As we approach the end of the 2nd Trimester (March 11), we reflect on the growth and progress that we have made since the beginning of the year...we have a lot to celebrate! However, we continue marching forward in our quest to challenge our students' attitudes and beliefs of being a learner. We support our learners and allow them to see and understand the individual growth that they have made while also guiding them to generate questions on how to improve. The faculty and staff of Baron Elementary appreciate the support you are providing at home. Continue to ask questions and show an interest in what your child is learning at school.

Proud to be a Baron!

Mr. Pyle

We look forward to seeing our parents attend the Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences on March 26 and 27. We value this time to celebrate the growth that your child has made during the school year at Baron Elementary. We appreciate your support from home as we continue our efforts to Ignite Passion and Purpose to Empower Difference Makers at our school! You may begin signing-up for conferences on Monday, March 4th using the link below or accessing the Meet the Teacher page using the Manheim Central website https://www.manheimcentral.org/parents

If you have questions, please call our school office at (717) 665-8900.

We are excited to welcome families for our annual Kindergarten Registration process for the 2024-25 school year. Please review the information linked below and let us know if you have any questions.

Student Attendance

Consistent school attendance is essential to maximize student learning. The school ascribes to the belief that a learner cannot receive maximum benefit from his or her school experiences, nor a parent maximum return on the tax dollar, when students are not in regular attendance. Continued and excessive unexcused absences will result in the formation of a Student Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP) according to the Manheim Central policies and PA Act 138. This section outlines the procedural guidelines for complying with the PA Act 138 (2016) and Policy 204 of the Manheim Central School District Board Policy. All guidelines may be subject to administrative discretion.

• A tardy is defined as absent from the start of the day (7:45AM) until 10:49AM. An excuse must be provided for this time or it is coded as an ‘unexcused tardy’

• Students may accumulate a combination of up to 10 days of parent excusals and unexcused/illegal days per school year. Should this limit be reached, all additional absences will only be excused with a note from the treating physician. Excuses from a physician are preferred for illness and will not count towards the 10 day limit for parent excuse notes for absences. Any parent/guardian written excuse notes following the 10 day limit will be coded as an illegal or unexcused day.

• Case by case exceptions may occur and must be reviewed and approved by the building principals.

• A Student has 3 school days to submit a signed excuse note following a return from an absent day. If a valid, written and signed excuse is not submitted within the 3-day period, the absence is logged as illegal.

• In the High School, Illegal/unexcused days may result in the student receiving a 0 for all school work missed during the day of absence.

• An attendance letter is mailed home when a student has 3 and 6 illegal/unexcused attendance days documented.

• If a student accumulates 3-5 days of illegal absences, a 3-day illegal notice letter will be sent to the parent/guardian.

• If a student accumulates 6 (or more) illegal absences, a letter will be mailed to the parent/guardian, which will include an invitation to the Student Attendance Improvement Plan (SAIP) meeting. This is a team meeting to discuss and address concerns and create a plan of support and an improvement to attendance. Students who accumulate 6+ days of illegal absences are identified as ‘habitually truant.’

• SAIP’s are individualized and will be reviewed regularly. If attendance does not improve following a SAIP, additional options to address continued truancy may include a referral to the Office of the District Justice.

All Students K-12

1. Students absent from the start of the school day until 10:49 AM of the school day = Tardy.

2. Students absent from 10:50 until the end of the school day = ½ day absence.

3. Students absent the entire school day = full day of absence.

4. Students absent on a day that is an early dismissal or late start school day are counted as a full day of absence.

FID Day Attendance: All students must complete the assigned work from their teacher on a Flexible Instruction Day. All attendance procedures still apply on a FID Day.

The Crossing Guard Company is looking to fill some positions in the Manheim/Lancaster areas. If you are interested, please access the information attached below. If you have any questions, please contact The Crossing Guard Company at...

odalys@thecrossingguardcompany.com

Direct

(201) 744-8351

Baron Elementary, Doe Run Elementary, and the Manheim Central Middle School are Schoolwide Title 1 schools. Your child benefits from many programs and services that use Title 1 funds. Having our parents informed and involved with the selection of these programs and services is very important to us as a school district. Our school community continues to make decisions with the best interest of our learners in mind. With that being said, we would appreciate your attendance and participation in our annual Parent & Family Engagement events. Please read more about our Title 1 program by accessing the link below...

What is Title 1? Why does it matter?

We will be hosting a Parent & Family Engagement Brunch on April 12th from 10:30AM-12:00PM at the district office. If you are interested in attending, please complete the survey below...

