Building Procedures

Arrival

Student arrival begins at 8:45 -8:55 AM. The day officially begins at 8:55 AM.

Bus Arrivals – Students will exit buses and enter through the cafeteria doors and go directly to their classrooms.  Staff will be on bus duty to make sure procedures are followed.  
Kiss N’ Go – each morning parents can make a right turn into our Kiss N’ Go lane for a quick drop off.   Your children should always exit the vehicle through the left side and then proceed to the school’s entrance.  Staff will be there to escort and support students.  We ask that all parents dropping off at this location please drive off as soon as your children have left the vehicle.
Park Avenue Drop Off- Parents can also drop off students by pulling up to the curb in front of our Main Entrance. This is the same arrival location for all walkers.

Dismissal

The day officially ends at 3:35 p.m. Pick-ups and walkers will be the first students called at dismissal.

Bus Dismissal – Students will be dismissed by class at specific times.  Teachers will supervise students during this time and, as always, will make sure all students are placed appropriately on buses.  Parents are not permitted near the blacktop exit doors where the buses are located.
This year we are intensifying our request for your cooperation during dismissal time. We ask that all requests to pick up students normally taking the school bus be shared with us by NOON, at the latest.  Requests received late in the day cause disruptions to our dismissal process so your assistance with this matter is greatly appreciated.  Ideally, you should communicate this change to your child’s teacher in advance via a signed letter or email.  

Good attendance and punctuality are necessary for academic achievement.  Please make every effort to have your child in school each day on time.

School begins at 8:55 a.m.  Dismissal is at 3:35 p.m.  Students are not permitted to go to their rooms before 8:45 a.m.  Prior to this time, there is no supervision for children; therefore, please do not bring or send your child to school before 8:45 a.m.  In addition, parents and students are not permitted in the building unsupervised, before or after school hours.

Children are required to bring in a written excuse, signed by their parent or guardian explaining their absence.  The child should bring the excuse on the first day back at school after an absence. 
It would be helpful if you would call the school and let us know why your child is absent.  If possible, please call 987-3170 between 9:00-11:00 a.m.  If we do not receive a call from you, as part of our attendance policy, we will be calling to make sure that you are aware of your child’s absence.

Parents will occasionally request telephone numbers and/or addresses of other students.
The school cannot make these available.  Keeping this in mind, class lists are not available for distribution to families or to the PTA.  

The Park Avenue Elementary website is accessible through the District Home Page at:         
www.warwickvalleyschools.com    

Teachers and administrators throughout the district are assigned e-mail addresses.  The e-mail address consists of the initial of the individual’s first name followed by his/her last name and the e-mail address extension (@wvcsd.org).  As an example, the email address for George Washington would be: gwashington@wvcsd.org

We are fortunate and proud to have an active, supportive, Parent-Teacher Association.  All parents are urged to join the P.T.A. and help with the many projects that are of great benefit to our students.  The 2024-2025 Park Avenue PTA

Christine McKnight, President
Joanna Tower, Vice President
Kristin Donnelly, Treasurer
Annalie Vallejo, Corresponding Secretary
Melody Piascik, Recording Secretary
Andrea Batista, Social Media Coordinator
Joanna Tower, Event Coordinator
Nicole Amoresano, Gratitude Gang Coordinator

P.T.A. meetings are valuable as they offer an opportunity to review topics that are important to help facilitate the education of our children. Email: parkavepta@gmail.com.

District Policy 5285, Student Access to Networked Information Resources, is available for your review in the main office.  The Policy governs student use of the Internet.  At Park Avenue Elementary, the use of the Internet is closely monitored and supervised by our teachers.  The majority of work is usually related to a single website that has been screened by the teacher.

When it is necessary for you to take your child from school, either at an early hour or at dismissal time, you must make arrangements with the school office in writing. Parents/guardians requesting an early dismissal must report to the main office window to sign their child(ren) out of school.  Parents/Guardians are required to submit a note when requesting an early dismissal.  Please be prepared to show identification, especially if the staff member present does not recognize the visitor or parent.

*Staff will not release a child without notification from the office.*

When inclement weather occurs the Warwick Valley Central School District may close or dismiss students early when inclement weather occurs. Every possible effort is made to release this information before 5:30 a.m. so parents and staff are notified before they leave for work. Closings, delays, and early dismissal information is communicated in many ways, including:

• Posted on the homepage of this website, the district’s Facebook page, and our Twitter pages.
• School Messenger Service (text and email)
• School News Notifier (SNN)
• TV stations:  WABC-TV, WNBC-TV, FOX 5/NNYW, Hudson Valley News 12
• FM radio: 93.5 WTBQ; 92.1 Lite-FM; 92.7, 96.9 WRRV; Star 93.3;  94.1, 95.7, 96.7, 103.1, 107.7 FOX; 94.3, 97.3 The Wolf; 96.1 KISS FM; MIX 97.7; 98.9 Fox Oldies; News Talk 99.3 WKIP; 100.7 WHUD; 101.5, 106.1, 106.3 WPDH; and 107.3
• AM radio: 1110 WTBQ; 1220 Fox Oldies; 1340, 1390 Radio Disney; 1450 WKIP-AM
• Please keep in mind that a power outage may prevent information from being posted on the website, Facebook and Twitter, or from being sent via SNN, or from being viewed on cable TV. If power is out, please listen for school closure announcements on one of the radio stations listed above.

