New Family Welcome Pack

By David Visnofsky
  • Ready for review
    • 9 min

     Welcome to the State College Area School District

    Mission Statement: To ensure every student has opportunities to grow, thrive and fulfill their potential through caring, responsive education.

     General information

    Welcome to the State College Area School District, home of the Little Lions! We have 11 schools and the Delta Program, an alternative, democratic community for grades 6-12, with an annual enrollment of about 6,800 drawn from State College and five townships. Our faculty and staff take pride in providing the best possible academic experiences, support services, and extracurricular opportunities for students. Each year, we are ranked among the top 5 percent of districts statewide for instruction, and we perennially receive the Best Communities in Music Education Award.

    Is there an orientation for new families?

    • Answer: This varies by building. Contact your building secretary to set up an orientation.

    • Links for More Information:

    Will my student receive a district provided computer?

    How does the district-provided Insurance protect this device?

    How do we communicate with teachers and how does the district communicate with me?

    • Answer: To communicate with teachers, you can email them directly or directly message them in ParentSquare. The district will send all of its communications via ParentSquare. ParentSquare is our district communication platform.

    • KB Article: https://scasd.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SR/pages/642711772

    Where do I find information about my students?

    • Answer: SCASD uses Powerschool as our Student Information System. Parents are able to access their student’s information through this system. Powerschool offers a website and a mobile app. We have many Knowledge Base articles on the parent portal for Powerschool.

    • KB Article: You can find all Knowledge Base articles here.

    How to request special ed/gifted/EL services?

    • Answer: Contacting the specific department for each service would be the quickest and easiest way to request. You may also contact your student’s school’s Principal or Main Office for information regarding these services.

      For more information about a specific service, please click the respective department’s link below.
      Gifted Services
      Special Education
      English Language Development

    How to request two different addresses for transportation pickup/drop off?

    • Answer: This can be done during your initial registration. If you miss that section, you can call or email our transportation department to fix this information. transportation@scasd.org or 814-231-1033

    When are the State testing dates?

    What time does school start and end?

    What is the procedure for drop-off and pick-up of car riders?

    • High School Answer:

    • For the safety of our students, all drivers must follow drop-off traffic protocols.

      • Parents should enter the back parking lot off of O’Bryan Lane

      • Parents will use the left lane of the bus lane (separated by orange cones). 

      • Parents should pull up to the third crosswalk or to the car in front of you.

      • Students must use crosswalks to access the building

      • Parents will continue through the bus lane and exit onto Westerly Parkway

       

      • When on campus, the only dropoff point is the coned lane in the back. Dropping your student off in the middle of the staff parking lot or any other space on campus, including the driveway to the back lot, creates a safety issue of a student crossing traffic in front of buses and other vehicles. 

      • The front parking loop facing Westerly is for district transportation only. Parent drop-off is prohibited in this area.

      • Please do not use the loop behind the cafeteria. There is not a faculty member at this door

      After school we do not have a pick up area for parents due to the fact all buses are on campus right at dismissal which takes up our back bus loop and the cafeteria loop. Our front loop is used for school district transportation only. 

    • Park Forest Middle School Answer:

    • Mount Nittany Middle School Answer:

      • Drop Off:

        • MNMS allows the students to enter the building at 8:00 am (30 minutes early) on a regularly scheduled day. You can drop your child off / pick up them up at the flag pole on the south side of the building. Remember to use the right lane when dropping off your student, and the speed limit is 15 mph in the parking lot. The front doors, by the flagpole, will be unlocked at that time. Breakfast is available and the students can eat it in the cafeteria.  They must stay in the cafeteria / auditorium until 8:30 am.  After the bell rings at 8:30, students may then go to their classroom.

          • Please, do not drop off your child before 8:00 am because there is no supervision and the doors are locked.

      • Pick up:

        • School dismissal is at 3:40pm. You can pull up to the flagpole a little before school dismissal (around 3:30pm) in the right lane. If other parents are in line, wait in line please. Please pull up to the flag pole before picking up your child for safety reasons.

