Return to the "POINTER VIEW"
                         August 9, 2002

School year information for parents and students

Submitted by the West Point Schools

The West Point Elementary and Middle Schools would like to extend a hearty welcome to the new and returning students and families who will be with us for SY 2002-2003.

Please know that an experienced and dedicated staff eagerly awaits your child and is busy making preparations for a smooth opening of school.

This section contains important information regarding the opening of school and activities that take place before that opening.

School opens Aug. 20 for grades 1 through 8. Please see Kindergarten information below.

STUDENT PLACEMENTS: All student placements for SY 2002/2003 will be posted Aug. 16, 3:30 p.m., under the overhang of Building 705-A.

SCHOOL HOURS: AM Pre-K, 8:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.; PM Pre-K, 11:45 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.; Grades K thru 4, 8:20 a.m. to 2:33 p.m.; Grades 5 thru 8, 8:20 a.m. to 2:38 p.m.

SELF GUIDED TOURS: The West Point Elementary School and The West Point Middle School will be open for parents and students tours Aug. 19, between the hours of 1 and 2 p.m.

WP MIDDLE SCHOOL "NEW" PARENT ORIENTATION: There will be a brief orientation meeting and a question and answer session Aug. 19, 1:30 p.m., immediately following the Self Guided Tour. The briefing, intended for the parents of new students entering the Middle School, will be held in the Bldg. 705 auditorium.

SCREENING: Screening for all preschoolers will take place Aug. 20 to 26, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. A letter containing your child’s scheduled appointment for screening and other information was sent home to parents of preschool students.

REGULAR SESSIONS: Regular preschool sessions will begin Aug. 27. Hours for pre-kindergarten are noted above.

ORIENTATION: Kindergarten parents are invited to attend an orientation with their student on the first day of school, Aug. 20, from 8:45 to 10 a.m. Students will leave with their parents at the conclusion of the orientation.

This meeting will give parents an opportunity to become acquainted with the kindergarten program and give the children a chance to meet their teacher and settle into the classroom.

Starting the school year with half-day sessions allows the students to become acclimated to the routine while allowing time for individual screening sessions with the classroom teachers.

A letter was sent home to parents of kindergarten students from the principal in early August; this letter identified the screening appointment time along with other useful information.

SCREENING: Kindergarten Screening will take place from noon to 3 p.m. starting Aug. 20 and continuing through Aug. 27. During this time students will be dismissed at 11 a.m.

Transportation will be available for those students who ride the bus.

Starting Aug. 28, kindergarten students will begin a regular full day session. Normal hours for kindergarten are 8:20 a.m. to 2:38 p.m.

If you plan to homeschool your children, you must register with the West Point Schools by sending a letter of intent to the Superintendent, NY-VA DDESS, ATTN: Homeschool, Building 705-A Barry Road, West Point, NY 10996.

Once your letter of intent is received, a copy of the Home Schooling Policy and Individual Home Instruction Plan forms will be sent to you for each child you will homeschool. These forms must be completed and returned to the West Point Schools.

In addition, it is the parents’ responsibility to submit quarterly progress reports throughout the school year as well as results from the end-of-year standardized testing.

To register in the West Point Schools, you must reside in post housing.

Parents must first visit the Housing Office, Building 626 to obtain quarters. Once housing has assigned you a set of quarters or guaranteed you quarters within 90 school days, you may begin the school registration process. If housing guarantees you quarters, make sure you get a letter from them stating the exact time period those quarters will be available.

Children may attend school during the 90 day waiting period, however, parents must provide their own transportation during that time.

Registration Hours: Monday thru Thursday 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The following items are required for registration: shot record, Social Security number, proof of age (Pre-K, Kindergarent and Grade 1), report card and complete address last school.

Students who live too far to walk to and from school are transported by bus. Only these students may ride the bus. Bus students in grades K-6 may not walk home from school without a written request from the parent to the Principal

Bus schedules are carefully developed dependent upon residence. Therefore, students are allowed to ride only the bus to which they are assigned.

PARENTS MUST MAKE THEIR OWN TRANSPORTATION ARRANGEMENTS FOR AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES. (I.E. BROWNIES, BOY SCOUTS, VISIT A FRIEND.) THE ONLY EXCEPTION IS FOR CHILDCARE PURPOSES.

This exception is granted by the Contract Officer Representative to the bus contract after advanced written notice is received and if space is available on the designated bus.

Separate buses run for the West Point Elementary School and the West Point Middle School. Signs are posted in the bus window indicating each Bus Route and the letters ES (Elementary) or MS (Middle) School.

The times noted on the schedules are estimated; students are asked to be at their bus stop five minutes before the times on the schedule.

Bus routes will be published in the Aug. 16 issue of the Pointer View and will also be posted on the USMA E-Mail Bulletin Boards.

Review the appropriate bus schedules carefully. If you have any questions, please call Eileen Ellingsen, 938-3506.

Bus routes have been added for Connor Road, Connor Loop and Benedict Road in the New Brick housing area. If you need special bus arrangements for child care purposes, please be sure to submit your request in writing through your child’s teacher to Ellingsen.

BEFORE and AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS

If your child requires bus transportation for the before and after school program through School Age Services, you must have a permission slip on file at the WPS Registrar’s Office.

Please be sure to complete the necessary form (SAS/Homework Center Bus Forms) and send it in. This form is available on the USMA E-Mail Public Folders (USMA, Info Svcs, WPS), SAS Office and at the WPS Registrar’s Office.

