Parish New Family Handbook

PETE KNOWS...

The New Family Handbook

PETE KNOWS

PANTHERS GET INVOLVED! There are so many ways for you and your student to get involved in the life of the community here at Parish, and we hope you will do so! Your buddy families and grade level fellowship coordinators are great resources if you have any questions. The following are the major areas of involvement.

THE PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION

Congratulations! You are automatically a member of the Parish Parents’ Association (PA)! The PA is responsible for coordinating many of the community events at the School, including our annual Gala, Spooky Saturday, New Family events, faculty appreciation luncheons and more. In addition, the PA provides many points of communication and connection between the School and parents through grade level fellowship teams, weekly emails, Facebook class pages and volunteer opportunities.

VOLUNTEER ON CAMPUS

If you would like to have a glimpse into the daily life of Parish and of your child, there are so many places we invite you to volunteer. You can serve lunch in the cafeteria, help out in the library, sign up to be a special friend or guest reader in Lower School, help teachers with special projects, lend a hand in the art room or at STEM events, and so much more. And you can sign up for all of it online!

Because we value the safety of all students, Parish does require training to become a certified volunteer. Visit the Panthers Volunteer resource in the myParish parent portal for more details and to access the volunteer sign up link. sySTEMs

sySTEMs (supporting your STEM Students) is the booster club for ParishSTEM. Members support science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs

and students at Parish by promoting awareness of the programs, achievements and activities while offering assistance and funding to ParishSTEM. sySTEMs offers opportunities to experience STEM both at Parish and within the broader community while also serving as a fellowship center for Parish families the ParishSTEM faculty and staff.

THE ARTS PEOPLE

The Arts People, also known as TAP, is our booster club for arts at Parish.

TAP provides support for wonderful events like band concerts, school plays, the annual Arts Showcase, and our annual Parish Family Performs fundraiser, to name a few. In addition, you can attend various TAPpy hours during the year. For more information, visit the TAP webpage.

PARISH ATHLETICS BOOSTER CLUB & PANTHER PACK

Our 7th – 12th grade students have the opportunity to play a variety of sports for their school. The Parish Athletics Booster Club supports the School’s efforts by providing meals, coordinating tailgate events and raising support for athletic team needs in various ways, including organizing the annual Ed Snyder Golf Tournament.

The group also coordinates our Panther Pack (PreK - 6th grade) for our youngest athletic supporters. Visit the Athletic Booster Club webpage to find out more about supporting our Panther athletes.

ATHLETICS FOR PK-6TH STUDENTS

Though they are not official Parish teams, many of our Panther parents coordinate grade-level teams in a variety of sports in our Lower and Middle School divisions as a form of fellowship. These teams are organized through outside organizations such as YMCA, SVAA, Sportsplex, PSA, etc. If your child is interested in joining a team, contact your buddy family or your grade level fellowship leaders for specific information.

EXTERNAL CLUBS

In addition to the organizations and clubs above, Parish parents are proud to be involved in Boys and Girl Scouts, Y Guides and Y Princess camping ventures, and more. Though these are not official school clubs, you can find out more about these opportunities by contacting your grade level fellowship leaders.

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A DAY IN THE LIFE

UNIFORMS

Our PreK through Senior students wear a uniform daily; 3rd - 12th grade students have special Eucharist dress every Thursday. Middle School students also have PE uniforms.

All uniforms are purchased through the PAWS store located on the Midway Campus or can be ordered online through the PAWS store website. PAWS employees can help you find what you need and have all uniform requirement information on hand. Shoes and some other items may be purchased elsewhere. PAWS has sales throughout the year, including a summer sale, uniform resale, spirit wear sales, and more. PAWS also participates in Texas’ Sales Tax Holiday. Stay up to date by liking PAWS Facebook page!

CARPOOL

We understand it takes time to get into the carpool groove at a new school. At the beginning of each year, we have parent volunteers who will help guide you until we all get the hang of it. Let’s all be patient with each other, and soon the lines will move much faster.

Carpool maps for Hillcrest and Midway, and additional information about release times and other rules, can be found in the myPARISH parent portal on the Carpool Maps & Procedures resource.

Note: If carpool adjustments are needed due to construction or other events that necessitate a change, you will be notified in advance via email so you can plan accordingly.

Lower School Carpool

To ensure the safety of our young students, Parish uses carpool tags for PreK – 4th grade to identify which child rides in which car. Each family will receive two carpool tags but can request more for grandparents, nannies, etc. The additional tag request form can be found on the Carpool Maps & Procedures resource board in the myPARISH parent portal. We also know many children will be in one or more group carpools on certain days.

