Dear Parents/Guardians,

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has stopped the federal meal waivers that have allowed schools to serve free meals to all students for the past two years. This upcoming school year, South Central will return to traditional edibility requirements for free, reduced, and paid benefit applications. If you do not receive an email notification by July 29th that your student(s) is qualified for free meals because of SNAP or Medicaid, please fill out a new application through Harmony Family Access. Applications will be available once online registration opens on August 2nd. Paper applications are also available in the school offices.

Students who are not approved for free or reduced-priced meal benefits before the start of school will be classified as paid and meal charges will begin the first day of school. Full pay breakfast will be $1.50 and full pay lunch will be $2.60. More detailed information about school meals for this upcoming school year will be coming soon.

Thank you,

Karen Hagenow, Food Service Director

Dear South Central Elementary Families,

For the past several years, South Central has partnered with the LaPorte YMCA to offer after-school care for our students. Starting in the 2022-2023 school year, the YMCA will no longer offer after-school care for our students.

Little Dreamers, located at 7407 W. US-30 in Wanatah, has space available for South Central Elementary students who need after-school care. If you utilize Little Dreamers for after-school care, your child will be able to ride the bus from South Central to Little Dreamers on a daily basis. All the details of the program including the cost should be discussed with Sandra Wood, owner of Little Dreamers. The phone number for Little Dreamers is (219) 733-2800. We are very grateful for Sandra and her willingness to host our students for after-school care. If your child will be attending after-school care at Little Dreamers, you will need to let the elementary office know the days your child will be riding the bus to Little Dreamers.

I hope you are all having a great summer!

Sincerely,

Nick Kimmel, Elementary Principal

The Northwest Health Sports Medicine Program will be offering sports physicals at South Central on June 21st from 5:30pm to 8:00pm in the south gym. There is no cost (donations accepted) for the physicals and they are available to students ages 5-18. See the flyer for more information.

IHSAA Physical Form

South Central Elementary School, through its penny war fundraiser, raised $7,262.70 for Riley Hospital for Children!

The penny war fundraiser was sponsored by Junior Council members and was held during the month of February. South Central Elementary (and the Corporation) will now be designated as a "Red Wagon School/Corporation" for their fundraising efforts! Additionally, a Red Riley Wagon with a customized South Central license plate will be used at Riley Hospital as transportation for many patients.

Dear Parent/Guardian,

The purpose of this letter is to provide the most up-to-date information pertaining to COVID-19 protocols as it relates to school bus transportation. On Friday, February 25, the CDC released guidance that removes the facemask requirement on school buses. Specifically, the updated guidance stated the following:

Effective February 25, 2022, CDC is exercising its enforcement discretion to not require that people wear masks on buses or vans operated by public or private school systems, including early care and education/child care programs. CDC is making this change to align with updated guidance that no longer recommends universal indoor mask-wearing in K-12 and early education settings in areas with a low or medium COVID-19 Community Level.

The full text of the CDC's recommendations can be found here: CDC Travel Mask Guidance

Therefore, effective Tuesday, March 1, 2022, South Central will no longer require masks on school buses. We appreciate everyone's support as we work through the updated protocols. With the removal of several protocols recently, please remember that we need everyone's assistance to continue to operate South Central as safely as possible. If your child feels ill, please have them stay home. If you are an individual that tests positive for COVID-19, you are still required to quarantine for 5 days and must wear a mask upon returning on days 6-10 in school and on the bus.

We will continue to provide updates if further recommendations change. Thank you for your continued support and for choosing South Central for your child's education.

Sincerely,

Dr. Theodore Stevens, Superintendent

Dear Parent/Guardian,

The purpose of this letter is to provide the most up-to-date information pertaining to COVID-19 protocols and quarantine requirements for students/staff at South Central. As you may know, the Indiana State Department of Health is recommending that schools no longer contact trace. Please find the two pages of the presentation that specifically speak to that point as well as the full informational packet from the IDOH at the following link: Indiana K-12 Guidance for Isolation and Quarantine

Therefore, effective Tuesday, February 22, 2022, South Central will no longer contact trace student or staff positive cases. South Central will remain a mask optional environment with the exception of school buses where the federal requirement is still active. As a reminder, if you feel ill, please stay home. If you are an individual that tests positive for COVID-19, you are still required to quarantine for 5 days and must wear a mask upon returning on days 6-10. Please note that your student will not be provided with a certified absence unless they receive a positive test result from a physician or COVID testing site (home tests will not be accepted for certified absences). 

The South Central Elementary Junior Council will be sponsoring a penny war fundraiser between grade levels to help benefit Riley Hospital for Children. The fundraiser will take place from February 9th to February 25th with prizes for the most money raised by grade level and for reaching the school goal. Details on this fun way to raise money can be found in the attached flyer.

South Central Elementary School will hold kindergarten roundup for the 2022-2023 school year on Monday, February 21st from 9:00am-2:00pm and on Thursday, March 3rd from 3:30pm-6:00pm.

Children who turn five by August 1, 2022 are eligible to sign up. Children who turn five by October 1, 2022 may still sign up and parents/guardians will be given a recommendation of enrollment by the kindergarten staff based on their screening. 

Please bring the child's birth certificate.

Support the South Central Elementary Junior Council by donating gently worn/new winter attire. From January 10th to January 28th, the Junior Council will be collecting winter coats, snow boots, hats, gloves, scarves, and tennis shoes to help those in need during the colder weather. Thank you for your support!