Leduc Estates School 95 Alton Drive

Leduc, Alberta T9E 5K4

Phone (780) 986—6750

Fax (780) 986—6752

Principal: Mrs. Carla Fisher V.P: Mr. Greg Luchak

September 8, 2015

Principal’s message

Welcome to all our new and returning students and staff! We have a great team

lined up this year to provide an excellent education and an engaging day! We hope

to see you volunteering soon!

It doesn’t take long for all of us to get back into the swing of things and we are

definitely off to a busy start. Our Welcome Back BBQ and Meet the Staff Night

was a huge success. If you haven’t had a chance to meet your child’s teacher, send

them an email. All of our email addresses can be found on our website, http://

les.blackgold.ca/

I would like to thank all of the volunteers that signed up for our Parents’ Associa-

tion. If you missed the meeting, there is a volunteer sheet attached to this news-

letter and on our school web page. Our next Parents’ Association Meeting is

Thursday, October 8th, at 7:00 pm. We encourage all parents to come out and have

a voice in their children’s school.

Finally, I wanted to send a quick reminder that our doors now open at 8:42 am and

classes start at 8:45 am. In the interest of safety for all, please have your chil-

dren arrive no earlier than 8:25 am, as this is when supervision is available.

Please don’t hesitate to call or stop by with any questions or concerns you may

have. I’m looking forward to a great year!

Portable update:

Our two grade six classes (43 students in total) are presently blended together with two

teachers delivering instruction and an educational assistant assigned to this room. Black

Gold Regional Schools has been working closely with the City of Leduc ensuring they meet

all regulations allowing the portable on site. However, as mentioned at our Parents’ Associa-

tion Meeting, the original completion date has been pushed back. The project is presently

out to tender and the new anticipated completion is towards the end of October or early

November. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me directly (Mrs. Fisher

@ 780 986 6750) and I will be able to provide you with accurate information.

Page 2 Staff Assignments

Teaching Staff Grade

Ms. Cynthia Dinstel ECS AM

Mrs. Carla Lancaster ECS PM

Mrs. Debbie Weir ECS AM & PM

Ms. Jennifer Adante 1A

Ms. Taryn Boake 1B

Mrs. Ashley Jevne 1J * Replacing Mrs. Charlotte Bliss on maternity leave

Mrs. Kayla Erhardt 2E

Mrs. Tamara Jabs 2J

Miss Amber Galenza 2G

Mr. Neil Latter 3L

Mrs. Heather Loucks 3LL

Mr. Greg Luchak 3LL

Mrs. Caitlyn Tower 3T

Ms. Laura Wringe 4W

Mrs. Kathryn Lavoie 4L

Ms. Allison Hubenig 5H

Mrs. Aida Susa 5S

Mr. Jake Hendrickson 6H

Mr. Isaac Schnell 6S

Mrs. Amanda Clark Music

Ms. Cynthia Dinstel Learning Support & Counselling

Mr. Greg Luchak Learning Support

Mrs. Heather Loucks Resource Assistance/Early Literacy

Administrative Staff

Mrs. Carla Fisher Principal

Mr. Greg Luchak Assistant Principal

Support Staff

Mrs. Sheila Ankerstein Library Clerk/KinderCare

Mrs. Denise Jakubowski Educational Assistant

Mrs. Ivon Villagra Educational Assistant/OSC

Mrs. Teresa Weber Educational Assistant/OSC

Mrs. Kimberlee Wiggins Educational Assistant

Miss. Kayla Butt Educational Assistant/OSC

Mrs. Sue Prazak Educational Assistant/OSC

Mrs. Sharon Urvold Educational Assistant

Mrs. Nicohl Walker Educational Assistant

Mrs. Cheree Chapman Educational Assistant

Mrs. Nichole Drader Educational Assistant

Mrs. Sandy Musteca Secretary

Mrs. Jody Jones Secretary

Mrs. Lynn Frank Custodian

Mrs. Lia Bersamina Custodian

Supervision Reminder

The safety and well-being of our students is one

of our greatest concerns. In order to assist us

in ensuring that we maintain adequate supervi-

sion of students, please note the following su-

pervision times and related requests

Supervision AM (before school) – Our entry

bell is at 8:42 AM. Beginning at 8:25 AM, we

have staff on supervision. If your child attends

a daycare that transports your child to our

school, please confirm that they are not drop-

ping him/her off prior to this time. We do not

wish to see children unsupervised.

