Sheldon Update

Dear Sheldon Families,

Happy TWOS-DAY! I hope you enjoyed your long weekend and had some fun outside in the beautiful weather! Thank you to all the families who met with their child's classroom team for Parent/Teacher Conferences. Teachers are working today to contact families they were not able to connect with. Please schedule a time when you hear from them as we expect 100% engagement with families over conferences and are excited to share your child's progress with you!

Please ensure you are sending your student to school dressed warm and prepared to go outside for our outside times. Per district policy, we go outside if the windchill is 20 degrees or above, even if only for a few minutes to get some fresh air!

We are very quickly running out of extra student masks. We simply can not keep up with the number of students that are coming without them daily. We are at the point of asking those regularly coming without a mask to leave with your student and come back with one. Please ensure your children are coming to school with masks each day. It is a good idea to send a spare mask as well. We appreciate your support in ensuring students come to school prepared to learn and masks are essential to a safe learning environment.

As always, if you have questions or concerns, do not hesitate to reach out to me!

Thank you for the privilege of serving you ~

Mrs. Gabrielle Tanner, Principal

• February 22 - Happy Bear Presentation to 4's
  
• February 21-25 - National Public Schools Week
• February 25 - Advisors Excel Make a Difference Day
• February 26 - National Tell a Fairy Tale Day!

Happy Bear visited Sheldon this morning and presented to 4 year old students. Flyers were sent home, but here is the link to the digital Parent Letter in English and Spanish, as well as the Happy Bear Suggestions for Parents in English and Spanish.

Advisors Excel has chosen Sheldon as one of the recepients for their Make a Difference Day! We are so thankful for their continued support! On Friday, February 25, AE volunteers will come to Sheldon and read a book to each classroom. Classrooms will get to keep a copy of the book for their classroom library! After reading, students will complete a craft activity that goes along with the book. Be sure to ask your student if they learned anything about chameleons!

Topeka Public School District uses a wide variety of communication tools to engage its families. You can get more information here.

As we continue to respond to the community spread, if your student has tested positive for COVID-19 or had a COVID exposure, please complete the TPS COVID-19 Self Reporting form located on our website, and a district health official will contact you within 24 hours. Your child should not return to school until given guidance from school health officials.

Due to the volume of exposure in our county, all COVID student exposures being reported to Topeka Public Schools are to be reported online by going to TopekaPublicSchools.net. This process will allow us to address the current parent COVID needs and allow nurses to carry out their regular school duties and meet daily student needs. Please click on the link labeled Reporting a COVID-19 Exposure, which is on our main web page. Based on the information parents provide, an emailed response will be given informing you of the date your child can return to school and your child's school principal and nurse will be notified.

If you do not have the internet and need to report your exposure through this call, please provide your name, phone number, email address (if you have one), your child's name, birthdate and the date of the COVID-19 positive exposure. If you have school-related questions regarding a COVID-19 exposure, please leave a message and a health professional will return your call within 2 business days. Messages are only checked once every afternoon as our nurses are focused on patients for the majority of the day.

Families are asked to complete the self-reporting form for any COVID exposure. If a parent does not have internet access, they can call the COVID-19 reporting line at 785-438-HELP (785-438-4357) to report a COVID exposure. Schools will redirect families to the form on our web page or to the number to call.

Each month the Sheldon Policy Council meets and discusses the Status Report from the previous month. This report provides information on many different pieces, such as enrollment, attendance, family engagment, special education services, etc. Following the monthly meeting, highlights from this report will be shared with all families in the parent newsletter

-Enrollment: Sheldon is currently at full capacity, serving 221 students.

-Attendance: We ended January with a 90% attendance rate. Head Start Performance Standards expect each child's attendance to be above 85% with the overall program attendance rate above 90%.

-Importance of Attendance: As of today, February 22, we have had 109 school days. The information belows highlights what a child's attendance rate would be if they have missed a certain number of school days thus far, as well as the number of hours of instruction they will have missed. As you can see, the hours of missed instruction add up very quickly!

• 5 days = 95% attendance rate and 33.75 hours of missed instruction
• 10 days = 91% attendance rate and 67.5 hours of missed instruction
• 12 days = 89% attendance rate and 81 hours of missed instruction
• 15 days = 86% attendance rate and 101.25 hours of missed instruction
• 20 days = 82% attendance rate and 135 hours of missed instruction

Each week the Sheldon staff reviews one of our Head Start Policies & Procedures and felt it was important that families stay up to date on these as well. This quarter our focus is on Family Service and Parent Involvement. If you ever have any questions regarding our policies and procedures, please reach out!

