Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Psalm 150:6
This Psalm of praise is special to South Side. Our teachers and students LOVE to praise the Lord together. Over the summer Rachel Lohman, one of our preschool staff who is also an amazing artist, has been painting a mural on our playground that highlights this verse. I’m so excited for you to see it at our upcoming ice cream social.
This year our every other week chapel service will be moving to Thursday mornings at 10:40. Hannah York, our music teacher, is excited to help lead our school in praise and worship during chapel. Families are always welcome to join us for these special times. You will definitely want to pay attention to teacher blogs to find out when your child’s class will be leading our chapel.
Blessings,
Christy Haig
Announcements
Welcome to New Staff
We are excited to welcome Alexa Bushong to our South Side preschool teaching staff this year. She taught threes preschool in Saugatuck previously and is excited to join our Holland Christian family.
Class Lists & School Supplies
We are so excited to welcome your child back to school! Below you will find the links for class lists and school supply lists per class and/or grade level:
Parent Information Nights
This will be a night where just parents come to meet Mrs. Haig and your child’s classroom teacher. You’ll be able to ask more detailed questions about your child’s school and classroom experience.
- 3s/4s Preschool: Tuesday, August 13 @ 6:30pm
- Young 5s – 2nd grade: Thursday August 22 @ 5:30pm-6:30pm
Ice Cream Social
On Thursday, August 15, 6-7pm, all preschool-2nd graders and their families are invited to come together and walk through their classrooms, meet their teachers, find their lockers–all the fun things about starting a new school year! Once your family has had a chance to do that, everyone gets to head out to the playground to enjoy an ice cream sundae bar and have fellowship as a school community.
First Days of School
- Our first day of school is a full day, Tuesday, August 20.
- For our 3 day preschool and young 5s students, their first day will be Wednesday, August 21.
- Dismissal will be at 11:15am for AM Preschool students and 3:15pm for full-day preschool students and Young 5 -2nd grade students
Drop-off/Pick-up Procedures
We ask that you adhere to the following traffic policies for Drop-Off and Pick-Up as specified. We appreciate your cooperation and doing your part to keep our children entering and exiting school safely each day. Please note that in the mornings the front doors will be locked until 7:50.
Picture Day
For those of you really planning ahead, South Side’s picture day is Wednesday, September 18. Once order forms are received from GPI they will be sent home with students. If you are ordering a yearbook this will be the time to do that also.
Medication at School
If your child needs to take medication at school, we need an updated form signed by their physician each school year. If you have not done this yet, please do so asap. The medication forms can be found on the Medical Information and Forms Page for your convenience. You are welcome to email Hendrina Cuprey, our school nurse. She will help you set up a plan for the office to assist in administering the medication. For safety reasons, Holland Christian Schools is not able to dispense any medication (prescription or non-prescription) to our students without a doctor’s order. Thank you!
Absences
Please call the school office at 616.820.3535 any time before 8:30am to let us know each day your child will be absent. You may leave a voicemail at any time and it will be checked in the morning when the office opens.
Summer Office Hours
The South Side office will be open starting August 5 on Mondays-Fridays from 9am-3pm until school starts. There will be a few dates TBD for beginning of the school year all-staff off-site meetings, and those dates will be posted on the door once they become available.
Student Safety
After the school day is underway, all doors will be locked. All students who arrive late for school must stop in the school office. Parents are asked to sign children in and out at the school office if they are coming or going any time within the normal school hours.
PowerSchool
PowerSchool is our student information database. You will want to bookmark this site! There is also an app available for PowerSchool for your phone which can be very helpful. If there is a change in your phone number or address any time during the school year, it is important that we are informed right away. Parents can update their information on PowerSchool directly on the Demographics Change tab. This assures up-to-date contact information for your child.
You must update your demographic information in PowerSchool each fall with your latest and most accurate contact information. Simply login, then either an “update demographic screen” will automatically pop up, or simply click the “change demographics” button on the left of the screen. This information is necessary for field trip participation, emergency response and treatment, student photo permission, and for the office to easily be able to contact a parent or guardian as needed or desired. When listing your child’s emergency contacts, please be sure to list two contacts other than yourself.
Elementary Handbook
The Elementary Handbook is a great resource for parents providing important details on things like our curriculum, discipline policy, etc.
Important Website Links
- School Calendar
- School Supply Lists
- Hot Lunch Information
- Medical Information & Forms
- School Transportation
- Before & After School Programs
Upcoming Dates:
August
- 13: Preschool parent night 6:30pm
- 15: PreK-2nd grade Ice cream social 6:00-7:00pm
- 20: First day of school
- 22: Y5-2nd Parent Information Night 6:30pm
- 28: All School Convocation
- 30: No School
September
- 2: No school: Labor Day
- 18: PreK-2nd picture day
- 25: Walkathon
October
- 17: Parent-Teacher Conferences
- 21: Parent-teacher conferences
- 23-25: CEA Convention: No school