We look forward to welcoming parents and learners to our next Baron Breakfast on Thursday, March 14th. We are excited to have Officers Lucky and Yarnell as the keynote speakers on the PurposeFULL People topic for March: Respect. Door prizes will also be given to some lucky learners! Please sign-up to attend our breakfast by using the link below...

Help us celebrate the love of reading during Read Across America Week at Baron Elementary. We created fun themes for each day of the week. Our annual Storybook Character Day will take place on Friday, March 15th! We always enjoy seeing our learners (and staff) dress-up as their favorite character from a story!

We look forward to welcoming our families to the Multicultural Family Reading Night from 6:00PM-7:30PM at Baron Elementary on March 14th. Celebrating cultures, we have a lot of fun and engaging activities planned for the evening. We hope that you can make it!

Thursday, March 14th from 5-7pm and Friday, March 15th from 9am-3pm at the Farm Show Complex/Building

We need your assistance. We have many overdue books that need to be returned to our school library. Please return books to our library so that other young readers can enjoy them. We are also noticing an increase in damaged books that are returned to our library. We need your support in helping our learners understand the importance of being responsible with the books that they bring home.

Our PurposeFULL People theme for March is respect. We enjoy seeing our young learners at Baron Elementary demonstrating respect with one another throughout their day. Each day, we model, demonstrate, and entrust one another to be respectful when attending to tasks in the classroom, playground, or cafeteria. When kids are able to lead with empathy and demonstrate a willingness to help others, a positive learning environment is created. Continue to look for ways at home to help your child understand the benefits of being respectful. Together we can achieve more!

At this time of the year, our Reading Practice goal for learners is 191 STEPs (1 STEP = 15 mins.). Please continue to encourage your child to read at least 15 minutes each night at home and sign and return their reading logs to their teacher. Learners are also accumulating points for their House color! Let's continue to celebrate the joy of reading at home and at school!

Congratulations to Briella Worrall for being recognized as the Learner of the Month for Baron Elementary at the February school board meeting. Briella is making a difference at Baron Elementary and beyond!

We congratulate Mrs. Laura Clare for her commitment and dedication to making our school a better place! For 23 years at H.C. Burgard and Baron Elementary, Laura has certainly been a difference maker in the lives of so many...especially yours truly! We wish Mrs. Clare all the best as she begins her retirement from Manheim Central at 3:15PM on Friday, March 8th. She will be missed!

Please join us at our next PTO meeting on Monday, March 4th at 6:30pm. Childcare is provided for school age children. There are many fun PTO events coming up and a variety of ways to get involved. Come and hear more about our Spring Book Fair, Daddy/Daughter Dance, Baron Bolt Fundraiser, Elementary Carnival and more! We are currently looking for volunteers for our Spring Book Fair. Please sign-up to help below...

We look forward to having our learners participate in our annual Baron Bolt on May 3rd at Rettew Stadium. This fun-filled event will have our learners running, jogging...and...bolting around the course in the stadium. This is our big fundraiser for the PTO. Our PTO does some amazing things for the learners and teachers of Baron Elementary! Please look for information on how you can support our PTO and the programs and events that they provide to our school! We will have a lot of fun and exciting events as the kids hit each milestone in their efforts to raise money for our PTO. Seeing Mr. Pyle being duct-taped to the wall feels like it happened only yesterday!

Our school breakfast is being provided free of charge. We appreciate all of the hard work that our food services department is doing in providing healthy food choices for our learners. If you have any questions, please contact our food services director, Sara Payne, at paynes@manheimcentral.org or 717-665-8816.

March 4...PTO Meeting (6:30PM) *HS Interact Club is providing child care

March 8...Spring Picture Day

March 11...2nd Trimester comes to an end

March 11-15...Read Across America Week/Spring Book Fair Week

March 14...Baron Breakfast (6:30AM) *Please sign-up to attend

March 14...MCSD Art Show (5:00PM-7:00PM) at the Farm Show Building

March 14...Multicultural Family Reading Night (6:00PM-7:30PM)

March 15...MCSD Art Show (9:00AM-3:00PM) at the Farm Show Building

March 18...Kindergarten Registration (District Office)

March 26...Parent-Teacher Conferences (5:00PM-8:00PM)

March 27...Early Dismissal...Parent-Teacher Conferences (12:00PM-3:00PM & 5:00PM-8:00PM)

March 28, 29 and April 1...No School (Easter Break)