Our first week in review at PCE!

Good afternoon PCE Parents!

We are off to a great start!  We have great students, teachers and parents that have worked really hard to make this year a good one.

During this first week, we have reviewed and analyzed some of our beginning of the year practices! As we continue to grow as a school we are noticing that we are having trouble fitting the entire student body in one spot (flag raising was a great example) so we will restructure events that are for the entire body to create more room and less chaos!  Thank you for your patience as we work through these growing pains!  Currently our student body is 645 students kindergarten through 6th grade so that's a lot of bodies in one space!

Speaking of students, as you can see we have grown in total numbers, which means we have grown in class sizes.  We pride ourselves on maintaining small class sizes, but as we grow we are running out of physical classrooms.  Please know this DOES NOT mean our class sizes will just grow and grow without support!  We have hired more instructional assistants and staff to support all of our students!  We will continue to watch classroom sizes and adjust accordingly.  Currently our largest class size is 28 and thankfully we only have a couple that high.  Depending on grade level our class sizes vary between 22 and 28.

I want to thank all of our parents that have abided by the right turn only as they exit the driveway during arrival and dismissal.  Being a creature of habit myself,  I know it is hard to break routine but I do feel like this is much safer for our children.  I have noticed that many parents turn on FireBrick and then take a u-turn to get back on Bradbury Ranch.  It dawned on me that parents that do not live in this immediate neighborhood may not understand the side streets!  So... If you choose to turn on Firebrick -- you can continue around the loop and you will come back to the four-way stop at  Auburn Hills and Bradbury or you can turn left and that street will eventually take you out to Jordan or Main Street.  If you choose to take the Night Heron Way--  Night Heron will loop around the back of the school and you will end up at the north end of Bradbury Ranch by the light at Main Street.  Both of these routes circle back to Bradbury Ranch and taking advantage of these loops decrease traffic congestion right in front of the school and make it safer for our students.  Right Turn MAP

I also want to remind all parents that we have many children with food allergies. Due to this concern and our healthy schools initiative we do not allow birthday treats in the classroom.  We know how important birthdays are to kids so we celebrate them in other ways, they are recognized on the morning announcements, within the classrooms, they also get a small treat (pencil/sticker) from the office and have their picture taken for the TV outside the office.  This year we have also given parents the option of "renting" the big electronic sign for a birthday message.  Please know we are not trying to be insensitive but rather keep all kids safe.   Birthday Message Sign ups

This year you also have the opportunity to customize your own PCE spirit wear!  Follow this link to check out what you can create--- flyers will be coming home soon for free shipping code that you can use during the weeks of August 24th through September 10th.  PCE SPIRIT WEAR

On Monday, August 27th we will have a kick-off assembly for our PCE fundraiser  RUN WITH THE PACK!  The actual Fun Run will be held September 6th.  We are raising money  to continue our technology program, playground improvements, and community events.  Last year, PCEA gave us money for a shade area and it was finally installed this week.  It looks great!

Don't forget about Back to School night on Thursday August 30th from 5:30-7:00!  We will have food trucks and lots of information to share!

Save the date!!  September 4th our first PCEA meeting (Prairie Crossing Educational Alliance/ Parent Teacher Organization) will be in the library at 6:30pm.

Thank you for all you do to support Prairie Crossing!

Carrie Rotherham
Principal

Welcome to the 18-19 School year!

Dear PCE Families,

Welcome to a new school year at Prairie Crossing Elementary!  We are so excited to start this year! As many of you know at the end of last year, we finally had our new electric sign installed and our building has brand new carpets, tile and gym floor!  

Updates/Reminders:

This year there will be some expectations reinforced so that we can keep our carpets and floors in the best shape as possible.  Please remember that we can only have water in any water bottles that students bring into school.  Water bottles must be a “no leak” type of bottle. We are also asking that parents limit snacks to dry, healthy snacks .  Please refrain from sending in snacks that require spoons or that could spill and stain the carpet.

Please remember that many classrooms are nut-free or nut restricted.  Please check with your teacher before sending in any nut-based SNACKS-- there is a seperate table that is nut-free in the cafeteria so children are allowed to have nut-based lunches.

For those parents using the “kiss and go” lane in the morning/afternoon and for kindergarten, please remember that you CANNOT park in this lane.  You must remain in your vehicle to be able to move for emergency vehicles. Additionally, please do not park in the kiss and go lane when checking children out throughout the day.

Fundraising:

We would love your continued support of Mr. Steve Martin with a fun fundraising opportunity.  If you would like to “rent” the electric sign for a special birthday message you can make a donation of 20 dollars to have a special message created for your child. All donations will go directly to the Martin family in our efforts to support them as he fights ALS.

This year we will have a slight change to our fundraising efforts for PCE.  Instead of having many smaller fundraisers, our goal is to have the Fun Run in the fall serve as our main fundraiser for the school.  This year’s Fun Run is scheduled for September 6th. We will raising money for our technology program (to update and maintain it), to continue playground improvements and also for general PCEA funds for community events.  

Technology needs:

• Purchase new chromebooks for incoming students
• Upgrade of existing Ipads that are outdated
• Maintenance of existing chromebooks
• Maintenance and purchase of  projectors, Smart Boards and Document Cameras in the classroom

Playgrounds Hopes:

• Extra seating for students  -benches, tables
• New play equipment
• New play structure (such as triple hoop game, climbing equipment etc…)

If you own a business or know of a business that would like to donate to our Run with the Pack --Fun Run, please encourage them to donate to PCE.  Businesses that donate will have their logo put on the Fun Run tshirts and PCE keeps 100% of the donation! Please contact the school before August 1st to find out more!  We are ordering over 700 shirts---thats a lot of advertisement!!

Traffic Changes:

Due to our continued growth we are also looking for ways to manage traffic flow and allow for more efficient and safer drop off and pick up for our students.  To help ease the congestion at the exit of the driveway and the four way stop at Bradbury and E. Auburn Hills, we are initiating a RIGHT TURN ONLY as you leave the PCE parking lot.  Parents will be able to have three paths with the right turn.  You may turn right and then turn left on FireBrick, turn right and continue down to Jordan, or turn right and  turn right again on Night Heron Drive bringing you around the back of the school and out to Main Street. Hopefully this will create a smoother flow of traffic, eliminate u-turns in the middle of South Bradbury and keep our students and community safe throughout the year.

Severe Weather:

It never fails that thunderstorms roll in late in the afternoon right in time for dismissal.  Please remember that we are not allowed to release students to walk home or gather outside for carpool when there is lightning in the area (within about 5 miles).  As frustrating as it is to have to walk in to pick up your children, we only do this for safety. If there is a lightning dismissal we will send notifications through the PCE sign, IC notifications and/or Facebook.  Since lightning can arrive quickly we will do our best to notify you in a timely fashion.

Save the Date:

Back to School Night is Thursday, August 30th!  PCE will have their annual BACK to SCHOOL night between 5:30 and 7:00 PM.  Families can come and meet PCE teachers, walk the school and meet some other families.

Saturday, August 25th is a special Zumbathon event from 1:30-3:30!  This day was put together by an outside sponsor to help support Steve Martin in his fight against ALS.  Please come out for an afternoon of fun and exercise to support this great cause.

Please feel free to reach out to the PCE main office with any questions or help as we begin the school year.

Sincerely,

Carrie Rotherham

PCE Principal