Haverford School ~ Lower School

Lower School

Dear Lower School Parents,

I hope this email finds you well as you enjoy your final days of summer. I know it is hard to believe that we are about to begin another school year. I would like to share with you our opening letter (now an email) which will provide you with important information for you to survive the school year. Please take time to read it, as it will inform you about how the Lower School operates. You will perhaps benefit from printing a hard copy and pinning it to a cork board for future use. If anyone would like a hard copy of this, we will have some in the Lower School office available.

Getting ready for the year

The summer here at Haverford has been busy as we hosted the International Boys School Coalition with over 500 educators from around the world. Many of these educators presented workshops on the best practices for teaching boys. Over half of the Haverford faculty attended and gained interesting and useful ideas to bring back to our classrooms and to include in their teaching practices.

We know that we are living in a world that is changing by the nanosecond, with exponential growth transforming all areas that we know: communication, information, biology, medicine, technology, finance, consumerism, etc. As educators, we continue to be faced with the question: How does this rapidly changing world affect the way that we need to educate our boys?

Certainly, it is our job in the Lower School to ensure that our boys have a strong foundation of literacy, numeracy, social, and critical thinking skills to be able to sort through the tsunami of information and media that they are, and will continue to be exposed to. Just as important, we need to continue to develop our boys in the Qualities that will allow them to grow to be young men of character. These Qualities begin with the core vales of our Honor Code: Respect, Honesty, and Courage. Throughout the Lower School, we will continue to explore ways to maximize the building of these qualities with our boys during the year.

The faculty and staff of the Lower School are looking forward to beginning a new year with your sons. We have very dedicated educators who are looking forward to working with you and your boys to prepare them to be ready for their world and ready for their futures. I look forward to sharing with you our designs and approaches we look forward to implementing.

Faculty News

I am pleased to announce that we had one of our teachers get married this summer. Ms. Aimee Wilmont (Kindergarten teacher) married Mr. Vincent Fabiani this past July; So, we have a new name in Kindergarten, Mrs. Aimee Fabiani! Congratulations to Vincent and Aimee!

Your Son’s Homeroom Assignment

This year, your son’s homeroom assignment is posted on My Backpack. You can access this now to see your son’s classroom assignment. Each year, a great deal of thought and time goes into building the best possible class grouping for the boys in the Lower School. Placement reflects the collective wisdom of the faculty and administration while keeping in mind your son’s academic, social, emotional, and developmental needs. The classes are intentionally rearranged so that boys will benefit from connecting with everyone in their entire grade at some point before they leave the Lower School. This enables our boys to learn to work with different boys as well as to make friends throughout the grade.

First Day of School

On Tuesday, September 7 we will begin school with a full day for students in Kindergarten through Grade Five. Each day, all students should report to their homeroom no later than 8:20 a.m. Students may arrive as early as 7:30 am and should report to the multi-purpose room where they can wait with teacher supervisors until all students go upstairs at 8:00 am. As many of you are aware, each grade has its own suite that is color coded. The ground floor houses The Haverford Center (purple), Jr. Kindergarten (light blue), Kindergarten (light orange), and the Lower School Office. The second floor houses First Grade (dark orange), Second Grade (green), the Art classrooms, the Library, the Computer room, and the younger boys’ Science Lab. The third floor houses the Third Grade (red), the Fourth Grade (yellow), the Fifth Grade (blue), the older boys’ Science Lab, and the Music rooms.

School Supplies

As a service to each family, school supplies are provided by Haverford as part of your tuition. Hence, your family does not need to purchase any school supplies for your son. He will need to bring a school bag on the first day to carry the supplies that he is given in his classrooms.

Dress Code

The following is the dress code for the Lower School. The Haverford Web site at www.Haverford.org has an online store available for the purchase most of these items.

School Shirt: White, yellow, maroon, or gold collared, knit polo, or turtle neck, either long sleeves or oxford button down. Shirts should be tucked in.

School Pants: Khaki, gray, or navy pants. Boys are permitted to wear dress shorts from September 7 - October 22 and once again after Spring Break. No cargo pants or painter’s pants are allowed.

School Shoes: sneakers or non-marking shoes.

Physical Education Classes: All boys in Kindergarten through Fifth Grade will need a Haverford School reversible gym shirt. Only sneakers are allowed on the gym floor.

