GREAT FIRST WEEK!

We had a GREAT first week!

Week one is in the books and it was a GREAT first week! The students have been fantastic and they are off to a great start! I am so proud of them jumping right back into a routine! They are already following procedures so well! Our number goal is to keep everyone safe! We have reviewed and will continue to review our safety protocols. We will also start our drills very soon so please talk with your child about why we do drills. We do not want anyone scared of our drills, we only want to prepare as best we can for any type of situation. I always encourage families to practice and also have a plan should something come up at school what should they do.

Carpool will be better next week once extended day starts. Also remember that we are starting carpool about four minutes later than we did last year. The state department gave a citation to schools who released early so we want to make sure we do not get one of those again for releasing too early! We should still be finished with carpool most days by 3:00. Please help with this by not being on your cellphone while in carpool, having your car tag displayed on the rearview mirror in plain sight moving forward as far down as you can go and please do not stop in carpool line to buckle up. If you need to buckle your student please pull around to the parking lot or you may park and walk up AFTER carpool is over. We will not call students during carpool if you walk up but we will as soon as carpool ends. Thank you for helping us with these things to help carpool move smoothly and safely!

CAR TAGS

If your student was a Verner student last school year, you will use the exact same carpool tag. This is the tag you were asked to keep at the end of the school year. Please display the carpool tag in your windshield. Hanging it from your rearview mirror works bests. If for some reason you no longer have your carpool tag, contact Mrs. Alexis Thompson via email. Her email address is athompso@tusc.k12.al.us

If your child will be attending Verner for the first time, a carpool tag will be made for you and available to at Meet and Greet or will be sent home on the first day of school. If you will be picking your child up from school a the end of the school day on any given day, this tag should be displayed in your windshield.

**** PreK will get car tags this year because they will NOT be released early this year. PreK will exit the front doors like all students starting this school year and will leave via car rider or walker****

With this change there should be NO parents waiting on the sidewalk after school since no one is released early.

No parents will be allowed to walk up for PreK students unless they wait until carpool is over. If your child still uses a car seat please pull to the parking lot to pick up or practice now for drop off and pick up. This is a change based on the State Department guidelines for PreK students.

Rules and Procedures

I know, the rules section..... These rules and policies/procedures apply to ALL Verner students in grades PreK-5th.

The code of conduct will be attached to this newsletter that will be sent home each week but I am also adding several policies and procedures for Verner. If you ever have any questions about these policies or the TCS Code of Conduct please feel free to reach out!

Our goal is to keep each and every student safe! Although some of these are not convenient, we will not compromise the safety of our students!

School starts at 7:55 each day. Your child is tardy if they are not in their classroom by 7:55 each morning.

Students will not be allowed to check out after 2:15 in the afternoon unless approved for an emergency by Dr. Elam or Mrs. Johnson.

It is important that students are at school each day and stay all day. We utilize every minute for learning opportunities!

A check out is considered a TARDY in elementary school. Please know that 15 tardy is considered an attendance concern to be turned over for review.

Do not park in the handicap parking spots unless you have proper identification and need to utilize these spaces.

The front parking spaces next to the sidewalk are identified for our teachers.

DO NOT drop students off in the parking lot and allow them to walk by themselves. You must park and walk them to the sidewalk.

DO NOT park in the parking lot in the afternoon and have your students leave with the walkers. Unless they are leaving campus after school they are not considered a walker. You must come through the carpool line with your car tag clearly placed in your front window or you may park and wait until carpool is OVER and we will call up all remaining car riders. We will NOT call students to the front for carpool if you walk up.

If your student is a walker in the afternoon and walking off of campus they will walk around the building on the Northridge side to go to Riverchase and if crossing Northridge Road, Officer Bankhead will walk the students to the crosswalk. Once the students leave the front door of the school they should know where they are going. We are not responsible for students once they leave the front of the school. Practice before school starts, have a buddy system. Do not have students walk to Riverchase if they do not live there, Saratoga becomes crowded and can be dangerous. We will release all walkers at 2:40 from the front lobby all together. We will make our best effort to check every single student as they walk out the front door to make sure they are a walker but it is important that students know how they will get home each day! A lot of times students like to decide on their own to be a walker so please make sure your student has a plan and knows it each day. It is best to keep a consistent plan AND have a rain plan. The rain plan is NOT walking to the parking lot.

We will not change the way your student goes home in the afternoon after 2:15. The end of the day becomes very busy and we do not want to send students home incorrectly. The best way to change a student's transportation if needed would be to email the student's teacher well before 2:15. You may also call the front desk but the best way to communicate will be directly with the teacher. Once your family decides your student's "normal" way to get home each afternoon please communicate to the teacher that this is the normal mode of going home each day and then only reach out to the teacher IF that changes.

We will make a mistake but your child's safety is our number one concern so we will do every single thing we can to ensure students are where they are supposed to be each afternoon. This is why NOT changing afternoon plans is so important. You need to communicate BEFORE 2:15 with the TEACHER if there is a change.

You should have at least two emergency contacts on file in PowerSchool and/or with the teacher.

IF you have a custody arrangement or legal issue we must have the court document that states who can or can not pick up your student, check your student out, have lunch with your student, or visit your student. We must also know if there is a parent/guardian who can't receive information about your student, this includes medical and educational needs. We will not go by word of mouth or PowerSchool. We must have the legal document and the request in writing.

Extended Day will begin on August 17. Your student must be registered and your balance must stay up to date for your student to attend Extended Day. If you show up after 3:10 p.m. to pick up your student your student will be sent to Extended Day and you will be charged a fee for that stay. There is an extended day handbook that must be followed as well. Ms. Simmons is our extended day director. You may reach out to her should you have any questions once extended day begins. You will be able to register for extended day before school starts if you would like.

All visitors must check in at the front desk. You will need to bring your driver's license in to sign in. This includes any assemblies or programs in the gym. No one will be allowed to enter any doors other than the front doors which lead into the lobby where you will sign in via the Raptor Program. I promise you will not miss anything because of signing in. We will always have an adult who knows everyone has signed in before anything begins. I would also recommend coming a few minutes earlier to get signed in prior to the event.

We will invite parents to start eating lunch with their students the Thursday after Labor Day, this year that will be September 8. This allows us to make sure all of our students know our protocols and procedures. If you know that your student will have a hard time with separation this might be something to consider. We welcome you here and would love to have you but please keep that in mind. Also, no outside food or drink is allowed. You are welcome to use a brown bag if you would like to bring your student lunch from outside. Thank you with helping us to follow this USDA food policy.