GENERAL INFORMATION

On the West Point E-Mail System, under PUBLIC FOLDERS, there is a folder for West Point Schools which contains a folder for the Elementary and Middle Schools.

Various pieces of information pertaining to the schools will be posted at these locations for everyone to view. For example, some of the items posted will be the PARENT/STUDENT Handbooks, Monthly Bulletins, School Board Meetings, School Board Agendas, etc.

A Registration card must be on file for all West Point students, even if bus transportation is not always used. Registration for O’Neill High School transportation must be done at the registrar’s desk, West Point Schools OR you can get a form off the West Point Schools, Public Folders, and FAX it to Ms. Phyllis Caputo, 938-2724.

The O’Neill Bus Schedule will be published in the Aug. 30 Pointer View. It will also be posted on the USMA E-Mail Bulletin Boards.

WP SCHOOL PARKING LOT

On regular school days with normal school hours, cars will not have access to the school parking lot between 8:05 AM and 8:20 AM in the morning. Access in the afternoon will be restricted between 2:10 PM and 2:45 PM. These hours are posted on the signs on Washington Road at the Barry Road intersection.

Should you have a special need, such as transporting a student with a broken leg, please contact the school so that arrangements can be made to permit arrival after the other students without any "late" penalties.

PARENTAL VISITS

The school staff welcomes parents to visit their child’s classroom. Parents are encouraged to participate in parent faculty activities, to observe school assemblies, to eat lunch with their child, and to participate in conferences with school personnel and to volunteer as a reader, tutor, or in any capacity indicated by the teacher.

To insure the safety of all children, it is imperative that all visitors sign in at the school office and obtain a visitor’s badge. Parents’ visits to classrooms are limited to the classes in which their children are enrolled. When parents are observing in the classroom, siblings may not accompany them.

If you wish to visit a particular segment of your child’s day, we ask that you send a note to the teacher/s involved. This not only helps in avoiding scheduling conflicts, but is also an appreciated professional courtesy. Parents are welcome to observe at any time when testing is not in progress and provided the normal teaching process is not interrupted. Parents visiting classrooms are asked not to engage the teacher in conversation as this takes away from the instructional process. If you wish to confer with the teacher, please call the school and schedule an appointment. The teacher’s school day is 8:00 AM to 3:30 PM.

SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS

The NY-VA Domestic Dependents Elementary and Secondary Schools System provide special education and related services to meet the needs of students with developmental delays and disabilities. All students receiving special education and related services at NY-VA DDESS at West Point Schools have met the guidelines for the Department of Defense Education Activity special education eligibility criteria. Special education students in Pre-K to Grade 8 receive instruction in the least restrictive environment in resource settings and collaborative settings in general education classrooms.

NY-VA DDESS at West Point offers a full continuum of services to all special education students. The resource classroom focuses primarily upon developing basic academic skills in a setting with few students. The collaborative model uses a general education classroom with both a general education and special education teacher, combining to teach content as a team. For students requiring a more restrictive setting, special arrangements are made with off-post educational programs.

For further information regarding these and other special education services at NY-VA DDESS at West Point Schools, please contact Rhonda LaVenuta, Coordinator of Pupil Personnel Services, (703) 432-0048, or Diane Henderson, Chairperson, Committee of Special Education, West Point Schools, (845) 938-2313.

MEDICATION ISSUE GUIDELINES

If a child requires medication during the school day, the medication must be in a prescribed container from the physician. The medication must be brought to the school nurse by parent or guardian, properly labeled with the child’s name, correct dosage, name of medication and the time the medication is to be administered. The school nurse administers the medication.

SCHOOL CLOSING INFORMATION

On days the West Point Elementary School will be closed due to inclement weather, the news media will make appropriate announcements.

The decision to close the West Point Schools is made by WPS administration and is independent of other school districts, i.e., Highland Falls.

During inclement weather, parents are urged to insure that school will be in session before dropping their children off. Please do not call the school on these days, but check the following sources for cancellation information: command channel 23, the MP hotline (938-7000) or WGNY (1220 AM), WHUD (100.7 FM), WSPK (104.7 FM) radio stations.

EMERGENCY EARLY DISMISSALS

When the school has to close because of weather, health or safety concerns, you will find announcements of early dismissals on the channel 23, the USMA email bulletin boards and the USMA organizational email distribution list.

In addition, the school will activate a telephone tree to call all MAD’s on post, including the commissary and PX.

Elementary School: School personnel will call a member of each school family or their emergency contact to notify them of the early closing. If no one can be reached, the student will remain at school in a supervised situation until contact can be made.

Middle School: A special emergency telephone tree will be initiated via each grade level homeroom.

We request that parents have child care plans and alternative plans arranged to prepare for the unlikely event that the West Point Schools must be closed prior to normal dismissal time. Parents should discuss those plans with their children and should ensure that information on the students’ registration cards, particularly phone numbers and emergency POC’s, are kept current.

FIRST SCHOOL BOARD MEETING: The first School Board Meeting for SY 2002/2003 is scheduled for Aug. 13, 7 p.m., in the Music Room, Building 705-A. The meeting is open to the public. The final agenda will be posted on the E-Mail Bulletin Board and the Command Channel prior to the meeting. Some of the agenda items scheduled will be as follows:

* Nomination of President & Vice President
* Set School Board Meetings for SY 2002-2003
* Dates and times for future meetings throughout the school year will be published at a later date.