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Dear Families:

Welcome to a new school year! The staff have been preparing for the arrival of our students. There have been several changes amongst the two buildings with new staff and current staff in new positions or locations. Many location changes are due to the closing of the East Wareham School. Please welcome the following to our schools:

Hammond:  Mrs. Denise Tobin has transferred from Minot to teach in the Early Childhood Preschool Learning Center and  Ms. de la Torre will teach in the Specialized Integrated Preschool program.

Minot Forest:  Mrs. Lori Pearson, Grade Four Teacher; Mrs. Kelly Roberts, Study Skills Teacher, and Ms. Crystal Carson, part-time Special Education Teacher. Mrs. Taylor Gomes, paraprofessional, has transferred to Minot in our Learning Center.  In new assignments are: Mrs. Kerry Snider, grade one teacher; Mrs. Michele Letourneau, grade three teacher; and Mrs. Pam Schluter, Math Teacher Coach. Several of our paraprofessionals have been reassigned to various programs, based on need.

Sparkling Buildings: With East closing and the relocation of staff, the custodians moved a lot of furniture and boxes this summer to new classrooms. They worked hard and despite the weeks lost to cleaning with the moving, the schools look great. We thank them for their hard work during the hot summer in unairconditioned buildings.

Newsletters: Each month, a newsletter will be published from the office with important information and a calendar of events. Please look for this at the beginning of each month. If additional events are scheduled after the newsletter has been distributed, an updated notice will be sent home. Please post the calendar of events on your refrigerator so we can conserve paper by eliminating reminder notices. You can also access the newsletters on the school website by clicking on the link at the top of this newsletter, going to the schools link, and clicking on your child’s school. You can sign up to be on the district’s email list-serve and receive newsletters automatically as well as other announcements, including when school is canceled or delayed.

Bus times: During the first few days of this week, 9/2/08, the buses will run late as the drivers become accustomed to bus stops. Please be patient. On 9/9/08, preschool and kindergarten students begin school so buses will again be late for a few days during this week. All students must be outside ten minutes prior to the bus arriving. Due to time schedules, drivers will not wait at bus stops or houses for children who are not ready. Prompt arrival of our buses to school is important as some buses have to stop at multiple schools. Bus routes are designated by your home address. If your child requires transportation from an alternate address that is in your geographical area, you must notify the school in writing. Transporting to a different address is called a variance. Variances must be approved ahead of time before your child can board a bus. A variance will be granted by the Director of Transportation as long as the alternate address is an established bus stop and there is sufficient room on the bus. Transportation for variances is not guaranteed. Any requests for transportation variances after August 15, 2008 will not begin until September 22, 2008. Parent’s whose variances have been approved have been notified.  If your child attends Wareham Child Care, Little People’s College, Boys and Girls Club, etc, you must inform the school in writing on the first day of school.

Forms to Complete: During the first few days, your child will come home with many forms for you to complete and return. We need one of each form filled out completely for each of your children and returned on or before September 12 for grades one through five and September 19 for preschool and kindergarten. This includes the registration form, medical form, signed declaration of handbook form, etc. Please follow the procedure for returning free milk and free and reduced lunch application forms. These forms are vital for state funding. If you do not qualify, please sign the form, list your children and write “do not qualify” and return it to school. If you will be completing a form to qualify for free milk or free or reduced lunch, fill out the form completely with all children listed and return one form per family to school. With new software, we will be able to input all children’s names that are listed on the form. This will save families from filling out multiple lunch forms. The lunch application form serves two purposes:

1) It helps the Food Service Department to determine if your family qualifies for full-price, reduced price or free school meals. This includes full-price, reduced-price or free school breakfast as well. 2) The application also is used to determine how much state funding our school receives for supplies, such as books, classroom furniture, and other school resources. We need to receive one lunch application form per family from all families.