Morning and Lunch Recess – these times are

fully supervised by our own staff. We do not

utilize parent supervisors for these duties.

PM Supervision – Staff members are outside

from 3:05 PM until 3:15 pm. Please note that

your child cannot remain at school to play. They

need to go home first and ’check in’.

Parents, please assist us with ensuring optimal

supervision in doing the following:

If you are riding your bike to school to

pick up your child, we would ask that you

model appropriate safety rules by walking

your bike on school property and crossing at

marked crosswalks.

If you have your dog with you when you

pick up your child, we would ask that you

wait by the fence with your pet. Sometimes

we have children afraid of animals or we

have children who tend to excite the pet and

we would hate for an injury to occur or an

animal to be placed in a situa-

tion where they are over excit-

ed.

Page 3

Reminders:

Grade 1 - 6 School Hours: 8:42 - 3:05

Entry Bell: 8:42 am

Classes Start: 8:45am

Recess: 10:20 am - 10:30 am

Lunch Dismissal: 12:05 pm

Classes Resume: 12:47 pm

Dismissal: 3:05 pm

*Supervisors are outside at 8:25 am

ECS School Hours:

AM Class - 8:42am - 11:30am

PM Class - 12:15 pm - 3:05 pm

Student Absences

For the safety of our students, it is extremely

important to notify the school if your child will

be late or absent. If the school is not notified,

we are obligated to phone your home or office,

or, if needed, your emergency contacts to con-

firm the absence.

For your convenience, you may leave a message

concerning absences on the voicemail system

from 4:00 pm to 8:00 am, or you can send an e-

mail to sandy.musteca@gshare.blackgold.ca

and/or jody.jones@gshare.blackgold.ca.

Visitors to our School

All parents and visitors MUST check in at the

office when visiting our school. A visitor pass

is required if you are going any further than

the front foyer. Sorry, no exceptions

Early Dismissal

October 7, 2015 @ 2:20 pm

Hot Lunch

Hot Lunch will start again in October 2015

Milk Program

Milk cards are $15.00 for 20 milk and can be

purchased at the office.

Page 4

Bus Reminder

If your child rides the BGRS yellow school bus,

they must have their bus pass with them. The

pass needs to be shown daily to the driver.

Please encourage your child to be on time for

the bus pick up and departure time from the

school.

Kids Plus Accident Insurance

For your convenience, we have made arrangements

for families to voluntarily purchase student acci-

dent insurance through the Kids Plus Accident In-

surance Program, underwritten by Industrial Alli-

ance Insurance and Financial Services Inc.

Kids Plus Accident Insurance offers protection

against the unexpected costs of injury from acci-

dents, and is especially valuable for families who:

Do not have medial or dental plans,

Have limited plans, as it may help supplement

health and dental benefits, or

Have active children who enjoy sports and out-

door activities.

Kids Plus Accident Insurance has a selction of

plans to suit most budgets. Benefits include cover-

age for:

The full school year (September to Septem-

ber), 24 hours a day, whether at school or at

home;

Expenses that are often limited or not covered

by private or group insurance plans, or Provin-

cial Health Insurance Plans—such as ambu-

lance, physiotherapy, private tutoring, counsel-

ing, and much more;

Injury-related dental treatment (including fu-

ture dental treatment up to age 26);

Out-of-province or country emergency medical

expenses.

If your address changes during the school year,

your Kids Plus Accident Insurance plan is transfer-

able from school to school, anywhere in Canada.

Insurance premiums are $14.50 and $33.50 per

year, depending on the plan selected, and your

child is covered all the time, not just while at

school. A discounted premium is available for fami-

lies with 3 or more children. For more information

or to apply online, please visit www.kidsplus.ca or

speak with a Kids Plus Client Service Administra-

tor at 1-800-556-7411.

Facility Update

Our school looks wonderful, thanks to the

fabulous efforts of our staff, our division fa-

cilities department and especially our school

custodians. Thank you Mrs. Lynn Frank and

Mrs. Lia Bersamina for going that extra mile

to ensure that the school is a clean education-

al environment for our students and staff.

Parent/School Handbooks

The updated Parent School Handbook will be

posted to the school website by the end of

September. Parents are encouraged to review

this material for information about school

procedures and activities.

