PIRATES’ SPYGLASS

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Twitter: @phillipsprep42

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August 2017

Welcome back to school!

We hope that everyone had a productive first week of school. We have just a few reminders for the first issue of Pirates’ Spyglass.

School Traffic Guidelines 2017-2018

The Phillips Preparatory administrators and faculty members work diligently to ensure the safety of students and provide for the orderly flow of traffic. Sometimes, parents may be asked to pull-up, unload, park, or exit in a direction that is not their preference. Please follow all directions and trust the director of traffic to do what is best for everyone. Approximately 200 cars flow through campus every morning and afternoon. Our goal is to get everyone on and off campus as quickly as possible without accident or injury.

EARLY MORNING DROP-OFF –

Supervision for morning drop-offs in front of the school begins at 6:45 AM for those who need to arrive at school early. There is no supervision prior to that time. Please do not jeopardize your child’s safety and drop him/her off before the designated time of 6:45.

There is no supervision in the parking lot next to the gym until 7:00 AM. If dropping off students before that time, parents are encouraged to drive to the front of the school and drop off students.

MORNING TRAFFIC GUIDELINES -

  1. Please make every effort to have your child ready to get out of the car as soon as you come to a full stop. Do not walk students in. If you need to come in to see the nurse, park in the lot and walk to the office.
  2. Wait your turn. Do not unload students until you have pulled up as far as possible.
  3. Do NOT pull in front of the school for drop-off if the buses are unloading students. No cars are allowed in the front while buses are unloading unless INSTRUCTED to do so by the person on duty in that area. Parents should use the drop lanes in the west parking lot (next to the gym).
  4. Watch out for the other guy! Watch for students crossing traffic in the unloading areas.
  5. Be PATIENT! If the car in front of you is taking longer than you think they should, DO NOT JUMP LANES OR BACK UP. Remain where you are and those directing traffic will get things moving as quickly as possible.

AFTERNOON PICK-UP –

  1. Carpool students should wait on the sidewalks at the west campus parking area (near the gym) or in front of the school.Make carpool pick-up arrangements prior to 2:30 p.m. so that students know whether to meet parents on the side or in front of the school. Do not rely on phone calls back & forth while in line (Cell phones are not allowed to be used on campus until 3:00). Students waiting on the side who are not picked up by the time that parking area clears at approximately 2:40 will be moved to the front.
  2. After buses leave, cars are moved into three lanes at the front of the school. Once put in a lane, please remain in that lane until you exit. Please have a conversation with your child about being alert and watching for his/her ride. Carpool traffic moves more smoothly when students respond promptly to the arrival of their transportation.
  3. Name placards of students should be easily visible in the front windshield of cars in carpool line. If you do not have a name placard or need more than one, please make one, usingdark, bold printthat can be easily read. We suggest clipping it to a hanger that you can keep in your car and then hang from your rearview mirror as you drive through the carpool line.
  1. If you do not have a visible placard and/or if your child is not paying attention and all cars are loaded, you will have to circle back through the car line.Every car rider should have a name placard. We will no longer walk over to cars to try and find out who the student is that you are picking up.
  2. Students should listen for their names to be called.
  3. Parents should please stay off of cell phones while in carpool line.
  4. Leave crosswalks clear when waiting in line for buses to move. Students use these to pass through stopped traffic to go to their cars in the parking lot or to the crossing guard at Sidney Phillips Drive.
  5. For the safety of our students and faculty, please move through the carpool line with your full attention, watching for students passing through lines of traffic at the crosswalks. Please maintain a safe, reasonable speed as you enter and exit our campus.

AFTERNOON “WALKERS -

  1. All students should cross the street in the areas where the crossing guards or the teachers on duty can assist them in crossing safely.
  2. Parents should not insist on their children crossing the street to wait at various businesses’ parking lots just to avoid carpool line. The business owners DO NOT want the students “hanging out” in their parking lot interfering with their patrons coming in for business. The business owners’ attorney has reiterated the same concern. Not only is it interfering with their business, it is also jeopardizing the students’ safety because they are unsupervised.

Cell Phone/Smart Watch Policy

The following rules must be followed regarding the possession, use, and display of cellular phones/smart watches:

  • Students must ensure that devices are turned off when entering the campus and remain off until 3:00p.m. Students have access to a telephone in the office until 4:00p.m.
  • Students shall avoid classroom disruptions, by not displaying, using, or activating wireless communication devices during the instructional day.
  • Students must conceal wireless communication devices in a backpack, pocket, purse or P.E. locker during the instructional day.
  • The school is not responsible if a student’s wireless communication device/watch is lost, stolen or damaged.

**Please read page 28-29 in the Student/Parent Handbook regarding policy. The handbook was emailed to all parents on August 6th. It can be found on our website or parents may request a paper copy in the office.

MIDDLE YEARS COUNSELING NEWSLETTER

The PPS counselors, Madonna Burden (6th grade) and Stacey Eiland (7th & 8th grades) send out a monthly Middle Years newsletter for parents. It will usually come as second attachment in the email with the Pirates’ Spyglass newsletter and will also be posted on the PPS website ( The purpose of each newsletter is to promote ways for home and school to work together for school success.

NEWS for PARENTS & STUDENTS from TEACHERS

Time to order the 2018 yearbook! Yearbooks are $38.00. You may either send the full price or a down payment of $19.00 by October 31. (The remaining $19.00 balance for those putting a down payment is due in January).Send payments to Mrs. Whitney in room A102. Checks should have a driver’s license number, a current phone number, the child’s name and the child’s homeroom number.

SWAT meeting was after school Tuesday, August 15, 2017

Pirates Unplugged aired their first episode of the year Monday, August 14, 2017! It is available for viewing at . The stream will run all day until 2:45 each day. Go there to see the announcements the kids hear each day. You can also find Pirates Unplugged on the school website ( under “Latest News”.

Beginning Band has not begun meeting yet; however, Ms. Galemore has information she will be sending out. If your child is in Beginning Band, please join her REMIND. Beginning Band REMIND text code is @ppsbe to number 81010.

If you have Ms. H. Jones, her REMIND text code is as follows: Text @f4d3g to number 81010.

6th grade Literature classes will start Jackdaw projects Sept. 5-8.

NEWS about International Baccalaureate (IB)

IB Learner Profiles

“The aim of the IB Program is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world.”

“The learner profile is a list of what IB learners strive to be.”

(MYP: From principles into practice)

How IB works:

Teachers teach their class objectives by focusing on conceptual and contextual learning. Each class has a set of key and related concepts (big ideas) that they teach in a global context (why it matters). The focus of the unit is on answering a statement of inquiry that is posed by examining the concepts to be learned in the particular context the teacher wants to focus. It is the goal for the middle school IB student to be able to know how they learn and teachers do this by teaching them what IB calls “approaches to learning.”

IB Terms: key and related concepts, global contexts, statement of

Inquiry, approaches to learning.

IB term of the month: Approaches to Learning(ATL)

  • Thinking- critical, creative, and transfer skills
  • Self Management- organizational, affective, reflection skills
  • Research- information and media literacy skills
  • Social- collaboration skills
  • Communication- listening, receiving, and interpreting skills