    When will we get information about our bus route and where can I find bus information?

    • Answer: For those students who are assigned transportation, PowerSchool houses our bus route information. This information can only be viewed when accessing PowerSchool through a computer. Unfortunately, the information is not available in the PowerSchool App at this time. To find your child’s busing information, log into the PowerSchool student information system and click the Transportation Information button on the left side. There you will see the bus number, address for pick up, and departure (pick up) time.  

      • Note - the most current start date is the correct busing information.

    • Web Link: https://www.scasd.org/departments/transportation/transportation

    What if my child is absent, late, or needs an early dismissal?

    How should I send my child’s medicine to school and how do I inform health staff of medications my student can take?

    • Answer:

      • How should I send my child’s medicine to school?

        • Best practice is to have Parent hand carry it to school. Do not send with child.

        • The School Nurse will need signed order from a provider with the medication listed for them to administer.

      • How do I inform health staff of medications my student can take?

        • Proper medication forms must be filled out and provided to School Nursing staff. Forms can be found in Powerschool > Forms or or the District Website

    • Web Link: https://www.scasd.org/departments/health-servicesnursing/medication

    How to update student/parent information?

    • Answer: Parent information such as a change in email, name, phone, etc can be done through the PowerSchool parent portal. Student information can be updated either by contacting the registration department, or your student’s school office.

    • KB Article: https://scasd.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SR/pages/1002864645

    If the weather is bad, how will we learn about cancellations or closings?

    How will I hear about news and events at my student’s school?

    • Answer: SCASD uses Parentsquare for all communication, including news and events at school. Creating an account is simple, and the system offers a web based and app version. Take a look at our Knowledge Base articles below for more in depth information.

    • KB Article: Parentsquare Knowledge Base articles can be found here.

    Is there a school calendar?

    • Answer: Yes! The easiest way to find the school calendar is by navigating to scasd.org, then clicking the calendar dropdown option on the top right area of the page. The District Calendar has information, dates, and times for all buildings in the district’s activities. For example, this is where you can find what day your school is on (A day, B day, etc). The Academic Calendar has information about specific academic dates and times, such as testing windows, Act 80 and Half days, and Makeup snow days. You can also download or print the academic calendar.

    How often do students receive report cards and where can I see them?

    • Answer: Students will receive report cards once a marking period. You can see these report cards via PowerSchool under “Course-Based Report Card”

    • KB Article: How to Print Grades

    When are parent-teacher conferences?

    Student Lunch Information

    What emergency procedures are in place and how do I sign in as a visitor at my student's school?

    • Answer: You can view the most recent version of our Emergency Operations Plan by clicking the link. In every office, we have deployed Raptor Visitor Management kiosks which allows office staff to view the status of every visitor in the school. To sign in as a visitor at your student’s school, please bring your Driver’s License or State Issued ID. The system will scan your ID, run a quick background check, and print out a visitor badge for your visit. If anything on the background check is notable for any visitor, office staff is notified. More information about signing in can be found in the article below.

    • KB Article: https://scasd.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/SR/pages/611483651

    What is the wellness policy and where can I find it?

    • Answer: The State College Area School District is committed to preparing students to make healthy nutritional and physical activity choices every day – in their communities, homes and schools.  Therefore, it is the policy of the State College Area School District that:

      • Students, parents, teachers, food service professionals, health professionals, and community members will jointly implement, monitor, and review the District’s nutrition and physical activity policies.

      • All students will receive opportunities and encouragement to stay physically active on a regular basis.

      • The District’s schools will provide K-12 physical education curricula and nutrition education opportunities during the school day, as well as other opportunities for developmentally appropriate activities aimed at fostering lifelong habits for health.

      • Food and beverages sold or served at school will contribute to a healthy lifestyle.

      • The goals of the student wellness policy shall be considered in planning all school-based activities

    • Web Link: https://www.scasd.org/our-district/state-college-area-school-district-board-of-directors/wellness/overview

    What do I need to do to volunteer at my student’s school?

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