Schools.camas.wednet.edu



[pic]

August 18, 2014

Welcome to Liberty! We have built a very positive, safe, and student-centered learning community and it’s exciting to begin our ninth year! We are open for business 8-3:00 and eager to meet and greet you, and although you can pay fees at our 6th grade celebration on August 27 or 7th/8th grade schedule pick-up August 28 or 29 (see below); you may also come in now to avoid the lines.

Back to School Events

• 6th Grade and New Student Celebration – August 27, 1:30-4:00 p.m. – Students should attend the entire time

o 6th grade students should arrive by 1:20 to find their first period classroom by 1:30. Rosters will be posted and staff will also be present with lists in hand. Students will meet their homeroom teacher, experience a brief assembly, and then rotate through stations where they will have pictures taken for the yearbook and identification cards, pay fees (see below), scan their finger and deposit money for their lunch account if desired, and be assigned a locker and practice opening it. At 3:50 all 6th graders will report to the Commons for a snack. (Please note: Purchasing pictures is an option, but not required. All students are required to have their pictures taken for their ID card. In addition, we will have two other picture dates in the fall so purchasing pictures later is an option.)

o The same routine will be followed by students new to Liberty, except they will meet with two teachers who will walk them through the stations together.

o We will have teachers in our computer labs teaching the parent component to Skyward, extensively used by all teachers to communicate information about assignments and grades. You may also drop students off at 1:20 and pick them up by 4:00. This event is dedicated to welcoming our students and is not designed for extensive parent/teacher conversations. The opportunity for parents to learn about 6th grade studies at a later date.

• 7th and 8th Grade – August 28 & 29, 1-3:00 p.m. – Schedule pick-up only; students should NOT plan on being here the entire time, as teachers will be in training and classrooms will not be available for viewing.

o Schedules, finger scanning/lunch deposits, and fees (see below) may be paid on Main Street.

o Lockers will not be assigned to 7th and 8th graders until school starts.

School Day School starts at 8:00 and concludes at 2:45. Late Start dates have already been determined for teacher training, and the dates may be viewed on the school year calendar here: . (Camas district site, parent corner, calendar, 2014-15 calendar). On Late Start days, school begins at 10:15 and ends at 2:45.

Student Drop-off and Pick-up Please use the parent loop in the south parking lot by the gym. We’ve witnessed several near-misses with students being dropped off in front of our school, and it has created unnecessary and dangerous traffic jams. Please, we’re begging you, use the Loop! Thank you for your cooperation in keeping our scholars safe!

Fees for all grades PE uniforms ($17) and student handbooks ($6) are required. ASB cards ($25) are optional unless participating in sports or activities, such as 7th or 8th grade Band, Choir, Knowledge Bowl, Science Olympiad, and the spring Musical. We believe that participation in extra-curricular activities is critical to student success, so we encourage every student to find either a sport or an activity to join. A Participation Fee ($30) for athletics will again be required this year. Scholarships are available for student fees; no student will be prevented from participating due to lack of funds, so please let a staff member know if we can help!

Cell Phones and other Electronic Devices Some teachers will allow the use of cell phones and electronic devices. Please see the enclosed School Board policy related to “Students and Telecommunication Devices”.

School Clothes Many students are concerned about this, so here’s the deal…our focus is teaching and learning, and we know that some articles of clothing are distracting to some students. Please take that into consideration when shopping for school clothes. Tank tops must have shoulder straps at least 1” wide, and skirts and shorts must be longer than the students’ fingertips when their arms are hanging loosely at their sides. We know that jeans with holes in them are popular right now, but no holes above the knees, please. Pants should not hang below the hips, and under no circumstances should underwear show! We see enough of that when we do the laundry at home! Additionally, clothing with sexual, drug and/or alcohol references are not allowed on campus. Students will be allowed to call home for replacement clothing, and may join the classroom when appropriately dressed.

Beverages at Liberty Research has strongly confirmed that students need to drink water, and a lot of it, to keep their bodies and brains refreshed and ready to learn. Students are welcome to bring clear water bottles into most classrooms. However, colored beverages are allowed ONLY in the Commons and ONLY before school, during lunch, and after school. This is a decision based on the wear on our carpets as well as additional research on sugared drinks and their effect on student learning. Due to high levels of caffeine and sugar, “energy” drinks (e.g., Rockstar, Monster) will be confiscated and discarded if brought to school.

Parent Involvement In short, yes, please! Partnerships between school and home are a key to students’ success, so we welcome your input and participation. We hope to have frequent and steady parent involvement. Please either e-mail or call to be added to our parent volunteer list. You’re welcome to eat lunch with your student at any time; please sign in at the main office. In addition, we offer “Perk with Boerke”, a casual coffee and conversation opportunity with our administrative team to ask questions about anything you like. It’s the third Wednesday of every month. We have an active and enthusiastic PTO at Liberty. They work hard throughout the year to provide activities and support to staff and students. Please consider becoming involved. PTO will have a table set up at 6th Grade Orientation and you can access the PTO website from the our webpage:

Liberty is a “Closed Campus” Once students arrive on campus, they may not leave before the end of the school day unless picked up by a parent or guardian. This is significant because there is a store conveniently located two blocks from school. We became aware that some students rode the bus to school then walked to the store...this is not allowed due to safety concerns. We do not have crossing guards at any of the intersections around Liberty, and we have a high volume of traffic in our neighborhood. Please stress the closed campus policy with your student, as they will be subject to disciplinary action if they leave campus after arriving. Thanks!

Electronic Newsletter & Home Communication To be efficient and economical in our communications, this is the only “snail mail” letter we will send this year. All other parent communications will be via our list-serve and from teaching teams. Our district also subscribes to a “School Messenger” system that makes parent phone calls, text messages, and/or sends an e-mail with specific, dated information, such as emergency late starts or school closures or reminders for special events. The system will also call to confirm reasons for student absences, although we prefer parents to call to excuse student absences. For these reasons, it’s critical that we have accurate contact information. We ask that you go to the Camas School District website () to sign up for the newsletter list-serve and check your information in Skyward Family Access. Changes may be e-mailed to Shanna Nielson, our district registrar, at shanna.nielson@camas.wednet.edu. If you do not have access to e-mail and prefer to receive a paper newsletter, please let us know by calling the office and we will place you on a mailing list.

Student Health Inventory & Immunizations Please complete the “Student Health Inventory including a record of any updated immunizations. Remember, students entering 6th grade are required to have a Tdap and Varicella (Chickenpox). Bring the Inventory and Immunization records to our Welcome Back Celebration (6th grade) or schedule pick-up on August 28 or 29 (7th/8th grades).

Please feel to contact us at 833-5850 with any other questions or concerns. We’re looking forward to seeing you soon!

Marilyn Boerke Gary Moller Stephen Baranowski

Principal Associate Principal Dean of Students

-----------------------

Marilyn Boerke, Principal

Gary Moller, Associate Principal

Stephen Baranowski, Dean of Students

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download