When completing the registration form for each child, please list cell phones and any relative or neighbor who can pick up your child at school or from the school bus in the event you are not available to do so. If someone arrives to dismiss your child who isn’t on your list, we will not release your child without your permission. It is better to list people “just in case.”  If a child does not reside with both parents, the school must have a copy of all legal/custody paperwork. If you move during the year or change any phone numbers (home, work, cell), or any of your emergency contacts have phone number changes, please be sure to notify your child’s school(s). Please return school insurance forms signed, even if you do not wish to participate. Another form we must collect from everyone, as required by the Department of Early and Secondary Education, is the Home Language, Race/Ethnicity form. We must have this form for every child as well. We appreciate the time required to fill out these forms for each child.

District Staff/Student Handbook & Elementary Student Supplemental Handbook: The

district handbook contains district and legal policies and laws. In addition, each school level

(elementary, middle and high) also will have a supplemental student handbook that addresses

additional issues particular to that grade level. It is important to read both of these handbooks, sign, and return the form stating that you have received and read them. Please keep these handbooks in a safe place so you can refer to them at any time during the school year.

Parent volunteers: We welcome parents to volunteer in our classrooms/schools. If you are interested or think you would like to chaperone on a field trip later in the year, you will need to complete a C.O.R.I. form now if you haven’t done so within the past three years before you can be approved. All volunteers, even to volunteer once for field trips, must have a C.O.R.I. on file. Please stop in at any school office to complete one and bring a license or other government identification.

Drop off times: At Minot, children can be dropped off between 8:25-8:40. At Hammond, morning kindergarten children can be dropped off between 8:30-8:40 at the front door on Union Avenue. Preschool students, not arriving on buses, will be escorted by parents to school staff waiting at the auditorium ramp on Highland Avenue between 8:30-8:40. Instruction begins at 8:40.  Parents will need to wait with their children if they arrive before these times as staff will not be on duty until these start times. Please do not park or drive up in front of the schools. Hammond families must park at the tennis courts or on the street and walk your children to the door. The circle in front is a Fire Lane and restricted for buses only. At Minot, families will need to drive into the visitor’s lot and students will walk up the sidewalk. Please do not drive up the driveway to drop your child off. The lane in front of the school also is a Fire Lane and restricted to buses only. If you have signed up with Wareham Child Care for before or after school daycare, parents also must park in the visitor’s lot and walk into the cafeteria. The upper parking lot in the back is reserved for staff, special needs buses, and delivery vehicles only.

The instructional day remains the same, 8:40-2:40. After 8:40, you must come into the office to sign your child in as he/she would be considered late. For half day preschool and kindergarten, the morning session ends at 11:15. Students in the afternoon kindergarten session will enter through the front doors on Union Avenue between 12:00-12:10. Preschool students, not arriving on buses, will be escorted by parents to school staff waiting at the auditorium ramp on Highland Avenue between 12:00-12:10. Instruction begins at 12:10 and ends at 2:40. Hammond students arriving after 12:10 will need to enter through the front door on Union Avenue.

Dismissal procedures: At Minot, many students are able to walk home. This means that once the announcement is made in school, students exit through the bus lobby doors. Walkers do not need to be signed out. If you are picking your child up every day for the school year, you can send in one note to the office at the beginning of the year to let us know. If your child is normally a bus student, and you need to pick them up at the end of the day, you will need to send in a note in the morning letting us know. At the end of the day, a general announcement will be made in all schools for the pick-up students to go to their assigned area. Please park in the designated spaces as listed above. At Hammond, pick up of morning kindergarten students will enter through the front door and sign the students out with the office secretary. Pick up of afternoon kindergarten students will be in the cafeteria. Families will wait outside at the side cafeteria door  nearest the playground and will enter the cafeteria when the 2:40 bell rings.  At Minot, you will enter by the cafeteria doors in the back. Please bring a photo identification in with you every time. Different staff members will be on duty and will check your identification. Please do not call the office to change your child’s dismissal unless it is a real emergency. We need to verify who is calling to be sure your child is dismissed safely. Notes to change dismissal procedures must be submitted in writing that morning. If you are dismissing your child early from school, please ring the buzzer and proceed to the office with your identification. You will sign your child out and he/she will then be called to the office from his/her classroom. To prevent any loss of time from learning, your child will not be sent to the office ahead of your arrival.

