Words of Windom September 26

Hello Windom Families,

What a wonderful turnout at Welcome Back Night! It was such a joy to see our hallways filled with smiling faces, excited students, and families reconnecting with our Windom community. Thank you for joining us and helping us kick off another school year together!

We also want to thank our families for your patience and understanding as we continue to navigate the construction happening throughout our building. We know that things may look a little different than usual, and we truly appreciate your flexibility as the final pieces come together. Our team is working hard to make sure Windom is ready to welcome students and begin the year strong.

A very special thank you to our amazing PTO for helping make Welcome Back Night so much fun! Their generous support funded the carnival games that brought so many smiles to our students, as well as the beautiful Back to School sign on the front lawn. We loved seeing so many families stop to take pictures and capture a special memory from the evening. We are so grateful for a PTO that continually finds ways to bring our school community together!

We are just about ready, and we cannot wait to welcome our students back on September 9th! We are looking forward to a wonderful year of leading, teaching, and growing together.

Here’s to a fantastic start to the 2026–2027 school year!

With Windom pride,

Theresa Glowacki

For the safety of all students and staff, our school parking lots will remain closed to vehicles arriving for dismissal pick-up until 2:55 PM.

Keeping the lots clear during the school day allows emergency vehicles to access our buildings quickly if needed and helps us maintain a safe, and orderly environment for everyone.

If vehicles begin lining up on surrounding roads before 2:55 PM, the Orchard Park Police Department will assist with traffic management.

We appreciate your cooperation and support in keeping our school campuses safe and accessible.

• At both arrival and dismissal, cars should enter the Windom parking lot from the Brompton Ave. side of Sheldon. Making a left into the parking lot.

• Do not enter from the Abbott Rd. side as this entry is designated for our buses

• Busses will unload and load in our front loop, please do not park or cut through the bus loop.

• See the maps below for traffic patterns at arrival and dismissal. Pick up and drop off are the same procedures for the 26-27 school year.

• Stay in your car. Staff will do our best to assist students getting out of and into cars.

• Have your children ready to exit/enter the vehicle on the curb side of the car.

• Be mindful of our neighbors and do not block driveways.

• Be sure to follow staff directions, posted speed limits, and use turn signals entering and exiting school traffic.

• At dismissal, yield to OP school buses.

• At dismissal, when in the student loading zone, stay as far to the right as possible to allow for fully loaded vehicles to exit. Please do not exit your vehicle.

• You may be asked to pull forward and to the side if there is delay in dismissing your child.

• If you need to buckle your child in we ask that you pull up and over to the right, near the grass, before getting out of your car to buckle them in.

Attention Parents/Guardians:

As we approach the new school year, this is a reminder that all medication forms and Emergency Care Plans (ECPs) must be renewed each school year by your child’s doctor and must include a parent signature. New medication authorization forms and blank Emergency Action Plans (for allergies/seizures/ diabetes) are available on the district website to be used for next year, if applicable. An adult must drop off any medication as students are not permitted to carry medication without a specific self-carry medication order.

There is now an over the counter medication authorization form - found here; this is a form which lists common over the counter medications that your child's doctor would complete allowing the school nurse to administer them in school as needed (i.e.- Motrin, Tylenol, cough drops, lotion, etc.).

Parents are requested to bring medications and any Emergency Action Plans (must be written/ provided by their allergist or prescribing physician) at the start of the new school year. Mrs. Johnson will be available to accept medications and forms for the 2026-2027 school year on September 3rd and September 8th in the afternoon from 12-3:30 pm. Please contact Mrs. Johnson should you have any questions; she can be reached at 716-209-6322.

Thank you!

Sarah Johnson, R.N., B.S.

Supply lists are listed below. If your family needs assistance with supplies, please don't hesitate to reach out to Mrs. Hutschenreuter at khutschenreuter@opschools.org

We are once again partnering with School Tool Box, making it easy to purchase your child’s school supplies in just a few clicks. The link to order is below; it’s quick, simple, and ships directly to your home!

Bus routes will be available before the first day of school and can be viewed on the Parent Portal. For questions about transportation or alternate site requests, please contact our Transportation Department at 716-209-6237.

• September 9th - 1st Day of School!!!! WELCOME BACK!
• September 17th - Early Release: 11:40 AM
• September 26th - Homecoming Parade 11:00 AM, OPMS
• September 26th - Homecoming Carnival 11:30 AM, OPHS

Looking for new Windom apparel??? Please see the link below to purchase all of your Windom gear!

It is essential that anyone who feels they may be eligible for free and reduced meals to fill out the 2026-2027 Free and Reduced lunch application that is available above. Procedures are in place to protect the privacy of students participating in the free and reduced program. Receiving Free and Reduced meals does not solely benefit the student receiving the meal, it also benefits the district community; depending on the amount of need within our district, we will receive/be eligible for additional funding. Completed applications should be sent to J. Schwarz at 4040 Baker Road, Orchard Park, NY 14127.

If you need an application printed and sent to you, please call Jody Schwarz at (716) 209-6244.