Meet the Staff Evening

Parent Association General Meeting

We had a fantastic turn out for our Meet the

Staff and PA Annual General Meeting!

We welcome the following parents who will hold

positions on the Parent Association this year.

Brenda Farry - Chair, Mary-Kate Boychuk - Vice

Chair, Lisa Mochon - Tresurer Rae-Lynn Mryglod

- Secretary.

We look forward to working with you.

Page 5

Microwave Program (Grades 1-3):

The Parent Association has traditionally run a

microwave lunch program beginning in Octo-

ber each year. On these days students may

bring food that requires reheating. Parent

volunteers will heat up the lunches in time for

the lunch hour. Once the LESPA holds their

organizational meeting, we will have more in-

formation about how often this program will

run weekly.

Bake Sale

Every second Wednesday of each month, each

class in our school has an opportunity to host a

bake sale. All items sell for 50 cents and stu-

dents are limited to purchasing 1 item each in

the morning. If there are leftover items, stu-

dents may be given the opportunity to purchase

additional items at lunchtime.

Classroom representatives will notify parents well

in advance of the month of their sale and the quan-

tity of items that are required. All monies collect-

ed are for that classrooms use. This years bake

sale dates and classes are:

September 16th - 4L

September 30th - 4W

October 14th - 5S

October 28th - 5H

November 18th - 6S

November 25th - 6H

December 9th - KDAM & KLPM

January 13th - KWAM

January 27th - KWPM

February 10th - 1J

February 24th - 1A

March 9th - 1B

March 23rd - 2G

April 13th - 2J

April 27th - 2E

May 11th - 3T

May 25th - 3L

June 8th—3LL

Professional Development Days

BGRS’s professional development program

and the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s In-

stitute days for all staff will continue again

this year. These include:

September 18th

October 13th

November 27th

January 29th

March 4th

March 24th

April 22th

May 20th

Teachers Convention February 4 & 5

Students do not attend classes on the

above dates. A reminder that our out of

school programs and KinderCare do not op-

erate on these days.

Lost and Found

It is very discouraging each year when we see

the amount of clothing and other articles that

are lost and never reclaimed. The main reason is

that most of the articles are not labeled, and we

have no way of knowing to whom they belong. We

are asking parents to go on a HUGE labeling

blitz. Please….take the time to mark

all of your child’s clothing / arti-

cles / belongings.

Page 6

Large Items on School Busses

Parents of students who are riding the bus

this year are reminded that items such as

hockey sticks, curling brooms, skateboards,

etc. are not be allowed on busses. Articles

cannot be transported that are larger than

13” x 13” x23”. This applies to busses that

regularly transport students, as well as bus-

ses that take students on field trips.

Volunteers/Visitors: Please sign in

We appreciate the many volunteers who

help out at our school. We also have many

visitors to our school and parents who drop

items off for their children. The safety and

security of your children and our staff is of

the utmost importance. In order to know

who is in our school at all times, it is impera-

tive that volunteers and visitors at Leduc

Estates School sign in and out at the office.

If you need to be in the school for a period

of time, we would happy to provide you with

a guest pass that clearly identifies that we

know that you are in the building. If parents

wish to wait for their children in the main

atrium area after classes it is not neces-

sary to sign in and get a pass.

We would also like to remind our volunteers

and visitors that student and staff privacy

is an important part of our school and we

would ask that you respect student and

staff privacy by not discussing students or

staff in the community. If there is a need

for a parent/guardian to be aware of an is-

sue, the staff at the school are in the best

position to do so. We also ask that volun-

teers in our school refrain from asking

staff personal questions about students who

are not their own children. Thank you for

your cooperation in this matter.

Lice Check

In an effort to keep this problem

non-existent in our school, regular

lice checks are performed through-

out our school year.

Ongoing Communication

We encourage and value parent’s involve-

ment in education. Please maintain regular

communication with your child’s teacher by

reading agendas nightly, providing your

email address and contact information to

the teacher and attending parent/teacher

conferences. You may also call the school

at 780-986-6750 to speak to staff mem-

bers.

Page 7

Bus Loop Safety/Use of the

Crosswalks

Several years ago Leduc Estates School, in

consultation with our Parents’ Association,

instituted a “no drive-thru” in the parking

lot area. To prevent injury to members of

our school family vehicle traffic will not

be permitted in the parking lot between

8:00 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. This time repre-

sents the highest potential risk to stu-

dents.

