Achieving Excellence
• 8th Grade Reflection Ceremony – June 5 at 10 am
• Order your PMS 8th grade Class of 2020 shirts
• Order your PMS 8th grade Class of 2020 Composite Photo
Streaming links will be posted on the website on the day of the event
Peirce Middle School
BACK TO SCHOOL NEWS FOR 2019-2020
August 2019
Dear Peirce Families,
On behalf of our entire faculty and staff, we hope this summer has been a happy and safe one for you and your family. We have worked hard to prepare for this upcoming school year and look forward to welcoming our families back to Peirce on Monday, August 26 for the first day of school. Our maintenance and custodial staff are putting the final touches on the building and we are eager for the arrival and installation of three modular classrooms. We are confident they will be delivered and installed prior to students and teachers returning to Peirce J! Open House will be held on Wednesday, September 4 (6th grade) and Thursday, September 5 (7th and 8th grade). While we will send a formal invitation as we get closer to the event, I wanted you to have the dates ahead of time to help with your fall planning.
The purpose of this communication is to share valuable information that will lay the foundation for an enjoyable school year. Please carefully review all of the information in this document, especially that relating to school attendance on page 3, which I am highlighting as a prescriptive means of helping you to avoid attendance-related entanglements.
As of August 5, the back to school website will be open for you to complete the annual paperwork that the district requires at the start of each school year. It helps us tremendously to have it done prior to the start of the year. Please click on the link below and don’t hesitate to contact the office at 484-266-2501 if you need assistance.
Carline Information
Attached you will also find the carline safety information for the 2019-2020 school year. Please take a moment to review the information and feel free to reach out with any questions. Student drop off and pick up can be challenging with the high volume of cars that enter the campus. We appreciate your efforts in helping keep our students safe during this time.
The Peirce PTO will be selling spirit wear and the required P.E. shirts at our open house on September 4 and 5. You may also place an order by visiting the link below. Orders will be delivered to your student’s homeroom the first week of school.
Student schedules will be available on Thursday, August 13 through the parent portal. If you do not have login credentials, please contact the main office [484-266-2501] and we will assist you. On the first day of school, students will receive their schedules in homeroom. Courses and levels were verified by parents this past spring and summer. The Peirce Administration will not accommodate parent/guardian requests to have students placed (or not placed) in a specific teacher’s class. Thank you for your anticipated understanding and support of this matter.
Tentative bus schedules will be made available to parents on Wednesday, August 7 through the parent portal. Final bus schedules will be released on Thursday, August 22. Each student is responsible for knowing his or her bus number, stop location and pick-up time. Students should be at their bus stop at least five minutes before the scheduled pick-up time. Students are neither permitted to ride a bus to which he or she is not assigned to or from school nor get off at an unassigned bus stop without written permission from the student’s parent/guardian as well as the parent/guardian receiving and supervising the child upon arrival at the unassigned bus stop. These notes must be brought to the office before homeroom where a temporary bus pass will be issued for that trip only.
Student Drop-Off/ Pick-up: Safety is the top priority at Peirce. Please use the designated lane to drop-off/pick-up students. There will be only one lane available for drop off and pick up in the morning and afternoon. Prepare for long lines and plan accordingly. Stay in the car line and follow staff members’ instructions. Please adhere to the 15 mph speed limit at all times. Due to the start time of the staff workday, Students must not enter school before 7:30 am unless directed by a teacher for participation in a pre-determined activity or club. Students dropped off before 7:50 AM must wait in the cafeteria until dismissed to lockers/homeroom.
Being On Time to School: Homeroom begins at 8:05 AM and ends at 8:15 AM. Students arriving late to homeroom (after the homeroom bell rings at 8:05 AM) must report to the office for a pass. Lateness will be handled in accordance with the WCASD Attendance Policies, and PA State Laws.
Riding the bus, the car line, and being marked late:
Peirce Middle School enforces the WCASD Attendance Policy and PA State attendance laws as they relate to absences and tardies. Students are required to be in attendance daily to keep current with school work. Parents, when your child must be absent, please call our absence line 484-266-2510 before 9:00 AMas early in the day as possible (Please do not call the nurse.)
After an absence, a hand-signed parent or doctor’s note must be submitted to the homeroom teacher within three days of the student’s return to school or the absence will be considered unexcused/unlawful. As an educator and parent, I support the effort to cultivate a sense of responsibility in children, beginning in 6th grade, to develop their sense of independence and exercise responsibility by handing parent notes to our Attendance Secretary, immediately upon entry to school the day they return from an absence. However, sometimes students forget to do that, or lose the note, and then after 3 days have elapsed, his or her parent receives a letter notifying the family that the absence has been categorized as unlawful. It is not a pleasant letter to receive and read. When questioned by the parent, many children will erringly report that they did in fact submit the note, and it is the receiving adult who lost the note, when in reality, it was the student who lost the note or forgot to turn it in. Resolving such a situation can be very difficult, as the parent has little to no direct knowledge of how the child handled the matter. Our attendance procedures are well established, highly routinized, and uniform throughout the school.
If it is necessary for your child to leave school early, a written request by a parent must be presented to the office upon his or her arrival to school. A pass with the dismissal time will then be given to your child. If you are unsure of an appointment time before your child leaves for school, please call before arriving for pick-up. Please try to refrain from making appointments during school hours.
Please click on the link below to access more information about the WCASD Attendance Policy.
Cell phones, iPods, other MP3 players, and other unauthorized electronic devices are not allowed to be carried in school. If a student chooses to bring any of the devices mentioned to school, then they must be turned off and stored in the student’s locker for the duration of the school day. Failure to follow this directive will result in the confiscation of the item and possible further disciplinary action, including, but not limited to, the student’s parent/guardian having to pick the item up from school.
