Center Stage

WCS Mission Statement:

The Windham Center School is a supportive community dedicated to student achievement, personal growth and empowering students to take ownership of their learning while showcasing their qualities that make them unique.

WCS Vision Statement:

The vision of the Windham Center School is to strive to foster confidence, curiosity, and resilience in our students' educational journey while inspiring lifelong learners guided by our core values of Responsibility, Opportunity, Achievement, and Respect.

Dear Parents and Guardians,

I can't believe summer is over and our students will be back in the building on Wednesday. Our custodians have worked hard to prepare our building for their return. Teachers are eager to have their students back in their classrooms. If you have not done so already, please ensure the following items are completed prior to their return to school:

• Student Registration Forms-PowerHub
• Update all Emergency Contacts
• Pay Chromebook Fee Online
• Get Pick Up Patrol Set Up on Your Phone-Enter Student Dismissal Plans
• Review the Dress Code with your child
• Review the Cell Phone Policy with your child

This newsletter contains so many important details. Please take the time to read through it all and complete any outstanding items. Newsletter will come every Friday afternoon. The content in the beginning of the newsletter will be them most up to date details added for the week.

If you are driving your child to school, please follow the traffic pattern using the map below. You may only use the left hand lane until 7:15. Drop off in the back of the building will close at 7:34 and then students can be dropped off until 7:38 in the front of the building. After 7:38, you will need to walk your child in and sign them in tardy as they move to their first class and learning begins promptly at 7:40. During the first weeks of school traffic patterns may need to change as parents acclimate to the process. Please ensure you pay attention to the staff on duty as changes to the pattern could occur in the best interest of our students.

Open communication and dialogue with parents is important. If at any point in time, you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out so we can collaborate. Enjoy the final days of summer and I will see you on Wednesday!

B.J. Martin

Principal

Principal-B.J. Martin bmartin@windhamsd.org

Assistant Principal/504 Coordinator-Nadine Herard nherard@windhamsd.org

Director of Special Education-Kaite Carmody kcarmody@widhamsd.org

We are pleased to welcome Danielle Conroy as our new school secretary. Danielle has been working diligently to learn the ins and outs of Center School, and we are fortunate to have her on our team.

She lives here in town with her husband and three children, and we are excited for our families to get to know her. Please join us in giving her a warm welcome!

19th-School Board Meeting

26th-New Student Orientation with New Teacher Meet and Greet 1:30-2:30

27th-Frist Day for Students

1st-No School (Labor Day)

2nd-School Board Meeting

8th-Mental Health Monday-Self Care (Wear something comfy)

8th-19th-Fall STAR Assessments

11th-School Picture Day

16th-School Board Meeting

17th-Constitution Day

25th-WCS Open House 6-7:30PM

26th-Blackout Cancer Football Game (Wear Your Blackout Shirts to School)

Good afternoon,

We hope you're having a wonderful summer! We're pleased to inform you that the 2025-26 registration forms and bus routes are now available on MyPowerHub. All students must have updated and complete registration forms each year. If you haven't logged into MyPowerHub yet, please follow the instructions below to access it.

Instructions for MyPowerHub login

Login Instructions

To complete the registration verification forms and view the bus routes, you must be using a browser,notthe mobile app.Once you are logged in, please follow the instructions below.

Click here for Instructions on How to Access and Complete the Registration Verification Forms

Click here for Instructions on Viewing Bus/Transportation Instructions

Parents should plan for a buffer of 10-15 minutes between their estimated arrival times for the first two weeks to get a better sense of what will be a more accurate timeframe. If there are changes to your child’s route, the changes will be visible in MyPowerHub. Bus routes may be updated with changes periodically. Please check your child’s route before the start of the school year for the most accurate information.

Questions?

MyPowerHub Login:

If you have account-related questions or concerns, please submit a Tech Support request usingthis Google Form.

Bus Routes:

If you have any questions about the bus routes, please contact Kristina Greene at First Student Transportation at1-603-377-8878orbus@windhamsd.org.

Thank you and enjoy the rest of your summer,

Windham School District

Bus Tracking App: First Student offers a mobile app that allows parents to view their child’s bus route in real-time. FirstView will track your child’s bus on its routes and allow you to set up a customizable geofence around your pick-up/drop-off location.

