Dear PCS Families,

Here we are, the last full week of the school year! We can’t believe it. We have had so many fun celebrations and countdowns happening in these last few days. We are soaking up every minute with your children as we come to the end of this school year. As we come to a close I would like to highlight our 1st Grade concert that we had last week. Our students worked so hard preparing for the big night! I HUGE shout out to Ms. Reid for her outstanding work with our EC kiddos!

Below is a reminder about attendance and the importance of being at school everyday even on these final days of school. Below are some helpful reminders as you start to think about next school year as we want to continue to have strong attendance each year.

Attendance Reminder:

In typical fashion, this school year seems to have come and gone quickly. No doubt, your child has grown in leaps and bounds both socially and emotionally as well as academically, and, of course, physically too!

As we wrap up this school year and head dutifully into the next, please remember that late arrivals and early departures accumulate missed school minutes which then factor into your child’s total of days absent. It is also important to note that as a school adhering to the state’s educational guidelines, we are unable to excuse student absences for transportation issues and out of town trips. Absence due to illness must be accompanied by a dated note from the doctor’s office in order for the day(s) to be marked in the system as excused. Our PCS handbook includes the attendance policy aligning with Missouri laws. I’ve included it here for a quick reference.

Although the cumulative impact year after year on a child’s education can be significant, I know that, for most families, there may just be an off year full of illnesses, transportation issues, and/or other stressful life events. The following includes a few ways in which one can avoid excessive absences.

Whether you’ve taken your child to the doctor/urgent care or simply called the doctor’s office, please turn into the front desk any letter you can provide from that medical facility stating that you were in contact with their office in person or via phone on a specific date regarding your child not feeling well.

When possible, plan trips over fall, winter, or spring break or even over a long weekend.

For a variety of reasons transportation can be problematic; having a designated friend, family member, or even another PCS school family to be a back-up ride to school in case the support is needed might prove helpful.

Because sunshine, rainbows, and calm waters are not part of the everyday human experience, it is likely that a student will miss minutes of a school day or even the entire day on occasion. This communication is simply to serve as a reminder regarding the importance of avoiding excessive absenteeism and to assist in ensuring students’ days are excused when possible.

Attendance Policy

It is the responsibility of the PCS staff to monitor excessive absences and tardiness per Missouri laws.

The following policies pertain to excessive absences and tardies:

ABSENCE

If it is determined that a student has reached….

8 or more unexcused absences parent/guardian will be notified by a letter
12 or more unexcused absences a parent/ guardian will be sent a final notice letter
15 or more unexcused absences the family may be referred to St. Louis City Truancy Court and/or the Missouri Department of Social Services

TARDY

Once a student accumulates, in minutes tardy, the equivalent of

8 days’ worth of absences (For example: 390 tardy minutes = 1 day of absence) parent/ guardian will receive a letter
12 days’ worth of absences, then the family may be referred to St. Louis City Truancy Court and/or the Missouri Department of Social Services

Additional points:

Documentation from a Doctor or hospital is required for absence to be excused.

Absences due to vacation during the school year, will be counted just like any other Unexcused absence.
Half day school days that are missed will be considered a full-day absence.
Attendance for students who are participating in virtual learning through the MOCAP program is based on course completion. We review student course completion regularly. If a student is not completing assigned virtual courses, he or she will be withdrawn from the MOCAP program and will return to in-person learning.
Students who are absent due to a school-issued quarantine will be counted as present provided all assigned work is completed. Only school-issued quarantines will count as being present and only if all assigned work is completed.

* Please note that students who do not attend for 5 consecutive days at the beginning of the school year without contact or who stop attending for 3 consecutive weeks or more without contact may be unenrolled and have his or her seat filled by a student from our waitlist.

A Letter from the School Nurse:

Dear Early Childhood Families,

It has been such a pleasure working with your little ones this year! I am reaching out with a few end-of-year plans and requests. If your child takes medications with me or has ANY as needed medications here at school such as inhalers or Epi-Pens they will need to be picked up on the last day of school, May 25th. A parent or guardian will need to collect their student's medication directly from me. If your child will not be here on the last day of school or you prefer to pick up their medication before the last day, please reach out to me so we can coordinate a time for pick up before Summer Break. Any medications that are not picked up will be disposed of following dismissal on May 25th. If your child will be in Summer school at PCS their medication can be left at school and will be given to the summer school staff.

If your child has any type of emergency plan for a medical condition all Emergency Action Plans are required to be updated annually. This includes Asthma Action Plans and Allergy Emergency Plans. If you are unsure if your child needs any updated medical plans, please reach out to me. It is imperative that I have this documentation so I can give your child their medication at school.

I will reach out at a later date to let you all know when I will start accepting medications for the 2024-2025 school year. I wish you all a happy and healthy summer, full of memories and fun with your little ones!

Thank you!

Nurse Abbie

Ms. Walsh’s Counselor’s Corner:

Summer provides time for meeting new people and learning new skills. These opportunities often come in the form of day camps, overnight camps, working with tutors, swimming lessons, etc. These new opportunities, although designed to be positive experiences, can sometimes lead to anxious feelings including dread and even complete overwhelm. Society has it baked into many of us that allowing kids to quit leads to chronic “quitters.” It may not be so black and white though. Some child experts have begun to push back on that a bit explaining that just as it’s important to teach our children how to persevere, it’s equally imperative that we teach them to trust their own instincts. By paying attention to what their uncomfortable feelings are telling them in regards to felt emotional and physical safety, they are learning to trust themselves. And, boy, do we all want them to “trust their gut feeling” as they grow to be more independent and begin to navigate this world on their own! As the parent/caregiver though, it can be such a challenge to know just when to push verse when to honor the desire to quit. I thought the resources below might help with this a little.

https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/research-based-approaches-when-they-want-to-quit

A Note from the Library:

Thank you to everyone who participated in our Spring Book Fair and Coin Drive. They were a huge success! We raised $1000 for the Impact One Library in Lusaka Zambia, and purchased many books for the PCS library and the PCS community. Book Fair funds benefit our students all year long by helping to add books to our shelves, purchase new library equipment, digital resource tools, and reading incentives. I've attached a Thank You letter from the Executive Director of Impact One. Thank you again for spreading book love at PCS and across the world!