Helen B. Duffield Elementary School

Morning Arrival Procedures

In an effort to ensure the safety of all students, kindly adhere to the following:
 

1. When dropping students off in the morning, use the single lane next to the building.  Please do not double park to let your child out.
2. When dropping your child off, please have them exit "curbside".  Students should not be exiting the vehicle on the parking lot side, as there are cars pulling into the lot. 
3. If you are arriving at the same time of buses, please wait until the buses have unloaded and left before pulling up and having your child exit the car.

For 4th and 5th grade only: We are so happy to see that some students would like to ride their bikes to school!  If this is something that you would like for your child to do, please send in a note to the main office granting permission for them to do so.  Also, please take note that according to NYS Law, anyone under 14 is required to wear a certified a bicycle helmet when operating or riding as a passenger on a bicycle.  As such, students without a helmet will not be permitted to ride their bikes home.

Dismissal Procedures

Dismissal for walkers begins at 3:25 from our cafeteria.  Students will be released to people listed on the emergency contact card  (with ID) only.  

Regular attendance in elementary school sets up a good pattern for your child's entire school career.  Show them that school comes first by trying to keep days off for illness and family emergencies.  Also, schedule routine doctor and dentist appointments for after school and over breaks. 

Please have students arrive to school on time at 9:05. Any student who arrives after 9:15 must stop at the Main Office for a late pass in order to be admitted to class. Any child arriving at the Main Office after 9:15 AM will be marked tardy.

Please do not sign students out of school before 3:20 PM. The teachers are teaching until that time and should not be disrupted. If you must make a doctor’s appointment during school hours, please send in a note with your child that morning so that your child will be sent to the office at the designated time. It is important to schedule appointments after school hours when at all possible so that students do not miss valuable learning time. Our “walkers” start walking towards the cafeteria for sign out at 3:25 PM. If you decide to pick up your child during the day, please report to the office and Miss Mary will call your child out of the classroom to meet you for dismissal. At that time, you will be asked to sign your child out. REMINDER: Always bring I.D.

If a student is absent, please call the Main Office at 467-6010, option #1. You can leave a voicemail message before or after school hours. If the Nurse calls for you to pick up a sick child, please stop in the Main Office and sign the student out before heading to the Nurse’s office.

All notes must be written on a large sheet of paper. Post-it note sized papers and other small slips of paper can be easily lost or misplaced, which could result in confusion for you, us and your child. You can fax us notes at 467-6326.

Notes should be sent for the following reasons:

• Returning from an absence from school
• Change in dismissal
  • Child being picked up by a different person
  • Child will ride a different bus home