PDS uses Google Calendar to manage events.

One of the benefits of PDS using Google Calendar is the ability to subscribe to those calendars on your iPhone, in Outlook, or on your own Google Calendar account.

When subscribing to calendars, please note that in order to get a complete picture of your son's classroom calendar, you'll need to subscribe to more than just the his section (i.e. SK1 or 3A). A single class calendar is made up of many individual calendars. As an example, to get a full listing of events for SK1, you would need to subscribe to these calendars: All, EC, Letter Days, SK - All, SK1, Lunch.

Many of you have been emailing about receiving the wrong class news or homework emails over the last few days.

While we auto-subscribe parents to the grade-level “updates and emergencies” lists, the homework, class news, school news, and lunch menu newsletters are set up on an opt-in/out basis.

The links below provide recommendations based on which e-mail provider you use:

Updating an Email Address:

Adding Additional Email Addresses to Our Updates and Emergencies Lists:

Updating a Physical Mailing Address or Other Info:

1. Contact Kim Bridgforth with changes.

How do we get a carpool number for our new carpool?

Early Childhood: In early childhood, teachers provide parents with carpool tags with name rather than numbers. That is done on the first or second day of school after collecting all of the carpool information sheets.

Parents of Early Childhood students should contact their son's teacher and request a carpool name card to be displayed in the front passenger side window.

Elementary: Boys in grades 1-3 have carpool cards. These cards were distributed at the parent meetings. If a parent did not attend the parent meetings, the carpool cards along with other items distributed at the meeting may be picked up at Marilyn Seaton's desk.

The online parent directory is only visible when parents are logged into the website. The general public does not see it, and results from the directory do not show up when the general public is searching the website.

You can find the parent directory under the Parents menu on the website.

You should have the ability to edit your enrtry to amend or remove information that you don't want to be visible. If for any reason, you are unable to edit your entry, please let Winston Baccus know.

Note: there will still be a printed parent directory that will be sent home with the boys in early September 2009.

PK-JK:
PK full-day, PK 2/3, and JK students eat in their rooms. Because of the space constraints and the age of the children, parents do not join them for lunch.

SK:
We ask that you wait until after Christmas to join your Senior Kindergarten boy.

The Senior Kindergarten year is filled with first experiences, and eating in the lunchroom is one of those milestones. It is important that we give the boys ample time to adjust to the new responsibilities that come with eating in the cafeteria.

We invite and encourage you to join us at this later date. The charge is $6.00.

Yes. We’d love for you to have lunch with him, though not at the very beginning of the year so that he can better adjust to school. You may begin to join us for lunch after Labor Day.

The charge is $6.00 .

Is it important to make time to eat lunch with my son a few times? How many?

Sharing lunch with your son can be a special time for both parent and son. We encourage you to limit your lunch visits to 1-3 times a year.

If you have a payment question, you may contact Laura Hyde in the business office at 842-4615 between 8:00 and 4:00.

We know that getting the body moving facilitates better learning over all.

Early Childhood:
Early childhood students have recess every day. Students go outside unless the temperature is below freezing. On day when the boys cannot get out, we insure that they have some opportunity to move even if it is within the classroom

Elementary (1st-6th):
Boys in grades 1-3 have both P.E. and recess everyday. Because the boys will go outside unless it is below freezing, the boys should wear a coat on cold days.

Boys in 4th and 6th grade have P.E. each day and recess 2 days each week. Boys in 6th grade have P.E. each day, but do not go to recess.

Early Childhood:
Senior Kindergarten teachers will send work home periodically to complete or practice. The practice time that you spend with your son helps him to understand its importance and gives you the opportunity to praise him for the progress he is making. While your interest is important, helping your son develop the habit of working independently and taking responsibility for the completion of the work is equally important. The more independent he is as a young child, the more comfortable he will be working independently as the homework expectations increase with age.

It is helpful if you can provide a space for him to work that is free of distractions. Please supply your son with pencils, crayons, markers, scissors, and glue sticks for assignments to be completed at home. We encourage your availability if he experiences difficulty but suggest that you guard against making homework time a family affair.

Elementary (1st-6th):
Elementary Parents in grades 1-6 have a key role to play in assuring that their sons are completing their homework, studying for tests and arriving at school prepared for the academic day.

In grades 1-3 parents may guide and monitor the homework process in order to help develop positive study skills and habits. By the time a boy is in 4th-6th grade, he should be responsible for his own homework.

Early Childhood:
We find that we have very few discipline problems at PDS.

Each grade level in early childhood has an age and developmentally appropriate classroom management plan that focuses primarily on encouraging good behavior. At times, most students need a gentle reminder of what is appropriate. Each grade level builds on the plan from the grade before using charts, verbal reminders, time out, notes home, conversations with the Head of Early Childhood and/or parent teacher conferences for more severe disruptions.

