Farley Focus

November was full of special events such as parent-teacher conferences and Thanksgiving celebrations. One special activity, Farley Hill's 1st Matey Meeting, stood out for a number of reasons. A Matey Meeting is a time when all of our KinderReady, Kindergarten, 1st Grade, and 2nd Grade students move to different locations around the school to be with the other members of their Ships. Farley Hill is such an amazing place that within 5 minutes every student - over 200! - had moved to their Ship room and were calmly settled in, ready to learn with students from other grades. In the Matey Meeting, students introduced themselves and worked together to complete special gratitude trees that are now hanging in our library. Very few schools have such amazing staff and students that every learner is willing, ready, and able to go to a new location and work with a teacher and students different from their usual class. Farley Hill is awesome!

Hoping that the holiday season brings as much joy to all of your families as your children bring to Farley Hill every day.

Sincerely,

Danielle Birdyshaw

This month, our Positivity Project lessons will include learning about helping others when they are having a tough time and practicing self-control ourselves. The holiday season can be a particularly tough time for students to maintain self-control. If your child makes a mistake big enough that they need to go to the office to talk to me, please know that I remember how hard it can be to be a kid. I will always talk to the students about the importance of kindness and self-control. I also remind them that mistakes are opportunities to learn. We all have bad days; if we try to be kind and considerate most days, our friends and family will be able to easily understand when we struggle.

In November, we studied:

-Bravery

-Gratitude

-a Review of all the topics from the fall

Farley Hill has an INCREDIBLE PTO! The dedicated parents and guardians of the PTO are always welcoming new members (no cost to join) and volunteers.

OUR NEXT MEETINGS ARE THURSDAY, DECEMBER 11th and THURSDAY JANUARY 8th.

Meetings take place in the Farley Hill library from 4:15-5:15; childcare is provided at no cost. Families can attend PTO meetings virtually. Meeting attendance is not required to volunteer for a PTO event or project.

Here are just a few of the great things PTO has done for Farley Hill recently:

-make sure that the cafeteria has all the extra condiments, wipes, and silverware needed for our students who LOVE ketchup and sometimes tip over their milk 😊

-worked with PCS food staff to get the popcorn machine repaired and keep popcorn day happening

Thank you to all the parents and guardians who have worked through the initial implementation glitches with Rooms.

If you have not yet downloaded the Pinckney Schools app and tried to communicate via Rooms, we encourage you to give it a try.

Here is the link to some Room FAQ: PCS Rooms Support | District

Also, here are a few additional tips that have helped other Farley parents get Room up and running for them.

• Check that your app is updated.

• Make sure you are signing in with the email address you have in MiStar.

When asked for a password, enter the password for the email platform, not your MiStar password.

CHANGES TO AFTERNOON PICKUP OR BUS ROUTINES - Please start to make it a habit to contact the office BY 2:00 PM if there is a change to how your child will be getting home. Currently, Mrs. Morgan and Ms. Andrews spend a lot of time each afternoon making sure that teachers have updated information about changes to afternoon plans for students. Mrs. Morgan's working hours are scheduled to shift. When this happens, the office cannot guarantee that dismissal changes called in after 2:00 will reach classroom teachers. It may be tempting to contact your child's teacher directly instead of calling the school office, but our staff is busy with their students and they often are physically unable to check their phones or computers between their planning time in the morning and dismissal. Now is the time to make it a habit to call with any dismissal changes before 2:00 PM.

Our drop-off and pick-up loops are running smoothly. We are always happy to have additional parent volunteers to assist with the parent pick-up loop from 3:55 to 4:15 PM. If you are interested in helping, please let us know!

Please remember that all students must enter the building through either the drop-off loop at the back of the school or from the buses at the front. The drop-off loop is open from 8:40 AM to 9:00 AM, with our school day officially starting at 8:58 AM. If you bring your child after 9:00 AM, please walk them into school and sign them in on the clipboard in the office.

If your child does not ride the bus for a week, the transportation department considers them as unenrolled from the bus. Please notify transportation as soon as possible if your child has not ridden the bus for a while, and you wish for them to resume riding the bus.

If your child needs to ride a different bus with a friend, they can do so with prior approval and parent permission. Due to limited space, please contact the bus garage at least 24 hours in advance. Additionally, please provide your child with a note for the school office giving them permission to ride the friend's bus.

On early release Fridays, bus drop-off is approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes earlier than the normal time. On half-days, bus drop-off will be approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes earlier than the normal time.

School Hours

• Monday - Thursday: 8:58 AM to 3:58 PM

• Friday: 8:58 AM to 2:43 PM

Office Hours

• Monday - Thursday: 8:30 AM to 4:15 PM

• Friday: 8:30 AM to 3:00 PM

Contact Us

• Main Office: (810) 225-6400

Attendance: (810) 225-6410 or FE-attendance@pinckneypirates.org

To report a student's absence, please notify the school by either:

• Calling the Attendance Hotline at (810) 225-6410

• Emailing FE-attendance@pinckneypirates.org

The Attendance Hotline is available 24/7 for your convenience. Please note that any absence not reported within 48 hours will be marked as unexcused.