Students can begin arriving at 7:15 around the back of the building. If you arrive prior to 7:15 to line up, please refrain from parking in the right hand lane as this needs to be open for our staff members to get to the parking lot. Additionally, we ask that you do not block the crosswalk. It is essential that our students have a clear and safe path to transition from the playground to the building without having to weave between vehicles. Please do not allow your child to exit the car if there is not a staff member present and they have not waved to you to get out. All students must exit the car on the school side of the vehicle for safety. Car Arrival ends promptly at 7:34 AM when the back driveway gate will be closed. After this time, please report to the main entrance for student drop off. WCS Staff will be present at the front driveway until 7:38 AM. After this time, please walk students to the WCS Main Office. Students will be considered tardy beginning at 7:38 AM. Students are expected to be unpacked and sitting in their seats ready for their first class to begin at 7:40 AM.

The regular car dismissal process will begin at 2:20 PM around the back of the building. The back driveway gate will be opened at 1:45 PM. As you enter WCS, please drive to the right and form two lines around the gym to the rear of the school. We ask that you do not block the crosswalk. It is essential that our students have a clear and safe path to transition from the sidewalk to their cars, without having to weave between vehicles. Students will be supervised and dismissed from there. Students will not be sent out to car dismissal without notification in Pick Up Patrol or a note.

Students are not to proceed to cars prior to staff on duty telling students to do so. Please refrain from motioning or calling for your child to load your care without the direction of my staff. This is for the safety of your children.

As a reminder, with the new loop project that was finished for last school year, we will now have the buses merging into the one exit with cars. Please pay close attention to the staff on duty, as cars will be stopped to allow for buses to exit first when they are ready to do so.

If you have an incoming grade 5 student please note that our car line goes incredibly faster than the elementary school due to the age and having half of the students in this building. The first few days always take a bit longer, but after that all buses and students are typically gone from our building by 2:30pm.

One Way Traffic Pattern- Follow Yellow Arrows

Windham Center School uses Pick Up Patrol to manage absences, as well as any dismissal plan or end of day changes. Welcome emails will be sent out prior to the start of school for all accounts that have been established. Parents and guardians will enter students default dismissal plan for the year. For absences, late arrivals, club activities or dismissal changes, please use the system to notify WCS rather than calling the WCS main office. Notifications of daily dismissal changes will be sent to homeroom teachers daily to assure students are aware of their daily plans. Please visit http://www.pickuppatrol.net for additional information. Bus passes will be permitted this year.

Windham School District utilizes the Raptor system for signing students, staff and visitors in/out of our school buildings.

• If your student is Arriving Late, the student must be walked to the door by an adult who can ring the bell to notify us they are dropping off a student.
• If you have entered your student's late arrival in PickUp Patrol, we will let you know that you can send your student into the building and be on your way. The student will sign themselves in on the Raptor system in the main office.
• If you have not entered your student's late arrival in PickUp Patrol, you will be asked to accompany your student into the foyer where you will sign your student in on the blue clipboard Your student will proceed into the main office to sign in on the Raptor system.
• If you are dismissing your student, please ring the bell and let the office staff know you are picking up and provide your student's first and last name.
• ID is required to dismiss a student.
• Once inside the main office, the parent/guardian will sign the student out using the Raptor system by entering the student's information and choosing "Sign Out".

If your child is going to be absent or late to school, please put this information in Pick Up Patrol. If for some reason you are unable to do so, please call the absence line at 603-845-1554, Option 1. If we have no received proper notification, your child will receive an unexcused absence and you will receive an auto call.

We are proud to introduce a new parent platform, MyPowerHub. This platform enables our district to utilize a centralized platform from PowerSchool, consolidating the flow of information from schools to parents and guardians. In MyPowerHub, parents/guardians can:

1. See their child’s progress in one place

2. See school, classroom, club, and district communications in one place

3. Get direct messages from teachers and staff

4. Submit forms

5. View fees

6. Sign up for parent/teacher conferences

7. View transportation information

You should have received a message from the district to log in to the platform to complete your yearly registration forms and to view the updated bus routes. If you have not logged into the platform yet, please follow the instructions below to log in before the start of the school year.

