6hiQ/edit?usp=sharing
PTO Updates
4th Grade Parents! The PTO is purchasing your child their “Middle School Shirts” again this year! Please complete the form and return it to your teacher ASAP.
Yearbook Updates:
Flyer is attached with ordering instructions for the yearbook. Delivery will be in May. Last day to ensure delivery to the school is March 24th.
Interested in helping the PTO next year we have several positions available for committee chairs and we will need someone to follow several board members to take over their roles in the 2022-2023 school year. Please email Krista Langdon @ kristalangdon413@gmail.com if you are interested.
Board Roles that will need to be observed during the 2021-2022 school year are: AR Treasurer, AP Treasurer, VP of Fundraising (preferable 2 people for this role).
Committee chairs include: Daughter and Someone Special Night Out, Son’s Day with Someone Special, Birthday Book Club, Halloween (Scarecrow and Halloween event), 4th Grade Graduation Chair (this is new), Family Fun Nights.
Upcoming events:
April PTO Meeting Thursday April 8 (2nd Thursday of the month due to Spring Break)
Meeting Code: meet.google.com/euu-iwdz-yaz
Berwick Food Truck-Tuesday April 13th-more information to come in the following weeks.