Save the Dates!

Mon. 8/30, 5:00-7:00p:  Back to School Ice Cream Social, Creston School Playground

Wed. 9/1: First day of school for all 2nd-5th graders (Warm up day for 1st graders-last names A-K)

Thurs. 9/2: Warm up day for 1st graders-last names L-Z

Fri. 9/3: Warm up day for Kinder-last names A-G

Tues. 9/7: Warm up day for Kinder-last names H-Z

 

Hello Creston Families! We are so excited to welcome students back to school this fall for full time in-person learning! We have missed seeing all the smiling faces in classrooms and are eagerly looking forward to teaching students on campus again. We have a somewhat different start to our school year this year to ensure our youngest students transition easily and comfortably, as our Kinder and 1st grade students haven’t ever experienced a typical school day. On Wednesday, 9/1, we will welcome all of our 2nd-5th grade students to campus. Additionally, half of our 1st graders will join us on Wed 9/1. Then on Thursday, 9/2, the other half of our 1st grade students will come to campus while the 1st graders who came on 9/1 will stay home. We will do the same procedure for our Kindergarten students as well, just on different days. Half of our Kinder students will come to campus Friday, 9/3, and the other half will come Tuesday, 9/7. This will give each group of our Kinder and 1st grade students a full day on campus in a smaller group to help them feel comfortable and safe in their new classrooms. Prior to K-1 students’ Warm Up day, classroom teachers will be reaching out to K-1 parents to have one-on-one conversations with each family about the start of school. A summary schedule is below:

 

Wed 9/1: All 2nd-5th grade students start school; ½ of our 1st graders attend for Warm Up Day (A-K)

Thurs 9/2: ½ of 1st graders attend for Warm Up Day (L-Z)

Fri 9/3: ½ of Kindergarteners attend for Warm Up Day (A-G)

Tues 9/7: ½ of Kindergartners attend for Warm Up Day (H-Z)

 

1st-5th grade Class Lists

1st-5th grade families may now view assigned teacher/classroom information in ParentVue.  This information is available under “Class Schedule”.  Your child’s teacher name and classroom # will be listed as HR (Homeroom).  If you are unable to access ParentVue, please email Lisa Edwards in the Creston Office (ledwards1@pps.net) for assistance. Kindergarten class lists are created by the classroom teachers after they have their one-on-one meetings with each family. 

 

Thank you to all of the parents who provided input on your child’s classroom placement! When reviewing parent feedback, we focused specifically on safety concerns and social-emotional needs of students, and we are happy to report that we could accommodate almost all of the parent requests we received. We are very excited for this school year and the amazing team of educators we have at Creston and we hope you will be very pleased with your child’s educational experience this year!  

 

COVID Safety Protocols

We know families are worried about COVID, especially since the Delta variant transmission has increased in recent weeks. PPS has been working on safety planning all summer, and we are excited to share with you that we have several measures in place at Creston to keep your students safe while on campus. A summary of safety measures we will be taking include:

 

• Spacing students at least 3 ft apart in all indoor school locations (Because Creston classrooms are so large, many classrooms will be able to accommodate even more space between students than is required)

• Ensuring all staff and students wear masks indoors (with the exception of breakfast & lunch)

• Increasing air flow in all classrooms through the use of open windows and classroom HEPA filters

• Frequently disinfecting high touch surfaces (i.e. doorknobs, desks, chairs, light switches, etc.)

• Frequently washing and sanitizing hands

• Following isolation and quarantine protocols for classrooms when COVID cases occur

• Upgrading central air filters to MERV 13 standards

 

Cafeteria Safety Protocols

We have divided our students into three lunch periods this year to ensure we can maintain at least 3 feet of space between students when at lunch, and we will be prioritizing students eating outside as long as possible while the weather is nice. K/1 students will eat first, then 2nd/3rd grade, and finally 4th/5th grade students. This will ensure there will never be more than 75 students eating lunch at any given time and we will be able to keep students socially distanced. If and when we have to move into the cafeteria, we will have all of the cafeteria windows and doors open during lunch, and have air filters placed throughout the space. Additionally, there will be no sharing of student food. We are confident we will be able to keep all students and staff safe during lunch time by following these protocols. 

 

Parent Volunteers 

We just received great news regarding parent volunteers this year! As long as parents are vaccinated, masked, and have completed a PPS background check, they may volunteer on campus! This will significantly help us with student supervision outside during recess and lunch. If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out this short Parent Volunteer Form and the office will contact you with next steps. 

 

Drop Off & Pick Up Procedures

School begins at 8:45 am and ends at 3:00 pm. We will be using drop off and pick up procedures very similar to our Hybrid procedures. Parents should plan on dropping students off at the front of the school (K-1 students will enter the building through their individual exterior classroom doors and pick up breakfast in their classrooms.) Students may enter school as early as 8:38 am to grab breakfast and bring it down to eat in their classroom. The front entry doors will be marked with specific grade levels so your child knows which door to enter. 2nd-3rd graders will enter through the west front entry door, 4th-5th graders through the middle front entry door, and CRP and bus students will enter through the east front entry door.  All students will dismiss through their exterior classroom doors, just as they did during Hybrid in Spring 2021. 

 

Supplies

We were able to purchase most of the usual school supplies that we ask parents to provide each year, with the exception of a few items in each grade. If you are able, please purchase the items on the Master School Supply list below based on your student’s grade level. If you are not able to purchase these, please don’t worry, we will make sure your child has what they need in the classroom. And if any parents are able to purchase a few extra items, we always welcome donations!

Pencil pouch

Student scissors

Pink eraser

Glue sticks

3rd-5th Grade: THIN Crayola colored markers

3rd-5th Grade:  highlighter

 

 

Messages from the Library

Hello wonderful families,

I hope you all had a wildly rejuvenating summer and that the back to school excitement is brewing in your home.  As you may know, PPS will now be a 1:1 Chromebook district for grades 3-12, and 2:1 for grades K-2.  Unfortunately, there has been a delay in the delivery of these devices, so we will not have them at the beginning of the school year as we had initially hoped.  We are currently scheduled to receive them on October 25.

 

Because of this, I know that there are many 3rd-5th grade students who will need a PPS device to bring to and from school until the new Chromebooks are delivered.  If you are: 1) new to PPS, or 2) your child has been using a personal/family device for CDL, or 3) your current PPS device is not working, will you please complete this form, and I will make every effort to have a device ready to go during the first week of school.

 

Much gratitude!  As always, please let me know if you have any questions.  There will be some changes ahead (switching from Clever to ClassLink) and lots of information about these new devices.  You may want to check out the link above and poke around the Students & Families page to get an overview.

 

Can't wait to see you and your amazing kiddos!

Kindly,

Jackie Hellis/Teacher Librarian

jhellis@pps.net