August 2010
Welcome to the 2010-2011 school year at Dana Elementary. We are excited to have you and your child (or children) as part of the Dana School family. Although class sizes may be up, and support personnel down, we are confident we can provide your child with a world class education. We need your help and support to accomplish this.
If you are in a position to do so, please check with your child’s teacher to see if you can help out with basic instructional material supplies. Also, if you are interested in volunteering in (or visiting your child’s classroom) more than two or three times, please sign up with the GenSpan Foundation to be a classroom volunteer. If you can commit to a minimum of three months of regular classroom activity (say a minimum of once a week for an hour), they will pay for all the related costs (including fingerprinting). The ongoing state budget crunch means we will have less support funding, so we will need parents to work in classrooms to help students—particularly with reading.
Please fill out free and reduced lunch forms if you are eligible—even if you do not intend to take advantage of this offering. The federal and state governments use this data for school funding and for making similar school achievement comparisons. In these difficult economic times, we want to be eligible for as much governmental funding as we deserve, and we certainly want our state academic rankings and comparisons to be fair and accurate. So, regardless if your child will actually participate in the free and reduced lunch program, please fill out and submit the paperwork if he or she is eligible. You will be helping Dana School if you do.
Class lists will be posted at 4:00 p.m. on Monday August 16. Our PTA will be out in force and will provide information for parent involvement and treats for your kids! Please consider buying a Dana t-shirt for your students. We have a new logo, and I am sure you will want to show your Dana school spirit by owning one. Have your child wear a Dana shirt on Fridays!
Thursday August 26, is back to School Night. The evening begins in the Stallion Center (MPR) at 6:30 p.m. with introductions of the staff. At 6:55 p.m., teachers will be available in their classrooms. After a five minute “passing period,” a shorter, second session (for families with more than one student), will begin at 7:35 p.m. and will run until 8:00 p.m. Parking will be available in our front and side lots and on the blacktop behind the school.
Students in kindergarten who live more than three quarters of a mile from campus are eligible for bussing. This year the district is charging for transportation. Letters outlining the costs were sent to eligible participants. If you have questions, please contact LMUSD transportation at 474-3000 extension 5870. Students in grades 1-6 must live more than two miles from campus to be eligible for transportation; subsequently, Dana students are not generally eligible for transportation. Special education students will not be charged for transportation if an
IEP team determines that a student by reason of his or her disability or handicapping condition requires bus transportation. Much info on transportation is available on the district web site.
Since the majority of Dana students are transported to and from school by automobile, it is important for parents to be patient in the parking lots and to follow our protocols. We have two lots—the one directly in front of the school and a side lot on the library/regional park side of campus. In both locations, we have staff on duty to facilitate a safe and efficient drop off and pick-up. Please pull up as far as possible to get as many cars into the lot as possible. Out front in the morning, please leave the inside lane, closest to the school, free. We generally can handle all drop offs in the “middle lane.” After school, in the front lot, we have both lanes available for pick-up. Please keep to the right, so others may pass you (if need be) on the left. Unless you intend to park, please do not arrive more than five minutes early to wait in one of our drive through pick up lines. Also, please do not stop on Tefft Street (and subsequently block traffic) if you are unable to turn into our “packed” parking lot. Please take another lap—we generally get some movement within a few minutes.
The first few days of school are generally a bit hectic; however, as people plot off campus pick up strategies and as we begin our after school Bright Futures program (that involves 25% to 33% of our students), the traffic lessens. Of course the lot still gets jammed, but the entire pick-up process is over within ten to twelve minutes.
If you are experiencing financial difficulty or are simply interested, feel free to drop by the Nipomo Family Resource Center (SAFE) on the first day of school between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. SAFE is located at Dana on the west end of the campus (by the Community Health Center). Many services to support needy families are available.
Following are a few general reminders. Please dress your students modestly for school. We will enforce the district adopted dress code. I will post these guidelines on the Dana website. Look for this information in the student parent handbook. Also, please remind your students that cell phones should not be visible or heard during the school day. Students may not use cell phones from the moment they set foot on campus until 3:15 p.m. Further, students may not use cell phones while Bright Futures classes are in session. On the first offense, cell phones will be confiscated and may only be picked up by a parent or guardian. Subsequent violations may result in more severe disciplinary action—including suspension. Another important reminder—please remember to check in at the office whenever you arrive on campus. This is a state law. Also, after the first week of school, please do not wait to pick up your children outside his or her classroom. We request that parents in grades 1-3 wait at the picnic table area behind the Stallion Center (MPR). Kinder parents of course are welcome to wait in the grass area outside the kinder compound.
Remember that Nipomo Recreation will offer morning child care beginning at 7:00 a.m. Nipomo Rec. may be reached at 929-5437. There is a nominal cost for the morning program. If you need childcare after school, Nipomo Recreation, in conjunction with Dana School’s Bright Futures grant, will supervise and instruct your child for free. Bright Futures remedial and enrichment classes will likely begin in mid to late September. We have 12 minimum days this year. On minimum days, Bright Futures will not be in session. If you need childcare on minimum days, you must sign up with Nipomo Recreation. There will be a modest charge for childcare on minimum days. Dana’s minimum days are: 9/9, 10/26, 10/27, 10/28, 10/29, 11/19, 12/9, 2/17, 3/15, 4/1, 5/23, and 6/10.
If you are interested in getting involved at Dana, I urge you to do one or more of the following: 1) Sign up with
GenSpan to volunteer in classrooms 2) Join the PTA and attend meetings as often as possible 3) Attend English Learner Advisory Committee meetings (particularly if you child is an English Language Learner 4) Volunteer to serve on the School Site Council (advisory group consisting of parents, teachers and support staff that oversees how we spend our “categorical” funding. If you are interested in any of these endeavors, please contact the Dana office at 474-3790. I very much look forward to working with you this school year! |
