It T.A.K.E.S. P.R.I.D.E. in Numbers to Make a Difference

S.T.A.R.S. Smart, Thoughtful, and Responsible Students

Parent visitation: will occur between 9:30 and 10:30 AM on Tuesday, October 4th and 1:30 and 2:30 PM on Thursday, October 6th for parents of students in grades 1 through 5. In order to accommodate all parents, please choose 1 date to attend. Parents of Kindergarteners are invited to attend on Wednesday, October 5th. Parents of students in morning Kindergarten should visit between 10:40 and 11:40 AM while parents with afternoon Kindergarten are welcome to visit between 2:20 and 3:20 PM. Parents this is a great time for you to visit your child’s classroom to observe your child in his/her educational setting. Also, please make other arrangements for younger siblings. In order to maintain school safety, pre-registration and check in will be required. The pre-register form was sent home on September 21st. Please see below for information regarding the Raptor System which will be used during these visitation sessions.

October 2016

PARENT PORTAL – The Pennridge School District uses the Parent Portal to keep track of student information. This secure site allows parents to update student information, access student grades, attendance, and other important information via the internet. All new students’ parents should have received a letter with instructions on setting up an account. If you did not receive your letter, please email Shirl at [email protected] or call the school office at 215-257-1146 and a copy will be sent home with your child. Once you create your account, it is extremely important that you sign-in to the portal and click on the INFOSNAP link to complete your child’s emergency information. PSSA DATES – Please note the PSSA test administration dates listed below: April 3-7, 2017 April 24-28,2017 May 1-5, 2017

PSSA Gr. 3, 4, 5 English Language Arts PSSA Gr. 5 Gr. 3, 4, 5 Math PSSA Gr. 4 Science

As you choose dates to take vacation during the school year, please keep in mind that I cannot approve vacation during PSSA testing. Thank you.

The safety of our students is always a top priority for the Pennridge School District. The Pennridge School District Board of Education voted in January 2016 to implement the Raptor Security System for the school buildings. As you may be aware, Raptor provides an effective way to help schools keep unwanted visitors out while keeping track of those admitted into the buildings. Raptor allows us to: Electronically sign in and sign out visitors Print visitor badges Screen all visitors against the national sex offender database Provide real-time offender alerts By simply scanning a visitor’s driver’s license, Raptor instantly screens for registered sex offenders in all 50 states. If a potential threat is identified, the Raptor system sends instant alerts to designated officials, including administrators, law enforcement and school security via email and/or text messaging. If you have not had your driver’s license scanned, you will need to do so the next time you are in the building. If you have already had your ID scanned into the Raptor system since its inception, it will NOT need to be rescanned at this time. Please know that confidentiality is very important to us and the only information maintained in the Raptor database is your name, date of birth and photo. https://sites.google.com/a/pennridge.us/deibler-elementary-school/

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If you are planning on changing your child’s pick-up routine, please send in a note. Remember, if your child is being picked up by a friend’s parent, we need a note from BOTH parties; you, the parent, and the parent picking them up. If you are unable to send in a note due to an unexpected change of plans, please call by 3:00 PM. Dismissal is a very busy time of day and we want to assure all students take the appropriate transportation home.

Is your child missing a jacket, lunchbox, backpack, or other item? If so, we have a Lost and Found! Please stop by the office and let us know what you are missing.

Fall has arrived; please remember to send in your child’s jacket, sweatshirt, etc. to wear outside for recess.

Please make sure that the school has a copy of any court documents regarding child custody and related matters. We must assume that both parents have equal access to their children, and by law we must release students to either parent unless we have court papers that state otherwise. If there are documents of which we need to be made aware, please let us know as soon as possible by giving us a copy that we can keep on file. Thank you!

Thanks to the volunteers who helped with school pictures. Retake day is Monday, November 7 from 1-2 PM. Students who were absent on picture day may get their pictures taken then. If you want your child’s photo retaken, return the whole picture package on November 7 and have him/her report for a retake when he/she is called. Students must return a complete package before a retake can be taken. The class picture should NOT be returned. Thank you!

Please be aware that the Pennridge School District enforces the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s School Attendance Law. The law states: “A maximum of ten days of cumulative lawful absences verified by parental notification may be permitted during a school year. All absences beyond ten cumulative days should require an excuse from a physician.” The law clearly states no student may be absent from school more than ten cumulative days without a written doctor’s excuse including pre-arranged/approved educational trips or family

UNLAWFUL ABSENCES – An absence is considered cumulative and unlawful if we do not receive a phone call, email or written excuse with a reason within 3 days of your child’s return to school. To notify the office of an absence, you may contact Mrs. Keeler at 215-257-3183, option 4; by email at [email protected] or by sending in a note to your child’s classroom teacher. Thank you for your cooperation.

We are participating in Giant Food Stores A+ Rewards Program again this year. We are happy to announce that we have 254 bonus cards designated to our school. Thank you to those who have already signed up. If you haven’t yet done so, please consider participating in this great opportunity for our school.

Please note the Fall Festival will be held on Friday, October 28. Spectator registration information will be sent home on Monday, October 10th. Specific parade information will be sent home Monday, October 24th. We would appreciate car pooling if possible. Information for the Kindergarten students will be sent home from Mrs. Granite.

COSTUMES…a reminder that students and families are responsible for selecting appropriate costumes for children to wear in our Fall Festival parade. Costumes must be in good taste and may not include weapons or represent gore or violence. Students whose costumes do not comply with these guidelines will not be able to participate in the parade. Thank you for your cooperation.

https://sites.google.com/a/pennridge.us/deibler-elementary-school/

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A KidStuff coupon book will be sent home on October 3rd with the youngest child in each Deibler family. The books are $25 each and contain many family-friendly coupons that offer great savings. By using just a few of the coupons, families can save more than the cost of the book!! If you would like to keep the book, please send in your payment of $25. You may order additional books using the order form provided. As an additional bonus, if you sell 5 or more books, you get a free book! Remember, the book sent home is NOT a sample book for you to keep. You must pay for it if you want to keep it. Checks and money orders are payable to Robert Deibler Elementary School. All funds raised will be used to support Deibler’s Student Council activities and service projects. Our Student Council thanks you for your anticipated support! Please return unused books or your payment by Monday, October 17th.

https://sites.google.com/a/pennridge.us/deibler-elementary-school/

SAVE THE DATE – 2nd

Grade will host Grandparent’s Day again this year on Friday, December 2nd from 9:30-11:15.

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