The ABC’s of Mother Teresa Regional School

1. The ABC’s of Mother Teresa Regional School

2. Allergies Please be aware of any notices concerning students with food allergies who may be in your child’s class. We all need to work together to ensure the safety of all students. If your child has an allergy please be sure that the nurse is informed and an emergency plan is on file with the nurse. Students who have food allergies have special tables in the cafeteria for their safety. Children may join students at these tables only if they have the appropriate lunch items.

3. Arrival • Students may begin to arrive at 7:45 am. Before 7:45 am, students must go to the before care program and parents will be billed $5 for the first hour. The first bell rings at 7:55 am and students begin to enter the building. • Please do not park on the school side of the street or exit your car while in front of the school. Please park in church lot. Students can be walked around to the back of the school and should be left with their teacher. During inclement weather, students gather in the cafeteria. Students arriving after the front duty teacher has left should come in the front door. Students after 8am must receive a late pass in the main office.

4. Athletic Association • The Athletic Association offers a variety of sports activities for students. Cross Country, Basketball, Cheerleading, Baseball, Softball, and Track are current offerings. Mrs. Dianne Clagett is the president of the Athletic Association. Please refer to the website for deadlines on registrations for sports. You can email the athletic association at athletics@mtregional.com.

5. Birthday Parties • Students in grades 1-8 may bring into school a treat to celebrate their birthday. Students in PreK and Kindergarten will have a special treat from the teacher. Please be aware of food allergies in the class. Students may share their treat during lunch. All treats are to be left in the cafeteria in the morning labeled with the child’s name. • Invitations for birthday parties may be sent home but only if everyone in the class is invited, or if all girls or all boys are invited.

6. Class Captains • Every class has two class captains who will help organize the class for various events such as the mission carnival, Christmas party, and end of the year celebration. Class captains will organize treats for Christmas and also the cards for Valentine’s Day. • You will receive a letter from your class captain at the beginning of the year.

7. Dismissal • Please pick up your children from their teacher at the end of the day behind the school. Please park in church parking lot and use entrance by playground. With parental permission, students in grades 4-8 may walk to meet parents at the front of the building. Students in preschool and kindergarten remain with their teacher until picked up by a parent. Please inform teachers of any change in dismissal procedure, such as play dates, new babysitters etc. Students going on the bus or to the extended day program will be walked there by a teacher. • Students may not go on another district’s school bus even with parental permission.

8. Dress Down Days • Students may pay $1 and dress in their own clothes according to the guidelines in the handbook. The student council uses the dress down days as a fundraiser and has different themes for each day. The themes for each day will be on the school website. • Dress down days are indicated on the school calendar. Students who win dress down days in raffles are to dress down on the designated day.

9. Emergency Cards • Please be sure that the emergency cards are returned to school immediately. Please notify the health office of any changes throughout the school year.

10. Extended Day Program • This is the program provided to parents after school. Parents are billed for the quarter of the hour. Students who are not picked up at dismissal will be taken to extended day. Parents may pick up from the back of the building at the door near the Thrift shop where there is a buzzer. Before school care is also under the extended day program and is billed at $5 each morning.

11. First Day of School • The first day of school is Tuesday, September 6th and is noon dismissal day. The extended day program will be held that day.

12. Faith In Action Fridays • Every Friday at 9am the school gathers for either a social justice project, liturgy, prayer service or assembly. Parents are always welcome to join us. You may enter through the parish center doors and receive a visitor’s badge there and sign in. Liturgies are held in Saint Agnes Church and everything else is held at the school in the parish center and/or cafeteria.

13. Grade Reporting Students receive report cards every trimester in grades Kindergarten thru 8th grade. Preschool students will receive progress reports every trimester. Check the school calendar for the dates of distribution. Parents of students in grades 3-8 have access to the Parent Portal. Teachers will update grades weekly and parents are able to see grades on a daily basis. No progress reports will be sent home for students in these grades.

14. Home School Communication Every Wednesday an email will be sent home to each family with notices from the school and community. Parents are encouraged to call or email teachers with any concerns or questions. All faculty email addresses are available on the school website.

15. Honeywell Alerts and reminders will also be sent home using the Honeywell system. Parents need to set up the account with their work and cell phone numbers. Please check the school website for directions on setting up Honeywell. Parents can choose which phone numbers receive the different levels of alerts. High Importance will only be used in the event of an emergency at the school. School Closing will be used to notify you of early dismissals and school cancellations due to inclement weather.

16. Immunizations Please be sure that all immunizations are up to date. A schedule of required immunizations is available in the family handbook online or by contacting the health office at nurse@mtregional.com

17. June 15th June 15th is the last day of school. It is a noon dismissal. At 9 am on June 14th there will be a whole school assembly and “moving up” ceremony for our youngest students. The awards ceremony will also be held at that time. Families are welcome and encouraged to attend.

18. Kleenex/Paper Towels/Wipes We are always in need of more Kleenex, Paper Towels and Wipes.

19. Lunch Maschio’s Food Service is our lunch provider. Hot lunch is available each full day for $3. Students may also purchase snacks and drinks. Students may bring money for lunch each day they are purchasing or they may prepay. It is preferred that students prepay either for the month or in quantities of 10 lunches. Money should be sent into school in an envelope with the child’s name clearly labeled. Please send money for siblings separately. Checks should be made payable to Maschios.