Every day, each boy starts with a clean slate. At the core of our discipline plan is the effort to help each boy develop self-control and responsibility for his behavior. We find that partnering with parent increases the chances that he will do just that.

Happygrams have been a tradition at PDS for over 25 years. They are a way that we recognize a boy, a group of boys, or an entire class for a job well done.

A boy may get a Happygram for a number of reasons. A few are:

• showing kindness to a classmate
• going the extra mile
• giving great effort on his work, or anything else a teacher or administrator may deem happygram worthy.

The happygram itself is a small yellow piece of paper with a smiley face. Whoever is giving the happygram writes a short note to the boy and signs it. Many of the PDS boys line the inside of their lockers with their happygrams.

We want you involved! There are a bunch of ways.

You can:

• read to your son’s class
• be a room parent
• help with special events in your son’s class
• drive on field trips
• eat lunch with your son
  
• make a gift to the school (we ask that every parent make a gift to the annual fund) encourage other parents to give
• The Advanvcement Office coordinates all fundraising efforts and needs lots of volunteers. Lee Rantzow and Cynthia Cross in the Advancement Office can get you plugged in.
• The Parents Association coordinates volunteers for lots of events and functions.
• The Admission Office needs parents to help host prospective parents.

PDS holds high standards for all members of the community, including parents.

• We expect that all members of the community treat one another with respect and kindness. We expect that all members of the community follow school rules and standards.
• We expect parents to support the school’s mission; be actively engaged in the school; attend parent meetings and functions; and assure that their sons come to school well rested, fed, and academically prepared.
• We ask that every parent make a gift to the school’s annual fund.

Mandatory Parent Meetings

All meetings will be held in the Early Childhood Commons.

Parent Night for 1st-6th grades on Thursday, August 30.

Parent-Teacher Conferences:
October 26

Remember that teachers and administrators have their own families and lives beyond PDS and that they have many boys for whom they are responsible.

In an emergency, it is certainly appropriate to call them at home. Otherwise, unless the individual has indicated that he/she would welcome phone calls to her/his home, please do not call them at home.

Know that we welcome and want the opportunity to meet and talk during the normal hours at school.

A neat, tasteful appearance contributes to a positive learning attitude and environment. Only collared shirts are permitted, and shirttails must be tucked in.

Most of our boys wear shorts to school year round but boys are allowed to wear trousers in various colors.

Jeans are not permitted.

All boys must wear tennis shoes, as they will be running and exercising as part of PE and/or recess.

Early Childhood:
The Early Childhood dress code is a bit more flexible. A good rule of thumb is to dress your son in clothing that allows him to take care of all personal hygiene needs independently and with ease. A detailed guideline for dress regulations is found in your student handbook.

Early Childhood (SK only, PK and JK eat lunch in their rooms - see "Can I eat lunch at school with my son"):
In Early Childhood, you will need to send a note to the teacher at the beginning of the week you plan to attend. We want your son to have a special time with you. This advanced notice will allow us to make adjustments if we have an abundance of requests or space constraints.

Elementary (1st-6th):
In the Elementary division, you should send a quick email to your son’s teacher a day or two before you attend.

No need to worry. If you realize he does not have a lunch before his appointed lunchtime, you can bring his lunch to the receptionist desk, and she will make sure he receives it. If he does not have a lunch at lunchtime, he can choose from the selection in the cafeteria, and the school will bill your account $6.00.

UPDATE on 8/24/09:
From this point forward, if a boy forgets his lunch, he can only have the cold lunch that is offered that particular day: turkey, ham or pbj sandwich so that the boys who are on the lunch plan all receieve their lunches.

He must then sign the sheet so that he can be charged accordingly.

1. On your phone, send a new text message to 40404
2. Send this as the message: follow pdsupdates

We'd suggest the main school number, which is 842-4600. That line is monitored from 7:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m., and someone will direct your call.

You may also want to store the direct line for Early Childhood Head Debbie Isom (842-4612) if you have an EC boy, and Elementary Principal Mark Fruitt (842-4610) if you have an Elementary Division boy.

An Administrative Assistant, Cyndy Wright, can be reached directly by calling 842-4678.

Your son’s teacher may give you a contact number at the fall parent meeting. It would be a good idea to include that number in your call list as well.

Each morning an Early Room is open for boys in who arrive between 7:20 a.m. 7:50 a.m. (7:40 a.m. for PK). There is no charge for using the Early Room.

The boys are supervised by members of the PDS faculty. The boys will have the opportunity to read, visit quietly with friends, or sometimes watch an appropriate video.

PK, JK, SK

Early Room for Early Childhood boys is held in the Commons (the circular room that extends from the Early Childhood Center).

PDS used to contract with a company to allow for sales of a Grandparents' Day keepsake video. The last time this was done was in 2005, and only a handful of DVDs were sold, leaving the school responsible for several thousand dollars worth of work since the videos didn't sell in a large enough volume to cover the costs of production.

