Zinser Elementary News
May 19

Zinser Elementary News May 19

05/19/23

At Zinser we are blessed to have many hard-working and caring paraprofessionals supporting our students, staff, and families. They provide care and support for not only the students but the staff at Zinser. The paras are always willing to help where needed without hesitation. You might find them speed walking to help a situation, consoling an upset student, laughing and playing with a student, cleaning up a mess that no one else wants to do, or helping a student feel comfortable with what they can eat. From Food Service preparing food daily for our students, to lunchroom paras for keeping our cafeteria clean and organized, to recess aides monitoring activities and keeping our students safe and having fun outside, to our Autistic Spectrum Disorder classroom paras being a superb team in supporting students with special needs, to other important paras who support other student needs - they all play very important roles in our school - and we thank them dearly. A special shoutout to Deb Schweitzer, our reliable and committed media center/library paraprofessional who we believe is our most veteran Zinser staff member, starting here in 1998! Thank you all for being valuable members of the Zinser team!

Use Medicaid? Listen up and stay covered!
Medicaid renewals were paused due to COVID19, but they’re back! You can confirm or update the address on Medicaid.gov/renewals

Capturing Kids' Hearts! Update
Zinser was honored as a Capturing Kids’ Hearts Showcase school for the 3rd consecutive year! A shout-out to our hard-working staff to help us earn this honor once again. We are Kids - and a staff - Who Cares!

Youth Summer Camps
For more information on all Kenowa Hills Youth Athletics summer camps please visit khps.org/camps, or find more information and registration info on our NEW Youth Sports website!

Technology Summer Camp - for Girls entering 5th-12th Grade
Camp Infinity is a series of week-long sessions that introduces girls to computer and internet technologies through hands-on activities. Each week of fun is held on Mondays-Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in various locations throughout the state. Our expert instructors will guide your child through a range of engaging activities that will spark their imagination and creativity. For more information visit MCWT.org.

GVSU Swim Lessons & Swim Camp
Swim Lessons for ages 4-14 | Swim Camp(s)/Swim Team for 7 years old - 12th grad. For more information and to register, visit www.GrandValleyStateSwimmingCamps.com or email questions to murrjame@gvsu.edu.

Camp Good Grief
Monday, June 12 - 8 am - 4 pm. An opportunity for fun, sharing, and healing, presented by Hospice of Michigan. This is a free program for children ages 8-17 who have experienced the death of a loved one. Held at Camp Newaygo - Please register by May 31, as space is limited. Register online at www.hom.org/camp. For questions, contact Karen Monts at kmonts@hom.org or call 313-578-6326.

Kiwanis West Michigan
Kiwanis has a new club in West Michigan that primarily supports the kids at Kenowa Hills! They meet in a virtual setting once a week and host projects to lift up kids in our district. If you'd like to learn more about the Kiwanis organization or learn how you can join, visit their website or follow them on Facebook!

OLDER NEWS

Be a Knight that Knows Nutrition
From now until the end of the school year Nurse Courtney will be handing out points when she catches students making healthy food choices at breakfast, snack, or lunch! Students can use these points to earn prizes! See the flyer below for more information or email Nurse Courtney at cellens@khps.org.

Attendance/Drop Off - Pick Up
Our start time is 8:35 am. We need your help getting students here on time! Any students arriving after 8:45 without an excused call/absence will be marked tardy. Any students arriving after 9:05 without an excused call/absence will be marked unexcused for the morning session. Please call the attendance line at 616-453-2461 to communicate your students’ absence, early leave time, or late arrivals as well. STRIVE FOR FIVE!!!

Parking Lot Notes:
Please consider utilizing our bus transportation option to avoid the busy parent pick-up lot.

• Always look to pull up where and when possible to help with the flow. Tell your child to look for the correct car and be ready. If your child is late to the sign and you pulled up past it, you can circle around the lot and keep your car moving.
• Thank you for those turning right only. We know it’s an inconvenience for some but we believe it will help speed up the line and be safer in the long run (we've had a couple of accidents at that intersection).

• Drop-off starts at 8:30; If you are in the lot before 8:30, you may drop your child off a few minutes early to get the traffic flowing, but the child will be standing by the grade sign until the 8:30 bell. All 1st-5th grade students can enter at the bell in the designated door.
• We do have two lanes in the parking lot. Please only use the right lane for drop-off and pick-up, the inside lane is a pass-by lane only. Please pass by with caution. It is very dangerous to let students out in that lane.

Drop-Off Expectations:

• Drop-off starts at 8:30 with the day officially starting at 8:35.
• Kindergarten (including K-Knights) families please park and walk to the flagpole to have your child line up with the class at the 8:30 bell. The teacher will come out and greet the students and enter the building together.
• Staggered entrances will be used once again. Grade-level signs will be put outside by the designated door. After the first week, students will walk in the correct door at 8:30 or later and head directly to the classroom.

Dismissal Expectations:

• The school day ends at 3:37 pm.
• Kindergarten (and K-Knights) and early pick-ups start at 3:30 pm.
• Kindergarten parents please park and walk to meet the class and get the child by the flagpole for a more intimate and safe pick-up.We will designate consistent early pick-up families once again. Please contact our office if you can consistently be in the parking lot early for an early pick-up at 3:30 pm. 1st-5th grade families will use the car line in the parent parking lot for pick-up. Your child will stand at the correct grade level sign and enter the car when it’s at the sign or close to the nearest pull-up spot. You may need to pull up past the grade sign to help with the flow.

News from our Nurse
If your student or a household member has Covid-19 please notify Nurse Courtney. You will not be contacted by the Health Department but these cases must be reported and monitored within the school. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation! Please reach out to Nurse Courtney at cellens@khps.org if you have any questions

Background checks
Background checks must be completed annually by anyone volunteering at least 3 days prior to volunteering! Forms can be completed in the school office or at the administration office. A photo ID will be required.

Birthday
Individual treats or “gifts” are not encouraged again this school year. Instead, we are encouraging you to donate a book to your child’s classroom in honor of them and their birthday. You are welcome to personalize the book or we can do it for you.

You can have your child visit the office or Mr. Willick for a birthday pencil!

We do not want birthday invitations to be passed out to students during the school day. A student may pass out invitations if everyone in the class will receive one, or a parent can discreetly give some invitations to the teacher, who can place them in backpacks.

Feeding Walker Kids