Dear Parents,
Welcome to September and the new school year! I am certainly looking forward to it, and I hear from many of you that your daughters “can’t wait” to get started. It is an exciting time of year. So many things are new: new shoes and backpacks, new teachers, new friends, and new challenges in each new grade. Of course, there sometimes is uncertainty at first, but before we know it, everyone will be in the swing and moving right along. For the teachers, there is excitement, too, as they ready their rooms and anticipate the eager, bright students that they will soon welcome. There is plenty of newness for you as well as you travel with your child to her new grade. As well, there are some new events and opportunities for parents, so it’s important to note the calendars, like the one below, that are published each month in these newsletters as well as the list of dates on page 29 of The Red Book.
THE SCHOOL DAY
Please remember that the school day begins at 8:05 am. It is important that the students arrive before 8:00 am so that they have time to unpack, settle in, and get ready for the day. We ask that students not arrive before 7:30 as there is no supervision available. Girls who arrive between 7:30 and 7:50 will wait in the Multi-Purpose Room with a supervising teacher. On the first day of school, however, children will go right to their classrooms.
Students in Grades K – 2 eat lunch from 1:00 to 1:30 pm, and students in Grades 3 – 5 eat from 1:30 to 2:00 pm. A midmorning snack time is provided in every class to keep up the energy level of our girls. Please send in a substantial healthy snack for your daughter every day. Fruit, raw vegetables, crackers, cheese, and juice are all good ideas for snack time.
You are welcomed, to send lunches from home. Kindergarten girls must bring their lunches every day. However, our dining hall offers a wide variety of food. There is a special $3.00 lunch for students in Grades P, 1 and 2, and menus are online and sent home each month so that you and your daughter can see what is available. Children in Grades P-2 either bring their lunches or buy the $3.00 ones as the other lunch offerings can seem overwhelming with so many choices. Children in Grades 3-5 either bring their lunches or choose from the Dining Hall choices. A debit system for payment can be set up with Garrison Caterers so that your daughter does not have to bring cash to school. The Pre-First girls bring them for the first half of the year until they are used to the Dining Hall system. Please pack ready-to-eat lunches as girls in Grades K-2 may not use the microwaves.
The Lower School dismisses at 3:10 pm. As you arrive at the school to pick up your child, please stay in line as it winds through the parking lot. The students will be lined up near the Lower School entrance by class and will wait to hear their names called. Your daughter will come to you. Please do not leave your car to come get her as this holds up the line. Kindly write your daughter’s name in large, black letters on the carpool sign which we sent you in August. Then display this sign on the passenger side of your windshield when you enter the carpool line. Please put the other part of the sign in your rear window. If you are in a carpool with other families, please give the LS office a list of the girls in the carpool. Mrs. Laziuck will give you a carpool number to put on your sign. Children who are not picked up by 3:30 will be brought back into the building to wait. At 3:45, children, who have not been picked up, will be placed in the After School Program, and their parents will be billed for the time they are there.
Children who wait for older siblings wait in a specified classroom. We call this group “Middle School Wait.” LS girls are not allowed to meet their sisters in any other part of the school. Girls who are riding a chartered bus will wait in this room as well until the chaperone walks them to the bus stop. Girls who meet siblings at Gilman (“Gilman Walkers”) also gather and walk across the street with a chaperone. Once across the street, they are on their own so please make sure that your daughter knows where to go and is comfortable with the arrangement. Please let Mrs. Laziuck know if your daughter will be taking a chartered bus or will be walking to Gilman on a regular basis.
RPCS operates a wonderful After School Program for LS students. Information on hours and cost is available from the Kaleidoscope Office. All information about this service is on the RPCS website. Go to www.rpcs.org. Click on “Academic”, then “Lower School”, then “After School Program.” You can also contact our Director of Childcare, Maria Chmura at extension 3088.
PARENT COFFEES
The Parent Coffees are designed to give you a chance to meet with other parents, Sally Harrison, our guidance counselor, and me to discuss issues pertinent to your child’s age group. All the coffees will be held from 8:00 to 9:00 in the morning in the Apgar Lecture Room. The dates of these coffees are listed in the Red Book as well as below:
Kindergarten, Pre-first and First Grades October 13 January 19 April 20
Second and Third Grades October 15 January 27 April 22
Fourth and Fifth Grades October 29 January 28 April 27
GIFT WRAP
Once again the Alumnae Association is selling gift wrap. Your daughter will be bringing home a large envelope with samples and an order blank. We encourage the girls to sell to family and friends but not to go door-to-door for solicitation. This is a wonderful fundraiser for the alumnae who, of course, use the money to benefit the school and a good opportunity for you to stock up on birthday and holiday wrapping paper. The envelopes are due back at school on October 7.
REPORT CARDS AND CONFERENCES
The first parent-teacher conference is on September 25. This is the Getting-to-Know-You Conference: an opportunity to talk to the teacher about your daughter. It’s a great time to extol her virtues, describe her talents and interests, and tell about life at home, her siblings, and schedule. It’s also a time to talk to the teacher about any concerns you have or skills you hope she will develop over the year. How much fun it is to be able to spend twenty minutes talking about one of your favorite subjects - your child!
The Lower School is on a quarterly system for formally reporting the progress of the students. At each interval, you will receive a checklist of progress in academic as well as resource classes. You will also receive brief descriptions of the material covered during this interval. At the end of Quarters 1 and 3, there will be Parent-Teacher Conferences so that you can meet and discuss your child’s progress. At the end of Quarters 2 and 4, there will be written narrative accounts of your child’s progress included with the report card. Of course, you are welcome to meet with your child’s teacher at any time during the year by setting up an appointment with him or her. The related reporting dates are as follows:
First Quarter ends: November 6; Parent Conference Day: November 20
Second Quarter ends: January 22
Third Quarter ends: March 12; Parent Conference Day: April 1
Fourth Quarter ends: June 4
RPCS WEBSITE
Don’t forget about the RPCS website, www.rpcs.org. It is full of information including RedEvent - the all school calendar, the athletic schedules, and photographs of special events and everyday life at RPCS. All the newsletters are available on the website as well.
I am looking forward to seeing all of you back on campus now that school is starting. I hope you and your family have a very Happy New School Year!
~ B.G.S.