Porters Neck Elementary School

Yesterday's Open House was a huge success! With nearly 700 students and not much air to go around, our building was definitely full of excitement and energy. 😄

We were thrilled to see so many families come out to meet teachers, visit classrooms, and kick off the new school year with us. Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make the evening so special.

We can't wait to welcome our students back and start another amazing year of learning, growth, and fun! 💙📚✨

🌟 FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL REMINDERS! 🌟

We are so excited to welcome our Pelicans back! We need everyone to follow these procedures so we can have a safe and smooth start to the year.

🐣 KINDERGARTEN

Kindergarten families may walk their child into the building on their child’s staggered start day (Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday) AND on Thursday.

➡️ Friday morning: Kindergarten families should stop at the Compass before heading to class.

➡️ Beginning the following week: Kindergarten will follow our regular arrival procedures.

🚨 ALL OTHER GRADE LEVELS

Parents of students in 1st–5th grade are not allowed to walk students into the building.

We know this can be difficult, but with almost 700 students, we need to keep our hallways clear and get students safely to class.

Please know that we have plenty of staff stationed throughout the building to help students get where they need to go! Your child will not be expected to figure it out alone. Our staff will be there to greet students, direct them, and help them get to their classroom.

If you have something that needs to go upstairs to your child's classroom, please leave it on the designated Drop Zone table. Staff will make sure it gets to the classroom.

🚌🚗 TRANSPORTATION CHANGES — NEW PROCEDURE STARTS DAY 1!

All transportation changes MUST be submitted through our new transportation change form.

🔗 Transportation Change Form:
https://sites.google.com/nhcs.net/pnes-transportation-change/home

We will NOT be checking the transportation change email from last year. If you need help call the front office or email Mrs. Dickenson.

📱 Using your phone? If the link doesn't open correctly, click the three dots (⋮) in the top right corner and select “Open in browser.”

Please remember:

Transportation changes must be submitted through the new link.
Changes must be submitted before 1:45 PM on the day of the change.
Your child must be on the Approved Pick-Up List for someone else to pick them up.
Please put your official car tag in your vehicle now so you don't forget it!
Your car tag must be clearly visible when you arrive for pickup.

🚨 IMPORTANT CAR TAG REMINDER:
If you forget your car tag or it is not visible, you will be asked to park and come inside to get a car tag. This applies even if we know you personally. We must follow the same procedure for everyone.

Safety is always our top priority! 💙

This new transportation process begins on DAY 1 of school.

🏠 PLEASE TALK TO YOUR CHILD ABOUT HOW THEY GET HOME

We have transportation information listed for each student, but please make sure your child knows exactly how they are getting home each day.

Especially during the first few weeks, talk with your child about whether they are:
🚌 Riding the bus
🚗 A car rider
🚐 Riding a van
🏫 Going to an after-school program
👨‍👩‍👧 Being picked up by a family member

Please continue reminding them each day until they are familiar with their routine. This helps tremendously when students are learning new routines and procedures.

📰 PELICAN PERCH

Our Pelican Perch will begin going out this Sunday at 5:00 PM via email and text message.

This will be an important weekly communication, so please be sure to look for it each Sunday!

🚗 PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH CAR RIDER ARRIVAL

Our car line will be LONG during the first few days. We have many new families learning our procedures, students learning where to go, and staff working through a new routine.

Please expect that it may take a few weeks for arrival and dismissal to run as quickly and smoothly as we would like.

❤️ A few important reminders:
• Have your child ready to exit when you reach the drop-off area.
• Follow staff directions and traffic patterns.
• Do not pass or pull around other vehicles.
•Do not pull through the grass by K-1 playground as this causes sink holes.--We had to fix 2 last year because of this.
• Give yourself extra time during the first few weeks.
• Please be patient and kind to our staff as we work through the routines together.

We are working hard to safely get 700+ students and staff into the building and home each day. We appreciate your patience, flexibility, and partnership as we get our year off to a great start!

Lastly---our 26/27 Calendar is below. All students received one at Open House! Go ahead and magnetize it and put it on your fridge and let's have a great year with kids here everyday!

💙 Welcome back, Pelicans!

🚨 NEW TRANSPORTATION CHANGE PROCEDURE 🚨

We are making transportation changes easier and more efficient for our families! 🚌🚗

Beginning this school year, ALL transportation changes must be submitted through our online Transportation Change Form.

👉 No more emailing transportation changes!

Simply complete the form, and once our team verifies the request, you will receive an email confirmation.

🔗 Transportation Change Form:
https://sites.google.com/nhcs.net/pnes-transportation-change

📌 IMPORTANT GUIDELINES

⏰ 1:45 PM CUT-OFF
All transportation change requests must be submitted before 1:45 PM on the day of the change.

