The Little Judges' Docket
News from VACDES for the Week of August 12 - 15
Thank you so much for the fantastic turnout for Back to School Open House. It was so much fun to see everyone and really got us all excited to have everyone back in the building. Tuesday, August 12th, is the big day - first day of school! Please have your student to school as close to 7:30am as possible so they have time to put their belongings away and eat breakfast since we have announcements at 7:45am and instruction begins at 7:50am. If you are a car rider, the parking lot will be blocked off at 7:45am so if you are later than that you will need to walk your child into the office to sign them in. We will have safety drills (fire drills and lockdown drills) per Virginia state code during the first month of school and sporadically throughout the year. We will make sure to let you know in the newsletter the weeks they will be happening. We will have a fire drill this week and a lock down drill next week. PreK and kindergarten will not participate in the lockdown.
Please note the changes below.
Digital Devices: Per our governor's order, cell phones, smartwatches, etc. should be off and away during school. If you need to contact your child, please call the office. If your child needs to contact you, have them let the teachers know and they can come down to the office.
Weapons Detector System: All schools have a weapons detector system this year for safety for our students. We will have all students and any visitors walk through in the morning. We do not anticipate any problems or issues, but are excited to provide another level of security for our families. You should have received some information from the division about specifics. If you have any questions, please let us know!
Meals:
Students will be going through the line and typing in their numbers for breakfast and lunch. We understand our kindergarteners may need time to learn their ID number. Our goal is to get them to learn their ID numbers quickly and we will be there to assist. All breakfast and lunch are still free.
Transportation:
Walkers come in at the front of building! There is more room for our parents and siblings in the front yard. We have permission to continue to close down Van Fossen from Virginia Avenue to Kern Street and Pleasant Valley from Virginia Avenue to Patterson every day during arrival and dismissal to keep our students safe. In the afternoon we release by grade level. Staff will be outside at 2:15pm getting adult's names to make sure we are ready to dismiss quickly and safely. Please make sure you have all people that will be picking up your child on the list with the front office.
Bus Riders will arrive on Van Fossen and be dropped off at the sidewalk to walk in the front door this year. Buses will be parked in the bus loop and on Van Fossen Street in the afternoons to take students home. Students will arrive at the front entrance and dismiss from the bus loop doors.
Car Riders will continue to drive Virginia Avenue, turn left on Battle Avenue to turn left on Bruce Avenue to arrive at Pleasant Valley Rd and turn into our back parking lot. Please do not block the entrance to the Fire Hall. Cars will leave through Pleasant Valley to keep it from being backed up. The car rider line will stop in the mornings at 7:45am so our students have time to get breakfast and hear announcements for the day. You cannot enter the parking lot for dismissal until 2:30pm due to recesses.
Here is the Parent/Student Handbook for the 25-26 School Year.
Thank you as always for your support for our school. We need to work together as a community to make our students successful because we are creating Local leaders today - Global leaders tomorrow!
Lisa Pluska, Ed.D.
Principal, Virginia Avenue Charlotte DeHart Elementary School
540-665-6330
Every day on the announcements we will be talking about the three school wide rules -
- Keep hands and feet to self and use kind words;
- Stay in your assigned area; and
- Follow directions quickly and quietly.
