December 10th, 2025

Join Us for an Unforgettable Night of Engagement!

We’re thrilled to invite you to an exciting evening with Pickerington Local Schools!

When: December 17th | 6:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Where: The Event Center at Violet Woods (former the Wigwam), 10190 Blacklick- Eastern Road Pickerington

Proudly presented by Kiddie Academy

What to Expect:

• Team up for Family Bingo and test your knowledge!

• Enjoy special performances by our talented students and building principals.

• And, for the first time ever–get ready for a Lip Sync Battle! Watch our spirited teams compete for prizes and bragging rights in this brand-new addition to the event.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and with free admission, it’s the perfect chance to connect, explore, and have fun with the whole family!

Link to register or scan the QR code in the flyer above.

Event Announcement: EmpowerED Pickerington

Join us for our next EmpowerED Pickerington series, a resource series dedicated to special education support.

Date: December 16, 2025

Time: 5:00 PM

Format: Virtual - please use this link to log on to the session

Focus: Supporting Every Learner, Supporting Every Family

This Month's Topic: The Power of Inclusion: Adapting the Preschool Classroom for All Learners

This event is a great opportunity for families and educators to gain valuable insights and resources to support students with special needs. We look forward to seeing you there! Please remember that all past episodes are uploaded to our district website/YouTube channel.

Annual Student Update

Each school year, Parents/Guardians are asked to review and submit the required “Back to School Forms” for their student(s). This process is called the Annual Update. Some of the forms include:

• Emergency Medical Authorization

• Student Handbook Acknowledgement

• Device Agreement

• Technology Protection Plan

• Field Trip Authorization Form

Who may complete the Annual Update?

Only the primary contact; Parent/Guardian may complete these forms. Students are not able to complete these forms.

To begin, log in to your Infinite Campus Parent Portal and complete the Annual Update. For step-by-step-directions click the following link review and update your student’s information. Most information will already be pre-populated; please review carefully, and update your student’s information to ensure it’s accurate.

IMPORTANT: If you have not completed and submitted the Annual Update for the 2025-2026 School year, please do so as soon as possible. It is vital that the district has updated medical and emergency contact information for your student. Students cannot go on field trips until this information is completed.

Change of Address?
Please visit the Residency tab to access the Pickerington Schools Change of Address Form. PLEASE NOTE: THIS MUST BE DONE THROUGH THE WELCOME CENTER. IT CANNOT BE DONE THROUGH THE ANNUAL UPDATE.

HELP NEEDED!

After the winter break, we will need parent volunteers to help with morning and afternoon crossing duty. Please reach out to the office if you would be interested in volunteering. Thank you in advance for any support you can offer our students. It is greatly appreciated.

Last week, our first grade students were provided with an opportunity to learn about various animals through the Fairfield County Parks and Recreation District. Please enjoy some photos below.

PHSN's Chorale stopped by Sycamore Creek Elementary this morning to share some holiday cheer with their beautiful singing. Please check out the pictures below. It was such an amazing performance.

Count down to winter break by joining us in special dress days from December 1st through December 19th.

The wonderful National Program 2nd & 7, promotes reading and positive role models. It pairs young athletes in the community with second-grade students and provides a complimentary book to each! The books focus on leadership, healthy habits and responsibility. Three PHSC Senior LAX players, Max M., Jack L., and Cam, visited SCE daily last week to read to second graders, discuss the books and sign autographs! You can learn more about the program here:

https://www.secondandseven.com/

Thank you PHSC LAX!!

Closing and Delays:

As the weather begins to change, Pickerington Schools may close or delay school start times or, on rare occasions, close early or move to virtual learning based on inclement weather. These decisions are made for the safety of our students. The district strives to make these decisions by 5:30 a.m. However, there are times when this is not possible.

If the district closes or delays for any reason, communication from the district will be shared in the following manner:

*Infinite Campus

*District Website

*Social Media

*Local TV Stations (WCMH; channel 4/WBNS; channel 10/WSYX; channel 6/Fox; channel 28)

Signing in Visitors/Picking up your child:

All visitors to any school must first stop at the office and sign in. Please do not report directly to the classroom, lunchroom, or playground during school hours. If you need to pick up your child, you must come to the office with proper identification to sign your child out and wait there for the office personnel to get your child for you. If a student is being picked up by someone other than the parent/guardian, a written note should be sent to the office identifying the person/relationship/time. All students arriving late must first report to the office to sign in and obtain an office pass before going to class.

Volunteering in Pickerington Schools:

All persons volunteering within Pickerington Schools must submit a Volunteer Application and sign a Volunteer Code of Conduct form. These forms are available in our school offices and on the district website. All volunteers (new and current) having unsupervised access to children on a regular basis must have a background check. Please refer to board policy for more specific details.

