District 9 School Board Election on August 6th

Did you know there is a school board race on August 6th? There is no primary, this is it. It is non-partisan. The two candidates for District 9 (West Nashville, including Sylvan Park) are:

Russelle Ann Bradbury

Abigail Tylor

Please click their names to check out their websites or read candidate answers to a recent National Public Education Foundation survey here.

Update: Deadline Extended to Receive Financial Assistance

The Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) and the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) announced this month that Tennessee families are now eligible to receive financial support for their children’s nutritional needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This support is provided through the Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program. The application period has been extended to July 13, 2020 at 4:30 pm. 

Under the new P-EBT program, families of children who receive free or reduced meals at school or attend a Community Eligibility Provision school may receive financial assistance to replace school meals during the months of March, April and May due to COVID-19 school closures. The program will provide parents with $5.70 per child for each day that child qualifies for P-EBT.

“Families across our state depend on the meals their children receive at school and many were not prepared to immediately replace those meals when schools shut down for COVID-19,” said TDHS Commissioner Danielle W. Barnes. “The P-EBT program brings economic support to ensure children receive the nutrition they need. Helping families through this emergency is how we continue building a thriving Tennessee.”

Parents who already receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits currently, do not need to apply. The funds began arriving on the EBT card they already use beginning June 12. Parents who do not receive SNAP benefits, but whose children do qualify for free or reduced school meals, will need to apply for P- EBT online here beginning June 15.

Individuals who need assistance completing their P-EBT application or have general questions about the program are encouraged to call the TDHS hotline at 1-833-496-0661 and select option 3. Qualifying families will receive P-EBT support in two installments, one for meals in March and April initially, and then one additional disbursement later next month for May meals.

“During the COVID-19 school closures, we saw an incredible, herculean effort to keep providing meal services to students and families,” said TDOE Commissioner Penny Schwinn. “This additional relief from P-EBT will be helpful during this time of uncertainty for families and it is important to make sure every eligible family knows about the program.”

Throughout the COVID-19 school closures, many districts and schools across Tennessee used innovative ways to continue delivering meals to students and families, such as “grab and go” options, drive-throughs, or bus delivery, and on average provided 1.5 million meals a week to families regardless of a student’s enrollment. Many emergency sites are continuing to provide student meals and receiving these meals does not disqualify a family from the P-EBT program.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act authorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to approve states for Pandemic EBT (P-EBT). Approved state agencies may operate P-EBT when a school is closed for at least five consecutive days during a public health emergency designation when the school would otherwise be in session. Tennessee is among the more than 40 states that have received P-EBT approval.

Learn more about the Tennessee Department of Human Services at www.tn.gov/humanservices.

School Supply Lists by Grade

With the news that school will be begin virtually, parents may want supplies for at-home learning. We are providing the following supply lists with items teachers requested for each grade level this school year. As teachers learn more about the new virtual curriculum, some items may change. If parents pre-purchased a school supply kit this past Spring, the school will be working on a retrieval plan to pick up the kits prior to the start of the school year.

Back to School Health Visits

The Metro Public Health Department will have extended hours at all three of their preventive health clinic locations starting July 21st for 4 weeks. See important details about what to bring and how to make an appointment in the multilingual flyer below. Scroll over the bottom of the flyer to access additional pages.

Immunization-Clinics-Lentz-half-sheet-trilingual-Final

Framework for Reopening Schools

We know our Sylvan Park families are anxiously anticipating word on whether school will reopen on August 4th. MNPS released a Framework today with three levels for re-opening and operating the 2020-2021 school year based on the rate of community COVID-19 spread in Metro-Nashville. An announcement will be made the week of July 6th regarding which scenario we will be following. What school will look like depends on us. Please continue to wear masks and socially distance so we can welcome our Panthers back in the safest manner possible on August 4th. For more detailed information, including the official Framework, please see the news release from the school district.

LAST WEEK to Order School Supplies

Friday is the last day to order school supply kits! The kits contain all the supplies Sylvan Park teachers have determined students will need for the year. Be sure to select the grade your child WILL BE ENTERING in the fall. The sale is online only. Orders will be waiting for your child on the 1st day of school. Order online at: http://www.shopttkits.com and enter Sylvan Parks account number: 79045. 

Questions? Contact carrie_a_harris@yahoo.com.

Drive-Thru School Items Pickup

Student items pickup day on May 21 will be drive-thru style. Please display a tag with your child’s first and last name and grade level. Families of students in Kindergarten through grade 2 will drive through the back parking lot; those with students in grades 3 and 4 will drive in front of the school. *If you have children in both grade spans, you will need to drive through both locations.

Pickup times are staggered by student last name:
8-10am A-F 10am-12pm G-L 12-2pm M-R 2-4pm S-Z
Everyone must stay in their vehicles. Staff will be stationed outside and grade level teachers will bring students’ items out to your car.

Please make every effort to retrieve your child’s items Thursday, May 21. For those unable to come May 21, a very limited number of staff will be present at the front of the school from 8-10am Friday, May 22.

Please adhere to social distancing guidelines and stay 6 feet apart. If you must walk/bike, there will be X’s 6 feet apart on which to wait. This is a quick pickup time, a quick hi/bye, not a teacher conference time. Teachers and staff are happy to talk or answers questions virtually.

Medications distribution will be in front of the building and handled on an individual basis by Yawanda and Ali. Your child’s personal items from the classroom will be brought to you with the medications.

If you have library items or laptops to return, there will be boxes for those at the front of each car rider line. You will need to complete a form if you are returning a laptop to Sylvan Park.

Lost and Found items will be held until the building re-opens.