SANTAPOGUEELEMENTARY SCHOOL

Eleanor M. Levy, Principal

West BabylonSchool District

1130 Herzel Boulevard

West Babylon, New York11704

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Telephone (631) 376-7400 Fax (631)376-7409

September 7, 2010

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Welcome back to the 2010 – 2011 school year. We are looking forward to a great year. During the summer additional work took place on our library and the air conditioning has been repaired. Two additional new SmartBoards were installed in classrooms and painting and cleaning has taken place throughout the school.The NEW district- wide website is in place, and you can visit Santapogue’s site at santapoguewbschools.sharpschool.com. You will see information about activities taking place in our building.

This year in your summer mailing, you were informed about the dismissal site for your son/daughter to avoid confusion at a hectic time of day. If for some reason, you will be picking your child up earlier, or will have a different person doing the pick up, you need to inform your child’s teacher in writing.

The district wide Breakfast Program will be continuing. This program is available to students who pay, charge or are eligible for free or reduced meals. Breakfast begins at 8:35am with the arrival bell, and ends by 8:50am. There is additional information on our website.

We will be continuing many programs at SantapogueSchool this year----initiatives which promote the social and emotional well being of the children and our staff. We will promote Wellness through portion control, healthy food choices and additional exercise. As you know, our students attend a physical education class three times a week for 40 minutes. It is important that they wear sneakers on these days and safe footwear on all days.

We will also be focusing on time on task and time out of class. One change will be with our special functions, such as book fairs, holiday fairs, and plant sales. Every child will still have the opportunity to participate. The first day of each event will be open to every student, but the second day will be only for those who were absent on the first day or had forgotten their money.

Please be reminded that school begins at 8:35 a.m. Do not drop off your child beforethat time, because there is no supervision for early arrivals. Bus students enter the building at 8:35a.m. also. Dismissal is at 2:50pm for all children.

Over the years, we have developed a list of items which Santapogue students may not bring to school. They have been included on the NO list because their presence has caused disruptions to the education and safety of children. Please remind your child not to bring the following items to school: any electronic items (such as cell phones, cameras, gameboys, walkie-talkies, iPods or other expensive toys). Kookie pens, webkinz, laser pens, milk pens, Pokémon cards, baseball, (or other trading cards) are also not permitted. Finally, individual liquid hand sanitizers such as Purell are not permitted but packaged hand sanitizers are allowed. Many classrooms have containers of Purell near sinks, and Purell dispensers are maintained in our cafeteria, blue gym, playroom, and other areas without access to a sink.

In addition, to ensure the health and well-being of all the children, snack items such as gum, lollipops, chocolate lollipops, sour balls, jolly ranchers, etc. are not allowed in school. If you wish to send a treat to school for the entire class to celebrate your child’s birthday, kindly do not include any item with nuts and anything that is homemade. All treats which come to school must be in a container from the store where it was purchased.No home made items or “goody bags” are allowed.Appropriate food items to celebrate your child’s birthday need to be in alignment with the district’s Wellness Policy (see the website for information). Please contact your child’s teacher before planning any birthday celebration, to avoid disappointment.

If you have not already done so, kindly return:3 Emergency Cards and the Free/Reduced Lunch Application (if it applies to you), sent to you in a previous mailing.

As always, do not hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Eleanor M. Levy

Eleanor M. Levy

Principal

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