Osprey Family Update

8/25 - First Day of School

9/1 - Labor Day - No School

9/12 - OMKC

9/23 - Progress Reports

9/24 - SIT/PAC

9/25 - Fall Pictures

Pender County Schools calendar: 25-26 School Year

Membership:

Join today to be entered into a drawing for a $50 Dave & Busters Gift Card.

The class with the most participation will be treated to a Pizza Party!

https://tes.givebacks.com/store/items/12228

Volunteering:

If you are interested in volunteering, please complete this form.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc3TE9CSNEkhXY820IzjQkZHTL-dI0FWRCoG1qs749N0a2zwA/viewform

Infinite Campus is the student information system that Pender County uses. Infinite campus has a parent portal app you can download on your phone. The parent portal gives parents access to grades, attendance, submitting absence excuses and more. Use this link to get your unique code and set up your account.

Welcome back Ospreys. If you have a student with medications, please feel free to bring them to Open house, with the signed Medication Administration form. Medications must be transported by an adult. Also for our Kindergarten and brand new families, please feel free to drop off immunization and Health records to Nurse Vicki. As a reminder these records are required to be turned into the nurse by Sept.23. Per NC State Law, students who do not have the required forms will not be allowed to come to school until the forms are received. Please contact Nurse Vicki with any questions.

Attendance is always important, but the first ten days of school are extremely important for attendance. Our attendance drives the number of teachers we get allotted for. Please help us keep our class sizes small by making sure your students are at school the first 10 days.

All parents/guardians will need to complete the k-2 bus safety rider form for their students in order to ride the bus. You will be given a copy at open house. It is also attached below.

You can currently find approximate bus stop times and locations using Bus Stop Look Up Here. These could still be changing by open house.

If your child rides the bus, please download the Here Comes the Bus App and create an account so you can get in time updates regarding your students bus every morning and afternoon. Instructions are in here. Please email Julie Martine for your child's ID if you need it. This must be an email, not a phone call for verification purposes. Julie_martine@pender.k12.nc.us.

We are excited that we now have a double secure entrance at the front of the building in order to continue to increase security.

We also have a new visitor and volunteer check in system that we will be using. If you would like to visit or volunteer in the building. You MUST have a valid ID to run through our new security program. You will not be able to visit or volunteer during the school day without your ID.

If you are volunteering, you must have completed the volunteer background check. You can find it here.

Please complete the beginning of the year updates in Infinite Campus to ensure we have the most accurate information. Updates will now be synced directly into Infinite Campus once all information is verified at the school level. EVERY RETURNING student attending a Pender County School must complete this process. Parents/Guardians only have to complete one application for all their students, just be sure that you add all students in the one application.

Use THIS LINK to complete the enrollment updates.

1. Scroll Down and click Registration Application for 2025-2026 School Year

2. Choose start new application

2. 2025-26 Returning Students Beginning of Year Updates

A Beginning of Year (BOY) Information Application must be submitted before your student(s) will be issued a Chromebook. There will be no paper forms available.

On staggered start days, parents may walk their student to class on the first day. If you plan on walking your student to class, please plan on coming after car rider line starting at 8 am. YOu will park in the front lot and enter through the front doors. This will allow for more space to park in the parking lot and a much safer entrance for everyone.

If you have an older sibling please plan to have them arrive as normal through the car rider line or the bus and then park and enter with your kindergartner after. We want to be sure all of our 1-4th grade students start their day on time and as normal.

We have changes to our arrival and dismissal protocol due to the new three tier bell system.

Please note our new start and end times, as well as early dismissal time:

Arrival: 7:20 - 7:55

Tardy Bell: 7:55

Ending Bell: 2:50

Dismissal: 2:50

Early Release: 11:55 pm

In the link below, you will see the arrival and dismissal plans for each school on campus. Please pay close attention to TAES. Our arrival AND dismissal will be using Jenkins RD to enter, come through the front parking lot and playground of the school, and exit on Vista LN. You will NOT be wrapping around the high school, you will be going through the front of the high school.

Please note that due to the tiered system, families will NOT be able to line up significantly early.

For arrival, TAES car rider gate will not open until 7:15 am. TAES car riders should not enter Jenkins RD until 7:15 am or they may be required to move through the high school car line and reenter.

For dismissal, TAES car rider gate will not open until 2:30 pm. TAES cars should not enter Jenkins RD until 2:30 pm or you may be required to go through the high school car line and reenter.

Find a detailed map HERE

All breakfast and lunch information including the online payment account system can be found on the district here.

The cost for breakfast and lunch will remain the same this year.

Breakfast = $1.45

Lunch = $2.30

Lunch menus are now live!

If you need to make any changes to add or remove bus transportation services for your students please email Mrs. Martine Julie_Martine@pender.k12.nc.us.

As we enter the new year we wanted to highlight some important reminders of our BUS RIDER EXPECTATIONS. Please review and talk to your bus rider about following the rules and how they can make good choices.

Reminder:

-K-2nd grade riders MUST have a responsible adult at the bus stop or get off with an older sibling in order for the student to exit the bus.

-You must be at your stop 10 minutes PRIOR to the bus arrival.

-Have your child stand back from the road until the bus makes a complete stop. At no point should a child run towards a moving bus.

-Your child MUST remain seated, facing forward, and be respectful for the duration of the bus ride.

For your convenience you can download Here Comes the Bus on your smartphone, tablet, or computer to view the real-time location of your child's school bus.

Visit http://www.herecomesthebus.com for more information.

Thank you for your cooperation! Safety is our number one priority when transporting your child to and from school.

If your student has a change in transportation that is different then normal, please take the following steps:

• Send in writing (handwritten note, email, rooms message) to your child's teacher
• If you do not get a response by 12 pm the day the change is needed, please call the front office. We will still ask you to send it in writing, but we will be sure the teacher gets the information
• No student can ride a bus other then the bus they are assigned to
• No student can ride a bus with a friend unless they are assigned to that bus

In order to streamline attendance, this year we will be receiving attendance excuse notes electronically, not paper copies.

All excuse notes should be sent to tae_attendance@pender.k12.nc.us

This includes doctors notes, parent notes, etc. This allows us to make sure all excuse notes get to where they need to be. It also allows families to have documentation that they sent in their notes instead of things getting lost.

It is still best practice to communicate with the teacher in the event of the absence to ensure students have all necessary make up work, but you do not need to give the teacher the excuse note.

Please review Board Policy 4400 for the full attendance policy to ensure you are up to date on what constitutes an excused absence. It can be found here:

https://www.boardpolicyonline.com/bl/?b=pender#&&hs=1686781

To submit a request for educational leave please utilize this form.

Student

September - 95.75%

October- 94.24%

November- 92.46%

December - 93.61%

Semester 1 - 94.02%

January - 93.67%

February - 93.7%

March - 95.35%

April - 95.88%

May - 95.44%

Year - 94.8%

Staff

August - 99.98%

September - 96.6%

October- 94%

November- 91%

December - 91.7%

Semester 1 - 94.66%

January - 93.4%

February - 95.5%

March - 97.7%

April - 95%

May 96%

Year - 95.09%

Parents, we invite you to follow us on social media:

Follow us on twitter: @tes_ospreys

Find us on Facebook: Topsail Annandale Elementary School

Find us on Instagram: topsailannandale

Join PTA using this link:

https://tes.givebacks.com/shop

Please complete this form to reserve your day. PTA will respond confirming your date. It is first come, first serve so we recommend signing up early.