THE AVIATOR CONNECTION

Welcome to The Aviator Connection. I will use this platform to share monthly updates with students and parents. The newsletter will be sent via email, Talking Points, and posted to the WSTA website. Reading is Fundamental! Thank you in advance for reading each month's edition and planning accordingly. I am looking forward to an amazing school year!

The student day is from 8:30 am - 3:30 pm.

• Students should be dropped of no earlier than 7:45 am.

• Students who are eating breakfast may enter the building at 8:00 am

• The buildings will open for all students at 8:10 am.

• Students who are tardy to school will need to sign in at the front office.

• A written excuse should be provided.

• Car riders will be dismissed first at 3:30. This will also include students who drive to school (and park their vehicles at school) and their siblings, walkers and bike riders.

• Bus riders are dismissed as soon as our shuttle buses arrive.

Students are expected to arrive at school and class on time each day. If a student arrives at school late, they will be marked tardy by the office staff. Tardies will be coded as excused or unexcused in accordance with the district policy. (4400)

Please note, students who ride a WCPS bus and arrive after 8:30 will not be marked tardy.

The policy is attached for your review.

Parents, please note this adjustment to our sign-out procedures. In order to prepare for a smooth dismissal, students will no longer be able to sign out after 3:10 pm. If you arrive after that time, please make your way to the car rider line.

In alignment with our commitment to excellence and rigor, the WSTA staff has developed literacy expectations that will be expected of all students. Last month, teachers began to explain these expectations and students are being held accountable for them in each class. Here are a few of the requirement students should follow when submitting work at WSTA.

Students in all grade levels should be using proper capitalization.

• First word in a sentence

• I

• Names

• Months, days, holidays

• Specific geographical locations

• Any other proper nouns

• Appropriate words in titles

Students in all grade levels should be punctuating sentences properly.

Students in all grade levels should be indenting paragraphs.

Students in all grade levels should be writing complete sentences when instructed; however, grading expectations may depend on the grade level.

As you review your student's work, please help to ensure they are meeting these expectations. These tools are not WSTA-specific but should follow students as they prepare for school and careers after graduation.

Parents, please follow the routes on the attached map for morning drop off and afternoon pick up for car riders.

If your child has a bus assignment in the system, you should be able to track the bus using the Here Comes the Bus App. See the attached flier for more information.

The responsibility to appropriately supervise our students and keep them safe is one we do not take lightly. In order to do our jobs effectively, it is imperative that students follow our directions all day, every day. It is best when students hear the same message from those that are responsible for them. We need parents to support the directions we give students and to follow them as well. Our children are watching. When you come to the car rider line, please be patient and drive at a reasonable speed so as not to jeopardize the safety of others. Pick your children up from the designated spaces so they can be properly monitored until you arrive. The library is not a place for students to go to avoid following our procedures. Please do not encourage this behavior. We have a process that has been agreed on by the base for ALL parents of afternoon car riders to pick students up from a designated place.

ALL PARENTS should park in the lot of Cannon St. to pick up your children. The WSTA staff has worked this plan out to a science and the entire process takes less than 10 minutes...from the time car riders are released to the last car leaves. Whenever directions are not clear or are different for some students, it makes things more difficult for those of us tasked with keeping all of our students safe. Please do not ask your children to walk to meet you in other parking lots (behind our building or otherwise). The safety and supervision of all of our students is our goal. I hope it is your goal as well. Thank you for your support.

WSTA will create an Entry Authorization List (EAL) for SJAFB Security Forces.

All students received the WCPS Authorization to Release Student Form from their homeroom teacher. The names listed on this form will be used to created the EAL. This is a list of emergency contacts that may need to pick up a student in the event a parent is not able to come to campus. If they need to come to the school, these individuals will need to stop at the visitor center to get a a temporary pass. They must bring with them their Real ID, proof of insurance and vehicle registration.

The deadline to submit names for the EAL is Tuesday, September 1st.

Here are a few reminders about the school attendance policy. Students should attend school as scheduled in the school calendar unless absent for lawful reasons.

• Students should be on time and remain until dismissed.

• Period attendance is taken each day.

• A student must be present for ½ the class in order to be marked present for the class.

• A written excuse is needed if a student is absent, tardy or leaves early.

• Students have 3 days to submit notes for absences and/or tardies.

Students with more than 10 unexcused absences in a semester course are in jeopardy of not receiving credit for the course.

An absence may be excused for the following reasons:

• Personal illness or injury

• Isolation ordered by the local health officer

• Death in the immediate family

• Medical or dental appointment

• Attendance at court proceedings if party or subpoenaed

• Educational opportunity (prior principal approval needed)

• Pregnancy and related conditions

Please take a minute to review the cell phone policy with your child. Students are permitted to possess such devices on school property so long as the devices are not activated, used, displayed or visible during the instructional day or as otherwise directed by school rules or school personnel. This means students should not be carrying around their cell phones in their pockets or going to the bathroom to make calls or send text message.

Parents who need to reach their child during the school day due to an emergency or other valid reason should call the school’s main office rather than attempting to contact their child on his/her cellular phone or other electronic devices.

If a student is seen on their phone, their phone is to be confiscated by the staff member and turned into the office. We reset our consequences at the beginning of the semester. Please review them below with your child.

• 1st offense: Confiscation, Administrative Conference with Student, and Parent Notification

• 2nd Offense: Confiscation and Parent will have to pick up from school

• 3rd Offense: 1 day of ISS

• 4th Offense: 1 day of OSS

• 5th Offense: 2 days of OSS

Parents and student are asked to review the Dress Code Policy from Wayne County Public Schools. It is Board Policy 4305. A few frequent reminder about the dress code are below.

• Shorts, skirts, and dresses must be fingertip length or reaching mid-thigh.

• Shirts, tops, and dresses must cover the top of the shoulder with at least a two-inch wide strap.

• No sagging pants allowed.

• There will be no hats, hoods or headgear inside the building.

• Pajama pants should not be worn to school.

Please visit the WSTA website and review the upcoming school events at the bottom of the homepage. Also, click on the "Back to School" button for other helpful information. You will find the bell schedules, the calendar, bus numbers and times and other helpful information.