Welcome Back!
August 2025
August/September 2025
Thursday, August 21st Meet and Greet 3:45 PM – 5:15 PM
Monday, August 25th 1st Day of School 8:45 AM – 12:15 PM
Monday, August 25th through Thursday, August 28th 8:45 AM – 12:15 PM
Friday, August 29th No School/Offices Closed for Labor Day Holiday
Monday, September 1st No School/Offices Closed for Labor Day Holiday
Wednesday, September 3rd Early Dismissal 12:25 PM
Tuesday, September 9th UDSD School Board Meeting 7:30 PM
Thursday, September 11th Highland Park Picture Day
Thursday, September 11th Back to School Night 6:00 PM
Wednesday, September 17th Home & School Meeting 6:30 PM
Tuesday, September 23rd UDSD School Board Committee Meeting 6:00 PM
Wednesday, October 1st Early Dismissal 12:25 PM
Consistent school attendance is not only crucial for academic achievement but also a legal requirement. Missing school can lead to significant learning gaps and impact your child’s overall progress.
Absence notes are required when your child is absent within 2 days of your child's return. Unexcused absences become truancies. Please send absent notes by email to HPES-attendance@upperdarbysd.org or you can send a written note to your child's teacher. Thank you!
ATTENDANCE and BEING ON TIME FOR SCHOOL IS IMPORTANT
• Too many absences can cause children to fall behind in school.
• Missing 10%, or about 2 days each month over the course of a school year, can make it harder to learn to read.
• Students can still fall behind if they miss just 1 or 2 days every few weeks.
• Being late to school may lead to poor attendance.
• Absences & tardiness affect the entire classroom .
Attending school regularly, and being on time each day helps children feel better about school—and themselves.
Families, we need your help during arrival and dismissal. Safety first, and respect for the neighborhood. Plan ahead knowing that arrival and dismissal takes about 15- 20 minutes. Please plan accordingly so students are here on time and picked up on time.
Arrival & Dismissal
- There is no parking on school grounds at arrival or dismissal.
- Do not park, drop off, or pick up on West Chester Pike or on Lynn Blvd.
- Students should be dressed appropriately for all weather conditions.
- Students may not play on the swings or playground equipment during arrival or dismissal times.
- If you are driving your child to school, or picking up by car, please enter the loop and stay to the left. Highland Park staff will direct you to the drop off area. Please have your children enter/exit on the right side of your vehicle.
- All cars must make a right onto Lynn Blvd. We appreciate your cooperation. Only school and daycare busses may turn left.
Daily Morning Arrival
- Students should arrive between 8:30 AM- 8:40 AM. It is important that all students are on time and in HR by 8:45 AM.
- Please do not arrive early, as there is no supervision prior to 8:30 AM.
- Student arrival procedures:
·
o Grade 1- Enter the building through the center doors on the St. Laurence side.
o Grade 2- Enter the building through the main doors and go directly to the cafeteria
o Grade 3- Line up in designated homeroom line in the lower playground.
o Grade 4- Line up in designated homeroom line in the driveway outside classrooms the 1st grade rooms 105, 106, 107
o Grade 5- Enter the building through the main doors and go directly to the gym.
Daily Dismissal
· If you are picking up your child in the school yard, you must park your car off of school grounds and walk to Highland Park. Please note that you may not park at Donohue Funeral Home or St. Laurence.
o 1st grade students are dismissed to the driveway along St. Laurence in the lower playground.
o 2nd grade students are dismissed to the lower playground.
o 3rd grade students are dismissed in front of the main entrance.
o 4th grade students exit through back door facing the golf course.
o 5th grade students are dismissed to the upper playground.
· You can park at the Observatory Field on St. Laurence Road and either walk to Highland Park via Green Valley Road or Academy Lane or have your child walk to you (grades 2-5).
· If you are picking up your child with your vehicle:
o You must enter at the top of the lot, and stay to your left. Do not park, or leave your vehicle. Please have your child’s name, grade and HR printed clearly on 8 ½ x 11 paper so you can show it to a Highland Park staff member (this will help move the line quicker). You will be directed to the pick-up area.
o In order to keep the car line moving, all cars must make a right onto Lynn Blvd. We appreciate your cooperation. Only school and daycare busses may turn left.
· If your child is a walker (2nd, 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade only), please review safe walking routes with your child. You may also set up a meeting point with your child off school grounds.
· Please pick up your children on time. Also, please send in a note with your child’s dismissal plan on the first day of school for the homeroom teacher.
If there is a change in the regular dismissal procedure for your child, written notification must be sent in to the classroom teacher. We understand that there are emergencies that occur but a consistent dismissal plan for each child is helpful for your child and the homeroom teacher.
NO CELL PHONE USE during the school day, or on district busses
Students are not permitted to use cell phones during the school day, or on district busses, or district activities. Please have your students practice NOT using their cell phones for extended period of times during the day so they are prepared not to use them or have them out during the school day.
Change of Address
If you have moved out of the district, please email our secretary, PCasey@upperdarbysd.org or call about the withdrawal process. If you have moved and remain in the district, please go to Central Registration which is next to the Upper Darby High School Gymnasium entrance (601 N. Lansdowne Avenue), and update your information.
The district will continue to receive the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) this year. ALL district students are eligible to receive breakfast and lunch at NO CHARGE beginning the 1st day of school. No paperwork is needed to take advantage of this worthwhile program. No outside food delivery is permitted during the school day. Highland Park Breakfast & Lunch Menus
Chromebooks for students will be issued in school from students’ homeroom teachers during the first week of school. Families will be billed for lost, stolen, and damaged chromebooks and chargers.
Chromebooks are for school work only.
The student chromebooks are school district property.
- Students must take their chromebooks home each day
- Chromebooks must be fully charged each night and brought to school each day
- Student chromebooks and student email accounts are for academic purposes and school communications only.
- Student email should not be used to create or access recreational accounts on other platforms, such as social media or gaming sites. Keeping the use of student email limited to school-related activities helps maintain a secure and focused learning environment.
- IF THERE IS A PROBLEM WITH YOUR CHILD's CHROMEBOOK, PLEASE HAVE YOUR CHILD BRING THE CHROMEBOOK AND CHARGER TO THEIR TEACHER.
