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Dear Markham Families,
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the 2024-2025 school year! I am eager to begin my fifth school year at Markham, as it is shaping up to be our best year yet! We have worked diligently over the summer to prepare for your children's return and look forward to another successful year where we foster their growth and watch them flourish. In an effort to showcase some of the amazing things happening at the building during the school day, I will continue to share photos on our Instagram page. Be sure to follow us at markhamelementaryschool!
On Thursday, August 1, you will be emailed a document containing your child’s homeroom teacher, schedule, etc. On Friday, August 2, our district's Dashboard system opens, where you can access that same information and more. Please see below for more information about Dashboard.
This welcome-back communication contains a wealth of information that will help prepare you, your children, and your families for the return to school. Please review it, and as always, let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Dr. Jocelyn V. Artinger
Principal
jartinger@mtlsd.net
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Staffing Changes for the 24-25 School Year | |
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We have some changes to faculty teaching roles this year, please see below for details and let me know if you have any questions!
- Mrs. Jenny Marsh- First Grade
- Ms. Annie Neurohr- Fourth Grade
- Mrs. Julie Howe (first semester) and Mrs. Katy Waine (second semester) will share a fourth grade homeroom
- Senora Tania Conte- Spanish
- Mrs. CharLynn Wertz will be teaching at Howe Elementary this year and Mr. Ian Stone will manage the special education caseload.
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Meet and Greet
Thursday, August 15 - 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m.
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New Student Orientation
Thursday, August 15 - 5:30 p.m.
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On Thursday, August 15, 2024, we will host our New Families Orientation starting at 5:30 PM in the Markham Multi-Purpose Room (MPR). This event is intended for families new to Markham with children in Grades 1-5.
During this orientation, we will review important information about the school, our programs, and procedures and hear from our Parent Teacher Association (PTA) representative! Following the formal orientation program and before the Meet & Greet begins, new families will receive a tour led by our Markham fifth graders! Families invited to this event will receive more details in a separate email.
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Kindergarten Interviews
Tuesday, August 20 & Wednesday, August 21
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Kindergarten Interviews will be held on Tuesday, August 20, and Wednesday, August 21. This will be an informal time for kindergarten students to meet individually with Mrs. Isadore and become more acclimated to the classroom before school begins. Informational emails regarding kindergarten interview times will be sent out in early August. The first day of school for Kindergarten students will be on Thursday, August 22! | |
Homeroom Assignment / Schedule | |
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Thursday, August 1 - Student schedules and homerooms will be sent to families via email by noon on Thursday, August 1.
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Friday, August 2 - The PowerSchool/Dashboard portal will be open by 10:00 a.m.
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Families can log into PowerSchool/Dashboard by clicking FAMILIES at the top of the District website. The direct link is: https://www.mtlsd.org/families
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Students can log in to PowerSchool by clicking STUDENTS at the top of the District website. The direct link is: https://www.mtlsd.org/students
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School supply lists by grade level can be accessed by clicking on this link. | |
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All students will be receiving a device in alignment with our District 1:1 Initiative. Students in Kindergarten and 1st grade receive iPads. Students in grades 2-5 receive Chromebooks.
In lieu of a "Take Home Tech Night" for device distribution, your child will receive their device in class once a 2024-2025 Loan Agreement has been received. This document can be completed during Meet and Greet on Thursday, August 15th, or returned to school with your child at any time during the first week of school.
At any time, if you have a District-owned device, and you need to report damage, ask for technical support, or generally have questions about that device, please use this form to access District support.
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Our District's Dashboard Student Information System (SIS) is a tool where families will find out their child's homeroom teacher, can update emergency contacts, view report cards, will schedule family conferences, view their child's lunch balance, etc.
Dashboard can be accessed by visiting the District Website and clicking on the Dashboard icon at the bottom of the page. You can view this document titled “Logging into Dashboard” to learn how to access this tool.
Families of incoming Kindergarten students and students new to the district will receive a letter in US Mail early next week with your Dashboard log-in information.