Please do not call the bus garage. Those phone lines must be kept free for emergency calls.

Occasionally there will be an EMERGENCY CLOSING due to power failure, road conditions, or other unforeseen situations.  When this occurs, the radio stations are notified immediately as to the time of dismissal.  Children will be sent home the usual way BUT it is extremely important that each child knows exactly what he/she should do if there is no one at home when they arrive.

When serious illness or injury requires that a child be absent from school for an extended period (one month or more), the services of a home teacher may be supplied. Please contact the school office for further information.

A hot lunch program is in operation in the elementary schools.  Milk and snacks are available separately for students who bring their lunch.  

Any allergy concerns should be directed to the Food Service Department. If you have further questions, please email Julie Helmrich ihelmrich@wvcsd.org or call 845-987-3050 X 12895. Further details can also be found on the food services by clicking here.

The breakfast and lunch menu will continue to be posted online. https://calendar.google.com/calendar/embed?src=eh3e827cga2cgbcnbjldon3hi4%40group.calendar.google.com&ctz=America%2FNew_York

There is always a collection of valuable items, sweaters, coats, hats, lunch boxes, eyeglasses, watches, etc.in the lost and found.  Items of lost clothing are placed on a rack in the rear of the cafeteria.  Lost eyeglasses, watches and jewelry are kept in the school office.  Parents are asked to put their child’s name on lunch boxes, gloves, hats, coats, sweaters, boots, etc.to aid in the recovery of these items.

The Warwick Valley Central School District designates the following items as Directory Information:  student name, address, telephone number, date, and place of birth.  The District may disclose any of those items without prior written consent, unless notified in writing by the parent/guardian or eligible student to the contrary by the end of the first thirty days of the school year.

Please encourage your child to remember items necessary on a daily basis – homework, sneakers, lunch, etc..  Helping children to be responsible develops self-discipline and independence.  In addition, please have contingency plans in place for early dismissals and emergency closings that do not require your child/children to call home for instructions.  In an emergency, we need our phone lines accessible to outside calls in order to prepare and implement plans that will keep our children and staff members safe.

In accordance with district Policy #8540, parents of students or eligible students may inspect and review the student’s education record.  A written request which identifies as precisely as possible the record or records he or she wishes to inspect should be submitted to the student’s school principal (or other appropriate school official).

The Warwick Valley Central School District shares with you the pride of having, utilizing and maintaining adequate school facilities.  Resident non-profit groups are granted the privilege of using school facilities for a variety of reasons after the school day.

For information regarding district policies, rules and regulations, and use of district facilities please visit our district homepage.

Students will go outside throughout the school year for recess.  It is vital that you dress your child appropriately for the weather conditions.  Boots, hats, gloves, and warm coats are a requirement for snowy, cold weather.

If recess is indoors, students are expected to play in a quiet manner with games and books provided or items they bring from home.  

The rules for recess are as follows:

1. The monitors are in charge.
2. Play on the equipment properly.
3. Things you find on the ground stay on the ground; snowballs, sticks, rocks, sand, etc.
4. If you make teams or clubs, they must be open to anybody to join, with no self-assigned leader, captain, etc.
5. Everybody knows fighting and hurting is an absolute NO – that includes no hurting people’s feelings.

Throughout the year a variety of activities are planned for students before or after regular school hours. Unfortunately, there is no late bus for the elementary schools.  Parents must make arrangements for their child to be picked up if they attend an after school activity.  Some teachers may provide parents with the days in which they will be available for extra help for students. Please make arrangements with your child’s teacher prior to the day they would like to stay.

School nurses provide educationally-oriented health services to promote, protect, maintain and improve the health of our students.  The school health program is based upon the premise that the health of pupils will be reflected in a greater effectiveness of the total school program.  School nursing personnel act as a liaison between the home, school and the medical community regarding medical concerns.

The New York State Education Law requires that school children in grades K, 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and students new to the district have a physical appraisal. 

If you plan to have your family physician examine your child, please return the Annual Physical Examination Form, completed by your family physician, before October 1st.  After this date, the school physician reserves the legal right to make a physical appraisal of all pupils for whom we have no report. 

According to New York State Law, there is a definite procedure for our nurses to follow before any kind of medication can be given to a child in school.  The law requires the following steps:

1. The school nurse must have a written order, signed by a doctor, giving the following information:
   1. Name of medicine
   2. Reason for giving
   3. Dosage
   4. Time
   5. Number of days to be given
2. It must have a professional label.
3. It must be brought to the school nurse and/or picked-up by an adult.  Under no circumstances is a child to bring medication to school.
4. The parent or guardian must submit a written request to the school nurse to give the medication as directed.
5. The medication will be destroyed seven days after the final dosage is required.  (The unused medication may be picked up by the parent within this period).