August 2018
Greetings North Shore Knights,
Welcome to the 2018 – 2019 school year!! We are looking forward to your family joining our journey towards 100% student success. We welcome back our returning families and extend a big welcome to our new families too! Our first day of school will be on Monday, August 13th at 8:45 a.m. We want to be sure you have all the information you need to make the transition back to school easy for everyone. We are looking forward to a great school year and have a lot of wonderful activities and learning experiences planned for your child. The teachers are working hard in their classroom preparing for our Knights. Here is some information for you to keep in mind as you prepare for the upcoming school year.
- Postcards will be mailed with tentative student classroom assignments to each student during the first week of August. Please note that all classroom assignments are tentative due to state class size requirements. No class changes will be made unless absolutely necessary to meet the state mandates.
- If you have not received a postcard in the mail by August 8th, there is a good chance the registration process is incomplete, or we do not have the correct address on file. Please contact the front office to ensure all documentation and medical records are complete. Your child will not be placed in a class until all registration documents have been turned in.
- Meet the Teacher will be held on Friday, August 10th from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. This is a time for all of our families to visit their classrooms, meet the teacher, drop off any school supplies, or ask any questions. Our fabulous PTA will be on hand to encourage you to join and participate. The teachers and staff will be very busy preparing for the opening of school so we ask all parents to adhere to our Meet & Greet times. Classrooms will not be open for visitations before 2:00. Keep in mind you may visit anytime from 2:00 until 5:00 so it is not absolutely necessary to arrive exactly at 2:00.
- If your child will need to have prescription or over the counter (OTC) medication during school hours, it is important for you to visit the front office prior to school starting. Both prescription and OTC medications require additional paperwork to be completed by the parent and/or doctor. Prescription medication may ONLY be brought in by the parent and must be in the original prescription bottle.
- Our school hours are from 8:45 a.m. - 2:45 p.m. Students are not permitted on campus until 8:15 a.m. unless they are registered in the YMCA before care program. The first bell rings at 8:30 a.m. permitting students into the classroom. Students will be marked as tardy if they are not in their classroom by 8:45 a.m.
- All students are eligible to participate in the Universal Free Breakfast program. If you wish your child to participate, breakfast will be served from 8:15 a.m. – 8:45 a.m. each morning in the cafeteria.
- Please keep in mind as you are finishing up your school shopping that we are a uniform school. North Shore Elementary uniform consists of pants, shorts, Capri pants, skirts, skorts or jumpers in the colors of navy blue, black, or any shade of khaki. Shorts, skirts or skorts must extend below fingertip. Shirts with short or long sleeves and a collar (polo or dress-style with button) in solid colors of Royal or Navy Blue, Castle Grey, Dragon Red, or Royal Purple. In the event of cold weather, a solid colored sweatshirt, pullover or cardigan sweater is permitted over the uniform shirt. Closed-back shoes (no flip flops or sandals).
- Just a friendly reminder that all parents and visitors must visit our front office to sign in before entering the main building. We ask for your patience during the first week of school as we sign in visitors. We will have a few extra staff members to assist with visitor sign in during the first couple of days. However, it could take a little longer to sign everyone in using the computer in the front office. Please use the main lobby doors located on the car circle side to enter the front office. All visitors must have a photo ID to enter the campus. All visitors are required to wear a visitor badge while on campus.
- Students may purchase a school lunch for $2.00 daily. Our food service manager will be sending more information out the first day of school concerning breakfast and lunch programs. Parents may also choose to create an online lunch account for their child at myschoolbucks.com. You will need your child’s 10-digit student ID to create or access your child’s account. This number can be found by using your parent user name and password to access FOCUS. The 10-digit number can be found by clicking the “My Child” link and then the “Child Info” tab. The number will be labeled as the “Local Student ID.”
- Parking is extremely limited on campus! We encourage parents wishing to walk his/her child to class to please park at the Masonic Home parking lot and use the crosswalk to the school to enter the campus. We discourage parking in the neighborhood but if you must park on the street, please observe all parking signs. Please do not park in our neighbor’s yard or block their driveway areas. No student drop off will be permitted in the bus circle.
- Please be sure your child knows how he/she will be getting home from school each day. We encourage parents picking up his/her child to use our car circles. Please follow the traffic flow patterns (see below). We will have staff directing parents to the traffic patterns in the car circle. Please adhere to the directions from our staff. Safety is our number one priority and we need parents to follow the traffic patterns in order to ensure everyone’s safety. We will be sending home hang tags with our new students who will be regular car riders during the first week of school. This will assist our staff to have your child (or carpool) ready as you enter the pick-up zone. However, you can help us out the first couple of days by having your child’s name and grade visible in the front window. Returning families may use their hang tag from last year. Your patience and adhering to these guidelines will help with a smooth dismissal.
- Students who are eligible bus riders should receive a postcard in the mail by the first week of August with his/her assigned bus stop, route number, pick up time, and drop off time. If you do not receive a postcard in the mail or have a questions about transportation you can call the help line at 587-2020 or visit the transportation link on the Pinellas County Schools website: pcsb.org.
- Mark your calendars for our Back to School Night on Wednesday, September 5, 2018 beginning at 6:30 p.m. The Agenda is as follows:
6:30 p.m. PTA General Meeting
7:00 p.m. First Classroom visit
7:30 p.m. Second Classroom visit
This schedule will allow parents an opportunity to visit more than one classroom and it is a time for parents to visit the classrooms and learn about the upcoming school year. Resource Teachers, Therapists and Specialist Teachers will also be available to meet parents at the Meet and Greet and Open House.
- We have several ways for parents to stay connected with the events at North Shore Elementary. Please visit our school website at pcsb.org/northshore-es. We have a social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. It is important to be sure you have a current email address listed in Focus to receive additional updates. You can check your email address by accessing your child’s Focus account. These communication tools are a great way to stay in touch with our school. As always, you can contact the school at 727-893-2181 between the hours of 8:15 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. with any questions you may have.
We are excited to see all of our returning Knights and to get to know our new-to-the-Castle-Knights. North Shore Elementary School is an awesome place to work and learn. Until next time, Carpe Diem! Carpe Success!