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Attendance Policy and Procedures | |
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In accordance with board policy, for an absence or a tardy to be considered excused, it must fall under several categories. The most commonly used are listed below:
- personal illness
- medical and dental appointments
- traditionally recognized religious holidays
Students absent from school must return with a written excuse or an email within three school days to their teacher and the school secretary. If the excuse is not provided by the third day, the absence will be considered unexcused.
For an absence to be marked excused, the excuse must include the following information:
- Full name of student
- Date of absence
- Reason for absence
- Signature of parent/guardian (emailed excuses are accepted without signature)
Please use this form for pre-approved absence requests due to educational travel. As in the past, no more than five absences will be excused via pre-approval.
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School Safety and Security | |
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The safety of students and staff remains our highest priority. All of our staff recently received an ALiCE training refresher from the Mt. Lebanon Police Department. Please see below for some information about safety and security at Markham:
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ENTERING THE SCHOOL: The school building will be secured throughout the day. All visitors will need to enter through the main office entrance (A1) where they will buzz in before gaining access to the captured vestibule and then buzz in again at the top of the steps to gain access to the main office. Please do not hold the door for anyone or let anyone in when entering the building or the office.
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VISITING THE BUILDING: All visitors and volunteers entering the building with pre-arranged appointments must have a photo ID, are to "RAPTOR" in with the school secretary, and obtain a visitor's pass. While in the school, visitors must wear their visitor’s pass in a visible place. Visitors need to check out in the school office before leaving the school.
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ITEM DROP-OFF PROCEDURES: If any family member is going to drop off items for their students (ex: lunches, instruments, homework, etc.), they will need to drop the item off on the table in the vestibule, and we will have the item delivered to the student. By continuing with this system, we are able to track items and deliver them more efficiently.
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SAFETY DRILLS: Throughout the year each school in the district is required to hold a certain number of fire drills as well as practice safety drills such as shelter-in-place, severe weather, evacuation, and ALiCE. Please know that families will be alerted via e-mail before safety drills but not regular fire drills.
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Markham's Safe Walking Routes | |
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Student safe walking awareness is reviewed annually with the assistance of the Mt. Lebanon Police Department (MLPD). In addition to reinforcing safe walking rules with students at the beginning of the school year, the MLPD has established Safe Walking Routes for each elementary school.
Please review these routes with your child throughout the school year. The routes can be found at this link.
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Markham has two options for easy and safe drop-off and pick-up of children. Please review the procedures listed in this document, choose the option that is right for your family, and review it with your children so that they understand where to go. You may also refer to the map below for further clarification of these procedures.
Please be reminded that the Go-Zone is not for parking and families should not leave cars unattended in the Go Zone in order to walk children to the building during this time. If you would like to walk your children to the building, please park in the Bird Park parking lot.
Additionally, cars should not pull into the governor's drive. Children walk through this area and may not be visible.
Thank you for your efforts and cooperation in keeping all of our Markham Circle safe and secure!
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Arrival and Dismissal Procedures | |
Arrival Procedures
- Doors will open for arrival at 8:25 AM.
- Grade level door assignments:
- Kindergarten AM: C-8 (back entrance near the ramp)
- Kindergarten PM: C-9 (back entrance, closest to the Native Habitat Garden)
- Grade 1: A-1 (main entrance)
- Grades 2 & 5: A-2 (front entrance on the left side of the building, closest to the playground)
- Grades 3 & 4: C-9 (back entrance, closest to the Native Habitat Garden)
- A map of entrances can be found below:
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- As students arrive, they should form a line at the entrance
- The playground and recreational spaces are closed before and during school hours
Dismissal Procedures
- Students will be escorted to the same doors for dismissal that they entered. Grades will be dismissed beginning at 3:30 PM.
- Students should report directly home after dismissal to check in with their afternoon caregivers. If you permit your child to play at the playground without supervision, they may return to the playground only after reporting home first. Students should not report to the playground directly after school unsupervised.
- Families are welcome to accompany children immediately after dismissal to the playground.
Kindergarten Arrival and Dismissal
AM Kindergarten
- Arrival 8:25 AM Door C-8
- Dismissal 11:20 AM Door C-9
PM Kindergarten
- Arrival 12:40 PM Door C-9
- Dismissal 3:30 PM Door C-8
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Lunch Information and Scheduling | |
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2024-2025 Important Lunch Information
Lunches will cost $2.65 for elementary students. Families may qualify for free or reduced-price meals. Please see this link for the application for Free/Reduced lunches. You can also apply for free and reduced meals online via the state's COMPASS portal (linked here).