20. Mission Carnival This fun day is held on or near Halloween during the school day for students to enjoy and help raise money for the missions. Class captains assist in creating carnival like games for the students.

21. Money All money should be sent to school in an envelope with the child’s name and what the money is for. It is preferred that money for multiple items be sent separately for proper accounting.

22. Newsletter Every month a newsletter is sent home with the news of the school and focuses on different grades. Please let us know if your child has done anything outside of school to share in the newsletter.

23. Noon Dismissals The extended day program is available on most noon dismissal days. Please pack a lunch for your child on those days. The EDP program is not offered on the following dates: 11/23, 12/23, 2/3, 4/5 and 5/25.

24. Office The office is open every day from 7:30 am until 3:30 pm. Mrs. Meg Stinson is the school secretary and Mrs. Doris Kane is the school business manager. Please sign in the main office when picking up a child for early dismissal, volunteering in the school, or meeting with a teacher.

25. Parent Teacher Association All parents are members of the PTA. The PTA helps the school in providing volunteers and raising funds for school. Mrs. Roxann Kennedy and Mrs. Kathy Mullin are the co-presidents of the PTA. You can email the PTA at pta@mtregional.com. All families are expected to volunteer 12 hours for the PTA each year. Families may earn their volunteer hours in a variety of ways and should check the PTA page on the website for more detailed information.

26. Questions Please do not hesitate to ask questions. Teachers, your buddy parents, the office staff and Mrs. Melissa Whelan Wisk are all willing to answer any questions you may have. Call or email anytime, the email addresses for staff are also available on the website. Mrs. Meg Stinson, secretary@mtregional.com Mrs. Doris Kane, business@mtregional.com Mrs. Melissa Whelan Wisk, principal@mtregional.com

27. Recess We are always in need of more lunch monitors for recess. Please contact the PTA if you are available at pta@mtregional.com.

28. Return Please return all forms promptly to school. Forms should be sent to school in an envelope if money is included. All forms are also available for download on the website and can be emailed to school.

29. School Spirit Items School spirit items are available for sale from the PTA. The gray shirts and sweatshirts may be worn as part of the gym uniform. The flannel shorts and pants are not part of the school uniform and may not be worn for gym.

30. Snacks Students in preschool through eighth grade have snack each day. Please send into school a healthy snack with your child. A bottle of water and a piece of fruit is a great morning snack. Please be mindful of allergies when choosing snacks. Students will not be permitted to eat for snack anything that another student within their class is allergic to or that is not a healthy snack.

31. Supplies School supplies are sold throughout the year if your child is in need of an item. Certain items must be purchased at the school. Please help your child succeed academically by making sure that your child has all the supplies in school and at home. Students are not permitted to use spiral notebooks. Please only provide your child what is on the list for school supplies. Extra supplies are often a distraction and the classrooms do not have space.

32. Transportation Transportation is provided for students in grades K-8 who live more than 2 miles from the school by the local public school district. A school district may opt to give aide in lieu of transportation. Check with your local board of education. Mother Teresa Regional School will be providing a bus for students in Keyport, Keansburg, Hazlet, and Union Beach.

33. Uniform The uniform can be purchased from Flynn and O’Hara uniform company. PreK students wear the gym uniform every day. They are not permitted to wear the older students’ uniform. The pants, shorts, polo shirts, sweaters, fleece, jumpers and skirts must be purchased at Flynn and O’Hara. School shoes must be brown or black dress shoes without a heel. For a more detailed description of the uniform see the family handbook. The uniform swap is available for new families and current families. Contact the PTA for more information. Students who are not in proper uniform are subject to disciplinary action.

34. Visitors Everyone who comes to the school during the school day must report to the main office and receive a visitor’s badge. For Faith in Action Fridays, families may enter the parish center and sign the login book there.

35. Volunteers We love to have volunteers for every event. Always feel free to attend an event and offer a hand. All those who volunteer on a regular basis with students must be fingerprinted and receive virtus training. Badges must be worn to indicate that this requirement has been completed. Volunteers who were trained in their home parish do not need to be trained or fingerprinted again unless it was more than four years ago. More specific information on that will be made available at Back to School Night.

36. Website The school website www.mtregional.com has a wealth of information including all HSC (Home School Communications) on it. Every teacher has a page on the website which indicates homework and upcoming events in the class. The PTA page is also updated with information from the PTA so check their page. There are multiple calendars on the site for your convenience. The calendars are all integrated onto the main calendar on the front page.

37. Xtra For students in PreK and Kindergarten please send in an extra change of clothes marked with your child’s name on it. This does not need to be another uniform.

38. Yearly Calendar You have a copy of the yearly calendar with all the noon dismissal days and vacation days marked on it. Please check the calendars on the school website for up to date information. A full year calendar will be sent home on the first day of school.

39. Zoom Zoom into a new school year. We are very excited to have you join our community.