Resources and Supports for Families

PCS provides elementary schools with Student & Family Specialists 3.5 days a week. Farley Hill has 2 people who share this position - Patty Higgins and Valerie Schott. Mrs. Higgins and Mrs. Schott have years of experience helping students and families with everything from trouble making friends to difficulty paying bills. Everyone goes through difficult times. If you, or someone you know, is having trouble with parenting, mental health needs, housing, or any other issue that you are not able to solve on your own, please reach out.

• Principal: Danielle Birdyshaw - dbirdyshaw@pinckneypirates.org

• Student & Family Specialists: Patty Higgins - phiggins@pinckneypirates.org and Valerie Schott - vschott@pinckneypirates.org

Livingston County and the State of Michigan also have programs to help families facing challenges. You can call the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) at 844-464-3447 or explore pathways for help on this website: MI 2-1-1.

We understand that sometimes minor bumps and scrapes can go unnoticed on the playground. Our staff will notify you if your child has a significant bump or a head injury. If you notice an injury at home that we were not aware of, please let us know so we can investigate.

If your child becomes ill at school, we will contact a parent or guardian. If we are unable to reach you, we will contact the emergency contacts listed on your child's emergency card. Please be sure to keep your child's emergency card up-to-date with current phone numbers, especially cell phone numbers.

If your child needs to take medication during school hours, a parent or guardian must bring it to the school office in the original, labeled container. We require a completed permission form, which you can fill out in the office, before we can dispense any medication.

Please note: Students are not allowed to carry any medication with them, including over-the-counter items like cough drops or aspirin. All medications must be brought to school by a parent or guardian.

To schedule a time to drop off your child's medication, please call Ms. Andrews or Mrs. Morgan at (810) 225-6400. This procedure is required by state law and is in place to ensure the safety of all students.

Aramark is our district's meal provider, offering several breakfast and lunch options daily that meet federal nutrition guidelines. To see what's on the menu each month, please visit the Pinckney Community Schools food service website.

Breakfast and lunch will be free for all Pinckney students again this year. Milk is included with all meals, but if your child wants to purchase milk separately, the cost is $0.55. You can add funds to your child's lunch account through MISTAR here.

Our students have a 40-minute lunch period that includes both a 20-minute mealtime and a 20-minute recess. Here is the schedule:

• Preschool: 11:40 AM - 12:20 PM

• Kindergarten, KinderREADY, & Grade 1: 12:40 PM - 1:20 PM

• Grade 2: 11:50 AM - 12:30 PM

All students are supervised by our dedicated recess and lunch staff.

We are always looking for parents and family members to join our team as paid lunch and recess supervisors. If you are interested in this position, please contact the school office at (810) 225-6400.

If your child has a diagnosed medical condition or special dietary needs that require an alternative school meal, please complete the Special Diet Form. Once completed, submit the form to Chris Haskin, our Director of Food Service, at chaskin@pinckneypirates.org.

Our Latchkey program provides safe, caring, and fun before and after-school care for school-age children. We offer a variety of activities, including arts and crafts, games, and supervised homework time. Our goal is to provide a supportive and educational environment for your child.

Latchkey is a self-supporting program, with an annual registration fee of $100 per family.

For more information on our services and fees, please click here.

You can register and manage your account online at pinckney.ce.eleyo.com.

To make sure every student at Pinckney receives the best instruction, we're using a tool called aimsWeb Plus this year. It's a quick and simple way to check on your child's reading and math progress.

How aimsWeb Plus works

We use aimsWeb Plus for two main purposes:

• Universal Screening: We test all students in the fall, winter, and spring to find anyone who might need a little extra help.

• Progress Monitoring: For students who are getting extra help, we track their progress with quick tests throughout the year to make sure they are on track.

What You Need to Know

• Testing Time: All students will take these quick tests in the fall, winter, and spring. Students receiving extra support will be tested more frequently. The tests are very short—most only take 1 to 3 minutes. They give us a simple score that helps us understand if your child is on target to meet their year-end goals. Think of it like a quick vision check; it's a simple way to know if we need to examine more.

• Preparation: Your child does not need to do anything special to prepare for these tests. Just make sure they come to school ready to learn as they do every day.

• Questions? If you have any questions, please contact your child's teacher or the school principal.

Every school in the Pinckney Community Schools district has a Child Study Team/Response to Intervention process. This team helps staff review student performance and concerns, and then work together to develop interventions.

If you have concerns about your child's development and would like more information on special services, please contact the building principal of Farley Hill Elementary, Danielle Birdyshaw, at dbirdyshaw@pinckneypirates.org.