Good Evening Parents/Guardians andStudents:
As I have been told many times, students were able to see some of their schedules earlier this week through a litany of avenues on the portal… However, we have been making a lot of changes this week regarding student schedules and none of the schedules were official and some of those original classes they had, have changed. Schedule are set to post to the portal at 5pm, three days sooner than originally was planned. We wanted to give the students a chance to get familiar with their class schedules. If we made a mistake (two math classes, wrong grade, etc…) please submit a schedule change form that will be posted on the Newton website at 8:30am on Monday morning. Again, as was shared the other day, we will NOT change any schedules due to friends being in other sections or classes, or wanting a different teacher. The students will do great in their current classes!
First Day of School:
A quick reminder that on Tuesday, we have our first day of school. Our 6th graders will report before 8:20am and go through the Athletic Entrance. Our 7th and 8th graders will report before 10:20am and go through the Main Entrance of the school. Students will meet ALL of their teachers on Tuesday!
Parent Pickup and Drop Off (VERY IMPORTANT)
When dropping off and/or picking up your student at Newton, please stay in the right lane and pull forward as far as possible, in our front loop, before letting your student out of the car. Students should be prepared to exit your vehicle as soon as the traffic line stops in the right drop off/pick up lane. Please understand that you may end up driving past the main entrance or athletic entrance in order to drop your child off in the drop off loop. Pulling all the way forward to the end of the loop alleviates traffic on Arapahoe Road and ensures a safe and efficient process. After you have dropped off your student, you may utilize the left lane to exit.
At the end of the day, If you are picking up on the Newton campus, ALL students should be picked up from in front of the school building, and not along the grassy area as you drive in. Have your children stay in front of the building and wait for you to pull up. We also have some parents that want to park and get their kids from a parking spot. That works as well.
In the afternoon, if you show up and get into the Student Pick Up Line, Pull as far forward as you can. We will be out there directing all of you as to where to be. Again, when you have your children, you can pull into the Left lane, and leave. When a car in front of you vacates, please pull up. Most days, we can clear the parking lot in 12 minutes (3:42).
We have around 300 students that get picked up at the same time. Everyone has somewhere important to be. Honking the horn should be a last resort. Our number one job is to make sure all of our students get home every day. We need your help, and more importantly, your patience, to help that happen.
As you are leaving our parking lot, there are two lanes. The right lane is RIGHT ONLY. The left lane is Left OR Straight. You will cause an accident if you attempt to go across from the right lane. Those of you returning this year will see that the light is now flashing to turn right. That is a sign that you can go if it is clear. The Red Right Arrow light means "do not go for any reason". We have worked hard with the City Engineers at the City of Centennial to make changes to these lights to create an abundance of safety.
Pedestrians and Bikes
If your student is walking or riding a bike, they should use the sidewalk along Arapahoe Road instead of using the sidewalks through the center of the parking lot. This process will support student safety and alleviate pedestrian traffic in the parent drop off and pick up lane. Students can also exit near the bus loop, but must be on the sidewalk.
In the morning, we have all of the students that are looking to cross Arapahoe Road, at Albion (the light at the entrance to Newton), cross on the East side. We have found that has a great opportunity to alleviate traffic for all of the families turning RIGHT out of the parking lot. We will HOLD the students attempting to cross the street at 10 seconds so we can get the Left Lane to turn left, going Eastbound.
In the afternoon, we have the students ALL cross Arapahoe to go across to Albion, on the WEST side of Arapahoe and Albion. This way, we can clear the LEFT lane going East bound faster. With 15 seconds to go, we will hold the students from crossing, and clear our right lane. This has created a great and safe way to alleviate the parking lot traffic and get families home safely.
Out of an abundance of safety, we require students to walk their bikes on campus. Students that cannot walk their bikes on campus may lose the ability to bring a bike to school.
CELL PHONE POLICY:
LPS adopted a new board policy around student use of cell phones and other personal technology devices. Students are allowed to bring their cellphones to school. However, upon arriving at school the phone needs to be turned off and placed in the students' backpack until the end of the school day at which time the student may turn on the cell phone and exit the building. Students are NOT allowed to use their cell phones at any time during the school day, including recess, lunch and in the hallways or learning pod areas. If they are not feeling well, they should NOT text you, but rather report to the health clinic and we will call you together.
Students found using their cell phones will have their phones confiscated and turned into the office. A Parent MUST pick up the cell phone from the office during school hours. There will be no exceptions to this rule. This has been our policy for many years, but this is now a district board policy, and not just our Newton Rule. Students are ALLOWED to have apple watches at school, but if they are using it as a phone (text/call), they will also be confiscated and required to be picked up in the office as well.
DRESS CODE:
We will begin enforcing the school dress code immediately. Please review the dress code on our website under the student handbook. The dress code section is on page seven and eight.
PTO:
We will have our first PTO meeting on Friday, August 23rd following back-to-school. The meeting will start at 10am. We will be discussing open volunteer positions, tentative calendar, and proposed bylaw changes. Please stop by the PTO table on Back to School Night and grab some information! It's going to be a great year for our PTO!!
Have a phenomenal weekend.Students, we will see you Tuesday!!
Brian Wyckhuyse
Principal, Newton Middle School
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