Because of this, the decision was made to end sales of keepsake videos.

We have just been made aware of a video of The Grandparents' Day program made by one of the audio engineers we contracted with for the program. We will be posting that video on the website. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide DVDs of the video.

View the video from Grandparents' Day 2009.

Video from the 2011 Grandparents' Day program will be posted on the website the Monday following the event.

When I click on 4th grade the pages are the same.  I can not pull up 4AB.

They are actually almost completely identical.

The only difference between the 2 pages will be in the homework assignments for the core subjects, and from time to time, there will be different news on each of them, but most of the time, the news section will be identical as well.

Once the teachers start posting homework items, that's when you'll see some differences.

Each student at PDS is carefully and prayerfully placed into a homeroom as the result of a comprehensive and thoughtful process. That process is supervised by the Head of Early Childhood for boys in PK-SK and by the Assistant Headmaster for Teaching and Learning and the Elementary Principal for boys in grades 1-6. Before making class lists, the administrators meet each spring with the current teachers to seek input regarding each boy's academic, social and emotional needs. It is our goal to create balanced classrooms that include a variety of personalities and learning styles.

While requests for a specific homeroom teacher cannot be honored, the school may in rare cases initiate conversations with parents for guidance in assigning a homeroom if there is a special need.

The most important communication vehicle is the website (www.pdsmemphis.org). Please check it each day.

Most school communication is sent via email.

Make sure you are receiving school emails and that they aren’t being filtered or sent to a junk email box. We will have a test message the week after school starts to ensure that parents are receiving school communications.

Twitter
Finally, we suggest that you follow PDS on Twitter and on Facebook. In addition to following the school news on Twitter, you are welcome to follow those administrators and others who are tweeting.

From Facebook's privacy page:

Children Under Age 13 Facebook does not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under the age of 13 or knowingly allow such persons to register. If you are under 13, please do not attempt to register for Facebook or send any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, or email address. No one under age 13 may provide any personal information to or on Facebook. In the event that we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under age 13 without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information as quickly as possible. If you believe that we might have any information from or about a child under 13, please contact us through the form on our privacy help page.

Facebook is an invaluable tool for communication, however, the Facebook corporate policy does not allow for children under 13 to register. For that reason, we do not use Facebook in our classrooms. However, we do use it as a tool to communicate with parents and alumni.

In the event that a PDS faculty member does receive a friend request from a current student, our policy is to not accept the request.

The Knowledge Base is a place to search for answers to frequently asked questions about PDS. You can ask questions anonymously via an online form, and we'll get the that information posted online. The chances are pretty good that other parents want to know the answers to the same question.

We hope to also keep this updated with answers to questions that come into the main PDS phone number, serving as a real-time compendium of PDS knowledge.

School Day Begins

Normal Schedule Dismissal Times

Half Day Dismissal Schedule

Be sure to let the admission office know your concerns and your preference. The school, however, does abide by a long-standing evaluation placement policy for pre-kindergarten through first grade, which reads:

"In grades pre-kindergarten through first, each boy who applies for admission will be evaluated for the grade level appropriate for his age. For example, if a boy will be age 4 on or before June 1, he must be evaluated for junior kindergarten. He may not apply for the pre-kindergarten; however, if the school determines that he would be better placed in the pre-kindergarten, then he may be either recommended or required to enter pre-kindergarten."

Online applications for the 2013-14 school year are always available on our website and are prefered by the school. Go to the admission tab and click on application. Hard copies are also mailed to anyone who has expressed an interest in PDS and have given contact information to the school and are also available on our website.

To receive emails when you son takes an AR test:

• Go to the PDS website. http://www.pdsmemphis.org
• Go to Parents Tab
• Go to AR Home Connect
• Log in using your son's user name and password for AR (your son should know this info)
• Click Email setup in right corner
• Fill out that form

You will receive an email each time your son takes an AR test reporting his score.

What days are the 4th grade intramural football practices and games?

Football is primarily on Tuesday and Thursday for 4th grade. We try to do the same thing with basketball and soccer, but we can't say for sure until we have all the sign ups for each sport.

A complete schedule will be given out before each sport begins. Pick up time for football is 4:50 p.m.. All of this information is in the letter that went out to 4th-6th grades on Thursday, August 20 (this information will be available via your son's class news on the website shortly, and in the future will be available on the site the day it goes home.)

1. Initial interview: You will interview with the head of the division to which you will be assigned. Plan for the interview to last 45 minutes to one hour.
2. Teaching a lesson: A time will be agreed upon for you to teach a 20-30 minute lesson to the grade level for which you are applying.
3. Follow-up interview: Candidates will interview with the teachers with whom you will work and the administrative team.

• Job Application
• Up-to-date Resume
• Background Check Authorization

• Log on to the PDS website--www.pdsmemphis.org
• Click on “About”
• Scroll to “Employment”
• *Click “Download application for employment”