Primary School March Newsletter (22–23)
Important Dates
3/10 - Half Day 11:30 dismissal
3/14 - PCO Meeting at 6 p.m. at Middle
3/15 - Board of Trustees Meeting at 6 p.m. at Middle
3/30 - End of Quarter 3
3/31 - Half Day 11:30 dismissal
3/31 - K–5 Family Swim Night at the Kingsley Association from 5–7 p.m.
4/1 - Deadline to Submit Candid Photos for K–5 Yearbook
4/3–4/10 - Spring Break
Dear Primary School Families,
You can feel the weather begin to shift toward warmer days and more sunshine! We are only getting glimpses of Spring, but we know it is coming! There are so many benefits to being outside including increased self-esteem and academic performance and mental well-being. Please check out these infographics from https://www.childrenandnature.org/ describing all of the different benefits!
Take care, get outside, and play,
Ashley Bergman
What's new at the Primary School?
Welcome!
We would like to welcome Jennifer Pressley to ECS Primary. Jennifer joins us as office manager while Ms. Hunter is on maternity leave. When you come into the office please give her a warm welcome.
100 Acts of Kindness
During the month of February, the ECS Primary family set a goal of 100 acts of kindness. During our last community meeting, we discovered that we surpassed that goal and ended up with 191 acts of kindness for the month of February!
Take a look 👀 K–5 Parent Literacy Night Review
Thank you to all the families, teachers, administrators and staff who attended Family Literacy Night. We enjoyed the discussions around our literacy program, our MTSS program and how to spread the love of reading at home. We hope you’ll support this thinking at home by encouraging your child to read, read, and read some more so we can meet our mission that every student becomes successful, independent readers, writers and thinkers.
For our families who attended and those that can not, here are a few resources that can help you navigate building a love of reading at home.
This is the presentation that was presented to the families during literacy night.
A brief video of the evening. We love seeing all the smiling faces of our families and our presenters.
One of our partners, Resha Conway, from the Dyslexia Alliance for Black Children recorded a video for our families that is an introduction to Literacy, Dyslexia and Equity for Families.
Literacy is a key determinant of positive life outcomes, yet Black students and historically underserved communities are disproportionately represented in our national literacy crisis. This workshop explores literacy and equity related to reading instruction, language-based reading disorders, and dyslexia as a diagnosis of privilege and access. Parents will leave informed and empowered with the tools necessary to help them advocate for their children and communities.
Recording available here: Parent Workshop LinkIf you are looking for a place to purchase books to build your libraries at home, please check Young Dreamer's Bookstore. ECS is partnering with Young Dreamer's Bookstore because we love the mission. Here is more information if you are interested...
Video The Young Dreamers’ Bookstore is a mobile book retail startup founded in 2022 for young children and their families. We provide a broad array of inspiring children book titles to “meet kids at their dreams.” We proudly feature books that herald protagonists of African descent from across the globe and/or are written by talented and culturally diverse writers. We do this to normalize cultural inclusion, while also sparking children’s imagination and self-efficacy. We appeal to the growing community of teachers, parents, and community leaders who wish to ignite young people’s ability to create dreams that are personally fulfilling and socially relevant.
Here is a link to our picture and board book selection: https://www.theyoungdreamersbookstore.com/picturebooks
Here is a link to our chapter books and graphic novels:
https://www.theyoungdreamersbookstore.com/chapter-books-graphic-novelsFor parents looking to customize their home libraries, we offer an amazing service! Click the link below to sign up :
https://www.theyoungdreamersbookstore.com/home-library-service
All Sports Summer Camp
Rising 1st to 6th graders are invited to register for ECS’s 2023 Summer All Sports Camp from July 10–13 and July 24–27 at the Intermediate School Gym. All Sports Summer Camp will allow students to connect with their peers over break while exploring multiple sports including kickball, soccer, flag football, and volleyball. Learn more and sign up by June 15, 2023.
YMCA Summer Camp
Registration is now open for YMCA Camp Dragonfly for Rising 1st Grade–Rising 4th Grade students. Learn more and register today!
Register for After School Care for the 23–24 School Year
After School Care provided by the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh at ECS Primary is now open and filling up quickly! This aftercare program is open for students in K–2 grade for the 23–24 school year. Registration, details, and info can be found here.
Parents can reach out to Alexis Fitzgerald, Program Director at afitzgerald@ymcapgh.org
Any questions about Billing & Payments can be directed to Business Manager, Tina Nellis at tnellis@ymcapgh.org
Share Your Photos for the K–5 Yearbook
Have candid photos you'd like to share for the yearbook? Send them in by April 1.
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 Women’s History Month! During this month, we celebrate the contributions women have made to history. If you would like to share something about your family's culture, please email Chelsea.Young@ecspgh.org.
In Case You Missed It
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Primary School dismisses at 11:30 a.m. on half days.
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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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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.
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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.
Primary School Hawk Highlights from Last Month!
Thank you to everyone who participated in Career Day!
