August 28, 2026

As we prepare to welcome our Bobcats back for a new school year, we want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible energy from Thursday's Sneak-a-Peek! It was wonderful to see so many families filling our hallways, classrooms, and playgrounds with excitement, smiles, and connection. The positive buzz throughout the building was the perfect way to kick off the school year together. Thank you for making it such a special event and helping us start the year with a strong sense of community.

First Day of School: Monday, August 31
We are looking forward to welcoming students back for another year of learning, growth, and belonging at Fern Hill. As a reminder, the car line opens at 8:30AM and the school day starts at 9:10am. At the end of the day, car line begins at 3:35pm and wraps up by 3:50pm.

Back-to-School Night: September 1 & 2
Back-to-School Night is a caregiver-only event designed to help our grown-ups learn more about their child's classroom, curriculum, and school year. Thank you in advance for arranging childcare so you can fully participate in this important time with your child's teacher.

• Grades K-2: Tuesday, September 1 at 6:30 PM
• Grades 3-5: Wednesday, September 2 at 6:30 PM

We can't wait to see everyone on Monday and begin another great year together!

• August 31 - First Day of School
• September 1 @6:30 - Back to School Night - Caregivers Only
• September 2 @6:30 - Back to School Night - Caregivers Only
• September 4 - Half Day; 12:10 Dismissal
• September 7 - No School; Labor Day
• September 21 - No School; Yom Kippur
• September 23 - Picture Day -- more info coming soon!

It's not too late to grab your school supplies for Monday! Please see the attached school supply list to ensure your child has everything they need to get the year off to a great start. If your family needs support with school supplies, please contact our Home School Visitor, Mrs. Lisa Baker (lbaker@wcasd.net).

Click the image to view the New Family Orientation information ranging from main office information, arrival/dismissal, and more!

Please be sure you placed your dismissal car tag in a safe place--we are reusing them! Our new families will receive new car tags. If you need to order a replacement car tag, please complete the car tag order form below. If you do intend to use bus transportation, please do not order a car tag.

PA State school health mandated immunization, physical and dental requirements for 25-26 school year:

1. All students are required to be up to date with PA state mandated immunizations within the first 5 days of school in order to avoid being excluded from school.
2. All kindergarten students and any student registering for the first time to FHE must submit updated physical and dental examination report to the school nurse within the first 60 days of school in order to avoid being excluded from school. Reports can be dated on/after September 2025.
3. Rising 3rd Graders- Your child is required to have a dental exam in his/her 3rd grade school year (2026-2027). This is not a new requirement, but WCASD now has a provisional period of 60 days from the start of school. This means your child’s dental exam report is due on or before November 1, 2026. This deadline feels a long time off, but the nurse can accept upcoming or recent dental reports any time and update your child’s health record now. Exams must have been after 8/30/2025.
   

If you have questions about these requirements, please contact our school nurse, Mrs. Brittany Garraty (bgarraty@wcasd.net).

If you registered your child(ren) through WCASD portal and did not upload all or part of the above PA state school health mandates, please send the information to Mrs. Garraty at the above email address as soon as possible.

Thank you for partnering with us to ensure we have your child's most up-to-date medical records on file.

We are excited to introduce the launch of the LinkIt! portal. Through this online portal, you will be able to view both current and historical assessment data linked to your student’s profile. Information housed in this portal includes state assessments (PSSA and Keystone Exams), with district assessments to be added over time.

To access your student’s profile, please follow the steps below and use your unique registration code to activate your account. Once in the system, you will be prompted to set up a username and password for future access.

STEP 1: ACCESS THE LINKIT! portal

Go to https://wcasd.linkit.com/parent in any web browser (computer, tablet, or phone).

STEP 2: CLICK ON “HAVE A REGISTRATION CODE?”

On the portal login page, click the “Have a Registration Code?” tab.

STEP 3: ENTER YOUR UNIQUE REGISTRATION CODE

Enter the registration code provided from LinkIt! sent to your address on file with the district.

STEP 4: SET UP YOUR INDIVIDUAL ACCOUNT

Follow the onscreen prompts to create your password. Your username will default to the email address the district has on file. If you have multiple children enrolled in WCASD, all of their data will be accessible under one account.

STEP 5: VIEW YOUR CHILD’S ASSESSMENT DATA

Once logged in, click the Reports icon to view assessment results. Click on a test category (such as PSSA or Keystone) to expand and view your child’s scores.

To assist you in understanding your child’s assessment data, we have created resources for your access on the WCASD Assessment Page.

We are confident that providing access to your child’s information on an ongoing basis will support even stronger home-school communication.

If you are having difficulty accessing your LinkIt! portal account, please contact Jim Ronayne at assessment@wcasd.net

Thanks to all of our community's fundraising efforts this past school year, the PTO funded a new mural that will welcome visitors and students into the building. We are thankful for Mrs. Jaclyn Schneider who is a Fugett Middle School art teacher who spent time at Fern Hill this summer to bring this idea to fruition!

It was great seeing everyone on the playground yesterday! Thank you for coming out and being part of our school community. The PTO is here to support our students, families, and school—and we’d love to have you join us! If you’re interested in getting involved, there are lots of ways to help, big or small. We’d love to have you!

Earning money for our school has never been easier! All you need to do is download the Box Tops app, create an account, and scan your grocery receipt. Easy and quick! Last year we earned $500 from Box Tops for Fern Hill!

We love having our families volunteer throughout the building. In order to volunteer, adults are required to have their clearances on file with us. Clearances can take 4-6 weeks to acquire, so please be sure to get the process started if you're looking to volunteer this Fall.

• Fern Hill Website
• PTO Website
• Vacation Approval Request Form

• FHE: Kindergarten Lunch Duty
• FHE: 1st Grade Lunch Duty

Principal

Email: jsouthmayd@wcasd.net
Website: https://www.wcasd.net/fhe
Location: 915 Lincoln Avenue, West Chester, PA, USA
Phone: 484 266 1600
Twitter: @FernHillES