For those parents who are volunteering at

the school, we have visitor parking at the

front of the school. Please do not park

your vehicles in the bus lane or near the

school sign. Parking near the sign does

not allow for a free flow of traffic. You

may also park on Alton Drive. Thank you

for your continued cooperation in this very

important matter.

Need to Reach Us?

Our school office is open daily between 7:30

AM and 4:30 PM if parents wish to call a

staff member. If the staff member is una-

vailable to take your call you may ask to leave

a voice message and the staff member will

return your call. It is often difficult for a

teacher to take a call immediately preceding

the warning bell in the morning or right after

school in the afternoon so we would ask par-

ents to call at times other than these very

busy times.

To ensure effective and timely communica-

tion, if you have an e-mail address, please in-

dicate this address on the student verifica-

tion form being sent home. This will enable

staff to communicate with you electronical-

ly . Staff may be emailed at the school by

the following format first name.last

name@gshare.blackgold.ca

From time to time it may be necessary for

the school to relay a message from you to

your child. Again, the times immediately pre-

ceding dismissal are extremely busy in the

office. We would ask that parents use the

student agendas to remind their children of

plans for after school and only ask the school

to relay a message if it is of an emergent na-

ture. We are sometimes asked to remind stu-

dents to go for a haircut or to walk with

someone. These types of messages should be

passed on to your child verbally and if neces-

sary, placed in the agenda. Students are not

allowed to use the office phone to make play

dates with other stu-

dents. These arrange-

ments need to be

made before the stu-

dent arrives at school.

Insurance Coverage

Black Gold Regional Schools will continue to pro-

vide blanket school premises insurance coverage

of all students within the Division for the 2015-

2016 school year. This plan provides coverage

for injury sustained in or on school property

while attending classes, while in attendance at or

participating in any approved school activity, and

while traveling directly to and from the resi-

dence to school or the approved activity

Parents do have the option to extend coverage

beyond the blanket insurance provided by the

Board as outlined in the insurance brochure that

is distributed by Industrial Alliance Pacific In-

surance and Financial Services.

Page 8

Safety Drills

BGRS has a comprehensive emergency re-

sponse plan. The safety of our students and

staff is important to us. As in past years,

LES will be practicing various safety drills.

These include fire drills and school lock down

procedures. Discussions with students will

precede our drills to increase the awareness

of safety procedures and decrease possible

anxiety.

In the event of an actual evacuation, LES has

made arrangements with our neighboring

school St. Benedict to house students or if

this is not possible, we have made arrange-

ments with The Alliance Church & Leduc

Composite High School to shelter students.

If this was to occur, parents would be noti-

fied if alternate arrangements for student

pick up became necessary. In the event of an

actual school lock down, parents will be ad-

vised by letter (after the event) of the ne-

cessity for the lock down. Again, if alternate

arrangements for pick up are necessary, we

Fees for the 2015-2016 school year are due

by September 30th. Cheques should be made

payable to Leduc Estates School. The fee

schedule is as follows:

ECS $110.00

Grades 1-6 $60.00

The Leduc Estates School Parents Association

will be covering the cost of Student Agenda’s

this year.

SCHOOL FEES

Milk Program

Leduc Estates School is happy to once again

offer a milk program to our students.

Milk cards are sold though the office at a

price of $15.00 which will buy the student

20 - 237ml chocolate or white milk. Once

purchased, these cards are kept in the class-

room by the teachers, who will track orders

and usage. When a student is running low on

milk punches, the teacher will let that stu-

dent know so they have time to purchase an-

other card before their current one runs

out. This year, our school milk program be-

gins on Thursday, September 10th.

Student Pictures

Student pictures will be taken on Friday,

October 2nd. We will start taking pictures

at 9:00 a.m. and work through until noon.

Our afternoon kindergarten class will have

their pictures taken at 12:30 p.m. There will

be a picture form going home in the next 2

weeks. Please send this form back to school

with your child on picture

day. We are looking for one

volunteer to help on picture

day. If you are able to help,

please call the school office.

