Hillsdale Herald

Hello Hillsdale families and WELCOME to all our new families!!

We are working hard to get ready for the reopening of school on August 29th. Can you believe it is only three weeks away!?!

Class Assignments & First Day of School

You should be able to see your child's teacher through Parent Portal in mid-August. You will hear from your child's teacher before school starts and all teachers will be on the playground to meet their students the first day of school. Please watch the short video linked below for questions about Arrival Procedures.

Cafeteria Update

Please note that breakfast (served 8:30 to 9:00 each day) and lunch are no longer free. Students wishing to purchase food will do so from their account (no cash transactions). Parents may load money to their child’s account through PayPal in Parent Portal Instructions for funding child's lunch acct. or by sending in cash or check to the cafeteria. When making purchases, students will enter their student ID number, which can be found in Parent Portal. It might be a good idea to practice that with your child prior to school starting. 2022/23 menus will be updated prior to the start of school at this site: WCASD Meal Menus. Visual of our keypad: Lunchroom Keypad for practice

Open House - Back to School Night

Mark your calendars and plan to meet your child's teacher in person:

• Kindergarten & 1st grade - Wednesday 8/24, 6:30pm - THIS IS BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS!
• 2nd & 3rd grades - Tuesday, 8/30, 6:30pm

• 4th & 5th grades - Thursday 9/1, 6:30pm

New Staff

We welcome these people to Hillsdale this year.

• 1st grade: Ms. Heyduk
• 3rd grade: Ms. Lopez
• 4th grade: Ms. O'Neill
• 5th grade: TBD
• Secretary: Mrs. Taggart
• School Psychologist: Dr. Nina Leonhardt

Thank you,

Mrs. Paige Merten

Principal

We use Pick Up Patrol for a number of things here at school. It has replaced the need for parents to phone in absences, early dismissals, and/or changes in dismissal. It is truly helpful to us. Parents can make changes to their children’s status up until 1:30pm. At dismissal time the software becomes incredibly valuable to us to help make sure all the children are exactly where they're supposed to be. We are to count how many children to expect on each bus, as walkers and as car pick up we have each day. So, please, be sure that you have the app and are making changes when needed!

You will be receiving an email from Pick Up Patrol to set up your account in the next week or so.

*GREEN= Car Lanes

*YELLOW = Bus Loop

**Red Arrows=Pay Attention!!**

During Drop Off times in the morning, and Pick Up time in the afternoon, cars and buses share the same driveway. Be careful where you see the RED ARROWS!!

Please have your children use the passenger side of the vehicle. Children need to be able to do their own seatbelts and car seats.

Parents should not get out of the car.

• Drop off time runs from 8:30 am to 9:00 am.
• Class instruction begins at 9:10.
• Parents should follow the green arrow, and use the Car Line Loop only.
• Please drop off at the paws painted on the sidewalk. 5 cars can empty at the same time. You do not need to wait until you are first in line to drop off.

*GREEN= Car Lanes

*YELLOW = Bus Loop

**Red Arrows=Pay Attention!!**

During Drop Off times in the morning, and Pick Up time in the afternoon, cars and buses share the same driveway. Be careful where you see the RED ARROWS!!

Please have your children use the passenger side of the vehicle. Children need to be able to do their own seatbelts and car seats.

Parents should not get out of the car.

Pick up time runs from 3:30 to 3:50

• Class instruction ends at 3:25.
• There is crossover where the buses need to pull around the car line to get to the bus lane. As long as all drivers are cautious, everything will run smoothly.
• Please see the picture below. We use both aisles of the parking lot to weave cars together at the bottom. This allows us to get more cars off the road and avoid a dangerous situation at the Bradford Ave and Market St intersection.
• If you need to park in order to assist your child with the car seat, please attempt to park in the top parking lot right in front of the school.
• Remember, red arrow indicate places to pay attention to merging!
• We will try to load 5-6 cars at once in the afternoon.
• If the cars in front of you have not dropped off or picked up, it is ok to safely pass cars and exit the property.
• BE CAREFUL!!!

I hope you and your family had a fun and relaxing summer! As Hillsdale’s school counselor, I welcome you to the 2022-2023 school year. I especially want to welcome any new families to the Hillsdale community—I look forward to getting to know both you and your children. It is my hope this year will be full of successful experiences for all students.

Returning to school after a long summer break is a big transition and all children respond differently. Here is a link to some helpful tips for you as parents to review in order to help support your child at home.

Please encourage your child to use this link to access my virtual school counseling office for mindfulness strategies, relaxation techniques, as well as social emotional videos, activities and books.

I hope everyone has a great start to the school year and I look forward to another year of working with your children! Feel free to contact me at any time during the school year if I can be of help to you and/or your children

.

Mrs. Kathy DeWitt

Hillsdale School Counselor kdewitt@wcasd.net

484-266-2011

Tues. 8/23, 5:00pm - PTO New Family Reception

Wed 8/24, 6:30pm - K/1 Open House

8/29 - 9/2 First Week of School

Tues 8/30, 6:30pm - 2/3 Open House

Thurs 9/1, 6:30pm - 4/5 Open House

Mon. 9/5 - NO SCHOOL - Labor Day

Fri. 9/9 - Patriot Day, 9/11 remembrances

Fri. 9/9, 6:00pm - PTO Welcome Back Bash

Thurs. 9/15 - celebration of International Dot Day

Thurs. 9/22 - Volunteering 101 6:30pm; PTO meeting 7:00pm

Mon. 9/26 - Teacher In-service, NO SCHOOL for students

Please be reminded of the mandated health information that is required for students in particular grades. I want to be sure you have the information you need in order to comply with the state mandate.

Kindergarten and all newly registered students:

1. Physical examination report dated after September 2021
2. Dental examination report dated after September 2021. A blank dental form can be found below.
3. Report of up to date PA state mandated immunizations. . The required immunizations include: Dtap, Polio, Hepatitis B, Varicella (chicken pox) and MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella). Immunization dates must be verified in writing by your Health Care Provider.

   
   

   The Chester County Health Department will provide immunizations free to any child who does not have insurance covering immunizations. Please contact them at 610-344-6468 for information when they will reopen.

3rd Grade Dental Exams

If you have a child(ren) who will be in 3rd grade for the 22-23 school year.

PA State mandates require that all 3rd grade students have a dental examination. The report can be dated any time after September 2021, and can be sent to me via email at the address below or mailed to me at HDE via the U.S. postal service.

If you have any questions, please contact me at cdugan@wcasd.net.

If you would like to volunteer in our school this year, please consider attending our "Volunteering 101" session on Thursday Sept 22nd @ 6:30pm before the PTO meeting at 7pm.

A few things to note:

1) Volunteers must have clearances.

2) Younger siblings are not permitted at school while you volunteer.

3) Volunteers are held to the same confidentiality standards as any WCASD employee.

4) While you may see and interact with your child when you are volunteering, you are here to assist all children.

Si usted prefiere comunicarse en español por favor llame al 484-266-1690 para contactarse con personal escolar.

(If you prefer to speak to a Spanish speaking operator, please call 484-266-1690 to connect with school personnel.)

Email: pmerten@wcasd.net
Website: https://www.wcasd.net/Domain/602
Location: 725 West Market Street, West Chester, PA, USA
Phone: 484-266-2001
Twitter: @HDEelem