Dear Families,

Welcome to the 2010-2011 School Year at Lamping Elementary School. The staff and I are eager and ready to start a new year as we embrace the vision of welcoming, challenging and advancing every child! This means we are dedicated to providing quality instruction that challenges each student at a level commensurate with his or her ability in a safe environment. It also means we are committed to providing enriching experiences throughout the school day that foster personal integrity, respect, and responsibility.
We are pleased to announce that Lamping Elementary School has achieved Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for our eighth straight year in a row. This designation indicates that Lamping students have met and exceeded standards in both Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics. This is a reflection of the effective instructional delivery of our staff and the continued involvement of our students’ families in their lives. We look forward to sharing our plans to continue this momentum at Open House on Wednesday, September 8th at 6:00 p.m. Our open house is designed as an opportunity for parents to interact with their child’s teacher.   
I value your input and your participation. If throughout the year you would like to meet with me to discuss your child and his/her education program, please call Ms. Gries (Office Manager) at 799-1330 to schedule an appointment.  If you are simply leaving a phone message, please understand that throughout each school day, I am in classrooms, on the playground, in the lunchroom, attending meetings, and dealing with student issues. I will make every attempt to return your call within a 24-hour period. 
Committed to Excellence,

Robert Solomon, Principal

Newsletters:  This is the first issue of the “Lightning Bolt Weekly News” written by Principal Solomon. The Weekly News will be sent home with every student each Monday (Tuesday if Monday is a holiday) and is always on gold colored paper.  We hope you will look for this weekly publication and carefully read it to stay up to date on school-wide events. 

School to Home Folder: Coming home today with your child will be a large collection of papers and a Parent/Student Handbook inside our School to Home Folder. This folder was designed for daily/weekly use to take papers home from school and return them to your child’s teacher. Please read through all the papers coming home today very carefully and return any forms as necessary. This folder was provided compliments of the school. If additional folders are needed throughout the year, they can be purchased in the front office for $1.00. A list of upcomping events will be posted at the bottom of each weekly newsletter. A full list of our year’s Calendar of Eventscan be viewed at LampingElementary.com.   I hope this helps you at home as you schedule events throughout the year.  If you did not receive a School to Home Folder and the collection of papers inside, please stop by the office to pick one up.

Code of Honor and Educational Accords:  Please read, discuss with your child, sign and return the “Code of Honor” forms located in the School to Home Folder.  This “Code of Honor” was developed by the Nevada Department of Education.  Please be sure to send both pages back to your child’s classroom teacher.  Thank you!
Fun Run:  The sixth annual “Run for the Stars” will be held on Saturday, September 25, 2010. Everyone is invited to participate in either the 1-mile Fun Run/Walk, or the competitive 5-Kilometer race. After the race, the Lamping PTA will be sponsoring a Pancake Breakfast. I hope you will plan to attend this wonderful event to help kick off the year.  For detailed information, please see the “Run for the Stars” brochure coming home today. Registration information can be accessed at LampingElementary.com.
                                                                                       -Over for More-

Stunning Website:  Thanks to one of our parents, Dana Czerwinski, Lamping Elementary School has a fabulous website. Check it out at LampingElementary.com. The website is a great tool to stay informed and up to date on events and activities throughout the school. 

Drop-off Lunch Table: A “drop-off” table has been set up in the multi-purpose room for parents to drop off a lunch, if their child forgot it at home. Please know we will not call down to the classroom and disrupt instruction to let them know their lunch is here. Your child will simply check the table when they walk into the lunchroom. Please be sure your child’s name is printed on the bag. 

Lamping PTA: It is our goal that every family will join our PTA (Parent Teacher Association). This organization is a vital asset to our school, as they provide community events, service projects for our students, and funds to support our educational goals. Membership information has been included in the School to Home folder coming home today.  Memberships will also be available during our Open House event.   
 
Labor Day Holiday:  Monday, September 06, 2010, will be a school holiday in honor of Labor Day. Classes will resume on Tuesday, September 07.  Enjoy a nice three day weekend with your family!

Reminders:

• When you visit the school, please report to the office, sign in at the front office on the computer, and receive a visitor’s badge. You will be asked to show personal identification until we get to know you.
• If you have a scheduled appointment with a teacher or need to drop off items, please check in with the front office and they will notify the teacher that you are in the office. 
• We have developed drop-off and pick-up traffic procedures. Please see page 3 of this newsletter for detailed information.
• Adult supervision on the playground is provided at 8:40 a.m. The playground gates will remain locked until 8:40 a.m. Students arriving on the school campus without direct adult supervision before 8:40 a.m. will be sent to SafeKey. Please note:  Parents of children who have been sent to SafeKey before 8:40 a.m. will be charged the $5.00 drop-in rate established by SafeKey. SafeKey is a before and after school recreational enrichment program operated by the City of Henderson’s Parks and Recreation Department for children in grades K-5.
• Dismissal for full-day Kindergarten and all classes in grades 1 through 5 is at 3:11 p.m. Students and parents are encouraged to arrange a meeting location so students know exactly where to go after school. If a child has not been picked up within five minutes, they will be brought to the front office where an office staff member will attempt to call a family member.  If a child has not been picked up by 3:20 p.m., they will be sent to SafeKey. Please note:  Parents of children sent to SafeKey after 3:20 p.m. will be charged the PM drop-in rate of $8.00 established by SafeKey.  
• All students will be escorted to the exit greatroom doors by their classroom teachers at the close of the day. All students being picked up at dismissal can be done at each of the greatroom exits.
• Skateboards, roller blades and shoes with wheels built into the sole are not allowed on campus.
• Bicycles and scooters must be stored and locked in the bike rack. Students must walk bicycles and scooters on school grounds at all times.

Drop-off and Pick-up Procedures

The school administration, together with the PTA Safety Committee, the Clark County School District Transportation Safety Office, and School Police, have developed the following drop-off and pick-up procedures to ensure the safety of all students both before and after school. These procedures began effective Tuesday, August 25, 2009.  

Parking Lot: The school parking lot will be closed to all incoming and outgoing private vehicles from 8:40 -9:10 a.m. and will be reserved for school district buses and vehicles displaying a handicap license plate or placard from DMV, to drop off students near the kindergarten playground. The parking lot will also be closed each day from 3:00-3:20 p.m. The parking lot is not a place to pick-up students after school. The parking lot will be open to parent volunteers and visitors from 9:10 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. 

School Buses:  Clark County School District buses will drop students off in the morning in the parking lot near the kindergarten playground. Students can then walk around to the playground on either side of the school, or walk through the multi-purpose room to eat breakfast, use the bathroom, or access the playground. 
Half-day kindergarten students and special education program buses will pick-up students at 11:30 a.m. and drop-off students at 12:40 p.m. in the bus loading zone along Summit Grove Drive.     
At the 3:11 p.m. dismissal time, Clark County School District buses will utilize the bus loading zone along Summit Grove Drive. This area will be closed to private vehicles from 3:00-3:20 p.m.   

Arrival KISS and DROP ZONES (8:40-8:55 a.m.): If your youngest child attending Lamping Elementary School is in Kindergarten or First Grade, you may pull into the bus loading zone along Summit Grove Drive to “Kiss and Drop-off” your child(ren). Do not leave your car unattended in this area, as it will delay the entire “Drop-off” process. Please stop to drop-off your child against the curb only. Double parking is not only illegal, but creates a safety hazard as children are walking between cars. Please note the playground gates will be locked until 8:40 a.m. when staff supervision is provided.      

• If you need to come into the building, or desire to walk your child to the playground, you must park along Summit Grove Drive on the side opposite the school.

If your youngest child attending Lamping Elementary School is in Second or Third Grade, you may use the “Kiss and Drop Zone” on Heaton.  This area has been marked with “Kiss and Drop Zone” banners. Do not leave your car unattended in this area, as it will delay the entire “Drop-off” process.  Please stop to drop-off your child against the curb only. Double parking is not only illegal, but creates a safety hazard as children are walking between cars. Please note the playground gates will be locked until 8:40 a.m. when staff supervision is provided.            

• If you need to come into the building, or desire to walk your child to the playground, you must park on Heaton on the side opposite the school or against a white curb. 

If your youngest child attending Lamping Elementary School is in Fourth or Fifth Grade, you may use the “Kiss and Drop Zone” on Summit Grove Drive. This area has been marked with “Kiss and Drop Zone” banners. Children dropped off in this area will cross the bus loading zone and onto the playground with adult supervision. Do not leave your car unattended in this area, as it will delay the entire “Drop-off” process. Please stop to drop-off your child against the curb only. Double parking is not only illegal, but creates a safety hazard as children are walking between cars. Please note the playground gates will be locked until 8:40 a.m. when staff supervision is provided.          

• If you need to come into the building, or desire to walk your child to the playground, you must park on Summit Grove Drive on the side opposite the school. 

Dismissal Pick Up Procedures (3:11 p.m.): Parents picking their students up from school must park on Heaton Avenue or along Summit Grove Drive. Private vehicles will not be allowed in the bus loading zone or in the front parking lot after school. Please pick-up your child against the curb only. Double parking is not only illegal, but creates a safety hazard as children are walking between cars. Be sure not to block a residents’ driveway, the entrance to Mystic Ridge Homes, and/or the bus loading zone. 

Please Note:  School Police and/or Henderson Police will be monitoring our process, and will be ticketing cars with a fine of over $200 that are illegally parked, blocking driveways, or blocking entrances to neighboring subdivisions.

Thank you for your support and commitment to the safety of all our students!