Lunches can be paid for by logging into Dashboard, sending in cash or check with your child or to the main office, or payschoolscentral.com. Checks should be made out to the Mt. Lebanon School District.
2024-2025 Lunch and Recess Schedule
- 12:00-12:30 PM
- Grades 1, 2, & 3- Recess
- Grades 4 &5- Lunch
- 12:30-1:00 PM
- Grades 1, 2, & 3- Lunch
- Grades 4 &5- Recess
If students are going home for lunch, a parent/guardian must notify the teacher with an email, note, phone call, etc., by 8:45 AM of that morning. Verbal notification from a student will not be accepted.
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The Elementary Handbook contains useful and important information regarding school policies, procedures, and programs. The Elementary Handbook information is arranged by topics. Please browse the topic list in the handbook linked below to find the information you need. | |
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Please see below for some important reminders and highlights from the District elementary handbook!
Dress Code
In order to minimize distractions throughout the school day, students will be expected to keep hats in their lockers when they enter the building. Additionally, students should wear clothing that is school appropriate and covers body parts. Please see the dress code section of the handbook for further details.
Cell Phones, Smart Watches and Devices
Some of our students have cell phones, Gizmo watches, Apple watches, or other devices that may be pertinent to them staying in contact with their family during their walk to and from school. If your child has one of these devices, please remind them that during school, they should not be playing with, calling from watches, texting, etc. If possible, devices should be set to “school mode” to avoid the distraction. Students may be asked to leave their watches in their bookbags if it becomes a distraction or a violation of the District's cell phone policy and repeated violations could result in disciplinary action.
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The Markham PTA uses a software platform called Membership Toolkit to manage all of our communication for general information, events, and volunteer opportunities. Membership Toolkit can be accessed via the web at https://markhampta.membershiptoolkit.com or by downloading the app onto your mobile device.
For those new to the Membership Toolkit, when you first go to the site, you will have the opportunity to create an account. At the minimum, we ask that all families create an account so that we have accurate contact information. The school district is not permitted to share family contact information with the PTA, so this is the best way to share all of our information with you.
For those who have used the Membership Toolkit in the past, once you log in, you will see a notice to review your information in case of any changes from the previous year. From here, you will have the opportunity to join the PTA under the “store” feature. You’ll also be able to sign up for a variety of volunteer opportunities.
This year, a family PTA membership fee will be $30 and will include up to two parents or guardians. Your purchase of a membership allows the PTA to enrich our student’s experiences by supporting educational programs including field trips, class parties, and other educational and fun programs and events. We also support teachers through the purchase of items for the classrooms that are not covered by the district budget. As an added perk, only PTA members have access to our online student directory, which is an invaluable tool for communicating with other Markham families throughout the year.
Please email markhamelementary@gmail.com if you have any questions about Membership Toolkit or other PTA information. Thank you for your support!
Kindergarten Popsicle Playdate
- The PTA is hosting our Popsicle Playdate on Tuesday, August 13, at 6:00 PM on the Markham playground for all incoming Kindergarten students. Come play on the playground, meet some new friends, and enjoy a cold treat!
Save the Date for our First Annual Markham Fall Fest!
- As noted in our May newsletters, we've decided to combine the efforts of the Welcome Back Picnic in the fall and Markham Magic in the spring to create a new event to kick off the school year.
- As we establish this new tradition, we will rely on your help to pull off a successful inaugural event so be sure to keep a look out for volunteer opportunities and mark your calendars for Saturday, September 14, 2024 in the early evening.
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Our first ask is that any families who would like to contribute to our Silent Auction, please email our Fall Fest chair, Courtney Benedetti Tooke, at courtneybenedetti@gmail.com. We are hoping to assemble a variety of cool prize packages (sports tickets, swag bags, experiences, golf outings, etc.) so please reach out now if you are able to contribute—donations of all shapes and sizes welcome! We can’t wait to kick off this upgraded event! Thanks in advance for your help as always.
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