👤 APPROVED PICK-UP LIST
If someone other than a parent/guardian is picking up your child, they must be on your approved pick-up list. If they are not, you must add them to the list before we can honor the transportation change.

🚗 CAR RIDERS
Please make sure your official car tag is clearly displayed in your vehicle when you arrive in the car rider line.

📱 You will find this transportation change link on our page, Pelican Perch, and the NHCS Porters Neck Elementary webpage for easy access throughout the year.

Thank you for helping us keep dismissal safe, organized, and efficient for everyone! 💙

One form. One process. Safer dismissal!

SPIRIT NIGHT!!!!!!

Kicking off the 26/27 school year with our first Spirit Night at Celtic Creamery of Porters Neck! Visit them before or after open house……or go for lunch and dinner for a sweet treat 😳! Please support our local creamery 🍦and they support Porters Neck Elementary School.

🍎 LUNCH VISITORS STARTING September 29th!

We love having our PNES families join their Pelicans for lunch! Beginning September 29, families are invited to eat lunch with their child on Tuesdays and Thursdays only.

Because of the size of our school and the number of students in the cafeteria, we have a few important guidelines to help keep lunch enjoyable for everyone:

🍽️ Please limit lunch visits to once a month per student. The cafeteria is already a busy and sometimes very noisy environment, and additional visitors can make it significantly louder and more crowded for students during their break.

⏰ Know your child’s lunch time before you arrive.

👨‍👩‍👧 Lunch visitors may eat only with their own child. Students may not invite classmates to join their family at the visitor table.

🚫 We cannot make exceptions to these procedures. These guidelines are in place to help us maintain a safe, manageable, and enjoyable cafeteria environment for all of our students.

We appreciate your support and your help in making lunch a positive experience for our Pelicans!

💛 YELLOW CARD CAR RIDER PROCEDURE — LET’S GET OUR MORNINGS MOVING! 💛

Here’s what you need to know:

🚗 FOLLOW THE DESIGNATED ROUTE
When you enter from Edgewater Club Road, follow the designated car rider path all the way to the sidewalk. Please do not stop early or create your own drop-off spot.

💛 WATCH FOR THE YELLOW CARD
The first car in line will receive a yellow card under the windshield. This signals our duty staff that it is time to begin moving cars forward. Keep moving all the way up to the mailbox unless directed otherwise.

👋 WAIT FOR THE SIGNAL
Please keep your child in the vehicle until you hear the duty staff member call for car riders to exit. We will continue this process until the first bell rings at 7:35 a.m.

🚫 PLEASE DO NOT STOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FLOW
Do not randomly stop to drop your child off. This creates gaps in the line and quickly backs up traffic. Pull all the way forward and follow the directions of our duty staff.

🚙 STAY IN YOUR VEHICLE
Please do not park in the parking lot and walk your child inside. This requires us to stop the car rider flow to allow students and adults to cross, which slows everyone down and creates an additional safety concern.

🎒 BE READY TO GO!
Before you pull into the car rider line, make sure your child has:
• Backpack 🎒
• Shoes 👟
• Jacket, lunchbox, water bottle, etc.
• Anything else they need for the school day

🧒 KINDERGARTEN FAMILIES — PRACTICE NOW!
If you have a kindergartener, please begin practicing at home with your child unbuckling their own seatbelt or safety harness. Our staff will be there to assist with safety, but adults will not be able to get out of their vehicles to help students during car rider drop-off. Practicing now will make those first mornings MUCH easier!

⏰ PLEASE BE PATIENT THE FIRST FEW DAYS!
It may take a week or two for everyone to get comfortable with the routine. That's okay! Our staff will be outside every morning helping direct traffic and students.

💙 A FEW IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
✔️ Follow the designated route.
✔️ Stay in your vehicle.
✔️ Keep moving forward when directed.
✔️ Wait for the staff signal before allowing your child to exit.
✔️ Do not pass other vehicles or create your own drop-off location.
✔️ Have your child ready to go before entering the car rider line.
✔️ Follow the directions of our duty staff—they are there to keep everyone safe!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE be kind to the staff on duty. They are there to help ensure rules are followed and we keep our Pelicans Safe!

When we all follow the system, everyone gets where they need to go quickly and safely!

Today was our first staff meeting of the year, which means ALL of our staff is officially back! 🎉💙

Dorian kicked us off with a great ice breaker (no, seriously—it really was a good one! 😂), we welcomed some new team members to the Pelican family, and celebrated some exciting milestones—including a new “Pelican baby” and some upcoming weddings! 💍👶🏼💕

Then it was time to get to work! Our staff spent the rest of the day getting classrooms ready and making sure everything is ready for our Pelicans to return. 🐦💙

We can’t wait to see everyone at Open House this Thursday at 4:30 PM! And then… it’s officially time for kids on Monday, August 24! 📚✏️

We’re ready for you, Pelicans! 💙🐦