Page 9

Food Bank - Fall Round Up

Once again, Leduc Estates School will be taking

part in the Leduc Food Bank “Fall Food Round-

up.” As a school, we feel it is extremely im-

portant for our students to become active in

helping their community. From Sept 29 - Oct

9th, we will have our collection bin in the front

foyer for your non-perishable food donations.

Please help support the less fortunate families

in our community. Thank you!

Terry Fox Walk/Run

The intent of the Terry Fox Walk/Run is

to enlighten our students to the courage

and dedication of a fellow Canadian. Terry

Fox set aside his own pain and tragedy in

order to make a difference in the lives of

his fellow man by raising awareness and

funds for cancer research. The date we

have picked for this year’s Terry Fox

Walk/Run is Friday, September 11th at

approximately 1:05 p.m. Parents and sib-

lings are welcome to join is!

This year, we are asking that all stu-

dents in our school donate a toonie to

the Terry Fox Foundation for Cancer

Research. We hope that a cure for this

terrible disease can be found! We will have

a collection container in the office.

LearnAlberta.ca

(http://www.learnalberta.ca) supports lifelong learning by providing quality online resources to the

Kindergarten to Grade 12 communities in Alberta. Students, teachers, and parents can use the site to

find multimedia learning resources that are correlated to the Alberta programs of study. Some of

the resources on LearnAlberta.ca are licensed by Alberta Education for authorized users only. There-

fore, the Web site is password protected. When using the site at school, the userID and Password

will be automatically entered for users; students and teachers will only have to click the "Login as an

Authorized user" button to enter the site. However, when students, teachers, and parents want to

access LearnAlberta.ca from a computer outside of a school network, they will need to enter the ju-

risdiction user ID and Password. ID: LA03 Password: 4932

Back to School

Page 10

Lunch Hour Rules

Staying for lunch is a privilege and should be communicated to students as such. Students are re-

sponsible for their behavior and if on-going issues occur and a resolution cannot be reached, the

school reserves the right to withdraw this privilege for a period of time or indefinitely.

All students are expected to be seated while eating lunch. There should be no throwing of food or

utensils.

Students are expected to be in their own classroom during the lunch hour.

Students may talk or visit while eating, however, the noise level in a classroom should be at an ac-

ceptable level.

If students need to leave their classroom, for any reason (e.g. bathroom, office, to get a drink, to put

things in lockers etc.) they are to check with a supervisor before doing so.

Microwave Use – For grades 4-6, the microwaves are in the classroom. It is to the teacher’s discre-

tion how these will be utilized. Please communicate these expectations to your students, parents and

the supervisors that are on supervision in your room. Please remember to have your students cleans

these machines as they are not in the cleaning duties of our custodians.

Students are expected to clean up after themselves. All lunch containers should be put away prior to

going outside for recess. Each classroom has paper towel and cleaning solution.

When the lunch hour bell rings to go outside for recess, students are to go outside promptly. Supervi-

sors are asked to ensure all students are out of the classroom and then please turn off lights and

close the door. The teacher on call is asked to periodically check the hallways and bathrooms.

If students are to remain inside for any reason, teachers are to note this on the whiteboard, followed

by their signature. Students are not allowed to be in classrooms unsupervised.

If a supervisor speaks to a student for misbehavior during the lunch hour, write the name on the

board, followed by contact the teacher directly. The classroom teacher will monitor the number of

times the problem(s) is/are occurring.

(Updated September 2015)

LUNCH HOUR PROTOCOL:

With the start of a new school year, I would like to take the opportunity to review the lunch hour protocol

for the students who stay at school for lunch. As a school, we encourage students to go home for lunch if

possible. If it is not possible to go home, students are welcome to stay for lunch but they must abide by

the rules that have been established. We ask for parents support in reviewing these expectations with

their child. A copy of these expectations are printed below.

At Leduc Estates School students eat lunch in their classrooms from 12:05 until 12:25. We do not

utilize parent supervisors during the lunch hour. Our students are supervised by four staff who move from

room to room during this period. At 12:25 our students go outside, weather permitting. During this time

period, three staff members are on the playground. In addition, there is always a staff

member “on call” in the office to deal with issues/injuries that may occur. In the past, this procedure has

worked well. For the most part, our students are well behaved during the lunch hour. In the event of prob-

lems during the lunch hour, the teacher on duty will deal with the issue. In the event of

repeated issues with a particular student, we will contact the parents to advise them and to seek a resolu-

tion. We appreciate your support.