Attendance/Absences:

We believe that regular, punctual attendance to school is essential if our students are to receive the maximum benefit from the educational programs we offer. If a student is absent from school for any reason, it is the responsibility of the parent/guardian to notify the school no later than 10:00 a.m. the morning of the absence. If school office personnel have not been notified of an absence, we will place a telphone call either to the home or to the parent/guardian's place of employment. We ask that you please remember to contact the school if your child is going to be absent. Thank you for your help with this.

It is our goal to ensure that all of our families are supported and understand that we are dedicated to provide language assistance to anyone who may need this service.

Please see the link provide below for additional information.

Check out this link that contains valuable information on how to access your child's achievement records through Infinite Campus.

Don’t forget our Winter Family Fun Night is tomorrow, December 11th from 6pm-8pm! Get your tickets using the link on the flyer above or at the door. Only children participating in the events will require a wrist band! We can’t wait to see you tomorrow!

MOD Pizza night is next Tuesday, December 16th! Bring in the flyer (coming home this week), or order online through the MOD app or website, to use the fundraiser code provided and MOD will donate 20% of your bill to support our school!

The holiday season can bring a lot of mixed emotions from joy and excitement to nervousness, stress, and grief. If you are struggling with coping through the holidays due to grief and loss here are some ideas!

The focus for the Month of December is "Gratitude" for Hero of the Month.

Gratitude is the feeling of thankfulness and appreciation for the good things in life; whether they are big or small.

Ways to model or to reinforce gratitude:

• Express your thankfulness for small things like a sunny day or a good meal to show them how it's done.

• Tell your children why you are grateful for them.

• Children learn by watching. Your own appreciative attitude toward life will be a powerful lesson.

• Start a tradition, such as having each family member share one thing they are grateful for at dinner or before bed.

• Write down things you are thankful for on paper and put them in a jar to read later.

• Encourage children to thank people who help them, whether it's with a verbal "thank you" or a drawing for younger children.

• Have your kids help you sort toys or clothes to donate, or take older children to volunteer in the community.

• Encourage children to call or send notes to relatives to share their joys and stay connected with others.

Greetings Families,

We have two more weeks left before the end of the second quarter. There is a lot of excitement in the air as we continue our learning and as we count down to the break. Students are working on their “End of Module” writing assessments.

Grade 1 - Informative - Animals

Grade 2 - Informative - Real life pioneers and legendary persons

Grade 3 - Opinion - People and space

Grade 4 - Narrative - Survival

Next week, I’ll have links to what our students will focus on during the third quarter.

Best,

Mrs. Horsford

Vision and Hearing Screenings:

Your school nurse will be conducting vision and hearing screenings for your 3rd grade student during the week of December 14th, in compliance with the Ohio Department of Health guidelines.

If you DO NOT want your student to participate in one or both of these screenings, please complete the Vision Waiver Form and/or Hearing Waiver Form and return it no later than December 15th.

The completed form may be sent back to school with your student or emailed directly to the school nurse at rachel_ross@plsd.us

Illness Reminder:

Any student will be sent home if he or she has a temperature of 100 degrees or higher, vomiting, diarrhea, or signs and symptoms of a possible communicable disease.

Please keep students home until they remain fever-free for 24 hours without the aid of medication and are free of vomiting or diarrhea symptoms for 24 hours prior to returning to school. All children with suspicious rashes must be excluded from school until the rash has been determined non-contagious by a doctor.

Proper clothing for weather change:

Please ensure that your child has the appropriate clothing, coat, hat, scarf, gloves and etc. The students only remain indoors for recess when the "feels like temperature" (includes wind chill) falls below 25 degrees.

• PLSD 2025-2026 District Calendar - click here

• Districtwide Activities Calendar

  Upcoming events and important dates are listed in the Districtwide Google Events Calendar, which is synced with individual building, program and athletic team calendars. Once inside the district wide calendar, to display the events of a particular building, team, program or activity, you will need to check the specific corresponding color-coded box(es) from the list on the left-hand side.

  Pickerington Schools partners with the City of Pickerington and Yodel to bring you the Pickerington Community Calendar!
  

  Visit this link to view all Pickerington Schools activities included on the calendar and don’t forget to “favorite” our Pickerington Schools schedule! Once favorited, Pickerington Schools' events will be front and center on your calendar, enabling you to see what’s coming up.

Please call the Sycamore Creek Elementary Attendance line at 614-834-6201 to leave a voice-mail message to report an absence for your child. Our secretaries check messages throughout the day.

If you have a doctor's note that you need to share with the school to document an absence, please email it to:

sceattendance@plsd.us

December 11th

*Winter Family Fun Night

December 14th

*3rd Grade Hearing/Vision Screenings

December 17th

*Night of Engagement

December 22nd-January 2nd

*Winter Break (Students will return on January 5th, 2026)