PQ Tuesday Newsday

PQ Families,

Welcome to the 2026–27 school year! We are so excited to welcome you back to PQ and officially begin another wonderful year together. We look forward to seeing everyone at Open House this afternoon from 3:00–5:00 PM.

Nurse Zates will also be in the building during Open House if you need to drop off medication for the start of the school year.

A Few New Faces at PQ

As we begin the new school year, we have a few new members of our school community that we are excited for you to meet!

Abbey MacDonald is our new Senior Office Assistant. Abbey is already a familiar face in the North Salem community, as she has children who attend the North Salem School District. Abbey joined us just a couple of weeks ago, and we are thrilled to have her as part of the PQ team!

We also want to welcome Officer Erika Holze, who will be serving as our School Resource Officer (SRO). Erika grew up in the North Salem area and brings a wonderful connection to our community. We are excited to welcome her to PQ and know she will be a tremendous asset to our school.

A Few First-Day Reminders

• Please be sure that eSchool and School Dismissal Manager are updated with your current information.
• Kindergarten students will have six half days from September 3–11. Kindergarten dismissal will be at 12:00 PM during this time.
• The regular school day hours are 8:55 AM–3:35 PM.

We are so excited to welcome everyone back and officially get the 2026–27 school year underway. We look forward to seeing you this afternoon at Open House!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Snowdon

Please be sure to view all of the updates and announcements below.

Hi All,

I am looking forward to welcoming your students this Fall!!!!

Update: the Nurse's office has a new school nurse. If you hear from Alexis Bolnik please welcome her as she will be in both buildings.

Below is a summary of a few processes and procedures. Please take the time to read through these.

If you have any questions or have received phone calls or letters please don't hesitate to reach out to us.

• Absence from School: Please report to the School Dismissal Manager and state the reason for absence. Please include any diagnosed illness. Do not hesitate to contact the nurse's at x 3043 to discuss your child's illness.

• When to keep your child home from school: (see attached) for information about when you should keep your child home from school.

• Immunization Requirements for Students in Grades Prek-5: Click here for information regarding the "2026-2027 School Year New York State Immunization Requirements for School Entrance/Attendance.

• Mandatory Physical Examinations: The New York State Education Department (NYSED) requires a physical exam for new entrants and students in Grades: Pre-K, K 1,3,5,7,9, and 11.

All medical forms are available on the school website under the Health Office tab.

• Medications in School: Important and REQUIRED Health Office Forms: Provider and Parent Permission to Administer Medication at School/School Sponsored Events: REQUIRED for students who need medication in school, such as over-the-counter (OTC) medications, prescription medicine, or inhalers (except for Epi-Pens/Auvi-Qs). Please remember to complete the parent section and unless a self carry, all medications must be brought in by an adult.
• Allergy/Anaphylaxis Action Plan: REQUIRED for students who require an EPI-PENS/AUVI-Q. Please remember to complete the parent section.
• Provider Attestation and Parent Permission for Independent Medication Carry and Use: REQUIRED for students considered ready and capable of self-carrying an Epi-Pen/Auvi-Q and/or Inhaler ONLY.

If you need any clarification, please don't hesitate to contact the nurse's office, we are happy to answer any questions and address your concerns.

Danielle Zaetz, R.N.

Alexis Bolenik R.N.

School Nurse / 914-669-5414 x3043 / dzaetz@northsalemschools.org

914.669.5442 (Fax)

School Dismissal Manager is an app that allows you to provide us with information about your child's attendance as well as their dismissal plan.

You should have received an email from School Dismissal Manager with your credentials to log on to this important app. Please follow the directions to gain access to your child's account. Each student is set up with a default dismissal plan of riding the assigned bus. Please log in and update your default dismissal plan if that is NOT what you would like it to be. You are able to go in and make a change to the default for the day - such as an absence, a late arrival, or an early pickup. There are no bus changes without prior approval from the Bus Garage and the Main Office. These requests can only be accommodated when there is an emergency situation.

**Please be on the look out for this email which will arrive by the end of the week.

For cafeteria purchases we use an app called "My School Bucks." It is an easy and secure prepayment service for all cafeteria purchases. Through this app, you set up a lunch account for your student(s). You can replenish funds, view your account balance, and see your child's purchase activity. If you already have an account, you will just continue to use it. Please take a look at your account to make sure there are funds available for your student(s).

If you need to create an account, all you need is your student's name, ID number, and school zip code (10560). The link to the app is here: My School Bucks

Please set up an account if your child plans on purchasing food items through the cafeteria. Click here for information about Universal Free Meals in NY state.