Page 11

Leduc Estates School Before/After School Care

Leduc Estates School currently operates a Before/After School Care program. This program is

licensed and monitored through Alberta Children Services. Our licensing capacity is for 51 stu-

dents. All parent who wish to access this program must register their child(ren) in advance by

completing the OSC Registrations forms and buying a punch card. Due to licensing requirements,

we must have emergency contact phone numbers and addresses on all forms. Your registration

forms will not be accepted and no child can attend without this information. The program is cur-

rently full. We will re-evaluate in a couple of weeks.

REMINDER INFORMATION

If your child does not attend the After School Care Program on a full time daily basis, we

ask that you let us know if in advance when your child will be attending so that we can

watch for them after school. You can call the school at 780-986-6750 or you can send a

note in your child’s agenda.

Our program has always had a strict 5:30 PM pick up which is the time on our license. We

have contractual obligations to our staff who work in this program and they also have fami-

lies who are expecting them home. In the past, we have had conversations with parents

when they are late picking up their children and while they typically indicate their remorse,

it doesn’t solve our issues. Effective September 10th, 2012, the following guidelines apply:

We will be enforcing a strict 5:30 pick up. Please note that we will go by the clock that is

currently set in the OSC room (it may be different than your watch or vehicle so if you

are cutting it that close, you may wish to double check your time.) Parents who arrive late

to pick up a child will be issued a bill from the school office for a period of no less than

half an hour at the overtime rate for staff. Your child will not be allowed to attend until

this outstanding fee is paid. A subsequent late will result in notice to find alternate place-

ment. We thank everyone for their cooperation in this matter. The success and on-going

viability of this program depends on us all working together.

School Newsletter/Updated Web page

Our newsletters and school webpage are two of the best ways of communicating all pertinent infor-

mation about the school. This year we are continuing to be GREEEN! All newsletters will be posted to

the school webpage. Generally, this will occur on the Friday following early dismissal. Access these at

http://les.blackgold.ca/parents/forms/

We would also like to remind parents of the “Forms Cabinet” that can be found on our school web-

site. Within this cabinet you will find copies of the pertinent forms for both the school and division.

Page 12

Leduc Estates Hot Lunch Program

The Leduc Estates Parent Association oper-

ates a very successful hot lunch program. All

ordering and payment is done through an on-

line system at www.hotlunches.net. The Ac-

cess Code is 2015LES-HL. Your child was given

a paper copy of the instructions for this sys-

tem. If you have misplaced these instructions,

they are posted electronically on our school

web page.

Please note: Accounts DO NOT carry over

from year to year.

The online ordering system opens for ordering

on the 1st of every month, and closes at mid-

night on the 15th. Any ordering that is not

complete will be automatically removed from

the system.

Library News

I just wanted to introduce myself. My name is

Mrs. Sheila Ankerstein and I am the Library

Clerk at Leduc Estates School. I am really

looking forward to spending time with all the

students during library classes this year. We

will be reading stories, checking out books,

holding contests, and sharing ideas in a re-

laxed atmosphere. Students will be allowed to

take out 2 books each week. Please encourage

your child to return books each week or renew

them for an additional week.

Twice a year we will have a Scholastic Book

Fair where students will be able to purchase

book, posters, and novelty items.

Please feel free to contact me throughout the

school year with any library concerns you may

have.

Thank you.

Mrs. Sheila Ankerstein

Library Clerk

Homework Catch Up

Many parents are concerned when their child misses school due to prolonged illness and/or family vaca-

tions. Many of the classroom activities that students are engaged in on a regular basis involve discus-

sion or group activities that are hard to replicate for homework. Please note that family holidays are

not excused absences and parents are responsible for ensuring that students have access to education-

al activities. Teachers will provide general guidelines for parents that deal with the topic under study.

It is not possible to provide detailed homework for each student across each subject area.

During these occasions, we recommend that parents have their child read on a regular basis, keep a

journal to promote writing skills, practice math concepts etc. through games and computer assisted ac-

tivities. Parents are also encouraged to access curriculum information and related computer activities

through the BGRS website (ICT).

In terms of assessment, our teachers will work with parents to ensure that students have an opportuni-

ty to demonstrate their understanding of concepts in a timely fashion upon their return.