School Attendance: The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) requires that schools maintain a 95% attendance rate each year. This means that your child cannot be absent for more than 9 days in a school year. Family vacations need to be scheduled during school vacation weeks. Each school’s attendance is monitored by the Department of Early and Secondary Education and is used as data when reporting Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). This is a score given to schools when students take the MCAS exam starting in grade 3. Please make every effort to schedule any appointments after school so your child will not miss valuable learning time. Each school will be rated on attendance, regardless of the grade level. If your child is sick, he/she needs to be home resting. If you take your son/daughter to the doctor, please bring in a medical note so this can be an “excused medical absence.” Should your child reach 7 days of absences within a six month period, you will be notified in writing from your child’s school, as required by law. We appreciate your support and cooperation. A school calendar is being sent home with vacation, holiday, in-service days and MCAS dates listed for your planning purposes. Please note the MCAS dates. Students in grades 3-5 cannot be away during these testing window dates.

Picture Day: Picture Day has been scheduled for each of the schools. You will receive

envelopes to pick out a package and prepay for your pictures. If you do not wish to have a package done for your child, his/her picture will be taken only for the class photo. See Calendar of Events for your school’s date.

Breakfast Program/Lunch Program: Many of our students eat breakfast before they arrive to school; however, some children have not had the opportunity. Full-day students at Hammond and Minot can purchase breakfast, if needed, as they arrive at school. After the first day at Hammond and Minot, they will go directly upon arrival to the cafeteria to purchase their breakfast. Hot lunch is $1.75 and milk is $.40. You can send in money each day, however to prevent loss of money, we encourage families to send in a check made out to Wareham Food Services for an amount you determine. This payment will be applied to your child’s school lunch account. Each time your child purchases breakfast, lunch, or a snack at lunch, money will automatically be deducted from your child’s account. For grades one through five and full-day kindergarten at Hammond only, each child has a special numeric code number that follows him/her each year. He/she keys in the number and the amount is deducted by our cafeteria staff. Students who qualify for free/reduced lunch use this number for lunch. Snacks do not qualify for free or reduced rates and must be paid for when purchased or by having money set up on an account for this purpose. Notices will be sent home if you have an outstanding balance. If your child reaches a deficit of $5.00 or if you are starting the school year with a deficit from last year, he/she will not be allowed to purchase a hot lunch. Your child will be given a peanut butter sandwich (cheese sandwich if there is a documented peanut allergy), fruit and milk for their lunch choice. Once the deficit is paid, your child can resume making choices for lunch. We cannot have any student accounts in the “red.” Keeping balances in the positive will help our prices from being raised. All negative balances must be paid by the last day of school. Thank you for your cooperation.

Open House: Open House will be scheduled for grades one through five. Please see the Calendar of Events for more details. Open house consists of a meeting for families with the Principal/Assistant Principal and time visiting the classroom. Once arriving at the classroom, you will be able to meet the teacher and hear important classroom/curriculum information. The PTA will offer childcare so adults can listen to the teacher presentations without interruptions and the students will join their families during the last half hour to show off their classroom. We hope to see you at the Minot Open Houses this year.

Appropriate Dress: Please be sure to read the section in the handbooks on appropriate dress. Shoes with wheels, flip-flops, and clogs are not allowed in school as they are a safety concern. Also pay particular attention that electronic devices must be kept at home and not brought on the bus or to school. Any electronic devices seen will be taken and held for parent pick-up. Cell phones are not allowed as well.

              Save Those Labels: Please send in your Nestle Pure Life water bottle labels and any Box Top for Education labels. We will continue to collect these.

              Classroom Directory: This year, we will allow parents the opportunity to submit personal contact information to be included in a classroom directory. The information will be compiled and distributed to families of your child’s classroom. This will allow parents to communicate with other families for social engagements outside of school, check on a homework assignment, inform classmates of birthday celebrations, etc. At Open House or Orientation, the form will be available to complete. This is a completely voluntary process.