Enrollment

POLICY:

Children are enrolled in accordance with Head Start regulations. This policy relates to Head Start Performance Standards 45 CFR Part 1302.12, 1302.14, 1302.15

PROCEDURE:

1. Selection of Applications

a. The Eligibility Waiting List on Child Plus provides a list of children for enrollment selection ranked highest to lowest with priority points. When a child’s application is logged on Child Plus, his/her name and information is automatically sent to this waiting list and their designated points are assigned.

b. Based on the number of points received, children are identified as accepted or waiting. If a child is accepted, he/she is moved to the Accepted List on Child Plus.

c. The parent is notified if their child has been placed in the program or if their child is on the waiting list and, if so, will be notified if an enrollment opportunity becomes available.

d. The classroom where each child will be enrolled is determined based on age, gender, program needs, special needs, language, returning child/family, siblings, etc.

e. A preliminary list is given to the teaching staff and family service staff containing an alphabetical listing of children assigned to each classroom, including names, addresses, and telephone numbers of parents.

2. Enrollment of Children:

a. Once all enrollment slots have been designated, staff will then move the children from the Accepted List to officially enrolled.

b. The Master Roster Report may be printed when the above process is completed.

c. The Master Roster Report, which is the list of children officially enrolled in each classroom, is distributed to teaching, family services and administrative staff. The report is printed as needed and contains the names of active children.

d. The Eligibility Waiting List maintains the names of children who were not selected for enrollment initially. The staff will monitor this list frequently and when a vacancy occurs, will refer to the list to determine the next eligible child to enroll.

3. Vacancies are filled in no more than thirty (30) calendar days.

Re-Enrollment

POLICY:

The program re-enrolls returning children who remain age and income eligible. This policy relates to Head Start Performance Standards 45 CFR Part 1302.12 and 1302.15

PROCEDURE:

1. A returning child is a child who was participating in the program at the end of the preceding year. If a child withdrew before the year ended, he/she is not considered a returning child.

2. If a three year old child enrolls in the Head Start program, he/she is allowed to remain in the program until kindergarten is available for the child.

3. If the child has been found income eligible and is a participant in the program, he or she remains income eligible through that enrollment year and the next school year. It is not necessary to re-verify income before enrolling the child for the 2nd year. However, if a parent reports to the Head Start program that their income has changed between program years, it will be at the discretion of the program to decide whether the increase or decrease warrants reverification.

FCC has announced a permanent AFFORDABLE CONNECTIVITY PROGRAM that will provide eligible families, who apply, a credit of up to $30 per month to cover the cost of Broadband services with various providers, including Cox. Eligible families include those who qualify for free and reduced lunch, SNAP, WIC or those with an income level at or below 200% of the federal poverty guideline for family size. Click one of the next links for information from Cox in either ENGLISH or SPANISH.

Check out the February Health and Fitness Tip here!

Here Comes the Bus is an app that will allow you to track your student's bus in real time. It is free on both the Android and Apple app stores. You will need your child's student ID number, which you can find in your account in TylerSIS. If you have trouble locating this, please give us a call and we will provide it. Directions for downloading and setting up the app are below:

Here Comes the Bus®

Now available to parents of (Topeka Public Schools) students

• View the real-time location of your child’s bus.

• Access the app from your smartphone, tablet or computer.

• Receive push notifications or email alerts.

• Send your child to the bus stop at just the right time, every time.

How to get started:

1. Download the Here Comes the Bus app* or visit herecomesthebus.com

2. Sign Up by going to the Here Comes the Bus website https://login.herecomesthebus.com/SignUpConfirm.aspx

3. Enter school code 29036 and click “Next” followed by “Confirm”

4. Complete the “User Profile” box

5. Under “My Students,” click “Add.” Enter your child’s last name and student ID number

6. Once you confirm your information, you’re ready to begin using Here Comes the Bus!

The Topeka Public Schools Board of Education voted on August 5th to follow the CDC Universal masking guidelines to start the school year. This means that masks will be required indoors for all staff, students, and visitors regardless of vaccination status. Masks will not be required during outside times. Please be sure you send your student to school with a clean face mask each day. This is part of their required dress code and we appreciate your assistance with ensuring we are providing a safe environment for our students! We will also be continuing with frequent handwashing/sanitation, disinfection protocols, and maintaining a social distance of 3 feet. Follow this link to view the entire "TPS Safe to Return to School Plan".

You can find the 2021-2022 Academic Calendar HERE.

Did you know that you can check out a WiFi Hotspot from the Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library for FREE? Get more information here.

This updated document provides a list of food pantries and food resources available in English and in Spanish.

The Sheldon Food & Clothing Bank is still up and running! If your family has any needs, reach out to your Family Advocate or call 438-4538.

You can find the link to the 2021 Community Resources Council Resource Directory here. This directory provides contact information for a variety of community resources.

Website: https://sheldon.topekapublicschools.net/
Location: 1155 SW Seabrook Ave.
Phone: 785-438-4530
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SheldonChildDevelopmentCenterHeadStart