With almost having finished my first full month of school here as your child's new principal, I have to thank you for sending us wonderful children and for all of the support you have shown me. Your warm welcome has made me feel very much at ease. 

With a new principal's arrival, there are, no doubt, many changes. I hope that you will bear with us as we attempt to make things run more efficiently and to ensure greater safety for your children. 

If children do arrive before 7:55AM, they have not been sent to the auditorium to wait. We now move them 

directly to the gym where we have initiated an AM Walking Program. The children have settled in to this new arrival procedure and it is both a benefit to their health as well as a more organized, less chaotic start to the school day. Again, WCCS does not provide childcare services in the morning, but I so very much want to be helpful to families with earlier starts to their work day. 

As far as coming to school in the morning, parents, we very much need your help. Many children are still coming in quite late. Tardiness is quite a problem here and I want to keep working at it so that students are here at 7:55AM, have breakfast as a classroom community and start their academic work on time. Please do your very best to get them here on time. We are all working to improve our attendance, which also includes arriving late or leaving early. 

With respect to attendance, we need your children here every day, all year long. Even one or two days (and certainly many days in a row) dramatically affect a student's ability to learn and to be successful. Anything you can do to ensure that your child is here every day (despite serious illness, of course) would also be appreciated. 

Lastly, dismissal is a work in progress. I would need the help of law enforcement to deal with the street issues which include lines of cars parked, waiting for children. I want to keep things as safe as possible, so cones were placed at the entrance and exit of the front circle to prevent vehicles from entering the loop. 

Teachers now have very detailed lists of their students and whether they walk, ride a bus, or are picked up. We even have noted older siblings who pick up and walk with their younger siblings. You can find your child by using the correct exit door and his/her teacher has a large sign with last name and room number on it. We are asking that you not enter the building (just as we are now asking for your cooperation with this in the morning as well). For a community/neighborhood school, we want to be open and welcoming, but at the same time it is not possible for anyone who works in the school to monitor every adult who enters the school or to know every adult and we must be watchful of strangers entering at the same time as parents and/or students. Please know that this does not mean parents and family members are not welcome in this school—as you are. A stop in the office to let us know you are here, sign in and allow us to give the teacher a call to see if it is a good time is all we ask.  Again, please know that pickup time is 3:30PM and staff members often have afterschool meetings or staff development, so they need to get right back into the building. 

WCCS follows the Buffalo City Schools calendar. There are 7 early release days this year when students will be dismissed at 11:30AM.  It is very important that children are picked up on time as teachers have their lunch and required staff development immediately following dismissal. Breakfast will be served as it always is and all children present will go home with a bagged lunch. Please mark your calendars accordingly with these early release days:  October 5, November 30, December 14, January 11, February 8, March 14 and April 30.  

I am most excited to be here as the new principal and I look forward to continued support and, ultimately, to have more and more of our students be successful, both in the academic and behavioral sense.