Back to School Information 2025-2026
****FIRST AND MOST IMPORTANTLY-COMPLETE ALL FINAL FORMS**** (https://fairfield-oh.finalforms.com/ ) - Transportation Info tab -TO DESIGNATE YOUR CHILD PICK-UP, WALKER OR BUS RIDER****
Daily Drop Off K-AM through 5th graders
- Pull into the parking lot off of River Rd. using the right hand lane only, follow (to the right) around the perimeter of the staff parking lot.
- Please do not block the driveway so that our buses are able to enter the bus lot.
- Students should be dropped off in the front entry drive (one way), no earlier than 9:15 am
- Pull forward to the beginning of the side walk or the farthest point possible. This prevents cars from lining up on River Road and also blocking our bus entry.
- For their safety, students must exit the car on the right hand passenger side.
- Adults dropping off students are asked to remain in their cars when dropping off. Please make sure your child is ready to exit the car when you arrive at drop off point.
- Students will be directed to enter in through the front gym doors until 9:25 am then through the front doors.
- Students will be expected to sit or stand in the gym while they are waiting to be released to their classroom.
- Staff in the gym will assist students to their homerooms
- Parents are not allowed to park in the front entry drive and are not permitted to enter the gym with their child/ren.
Preschool ONLY - drop off and pick up procedures: We will be conducting drop off and pick up on the North side of the building. Park on Vinnedge Avenue. For safety reasons, please use the sidewalk and designated area next to the Preschool playground to walk your child to the classroom door. The gate to access the lot will ONLY be for buses.
AM Session: drop off/pick up will be from 9:20-9:30 a.m. and 12:00-12:10 p.m.
PM Session: drop off/pick up will be from 1:10-1:20 p.m. and 3:50-4:00 p.m.
If you arrive after classroom doors are closed, you will be required to walk your child into the front office.
PARKING FROM RIVER ROAD TO THE FIRST GATE IS PROHIBITED. PLEASE BE COURTEOUS TO OUR NEIGHBORS AND TRAFFIC TRYING TO PASS THROUGH...DON'T BLOCK DRIVEWAYS AND MAKE SURE THERE IS ROOM FOR GENERAL TRAFFIC TO PASS. THANK YOU!
Kindergarten ONLY (K-AM pickup and K-PM drop off is out front) drop off and pick up procedures:
- Morning session drop off will be out front in a drive-thru fashion. If you would like to walk your student to the door, you MUST park in the parking lot. Drop off begins at 9:15 a.m. and students will enter through the gray gym doors located to the right of the front doors.
- Morning session pick up will be out front, you will be required to park and walk up to the front doors to receive your child. Pick up will begin at 12:05 p.m. If your child is not picked up before 12:10 p.m., you must come into the office and sign them out.
- Afternoon session drop off will be out front, you will be required to stay with your child until the teacher comes out front to receive them at 1:20 p.m. If your child arrives later than 1:20 p.m., you will be required to walk your student into the office to sign in.
- Afternoon session pick up will be out front. If you have designated your child a “pick up” in Final Forms, they will be assigned a pick up number. You will line up with the rest of the cars out front – please review “2025-2026 Policies and Procedures for Dismissal” below.
As always, the safety of our students is of utmost concern to us. We appreciate your compliance with the above policies/procedures.
Dismissal for Walkers and Car Riders
2025-2026 Daily Transportation Policies and Procedures
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Pick Up Procedure for Car Riders:
We will have two lanes during afternoon (4:00 pm) pick up for grades K-PM-5. We will load one lane at a time. After the first lane is loaded we will release them to leave. Then we will fill the second lane of cars. We will go back and forth until all students have been picked up. Pick up begins at 4:00 and is usually done no later than 4:10, this will continue to be our goal! PLEASE pay attention to the staff directing you where to go and when to pull forward, this will make the process much smoother. In order to ensure student safety, the following safety precautions must be followed:
• When arriving to line up for pick up, all cars must enter the lot in the right hand lane. Do not cross over the exit lane on the left side. Once you have entered the lot in the right hand lane, circle the staff parking lot to get in line.
students. Parents, please remain in your car to keep the line running smoothly.
• All students will be using the sidewalk and not crossing the grass to access the loading zone.
• All cars must be in park when loading students
• Cars must stay in their lane until signaled by the staff member releasing the car line. Do not attempt to go
around cars. Remain in your lane!
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• Students will be dismissed at 4:00 PM each afternoon from the gym.
• Students will be dismissed to leave the grounds on their own. They will not be dismissed to the pick up lines out front, the pick up lanes require a different tag.
• Students will receive a walker tag that MUST be affixed to their backpack.
• Students MUST show their walker tag to the adult at the dismissal door. Students without a walker tag will
not be permitted to leave the building.
