DFS Dolphin Weekly Update

*Bold Items are new or singular events.

*If a day of the week is not listed below, it is because there were no major events to detail.

Tuesday, September 1

• Fire Drill

Wednesday, September 2

• Lockdown/Stay Put Drill

Thursday, September 3

• Extreme Weather Drill
• Back to School Night (Grades 3-4-5 @ 6:00PM) (Grades K-1-2 @ 7:00PM)(Meet the Specialists @ 6:30-7:15PM)

Friday, September 4

• DFS Spirit Wear Day

"The beginning is the most important part of the work."

-Plato, Ancient Greek Philosopher

Mrs. Ferraro is already ramping up the annual beginning-of-year reading fever set to spread across DFS! Many thanks to our PTA for the incredible book vending machine that all DFS students will have the opportunity to use throughout the year!

With only 181 days to learn each school year, every day truly does matter. If your child is not ill, the best place for them is DFS! Please take a look at the week's attendance data and help us ensure all students maximize learning this year.

Daily Attendance

Thursday: 98.9%

Friday: 97.6%

August/September Daily Attendance Average: 98.3%

Year-To-Date Daily Attendance Average - Kindergarten: 98.6%

Year-To-Date Daily Attendance Average - Grade One: 96.6%

Year-To-Date Daily Attendance Average - Grade Two: 98.2%

Year-To-Date Daily Attendance Average - Grade Three: 98.4%

Year-To-Date Daily Attendance Average - Grade Four: 100.0%

Year-To-Date Daily Attendance Average - Grade Five: 97.7%

Year-To-Date Daily Attendance Average - All Grades: 98.3%

Summer Reading & Math Google Form:-Form Closes 9/11/26

• K-5 Summer Reading Overview: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UpwsQjDisVIMPPb0MksMj5EjW4anpd4-/edit

During PM carpool dismissal, parents enter their child's carpool number once they are in line along Daniels Farm Road using the link below. The link allows daily access to a Google Form as follows:

1. Open the form (LINK: https://forms.gle/CDjvEC31yvPabfqL6 or use the QR code on the right)
2. Enter your child's carpool number when you arrive at DFS.
3. Hit "submit".
4. Repeat this process for each child you are picking up that day.

This must be done each day you are picking up a student. Please DO NOT enter your number until you are in the carpool line or there will be too many students in the waiting area. If you bookmark the form on your phone, it will be easy to access on the days you need it. Below you will find a short video demonstrating the process.

Instructional Video Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LzaVbMQwYjYZ17V__qhjQYDQQUILLXJc/view?usp=sharing

Please read and follow these important rules to keep all our students, families, and staff safe.

• We do not sacrifice safety for convenience.

• Parents must stay in their vehicle. Students should be able to exit the vehicle during AM carpool drop off without parental help. This allows for a smooth flow of traffic so that students can be in class on time.

• Please pull up all the way to the top of the drop-off and pick-up zone.

• Students may enter and exit the car only when the car has entered the single lane of the drop-off and pick-up zone.

• Students may not enter and exit the car when the vehicle is in the two-lane area of traffic flow.

• All students must enter and exit on the driver side of the car. This is different than last year as the traffic pattern has changed due to our new parking lot layout.

• Cars must stay in line and not pass any other vehicles when exiting the drop-off and pick-up zone. There are two lanes for exiting DFS.

• Morning drop-off begins at 8:20AM and ends at 8:35AM. Students may not exit their vehicle until 8:20AM during carpool drop off. Staff is on duty at 8:20AM each morning, with no supervision prior to this time. Allowing your child out of the vehicle early places her/him in a potentially dangerous situation.

• Afternoon pickup begins at 3:15PM and ends at 3:35PM. Students in kindergarten, 1st and 2nd grade should be picked up from 3:15 to 3:25 PM. Students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grade should be picked up from 3:25 - 3:35PM. After this time, students are brought to the front office.

• Parents choosing to walk their children to carpool may enter the area from the front or rear of the property. You may not walk through the bus area on the side of the school. You may not park in the staff lot and walk your child to carpool to avoid waiting in line.

In order to maximize the safety and efficiency of our early dismissal, change of dismissal, and after-school participation reporting from home to school, we utilize to an electronic system. We do not accept paper notes.

We use a Google Form to collect this information on a daily basis. We DO NOT review any form entries submitted after 12:00PM. If after-school plans change after 12:00PM, you must call the front office to report the change, otherwise the classroom teacher will follow the regularly scheduled dismissal instructions.

The form can be accessed via a computer using the link below, or a phone using the QR Code below.

LINK: https://forms.gle/3iPmqMEUYMuZexVw9

If you have any questions, please contact us directly.

Thank you!

Please use the link below for up-to-date information regarding bus routes and access to the BusZone bus tracking app. To access the app on your phone, use the QR code below.

TPS Transportation Department Web Page Link: https://www.trumbullps.org/departments/transportation

We look forward to seeing everyone at this year's Back to School Night on Thursday, September 3, 2026. The evening offers an excellent opportunity to learn about the grade level curriculum and how your child's classroom functions on a daily basis. See you there!

Each year we strive to improve the overall learning environment for all students in the areas of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Sometimes this takes the form of a structural change. For the 2026-27 school year we moved to a self-contained model for our grade five students. This means students will not change classrooms during the day; last year students switched for science instruction. The decision was made based on analysis of data trends in ELA and math, and also by reviewing the increasing curriculum demands of the grade level.

Two major variables in our decision were increasing instructional time and access to small group work. By not switching, we estimate a savings of 10-15 minutes per day, or 30 to 45 hours per year! Teachers can also more easily flex their use of time to better meet the needs of all students in the classroom.

As the year progresses we will integrate additional experiences to better prepare students for middle school. These include allowing students to move freely to lunch and specials rather than lining up and implementing a week of multiple classroom switches at year's end.

We are excited to see the gains our students make in this new model!

Summer is a great time to reinforce our DFS SWIM mantra! It's amazing how following a few simple-to-do mindsets can make a world of difference in yourself and the people around you. Be a positive force!

As you settle into the school year, please consider donating some of your time to serve as a classroom coordinator for your class! This is a very easy, mostly virtual way to get involved and help your student's classroom teacher. The role includes collecting for teacher gifts, scheduling volunteers for classroom parties and field trips as well as recruiting parent volunteers for PTA events. Don't worry if you have never served before, we try to pair new with experienced coordinators and will have a virtual online training September 10th at 7:00 PM with plenty of templates ready to share!

Sign-ups are available on Membership Toolkit! Don't forget to donate to our annual appeal and join the PTA while you are there!

Daniels Farm Elementary School

710 Daniels Farm Rd., Trumbull, CT 06611

203-452-4388

Regular School Hours

Doors open at 8:20 AM

Regular School Hours: 8:35 AM - 3:20 PM

Early Dismissal Hours: 8:35 AM - 1:00 PM

Delayed Opening Hours

1 ½ hour Delay: 10: 05 AM – 3:20 PM (doors open at 9:50 AM)
2 hour Delay: 10:35 AM – 3:20 PM (doors open at 10:20 AM)
2 ½ hour Delay: 11:05 AM – 3:20 PM (doors open at 10:50 AM)

DFS Website

Infinite Campus Parent Portal

2026- 2027 Trumbull Public Schools Calendar

DFS Parent Handbook

Volunteer Form*

*Tier 2 volunteer forms are only necessary if you will be working unsupervised with stud