Hair should always be neat and well groomed. Boys should not return to school with Mohawks, shaved, dyed or painted hair. Jewelry is not allowed to be worn in any form. We also ask that boys do not wear stick on tattoos to school.

Junior Kindergarten

Boys entering Jr. Kindergarten will receive an invitation, in the mail, from their teachers, to visit their classrooms on September 7 so they can become familiar with the Jr. Kindergarten room, drop off a change of clothes, and meet their teachers. We ask that you do your best to keep the assigned times as we have broken up classes into groups to allow for individual attention from the teachers. You and your son should plan on being at the school for about 30 minutes. Jr. Kindergarten boys will have a full day beginning on Wednesday, September 8th.

Morning Drop Off

Boys may be dropped off at school as early as 7:30 a.m. All boys who arrive before 8:00 a.m. must report directly to the multi-purpose room where we have early morning supervision. The school day begins at 8:20 a.m.

Because we are interested in making morning drop-off as safe and efficient as possible, we ask the following:

• When entering the road at the front of the school, please pull your car up as far as possible.

• We ask that you have your son on the right side of the car so he can exit at the curb. Do not allow your son to exit on the left as it is unsafe.

• Please do not get out of your car! Mr. Sassu (Haverford’s public safety officer), Mr. Duska and Mrs. Touey will be available to assist your son out of the car if he needs assistance.

• If for any reason you need to get out of your car, we ask that you either park your car in the visitor’s parking lot or pull your car all the way up, along the Class of ’75 field, past the front of the Lower School.

• For the safety of all, we ask that you drive 5 MPH, do not use your cell phone when driving, use your turn signals, and be very careful when turning into and out from the curb. There is a cross walk in the center of the Lower School Drive. Please follow the directions of the Haverford personnel, to ensure the safety of all.

Finally, because the start of the day is so important, we ask that families plan to drop their sons off with sufficient time to walk to their room, unpack their things, and settle in for the 8:20 a.m. start. Boys are not permitted to be in the Dining Hall before the start of school without a parent or an adult.

Afternoon Dismissal:.

• Car-pool will operate as it has in the past. Pick-up times are as follows:

o Jr. Kindergarten, Kindergarten 2:30 p.m.

o Grades 1-3 3:00 p.m.

o Grades 4-5 3:15 p.m.

Please do not arrive early as this complicates the pick up process.

• On the first day of school a car-pool sign will be sent home. Please be sure to place your son’s grade sign on the dashboard window so we may quickly identify rides and get the boys into the proper car.

• We ask that you do not leave your car for any reason once you have arrived at the pick-up areas. Teachers will assist in escorting your son to your car.

• Lower School boys who need to pick up a brother in the lower grades will meet their younger sibling at car-pool and take them to the older brother’s grade pick-up area. Middle School boys who need to pick up a brother in the Lower School will meet them at the Lower School office at 3:30 p.m. where they will wait for their ride to arrive.

• If you plan on changing the way your boy is to go home for a day, you must write a note explaining how he should go home. This can sent in or emailed to Teresa Touey by 12:00 pm at ttouey@haverforford.org. We cannot load a boy into any car that he typically does not use unless we have written permission from the boy’s parent. Likewise, no boy can take any bus that he is not assigned. Please send all notes about how he goes home to the homeroom teacher.

Finally, because the morning arrival and afternoon dismissal depend on the ability of the teachers to supervise all children in their care, we ask that parents not seek conferences with teachers at this time. If you need to speak with a teacher, please set up a conference time outside of the dismissal period.

Attendance: Absences and Lateness

Two healthy habits we hope to develop in every boy are being consistently on time and present. Often, to accomplish this, it takes the whole family to work in collaboration with each other. To be on time, Lower School students need to be in their homerooms no later than 8:20 a.m. Any boy arriving to their homeroom after 8:20 a.m. will be marked late. If your son will be significantly late, absent, or leaving early from school, we ask that you contact the school as soon as possible. The Lower School attendance number can be reached at extension 1957. If you wish to pick up assignments at the end of the day we ask that you call Mrs. Teresa Touey at extension 1232 by 9:00 a.m. This will give us ample time to generate a homework request for the teachers.