Instructions Desktop view - Login and Overview Mobile App - Login and Overview View Bus Routes Instructions Complete Registration Forms Instructions

Beginning in the 2025 school year, New Hampshire has enacted a statewide “bell-to-bell” ban on student personal electronic device use from the first instructional bell to dismissal, except in very limited cases.

Although this is a new statewide policy, the Windham School District already had a cell phone, smart watch, tablet, or personal laptop policy in place for students in grades K–8. For our students, this will not be a change. All personal electronic devices are expected to remain off and stored in their lockers and or bags.

We ask parents and guardians to please remind your child of this expectation so we can continue supporting a focused, distraction-free learning environment.

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Last week, the Windham School Board released an update to our community regarding the new requirements that the district will be implementing at the start of the 2025-26 school year.

The purpose of this letter is to provide more information to families about the implementation of the state-wide “bell to bell cell phone ban”. In accordance with new state legislation, students will be prohibited from utilizing personal electronic devices, such as cell phones, at all times during school hours, including during lunch, study halls, and passing periods.

At the start of the school year, all students will be expected to keep personal electronic communication devices (ie, cell phones, smart watches, tablets, personal laptops) stored away during the school day. Please note that this will not impact students who utilize electronic devices for medical needs, such as insulin pumps and glucose sensors, or to support their learning as identified by their individualized education program (IEP) or plan developed under Section 504. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s medical device accessibility, please reach out to your student’s school counselor, case coordinator, or 504 coordinator.

We realize that this will be a transition for our community at the start of the school year. We plan to work with our students, staff, and families to adjust to these new requirements.

Thank you,

Windham School District

The Windham SAU office is pleased to offer interested new volunteers the opportunity to schedule fingerprinting appointments at 19 Haverhill Road on Tuesday, August 26th, and Wednesday, the 27th, from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. With the last appointment being at 1:30, if you would like to book an appointment, please click here. Please note, this process can take up to several weeks for the results to be returned. Additionally, if the SAU submits fingerprints and the results are rejected, you may need to use LiveScan, an efficient background check method outlined on our website and available at local DMVs. For complete background check information, visit our website.

This year we are going to continue to be working on organizational skills with all of our students through their school supplies, go folder and agenda as part of our executive functioning initiative. If you purchased a box of supplies through the PTA, they have already been delivered to your child's classroom for the first day of school. Please see the link to our school supply lists.

https://www.windhamsd.org/news/what_s_new/k-8_organization_system_supply_list_by_grade_level

We are looking for parents to join us for our School Council Meeting this year. We meet monthly after school from 2:30-3:30. This year we will meet in person only at WCS. During our meetings we will share and discuss updates at WCS as well as hear and address your questions. You are a representative of the community. The goal is to build a stronger home school connection and keep the lines of communication open. Please email bmartin@windhamsd.org with your interest.

The PTA is a Parent/Teacher Association, which has been formed for the purpose of increasing and improving communication between home and school. The PTA meets once per month, runs book fairs during parent/teacher conferences, and runs many other important school events. Each fall, the PTA has its annual membership drive for new members and the election of officers. It is hoped that the parents of all of our students will become members and support our school projects.

Visit our PTA website at: http://www.windhampta.org/ for the most current PTA officers and Information.

Tutor.com: We are thrilled to continue offering Tutor.com services to grades 4-12! This partnership with the New Hampshire Department of Education and Tutor.com provides unlimited access to the tutoring service – anytime, anywhere, from any internet-connected device. This means your child can get the academic support they need, even from the comfort of home. Our students can access Tutor.com through their Schoology course pages. Please click here for more information.

Check with Kate and make any updates

If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a part of our school staff, we have paraprofessional job opportunities at each school. Paraprofessionals are instrumental in the foundation and success of our students. Some additional benefits to working with us include:

• Steady schedules and summers off: Your schedule during the school year will be 5 days a week, following the school calendar.

• Convenient parenting hours

• Bonus pay for classroom teacher coverage: Paraprofessionals working as coverage shall receive an additional five dollars ($5.00) per hour, rounded to the nearest half-hour, up to a maximum of thirty dollars ($30.00) per day.

• Longevity incentives: The District has a tiered longevity system in place to honor years of service.

If you are interested in learning more about this opportunity, please contact Kate Hennigar at hrdirector@windhamsd.org.

The following events are not sponsored by the Windham School District.