Lower School parents can apply for group carpool tags through the same Carpool Maps & Procedures resource board.

In the event that you need your PreK – 4th grade child to ride with someone else in afternoon carpool, please notify the School 24 hours in advance: • Hillcrest PreK – 2nd parents call 972.852.8782 or email LSHattendance@parish.org.

• Midway: 3rd – 4th parents call 972.852.8809 or LSMattendance@parish.org.

Middle School Carpool

Depending on the grade level (5th – 8th grade), Middle School carpool runs at both the front and back of the Midway campus. Specific grade-level details and locations can be found on the Carpool Maps & Procedures resource board in myPARISH parent portal.

AFTER SCHOOL EXPLORATIONS AND EXTENDED CARE

ParishEXTEND offers extended care for PreK – 6th grade, as well as nearly 150 unique, after school explorations and numerous specialized dance and athletic classes, and personalized music lessons. Registration for these experiences opens in July and November each year.

ABSENCE/SICK DAY/EARLY DISMISSAL PROCEDURES

When your child must miss a day of school, please notify Parish by 8 a.m.

You can find each division’s notification information on your Absence Notification resource.

If you need to pick up your child early, please notify the same division contacts and they will have your child ready to meet you in the lobby to sign out at the time you have requested. Middle School students must sign themselves out in Middle School office and their parent must sign them out at the front desk. Upper school students must sign themselves out in the Upper School office and receive a pass to present at the front desk when leaving.

SCHOOL CALENDAR

We understand that you need to plan in advance. Parish provides a full school calendar by early summer which can be accessed any time on the myPARISH portal. You can also find an updated calendar on the School’s website. Of course, if there are any major cancelations or changes, we will notify parents by email.

PETE KNOWS

WHO’S WHO ADMINISTRATION

DAVE MONACO Allen Meyer Family Head of School

ANDREW JENNINGS

MICHELLE LYON Associate Head of School

JENNIFER WILSON

MARK KIRKPATRICK Chief Financial Officer

LAUREL ASH

Head of Upper School

Assistant Head of School and Head of Middle School

Head of Lower School

BRETT MCCABE

BRIAN “HUTCH” HUTCHESON

AMY ARIAGNO

Athletic Director

JENNY LEWIS

Assistant to Executive Leadership

CAROLINE DOSWELL

Director of PARISHarts

LORI SAVAGE

Director of Finance

HEATHER MILLS

Director of Human Resources

Director of Communication

CARRIE BURTON

AMANDA METER

Director of Enrollment Management

Director of Development

Director of Strategic Philanthropy

ANGELA KEEFER

TOM VEZAIN

PAUL TIDMORE

Director of Operations

BODIE SARTIN

Director of Community Safety

Director of Informational Systems

Director of Educational Technology

MORE FACES TO KNOW

TRICIA FREEMAN

JUDI DENEEN

ROBYN FULLUM

DEBBY TRIPPET

Hillcrest Receptionist

Hillcrest Receptionist

Midway Receptionist

Midway Receptionist

ROCKY MUETHER

JULI BALDWIN

LAURIE GOLDBERG

DONNA MONK

DAVID FISHER

NANCY POWERS

JESSICA RODRIGUEZ

JACKIE ALMANZA

MEGAN WITTMANN

ROB KELTON

DIANA HAMILTON

KRISTI GAHL

Community Safety Officer

Director of Parish Summer

Director of Center of Transformational Leadership and ParishInspire

Director of Tuition Assistance

Director of ParishEXTEND

Director of ParishLab

Director of Student Health Services

EXTEND & Parish Summer Manager

Assistant Director of Development

PETE THE PANTHER Parish Espicopal School Mascot

School Nurse

EXTEND & Parish Summer Coordinator

PAWS Store Manager

PETE KNOWS THE BIG EVENTS!

US MUSICAL

SEPTEMBER AUGUST Get ready for Back-to-School by attending Panther Nation Block Party as well as class orientations.

SMILE! SCHOOL S! E P I CT U R

APRIL

MARCH Spend the evening with fellow parents at the Parish Gala fundraiser hosted by the Parents’ Association.

Join us throughout the year to celebrate our 50th Anniversary, starting in September!

VO I C E S & VIEWS

PARISH FUND

R SPRING B

Don’t miss the Parish Homecoming or our Spooky Saturday fall carnival.