• By filling out the Transportation Information form in Final Forms at https://fairfield-oh.finalforms.com/ and placing the designated tag on your student's backpack, you are giving permission for your student to walk out of the building and walk home on their own without adult supervision.
Preschool ONLY - drop off and pick up procedures: We will be conducting drop off and pick up on the North side of the building. Park on Vinnedge Avenue. For safety reasons, please use the sidewalk and designated area next to the Preschool playground to walk your child to the classroom door. The gate to access the lot will ONLY be for buses.
AM Session: drop off/pick up will be from 9:20-9:30 a.m. and 12:00-12:10 p.m.
PM Session: drop off/pick up will be from 1:10-1:20 p.m. and 3:50-4:00 p.m.
If you arrive after classroom doors are closed, you will be required to walk your child into the front office.
PARKING FROM RIVER ROAD TO THE FIRST GATE IS PROHIBITED. PLEASE BE COURTEOUS TO OUR NEIGHBORS AND TRAFFIC TRYING TO PASS THROUGH...DON'T BLOCK DRIVEWAYS AND MAKE SURE THERE IS ROOM FOR GENERAL TRAFFIC TO PASS. THANK YOU!
Kindergarten ONLY (K-AM pickup and K-PM drop off is out front) drop off and pick up procedures:
- Morning session drop off will be out front in a drive-thru fashion. If you would like to walk your student to the door, you MUST park in the parking lot. Drop off begins at 9:15 a.m. and students will enter through the gray gym doors located to the right of the front doors.
- Morning session pick up will be out front, you will be required to park and walk up to the front doors to receive your child. Pick up will begin at 12:05 p.m. If your child is not picked up before 12:10 p.m., you must come into the office and sign them out.
- Afternoon session drop off will be out front, you will be required to stay with your child until the teacher comes out front to receive them at 1:20 p.m. If your child arrives later than 1:20 p.m., you will be required to walk your student into the office to sign in.
- Afternoon session pick up will be out front. If you have designated your child a “pick up” in Final Forms, they will be assigned a pick up number. You will line up with the rest of the cars out front – please review “2025-2026 Policies and Procedures for Dismissal”
Attendance
ABSENCE/TARDINESS
In accordance with Ohio Laws and the Fairfield City School District Elementary Handbook-Grades PreK-5 School Board Polices on page 45, students are required to be at school every day (see full policy in the handbook on the district website). Ohio State Law requires parents to report to schools, by email, when a student is going to be absent. Please e-mail ([email protected]) by 9:45 AM the day of your child's absence. If we do not hear receive anything from you, you will receive a notification informing you of your child’s absence until we receive written documentation, such as a parent note (email or handwritten) or a doctor’s note. We will be using the REMIND system to make these NOTIFICATIONS. Please call us if your child is at school, as soon as possible, for this provision provides a check on your child's safety and whereabouts.
Any student who arrives after 9:30 AM will be considered tardy. For afternoon Preschool and Kindergarten, students who arrive after 1:20 PM will be considered tardy. Upon arrival, a tardy student must report to the office for a tardy slip that will admit him/her to class.
NOTE**According to School Board policy (JED, the full policy is available online at our website): The first forty-two (42) school hours of absence in a school year may be excused, if the absence is for one of the following reasons (see below), and if the parent/guardian provides an email explaining the reason for the absence, or a note when the student returns to school. Such notes are required to be submitted no more than three (3) school days after the student’s return. If documentation is not provided within 3 days, the absence(s) will be deemed unexcused. Early dismissals and late arrivals are counted toward the number of hours absent.
School Board policy states that, "The Board does not believe that students should be excused from school for non-emergency trips out of the district. Students who are taken out of school for trips or vacations will not be given permission to do so by the school. The responsibility for such absence resides with the parents, and they must not expect any work missed by the child to be retaught by the teacher." If you decide to take your child out of school for a vacation or sports event, please notify the teacher at least one week prior to the date to discuss make-up work. The decision as to how much work the student will be held responsible for will rest with the teacher. A student’s absence may be excused for the following reasons:
- Personal illness
- Illness in the family
- Quarantine of the home
- Death of a relative
- Medical or dental appointment
- Observance of a religious holiday
- Traveling out of state to attend a Board-approved enrichment activity or extracurricular activity (applies to absences up to four days)
- An emergency set of circumstances, which in the judgment of the Superintendent/designee is a good and sufficient cause for absence. (E.g. court appearance, college visit)
Early Dismissal - **Special Note** both lanes of our front driveway are used for dismissal-make sure you don't park in one of the front parking spots after 2:30 pm or you may get stuck!
- All students released during the school day must be checked out in the office. Students will be released only to a residential parent/guardian or to an authorized pick-up person designated by the residential parent/guardian. Photo identification will be required for students to be released to the designated person. For safety reason, students are called to the office rather than the adult getting them from class. Parents/Guests will be asked to wait in the office or the glassed entryway.
