Haleyville Elementary open house to be broken down over three days

HALEYVILLE - Haleyville Elementary School has the highest amount of traffic on any given day of all the schools on the Haleyville City Schools campus, due to the larger amount of students they serve.  This factor was considered behind a new open house format for the school this year, which will be spread across three days.
The overall mission was to make open house more effective, allowing teachers time to share more information pertinent to parents for specific grade levels at HES than in previous years, when large crowds of parents and children from different grade levels would congregate on campus in a short amount of time.
This year, 4th and 5th grade students and parents will come to HES on Monday, Aug. 3, from 1 p.m.-2:30 p.m. followed by third grade from 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m. then 2nd grade from 5 p.m.-6:30 p.m., explained HES Principal Tammy Hatton.
On Tuesday, Aug. 4, first grade students and parents can come to their open house from 3 p.m.-4:30 p.m., followed by kindergarten students and their parents from 5 p.m.-6:30 p.m., Hatton added.
Pre-kindergarten students and parents will come to their open house on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 3:30 p.m.-5 p.m., she said.
Each open house format is the same regardless of the grade level, Hatton further explained. For the first 30 minutes, students and parents will go to their classrooms, drop off school supplies and meet their child’s teacher.
Then, parents will convene as a group in the cafetorium, while students go to supervised play or activity in the gym, she continued.
This way, parents can have more one-on-one time with teachers and administrators, who will share information on attendance, school policies, as well as discuss and answer questions, educators said.
At each open house, attending parents will be given tickets, with a random drawing held for gift certificates, educators said.
“We set aside times based on every grade level, and we have a 30 minute opportunity for parents of a grade level to leave and a new group to come in because of the number of students we have,” Hatton pointed out.
Enrollment at HES this year is projected to be around 750.  In years past, open houses were so crowded that parents were only able to drop off school supplies and speak for a short period of time with a teacher before leaving, Hatton said.
Educators are addressing concerns they have received regarding parents who work.
“We are aware parents have to work,” Hatton said. “But here again, we know that this is an important time for them to attend this meeting.  We’ve given them a month heads-up because we sent this (notice) out a month ago so they can make plans for that.
“If there is a discrepancy with times, because not everybody can come,” Hatton added, “they will just basically have to send their students on that first day of the week and they can reach out to their teacher personally and work through a time to meet with them.”
Hatton noted the new open house format will reduce the number of individuals at the elementary building, giving administrators and teachers a better opportunity to provide more information on a personal level than in previous years.
“We want them to come with their questions.  If we can’t answer them at that moment, we’ll get back with them.”
HES Assistant Principal Emily Rea noted the new open house format is designed to make things easier on both students and parents.
“When there’s that many people, a lot of times they just want to get in and get out because  they are overwhelmed.  They are not going to ask questions,” Rea said.
“When it’s on a smaller scale, it’s more family-friendly, more of an intimate setting, so they can get in and feel more comfortable,” she added.
Assistant Principal Dr. Elyse Aldridge noted the new format will also be beneficial on teachers, who will be busy working on campus to prepare classrooms for a new year.
“We’ll let the community be more involved, so they can have almost a sit-down with us,” Aldridge said. 
“That way we can all be on the same page because, ultimately, our goal is to be on the same page as the kids,” Aldridge added.

Public urged to 
adhere to pick-up, drop-off rules

Parents and family members will also need to be advised of parking and drop-off rules in place for the start of school. Hatton continued. 
Since HES has two pre-kindergarten programs, tentative plans are for students in the first program to be dropped off behind the school at  the bus parking lot near the lunchroom, according to Hatton.
“They cannot enter our parking lot until 7:40 (a.m.) because of the transition of buses,” Hatton stated. “We have to make sure all buses are out, before they can return and go back there.”
According to the tentative plan,  pre-K students in the second program will be dropped off at the far right side of the elementary school and can use the side entrances at that location, Hatton continued.
The remainder of elementary students will be dropped off and enter at the front of the building, Hatton said.
Rules concerning student pick-ups in the afternoon are strict, meaning that no parents or guardians are allowed to pull into the line of vehicles awaiting pick-up until 2:30 p.m., educators emphasized.
The only exceptions are parents of pre-kindergarten students who have siblings in other grade levels that do not dismiss until 2:50 p.m., educators added.
“It’s a fire safety,” Hatton stressed. “I we were to have a fire at the end of the day, all these parents in line, a fire truck cannot get in.”
The drop-off plan needs to work smoothly  because usually about 750 students are off campus either by bus or car by 3:10 p.m. daily, school officials said.
“We have signs up,” Hatton stated. “They need to pay very close attention to the signs that are posted in regard to drop-off and pick-up.”

HES doing phase-in for first day of school again 
this year

School starts for all students on Friday, Aug. 7, with the exception of kindergarten and pre-k.  HES will continue utilizing a phase-in process for these students again this year, Hatton explained.
Pre-K and kindergarten girls will come to school on Friday, Aug. 7, with pre-K and kindergarten boys coming to school on Monday, Aug. 10.
All pre-K and kindergarten students will be at school on Tuesday, Aug. 11, educators said.

Rules regarding breakfast at HES

Rules are also in place concerning breakfast at HES. 
Students who arrive on campus from 7:30 - 7:45 a.m. can either go to the lunchroom for breakfast or meet in the gym where they will stay until 7:45 a.m., at which time they can go to their classrooms, Hatton explained.
If a student comes to the elementary school at or after 7:45 a.m.. can get a grab-and-go breakfast from a kiosk and take it to their classroom, she added.  These students cannot go to the cafeteria and sit down for breakfast.