THANKSGIVIN

Mark you calendars for special holiday programs including Christmas Pageants and Lessons and Carols chapel service.

G CHRIS BAND CO TMAS NCERT

EAK!

TAFF S Y T L FACU N CIATIO E R P P A

DECEMBER

7TH GRADE IP! TR CATALINA

Spring Events welcome our new Parish Panthers!

PARISHarts Showcase highlights our talented students. Grandparents come for a special day in the classroom.

8TH GRADE DC TRIP!

OCTOBER

FOUNDERS ’ DAY MAY

GRADUATION

!

PARIS H ARTS SHOW CASE

It’s time to say goodbye to our Parish Senior class, and hello to Summer!

Parish Summer programs are available for fun enrichment and academics.

PARISH ABROAD

PETE KNOWS

A DAY IN THE LIFE SCHOOL COMMUNICATION

Continued

You will receive emails from the School in the following formats: • Monday with Monaco – Monthly letter or From My Angle podcast from the Head of School (email)

• Trimester letters from Division Heads (email)

• Department letters from Athletics & Arts (email)

• Periodic event and campaign related notifications (email)

• Pantherbeat news publication

•

Grade-level email in coordination with the PA. The School works with PA grade leaders who send out a weekly email round-up of the latest news from your grade and major all-school events. This weekly email is a vital piece in helping for you stay informed!

Additionally, these parent volunteers keep you up to date via your grade-level Facebook groups.

Other ways to stay informed and up to date:

• Sign up for your myPARISH portal alert to receive notifications on featured school news and events, as well as your child’s classroom and grade-level activities. You can also see these items under the myPARISH portal News page. Video instructions on how to sign up fo alerts can be found on the myPARISH parent portal resource page under myPARISH Support Knowledge Base.

• Parish’s website news feed and social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Vimeo, etc.

• Vidigami - get a glimpse of your child(ren) and all of events happening on campus through our third-party media management system. Vidigami is the only private and secure system designed exclusively for school communities to store and share photos and videos. Users can access Vidigami photo repository via invitation only; you will receive an email invite to Vidigami in August prior to the start of school.

PETE KNOWS

WHO’S WHO

LOWER SCHOOL

LAUREL ASH

Head of Lower School

STACI ATWOOD

MELISSA GRABSKE

Assistant Head of Lower School, Academics

DESIREE GIBSON

Assistant Head of Lower School, Student Life

Assistant to Lower School Head Midway Campus

Assistant to Lower School Head Hillcrest Campus

JONI RATHBUN

SONJA PAINTER

ELAINE CHARLES

ASHLEY CHILDS COLLINS

REBECCA GINGLES

BILLY STANTON

CHRIS ANDERSON

PreK - 2nd Grade centerED Counselor

3rd - 8th Grade centerED Counselor

Lower School Learning Specialist

Hillcrest Chaplain

MOTHER ALINA WILLIAMS Midway Chaplain

MIDDLE SCHOOL

JENNIFER WILSON

Assistant Head of School and Head of Middle School

Assistant Head of Middle School, Academics

Assistant Head of Middle School, Student Life

VICKI KOCH

ASHLEY CHILDS COLLINS

DAVID GRELLE

Assistant to the Head of Middle School

MOTHER ALINA WILLIAMS Midway Chaplain

3rd - 8th Grade centerED Counselor

Middle School Learning Specialist

PETE KNOWS

UPPER SCHOOL

ANDREW JENNINGS

CAROLINE KALEIGH Assistant Head of US, Student Life

Upper School Learning Specialist

SAM PETERSON

DENISE HUNTER

MOTHER ALINA WILLIAMS

Interim Head of Upper School

Upper School Administrative Assistant

Assistant to the Head of Upper School

MICHELLE MURRAY

LANGSTON ROSS

Upper School Counselor

DIRECTORY

Counselor, Center for College and Life Planning

LYNDA CSASZAR

Midway Chaplain

INGRID TORRES Counselor, Center for College and Life Planning

An all-school directory of faculty, staff, students and parents can be accessed through your myPARISH parent portal login. You can also print off lists by grade or division.

PETE KNOWS

WHAT’S WHAT

A List of Used Phrases & Acronymns ABC: Athletic Booster Club AGS: The Academy of Global Studies ATRIUM: The Kleinert Commons, which also serves as the Midway cafeteria BEASLEY: The Beasley STEM Center, located on the Hillcrest campus, houses the Fleeger Kitchen, Imaginarium, and Nausler Family Garden.

