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Developing knowledgeable, productive, caring, creative, responsible individuals. | 
Questions Frequently Asked of the Principal ..
What time does school start and when can I drop my children off? Classes run from 8:45am until 3:35pm. The doors are opened at 8:30am, which is the time buses are supposed to arrive at school. What if I need to bring my child to school earlier? If a parent wishes to drop their child off earlier at school, they need to contract with Wausau Childcare who provides a program before/after school at Riverside for a fee. They can be reached at 848-1437. What happens when school is cancelled or delayed due to weather? On days with severe weather, parents are advised to listen to the radio or watch the T.V. for announcements of the cancellation or delay of the start of school. If the school day has begun and school is then cancelled, it will be announced on radio and T.V. stations. Buses will then come and pick up our students and take them to their homes. Riverside School will not be identified in weather bulletins, but the announcement will refer to the D.C. Everest School District. If you hear an announcement about Wausau Area Schools, that does not refer to us. It is a separate school district. The District also has a school cancellation hotline. To obtain recorded information regarding cancellations or delay of school and district activities/events due to weather or other circumstances, you can call the hotline at 355-4118. This information is available 24 hours a day and will be updated as soon as school or an event has been cancelled or delayed. How are students placed in classrooms? We try to balance the number of girls/boys, students with needs, and ability levels of students in each classroom. We also look at personalities, student-learning styles, and also attempt to split up students who ve had a history of conflicts with each other.If I have a child that is tested and accepted into the challenge program, will my other children be able to also attend Riverside? The answer to this question is that it depends on enrollment in the classes that the siblings would be in. For example, we accept 22 students per class in Kindergarten. Usually, these classes are full and we even have to send additional students to an "overflow" class at another school. So, a Kindergartener sibling would probably not be able to attend at Riverside. On the other hand, if a child is in third grade, for example, there might be room in a classroom for them. Often, siblings do attend school at Riverside. Again, their attendance is dependent on the placement of a child in Challenge. If the Challenge student moves on to middle school, there is no guarantee for the sibling to remain at Riverside. Usually they will have to return to their home attendance area.What are Early Release Days used for and why are they on a different day each month this year? These afternoons are dedicated to providing teachers the opportunity to get additional training, to spend time working on building and district goals, planning for special projects, and sometimes for semester grading. The district went to having these early releases on different days so that students wouldn t miss the same classes each month.I am new to the area. How do I find out what attendance area I am residing in? What about busing? The best thing to do is contact First Student Busing directly at 359-3555. They can tell you which attendance area you are in and they will be able to tell you which bus your child will ride and the approximate pick up/drop off times. Do children go outside for recess on really cold days? Students are expected to dress warmly in winter (coat, hat, snowpants, mittens, boots) so that they can have some time outside. However, if the temperature or wind chill is below zero, students will remain inside for recesses. Can I pick who I want to have as a teacher for my child? A parent can request a specific teacher in the spring for the following school year. Sometimes these requests can be met, but this does not guarantee that the child will be placed in the desired teacher s classroom. When classroom assignments are made, many factors are considered such asthe number of special education students in a class, the balance of males and females in the room, the combination of personalities between students, the achievement levels of the students, etc.so that classrooms are balanced.Can I pick which school my child attends within the DCE District? No. Your child must attend the school whose attendance area you reside in. School choice refers to students transferring from one school district to another, not within a district. How is the money used that is raised through the school fundraiser? Every year the P.T.O. funds specific projects and activities such as: a couple of after school activity nights, awards for academics and track & field, some playground supplies, DARE and fifth grade graduation parties, open house for new students, computers, a college scholarship, school calendars, etc. The P.T.O. also funds special projects each year. Last year, for example, they funded our environmental walkway and shelter. This year, they are purchasing 450 Guided Reading Books per grade level, and some equipment for the art room! How much access will my children have to computers? Students are using technology beginning in Kindergarten. We have "Leap Pads" at centers in our Kindergarten classrooms, for example. Each unit has some computers and we have an awesome set-up in our IMC with two computer labs. So, two full classrooms can be using these computers at the same time. We have third and fourth graders already learning how to make "PowerPoint" presentations! Technology is taught and is used to enhance the learning in our classrooms. Our curriculum includes instruction in keyboarding skills and word processing.If my child is having a problem on the bus, whom do I contact? You should contact Laidlaw at 359-3555. A bus driver can change a child s assigned seat and make referrals on behavioral incidents.Can my child ride the bus to a friend s house or have a friend ride the bus to our house?Students must ride their assigned bus and are not allowed to ride to other student s homes. There is a limit to the number of students on any given bus and we have to make sure that a bus does not become overloaded.When I go to pick up my child after school, can I give a ride home to a neighbor s child?No. We must have been contacted by the child s parent ahead of time for anyone else to pick up their child, or their child must come to school with a note from their parent indicating that it is their wish to have you pick up their child.What if my child needs to leave school early? At times, it may be necessary for you to schedule an appointment or an emergency occurs which requires an early release of your child(ren). If you are aware of the appointment/situation in advance, please send a note to school informing the teacher of the early release. The child will be sent to the office to wait to be picked up. In the event of an emergency, come to the office and request the early dismissal of your child. The teacher will be contacted and the child instructed to come to the office. This procedure will be followed for your child s protection.If my child has been ill, when can they return to school and what are the guidelines for sick children? If a child has had an ailment and you are uncertain whether they can come to school, you may call the office and speak with the health aide. For example, there are guidelines we follow with incidents like "pink eye". If a child has a fever of 100 degrees or more or is unable to keep food down or shows other significant symptoms, a parent will be called to pick up their child. If a child returns to school after a lengthy illness and needs to stay inside for recess due to illness, parents should send a note from their physician indicating this.How do I pay for my child s hot lunch? How will I know when the account is low?You may send a check with your child s name on it and it will be credited toward your childs hot lunch account. Weekly reminders are sent home with students when accounts have a negative balance. Parents can also call the school office (359-2417) to find out the balance in their childs lunch accountHow much homework should my child have? Is homework assigned on Wednesday nights? It is the policy of the district elementary schools to assign homework throughout the school year. Homework will be assigned when a child is absent from school, additional practice is necessary for the child to acquire the new skill, assignments are not completed on time and must be made up, a student needs an opportunity to review previously learned skills, or students need to complete a project that is intended as a long-term assignment. On an average, students would have 10 minutes of homework per grade level (10 minutes/1st grade; 20 minutes/2nd Grade . . .). It is the Districts procedure to keep homework to a minimum on Wednesday nights, when possible. There are occasions, though, when this is not possible for the flow and sequence of learning in a classroom. |
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