Primary School January Newsletter (22–23)
Important Dates
12/23-01/4: Winter Break
01/5: Students return from Winter Break
01/12: PCO Meeting at 6 p.m. at Intermediate School
01/13: Deadline to volunteer for Career Day
01/16: No School, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
01/18: Board of Trustees Meeting at 6 p.m. at Middle School
01/23: End of Quarter 2
01/26: ECHS Construction: Family and Staff Reception at 6:30 p.m. in the Middle School Cafe
01/27: ½ Day - Dismissal is at 11:30
01/27: K-5 Ice Skating Night at Schenley Park at 4 p.m.
02/02: Report Cards Available in Alma
Dear Primary School Families,
We hope you had an amazing time while off from school for winter break! As we transition back into learning, we realize it may be a difficult transition for our little ones. Talk to your students about returning to school, prep them for it based on their needs, and get them excited! Our educators will do the same! As we all gather together again, we revisit our routines and rituals as well as our School Wide Positive Behavior Systems. We will re-teach what it means to be safe, kind, and responsible in all of our spaces so our students can continue to soar! Please reach out to us if anything comes up and if there is anything we can do to support you or your child. Staying connected with families is essential for the well being of our children. We all want to see our little stars shine!
Take care, get outside, and play,
Ashley Bergman
What's new at the Primary School?
A Note from the Nurse Regarding Lice
ECS has had a few reported cases of head lice in the buildings.
Head lice do not carry any disease, and their presence does not indicate unsanitary conditions. Head lice can infest anyone. Control of head lice in our school depends on prompt diagnosis and effective treatment. Your help in inspecting your child weekly throughout the school year for the presence of head lice would be greatly appreciated. Please note that whole grade head checks are not completed when lice is detected as this practice has shown to be non-productive.
We suggest the following procedure for inspecting your child for head lice:
1. Under bright light begin looking at the back of the head just above the neck area.
2. Part the hair section by section and look closely for head lice or nits (eggs). Eggs will usually be located near the scalp.
3. Depending on the length and thickness of the hair, it should take between 5 and 15 minutes to properly inspect a child's head.
Please read the ECS lice Guidelines for additional information. Due to the short life span of head lice when not on a person, the CDC does not recommend additional facilities treatment outside of ECS’s regular cleaning procedures. To learn more about the treatment and prevention/control of head lice, please visit the CDC’s website.
Pittsburgh Arts and Lectures’s Feb. 2 Event
Natasha Anastasia Tarpley returns with a breakout new picture book series all about Keyana, the protagonist of her bestselling title I Love My Hair!, and the people and places she adores.Attend inperson or virtually…
K-5 SEL & Counseling Lesson Updates
During December SEL lessons, teachers focused on empathy and kindness. In the new year, we will continue on this theme and will reboot discussions around helpful coping skills and how to use tools responsibly in the Relaxation Station. PAAR educators will also be joining classrooms to talk about bullying prevention and consent/healthy boundaries.
This Month’s Cultural Celebrations
Our ECS community is made up of many different cultures! Once a week during Morning Meeting, we take some time to celebrate cultures, traditions and world events. During this month we are celebrating the New Year, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, and the Lunar New Year . If you would like to share something about your family's culture, please email Chelsea.Young@ecspgh.org.
In Case You Missed It
What is ME TIME?
ME TIME is a time of day where students are working on skills and strengths in Literacy or Math. Students are in groups all over our school building to support those strengths and skills. They could be working with any of the educators in our school building in numerous locations. If you would like to know more about your child’s ME TIME please reach out to your child’s homebase teacher.
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Primary School dismisses at 11:30 a.m. on half days.
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Please send in a water bottle to school with your child. We are outside often and students need to be able to bring water along.
Please put sunscreen on your child prior to school as it may be sunny while we are outside!
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Arrival
Students being brought or bused to school will be accepted between 8:10 and 8:30 a.m.
Students will be accepted at the back and front doors only.
Do not stop or park on South Braddock Avenue; South Braddock Avenue is for buses only.
If you are driving by to drop off, please turn onto Brashear Street and drop your student off at the back gate.
If you do not see an ECS staff member at the gate, please find a parking space and walk your student to the back door
If you are walking your student to the front or back door, please park either on East End Avenue or Waverly Street.
If you arrive after 8:30, you must sign your student in at the front office. When ECS operates as a closed campus due to high community spread, families will sign students in at the table in the front vestibule.
DO NOT obstruct or park in neighbors’ driveways and do not double park on the street.
Dismissal
Students will be dismissed between 3:30 and 4 p.m.
Do not stop or park on South Braddock Ave; South Braddock Ave is for buses only. All pick-up students will be dismissed from the playground space behind the school.
Please park on either East End Ave. or Waverly St.
Do not park on Brashear Street.
Do not block the ECS gate/driveway.
Do not obstruct or park in neighbors’ driveways and do not double park on the street
No child will be permitted to go to an idling or unparked car.
Make sure to bring your dismissal sign. Your child will not be released to an adult without this sign. When you see your child please make sure the supervising adult knows you have taken your child before you remove them from the backlot.
Please arrange for early dismissals prior to picking your student up prior to 3:15 p.m. Once at school, please ring the front door and sign out your student in the office. ***Please note: When ECS operates as a closed campus due to “high” community level, families will sign students out at the table in the front vestibule.***
We will NOT dismiss any student from the front doors after 3:15 p.m.
During severe weather incidents (such as thunderstorms) families should still report to the rear of the building. Students will be dismissed from the two classrooms inside the two back doors.
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Breakfast
Regular: $2
Reduced: $0.30
Adult: $2.50
Lunch
Regular: $2.85
Reduced: $0.40
Adult: $4.10
Juice and/or milk can be purchased for $0.35.
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Lunch money is collected online. No cash is accepted at school as lunch money. Schoolcafe.com is our online payment portal. You will need your student’s ID number to add funds to the account. You may also obtain your student’s lunch ID by contacting Niki Hutcherson directly at niki.hutcherson@ecspgh.org. To assist in our record keeping and accounts, ECS strongly encourages families to add funds to your child’s account (suggested $20.00) to help cover last minute purchases. Families who require an alternate payment method can email payments@ecspgh.org or contact Sarah Kegarise in the Business Office at 412-247-7970 ext.9304 Meal participation invoices will be sent out monthly. Parents may also set up balance reminders on scoolcafe.com. Small negative balances can add up, and we appreciate your help in keeping our accounts up to date.
To find your student’s id, please log on to Alma.
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If a child forgets a lunch at home, he/she/they will be provided with an ECS school lunch. Families can then add money to the child’s account. Students will not be denied a meal or given an alternate meal due to a lack of funds on the account.
Primary School Hawk Highlights from Last Month!