If you have any questions, feel free to call Karen Seikovsky, the Food Service Director at 914-669-5414 ext. 2030.

District App

There are several vehicles we use to communicate important information to parents. The first is the District App that you can download onto your phone. Click the link below for a video on how to do this. The app includes notifications, the lunch menu, and other information from the district website.

NSCSD App

Emergency and Reunification Guide for Parents

Safety is, of course, our top priority. The link below will bring you to our district's "Emergency and Reunification Guide for Parents" which will explain our district wide and school level Emergency Response Plan. Please take some time to read through it.

Emergency and Reunification Guide for Parents Link

Check out the link below for school year pointers!

At PQ, Arbiter is an app used by parents to sign-off on district policies that impact your child. These policies include the district Code of Conduct and Attendance Policies, Use of Media/Photos, Internet Acceptable Use Policy and Chromebook Loaner Policy. Please use this link to access Arbiter.

Notes About Logging Into Arbiter

1. If you created an account in the past, click log in and type in your username and password.

2. If you are new to the district, click Create Account.

3. For Organization Name, type North Salem

4. Under the North Salem Central School District, click on "2024-2025 Beginning of School Information for PQ Elementary."

5. Click Register Now.

6. IMPORTANT - In the beginning, you don't have to fill in more than the first two sections - Participant Information which is your child's name, school, and graduation year and grade and the Parent Information for whoever is filling out the form. Your next step is to review the policies that need to be signed off on.

7. You need to do this for each child. If you have children in both the MSHS and PQ, make sure you are using the correct form for each child.

8. Follow the directions at the end of the form to complete the process.

Please complete this by the start of the school year for each child. Thank you!

eSD Parent Portal is an important app we use throughout your child's entire K-12 experience. At PQ, you get your child’s teacher assignment and report cards from the Parent Portal. At the MSHS, you will get your child’s schedule, grades, etc. You create this account in Kindergarten and it remains the same for your career in the district.

**This week we would like you to log on to the eSD Parent Portal. When you log on, you will be asked to verify/update your information. It is very IMPORTANT that you do this because we need to have:

• accurate phone numbers to reach you
• accurate emails to send you information
• updated and necessary emergency contacts in case we are ever unable to reach you in an emergency (emergency contacts should be people other than yourself)

Once you update your information, make sure you CLICK the VERIFY button.

If you are new to the district, you will need your child's ID number before logging into Parent Portal. Incoming Kindergarten parents will receive a letter in the mail this week that contains their kindergartener's ID number. Parents of students who are new to the school in 1st-5th grades will receive their student ID number via email soon.

If you have returning students, you would have already created a login for Parent Portal. We still need you to log in and double check that the information in the system is up to date and correct.

The eSD Parent Portal can be found on the school website. Click the button in the middle of the PQ homepage called Parent Log-ins. There is a link and a tutorial there. Here is a direct link to the eSD Parent Portal.

Be sure to do this in advance of August 14th. Your child’s teacher assignment will be posted in the evening on this date!

Please see the updated Art & STEAM supply list. These supplies should be labeled separate from the classroom supplies and delivered to Tara Carl's Art room during Open House

Please click on the link below for the 2026-2027 school supplies list.

• Kindergarten
• 1st Grade
• 2nd Grade
• 3rd Grade
• 4th Grade
• 5th Grade
• Art & STEAM

For ALL Grades

We have our Open House TODAY from 3:00-5:00pm. This is a great time to come visit your student's classroom and drop off their school supplies.

Kindergarten

Please remember that all of Kindergarten starts the school year off with 6 half days. So, from September 3 - 11 Kindergarten students will dismiss at 12:00. September 14th will be their first full day of school.

Aramark is hiring food service workers for the North Salem School District

September 1 - Open House 3:00-5:00

September 3 - First Day of School

September 3 - 11- Kindergarten 1/2 day

September 4 - PTO's Kdg & New Family Social 4:00

September 7 - No School

September 9 - BOE Meeting 6:30pm @ MSHS

September 14 - Kindergarten's first Full Day of School

September 15 - PQ/MSHS PTO Meeting @ MSHS Library 9:30

September 15 - Curriculum Night Gr K-2 and Pre-K 6:00pm

September 21 - No School

September 23 - BOE Meeting 6:30pm @ MSHS

September 29 - Curriculum Night Gr 3-5 6:00pm

Website: www.northsalemschools.org
Location: 173 June Road, North Salem, N.Y., USA
Phone: 914-669-5317
Twitter: @pq_elementary