Each student will have a locker assigned with a built-in lock. The locker must be locked consistently and the combination kept private to maintain security. All students should bring a combination lock to school to secure belongings in a locker in the P.E. and/or athletic locker rooms.
Please check our website often to find updates and school information. You may also keep abreast of your child’s progress by accessing our Parent Portal system.
Peirce Pride:
Every week, we will send electronically the Peirce Pride, our school E-blast through email only. The Peirce Pride is filled with important Peirce news, dates, happenings and announcements. Additionally, you can also follow the school on twitter. Please flow us on Twitter @PeircePride
Students should wear the standard Peirce uniform, grey Peirce t-shirt, black or blue gym shorts with white socks and sneakers. Please print student’s name on the inside of the shorts and t-shirt.
Students are permitted to have backpacks/book bags to transport their books to and from school. Backpacks/book bags are NOT permitted to transport texts from classroom to classroom during the school day.
Sports offered in the fall for 7th and 8th graders include football, volleyball, field hockey, boys’ soccer and girls’ soccer. All student athletes should be prepared to start their fall sport on the second day of school with the exception of football. The West Chester Area School District is pleased to announce that all middle school families will now be able to complete the PIAA physical registration information required for sports participation online through www.familyid.com. We will no longer be accepting hard copies of the physical packet. Family ID is a secure, user-friendly, registration platform that streamlines the registration process and helps the WCASD be more administratively efficient and environmentally responsible. When you register through FamilyID, the system keeps track of your information in your FamilyID profile. Please see the registration link and introduction letter to Family ID.
Please have the following information when you register:
Doctor information
Health Insurance Information
Current Physical Exam – dated after June 1, 2019
REGISTRATION PROCESS:
Parent/guardian click the link to register:
https://www.familyid.com/e-n-peirce-middle-school
Family ID Information Letter
The sixth grade intramural sports program is held after school and will focus on basic skills and provide competition within school. The sixth grade entrance physical exam may be used all year for sports participation, so no further physical is required. Our student handbook, given out the first day, will provide more information. Please call the athletic office voice mail at 484-266-2525 for daily sports information or to leave a message for the Athletic Manager, Mr. Sam Virgilio, svirgilio@wcasd.net.
Pennsylvania requires that a physical examination be submitted to the school nurse for ALL SIXTH GRADE STUDENTS. A copy of any physical from camp, etc. is fine. Also mandated are dental exams for SEVENTH GRADE STUDENTS. All PA State immunization requirements must be met within the prescribed timelines or the school must exclude students from attending school as its recourse per PA laws.
All medications, even Over-the-Counter (OTC) medications, must be dispensed by the school nurse. Do not send medications with your child to take during the day. This is against school policy and the WCASD Discipline Code. Medications which need to be given during school must be accompanied by a signed permission note from a parent and a written order from the doctor with type, dosage and time. A copy of the prescription to the pharmacy is not the same and cannot be accepted. Students are not permitted to bring their medications to school. A parent/guardian must personally deliver the medication to the school nurse, who must secure and dispense the medication. Students are not permitted to dispense medications to themselves. Our Nurse, Mrs. DiLiberto, will be available for early medicine drop-off at various times in August. Please contact her to schedule the delivery of the medication by calling her at 484-266-2506 or emailing her at ddiliberto@wcasd.net.
All students will be given access to an electronic copy of WCASD Discipline & Records Policy through the distribution of the 1 to 1 laptops. Additionally, the policy manual will be reviewed with each grade level during their town hall meeting the first week of school. It is vitally important to review every page of these documents with your child. Each child will be required to verify through signature that they have received the policy. Knowing what is expected of each student and what consequences are for various offenses will be important to having a successful experience at Peirce Middle School.
Personal space
Keep your hands to yourself and off of others and their property.
Respect
Treat others the way you would want to be treated.
Integrity
Be honest and always do what’s right.
Discipline
Uphold and honor the directions and instruction of the Peirce Staff
Education
Participate actively and appropriately in your education.
No one has the right to disrupt teaching and learning.
You and only you are responsible for the choices you make.
Main Office, 484-266-2500
Website: https://pa02203541.schoolwires.net/pms
Mr. Joseph DiAntonio, Principal (6th Grade)
484-266-2501
jdiantonio@wcasd.net
Mr. Shawn Cruice, Assistant Principal (7th grade)
484-266-2503
scruice@wcasd.net
Dr. Judy Maxwell, Assistant Principal (8th grade)
484-266-2502
jkmaxwell@wcasd.net
Mrs. Stephanie Roesener, Counselor (6th grade)
484-266-2513
sroesener@wcasd.net
Ms. Carol DeMarco, Counselor (7th grade)
484-266-2511
cdemarco@wcasd.net
Ms. Akieda Behlin, Counselor (8th grade)
484-266-2512
abehlin@wcasd.net
Mrs. Dana DiLiberto, Nurse
484-266-2506
ddiliberto@wcasd.net
Mrs. Fran Laughlin, Caseworker
484-266-2520
flaughlin@wcasd.net
Mr. Sam Virgilio, Athletic Director
484-266-2525
svirgilio@wcasd.net
If you have any questions or cannot access the information for any reason, please call the Peirce Main Office at 484-266-2500. Our staff is committed to helping each student achieve his or her personal best in a safe, positive atmosphere marked by rigor and first-rate learning opportunities. Enjoy the last few days of summer and do not hesitate to reach out if you have questions. We are here to help and look forward to working with you and your child.
Thank you!
Joseph DiAntonio, Principal
Peirce Middle School
1314 Burke Road, West Chester, PA 19380
Phone: 484-266-2500Fax: 484-266-2599