- Any change in dismissal (i.e. “go to latchkey,” “don’t ride the bus,” etc.) must be called into the office no later than 3:30 pm. We will be strictly enforcing this policy!
- If your child normally rides the bus home and a parent or authorized person needs to pick up the student at the end of the school day, please make sure they are aware of our dismissal policy. Please tell them to be prepared to show photo identification. We are unable to access the students once they have left the classroom.
- We are not allowed to pull students off the bus once they have left the classroom and parents are not permitted to retrieve their student off the bus or from the bus compound for safety reasons. You will need to meet them at their bus stop.
- If your child attends latchkey or is a pick-up daily, we will need a note in writing in order to send the child home on his/her regular school bus.
- If you are aware the previous day of a dismissal change for your child it is helpful to send a note (or email to [email protected]) to inform the office, and a ParentSquare message to your child’s teacher. The note will ensure your child will be sent to the proper location at dismissal. If you do not send a note and you cannot be here to pick your child up at dismissal, please plan to pick up your child at his/her bus stop.
Changes in Information
CHANGE OF ADDRESS OR TELEPHONE
The school NEEDS to be able to contact you if there is an emergency involving your child. Please sign into Final Forms at https://fairfield-oh.finalforms.com/ to make your changes. If you have a change of address, you must upload proof of residency in Final Forms to update your child’s records.
Class Placement
A great deal of effort by teachers, scheduling clerk and administration goes into properly placing students in homerooms. Many factors are carefully weighed in order to maximize the effectiveness of the learning environment and needs for each student, classes must be carefully balanced. In order to provide the very best schedule possible for all of our students, we will not be able to honor parental requests for specific homerooms/teachers. Please do not request specific teachers for they will not be honored but instead share the qualities of the type of classroom environment in which your child would thrive. We will then do our best to match those qualities with the appropriate staff.
COMMUNICATION
- A great deal of information will come home from the school throughout the year: Newsletters, forms, invitations, events , brochures, etc. are sent home weekly. Please check your child's folder daily for information and updates from the school.
- ParentSquare is the number 1 form of communication in our district for all schools and teachers. You will not receive the traditional all call in cases of emergency or calamity days. If you are not receiving West ParentSquare notices or your teachers messages, please make sure your Final Forms contact information is correct:
- Our West Website is updated frequently with important information. Check it weekly to stay informed!
- Our digital sign out front! Check it out, we update it weekly!
- Follow us on Twitter @fcsdwest
- West News Week at a Peek will be sent out weekly through Parent Square
- Follow Fairfield West PTC Facebook page: Fairfield West Elementary PTC
Healthy & Safety
Health and Safety are our first priority at West. Due to the pandemic, we adjusted a lot of our procedures in order to bring the children back safely, and will continue with many of them. Here are a few of the main procedural adjustments:
- Hand washing and Sanitizing procedures and we have significantly increased the number of times.
- All staff and students will be required to wear masks. (NOT MANDATED AT THIS TIME)
- We will continue to encourage social distancing
- Recess is being monitored by the student's teacher and will not be combined with other classrooms (we have designated zones).
West Little Free Library
Lunch
School Lunch
- $3.10 per day ($15.50 per week).
- If you purchase items separately, milk will be $.50 and juice will be $.50.
- If your child plans to purchase lunches, please consider paying in advance. Whether you send in a check or use the PaySchools Central system: www.payschoolscentral.com. It reduces the opportunity for lost lunch money. Our Café Terminal keeps track of each student's account balance.
- It is important to note that all meals must be paid for unless you qualify for free meals via the Free & Reduced Meal Program. Eligibility applications for this program can be found under the Link to Free & Reduced-Price Meal Applicaiton in Final Forms, on www.payschoolscentral.com,or on the district website Fairfield City School District . We encourage our families to utilize the Payschools Central app to pre-load monetary funds to each students’ account prior to the start of the new school year. Cash payments are discouraged but can be accepted under special circumstances. Please note that change will not be given to students upon receipt; all additional funds will be loaded onto the student’s lunch account.
- To ensure continued business practices as they relate to being fiscally responsible, Fairfield City Schools will no longer allow students to charge a lunch if there is no money on the account. Under Federal guidelines, students who are unable to purchase a lunch will be eligible to receive a substitute meal that meets USDA and National School Lunch Program guidelines. Students that receive this meal will be charged $1.00 or $0.40 for those students that qualify for reduced-priced meals. The parent/guardian of any student accumulating lunch charges above $10.00 will receive a letter from the district explaining the process of repayment and must facilitate this payment within 30 days of receipt. If charges become delinquent, Fairfield City Schools may take all necessary actions, up to and including legal action to retrieve the past due amount.
- If you have questions about any information provided in this memo, please feel free to contact the Food Services Department at (513)829-6300.