Busing

If you would like your son to be transported by the bus of your school district, you need to contact Mrs. Touey at extension 1232 or ttouey@haverford.org and provide the information found at the end of this email. Boys who used the school district busing to and from Haverford last year will automatically be enrolled on the same busing lists for this year.

Enrichment Programs

Enrichment classes are offered after school Monday through Thursday from 3:30-4:15 p.m. The list of enrichment activities can be found on the Haverford School web site. On September 16th we will send home a brochure of activities and a registration form for the classes offered for the Fall. These will be sent home via your son’s bookbag. If you have any questions about the program, you can contact Mrs. Teresa Touey at the Lower School.

Online Grades and Parent Directory

Academic information including grades, schedule, class lists, attendance, and re-enrollment will be available through MyBackpack. For information on logging in, please visit https://www.haverford.org/podium/default.aspx?t=107675 . If you used My Backpack successfully last year, the process remains the same. If you are new to the system, the instructions above will help you get online. If you have any questions, please contact our help desk here at school.

Ice Cream Social

Students and their parents who are new to the school in Jr. Kindergarten through Grade 5 are invited to meet their teachers and other new members of their class at an ice cream social on Thursday, September 2nd. Jr Kindergarten and Kindergarten boys will meet at 1:30 pm – 2:15 at the Dining Hall. Grade 1–5 Boys will meet at 2:30-3:15 at the Dining Hall. We hope you can join us!

Food, Lunch, Treats and Allergies

Students have the option of either bringing a bagged lunch to school or purchasing a meal plan for prepared lunches throughout the year. You should have received a mailing to your home from the Dining Hall explaining the various lunch plans and options. Please contact the business office at extension 1243 if you have not received this letter or need a new one.

Throughout all school divisions we have a number of students who are allergic to any number of food types. Some students in our building have severe allergies that could be life threatening. As a result, the school has a need to control the food that is served on any given day.

Our Dining Hall staff and faculty are very aware of the cautions that need to be taken every day and work very hard to minimize the risks that are inherent for children with food allergies. To control the potential risks, all foods to be shared within the classes for the students must be foods prepared by our cafeteria staff who are knowledgeable in potential risks. Please do not send in any treats, candies, and/or food products as we cannot serve them to our students!

You can help this endeavor by making sure that no peanut or tree nut products are sent to school in lunches or snacks or in any other form. If you would like a list of “safe foods,” visit the Parent Downloads in the Parent Community Section of our web site.

Birthday Parties

Birthdays are a special time for our students, and because we want to allow the students to celebrate their birthday with their classmates, we set aside a day at the end of the month to celebrate all birthdays which fall in that month. Each month, our Dining Hall prepares a special treat for all the students to celebrate the birthdays of that month. This allows us to celebrate each student’s birthday while allowing the school to take the proper safety precautions. Celebrating in this way also keeps a balance to the frequency of interruptions to the educational program. Once again, we ask that parents do not send in treats as we cannot serve them to our students. Thank you for your consideration and attention to our requests.

Important Dates in September

Please be mindful of the following dates that are important for September. The school’s Web site at Haverford.org has all of the important dates of this year:

Sept. 2 New Boy Ice Cream JrK & K 1:30-2:15 p.m.

Sept. 2 New Boy Ice Cream gr. 1-5 2:30-3:15 p.m.

Sept. 7 First day of School K-5, Classroom visits for Jr. K

Sept. 8 First day of School for Jr. Kindergarten

Sept. 9 Rosh Hashanah – no school

Sept. 15 Lower School Parent Night 7:00 p.m.

Sept. 14 Lower school Picture Day

I know this letter has a lot of information, and I thank you for your attention to specifics contained within. The Lower School faculty and I look forward to sharing an exciting year with your sons and your families. I hope that you are able to enjoy with your family the time that remains before Labor Day!

Sincerely,

Ron Duska

Head of Lower School

Bus Information
Please fill out, detach and return to the Lower School office if your son rides bus

BUS INFORMATION

Student’s name____________________________________________________

What Public School District Bus will your son take from school?

_________________________________________________________________

Bus number____________From school___________

Bus Company if known __________________________

Days: Mon___, Tue___, Wed___, Thu___, Friday____ (Please check all that apply)

SNOW INFORMATION