News from the Nest

Happy New Year!

We were so excited to welcome back our staff and students on January 6th!

We had an exciting December filled with fun events. Our PTA hosted their annual Holiday Shoppe where students enjoyed purchasing special gifts for family and friends. We also had so much fun at Winter Fest hearing our primary students perform and visiting with Santa. Our PTA also decorated the cafeteria for students, hosting their 3rd annual Wonderland Lunch. The JLMS band and chorus came to perform for our 5th grade students and introduce them to opportunites they will have available when they enter middle school. We ended the month with Santa visiting all of our classrooms the day before Winter Break!

We are so excited to be back together as a Crane family and finish strong in semester two.

If either of us can ever be of any assistance to your child or family, please reach out to us.

#CranesALLin

Mrs. Shauger and Mrs. Chmurzynski

As we continue to prioritize the safety of our students and community, we kindly remind all students to wear helmets when riding a bike or scooter to school. Helmets are essential for protecting against head injuries and ensuring a safe journey for everyone.

Additionally, please note that it is a Florida law that all bicycle and scooter riders under the age of 16 must wear a helmet.

Thank you for your cooperation and commitment to safety!

For the safety of all our students, staff, and parents, we kindly ask that you refrain from using your cell phone while in the carline. Distracted driving can lead to accidents, and we want to ensure that everyone remains safe during drop-off and pick-up times.

Additionally, once you have pulled into your designated spot in the carline, please put your car in park and remain stationary until a staff member waves you on to leave. This helps maintain an orderly flow of traffic and ensures that children can safely enter and exit vehicles.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding in helping us keep our school community safe.

Walkers and bikers should not arrive at the corner outside the school gate until 8:55 A.M. at the earliest. There is no staff supervision before then. We have had reports from our crossing guards that students are arriving much earlier and are unsupervised. Also, no dropping students off at the bus loop entrance to walk or on the side of the road. These are safety concerns, and we appreciate your assistance with this.

If buses are late, you will be notified by transportation. For real time information, you can download the Where's My Bus app. Here are the directions: https://pasco.k12.fl.us/transportation/full-page/wheres-the-bus

To reach transportation directly, please call: 813-320-2562.

Changes of transportation - If you need to change your child's mode of transportation for the day, please fill out the MACH form on our school website no later than 2:15 pm. We will no longer take changes over the phone for safety reasons. We want to ensure that all students get home the correct way and safely.

Once again, we are welcoming our families back on campus to have lunch with their child. This began on September 9. Family lunches will be on Monday and Friday only.

Here are the lunch procedures:

1. Parents must show a physical ID (a photo of your ID will not be accepted). You will check in at the front office and be Raptored in prior to joining their child for lunch. They must wear badge the entire time they are on campus. Only family members listed on the emergency card of the child may visit for lunch.

2. Parents may not sit at the table with the class. There are some tables inside the cafeteria, outdoor lunch tables, and in the Butterfly Garden where you can enjoy lunch.

3. Parents may only eat with their own child (no classmates).

4. Once lunch is over, parent should go back to office to check out. They may not join their child at recess or walk them back to the classroom.

Report Cards for the second quarter will be released in the Parent Portal on January 17. Please log in to the portal to find out how your child is progressing and contact your child's teacher if you have any questions or concerns. Our goal is for every student at SPES to grow academically, socially, and emotionally each and every day!

Please be sure to follow our school Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SandPineElementarySchool, our Sand Pine PTA page at https://www.facebook.com/SPESPTArocks, and our school X account (@SPES_Cranes). Throughout the school year, we will be posting information for families and photos of all the amazing things happening on campus!