BLACK BOX: Theatre performance space located in the Noble Family Performing Arts Center.

BRAD MOORE CONFERENCE ROOM: A conference room located at the west end of the Great Hall in the Athletic Department area.

BUILDING E: The Library/Main office building at Hillcrest.

CCLP: Center for College & Life Planning DE BRUYN CONFERENCE ROOM: Meeting room next to Head of School office.

DESIGN DEN: The Parish Episcopal Design Den is 10,000 square feet of dedicated design, maker, and innovation space available to all students, faculty, and staff on the Midway Campus. It is home to the Walton-Alford Welding Shed, Wheeler Family Woodshop, Stewart Family Robotics Lab, virtual and augmented reality studio, and makerspace and houses state of the art design and fabrication equipment such as 3D printers, laser cutter, CNC router, welder, plasma cutter and CNC mill.

FIG: The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration located at the Hillcrest campus.

GILMAN STUDY: On the Midway campus at the end of the Great Hall, this space is currently home to Lab and Link programs, and is made of multiple rooms of various size which are available for group meetings or collaborative student work.

GOGGANS GYM: Located on the Midway campus, serves as the main competition gym for Parish Athletics.

GPAC: The Gene E. Phillips Activity Center located next to Goggans Gym and Morris Family Lobby.

GREAT HALL: The main floor of the Midway campus which spans from the LS library all the way to the back doors.

HILLCREST: Common reference to our PreK - 2nd grade campus located at 14115 Hillcrest Rd. HOS: Head of School.

IDEA LAB: Collaborative space within the main Library at Midway.

JONSSON FAMILY GALLERY: Located on the Midway campus in the Noble Family Performing Arts Center, the gallery is home to Parish student art on display year-round.

LGMR: Formerly known as the Large Group Meeting Room, located on the Midway campus about halfway down the Great Hall on the south side.

THE LITTLE DEN: On the Midway campus, the room located down the Great Hall where Lower School students participate in STEM and other activities. This is also where LS students gather in the morning between an early drop-off and 8 a.m. school start.

LS: Lower School division – PreK to 4th grade.

PETE KNOWS

WHAT’S WHAT

A List of Used Phrases & Acronymns Continued

MARCI M. McLEAN ADVANCEMENT OFFICE: This is where you will find Admission, Financial Assistance, Alumni Ralations, Communications and Development. Located in the back right corner of Kleinert Commons.

MIDWAY: Common reference to our 3rd - 12th grade campus at 4101 Sigma Rd. MORRIS FAMILY LOBBY: The lobby area located outside of Goggans Gym. MS: Middle School division – 5th to 8th grade.

THE NOBLE: The Noble Family Performing Arts Center.

Our new state-of-the-art facility is a 55,000-square-foot expansion of the campus that hosts student performances, community and milestone events. The Noble’s grand opening is scheduled for September 18, 2021.

PA: Parents’ Association.

PARISH FUND: The School’s largest annual fundraising effort that reaches out to all members of our community to advance the mission of the School and to create wonderful opportunities for our students.

PARISH PARENT AMBASSADORS (PPA): A group of parent volunteers, in addition to the PA, who share the enthusiasm of the School and are dedicated to spreading the Parish mission within and outside our walls. The PPA also works closely with our Admission Office to ensure each family receives a personalized experience throughout the admission process.

PARISH SUMMER: 12 weeks of full day adventure and discovery camps, and more than 250 half-day, specialty camps. Registration for Parish Summer begins in February each year.

THE PARLOR: A meeting space within The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration at the Hillcrest campus.

PAWS: Parish store located at the Midway campus where you can buy uniforms, required books, Parish clothing and spirit gear, school supplies, after school treats and more.

PEARLMAN: Common reference for The Pearlman Conference Center, a meeting space on the Midway campus, located at the back of the Atrium which houses the Boardroom (BR) and A/B (the larger side of the space).

PROFILE UPDATES: All profile updates including changes of address, phone numbers, email address or other information need to be submitted via email to profileupdate@parish.org. To check your profile information for accuracy, visit the myPARISH portal online directory.

ROPER HALL: A common meeting place on the Hillcrest campus, located in the Church of the Transfiguration building (along with the sanctuary).

SNYDER BUILDING: The Hillcrest campus building which houses the PreK classrooms as well as the Megan Keith Gymnasium. sySTEMs: The STEM booster club.

TAP: The Arts People booster club.

THE TOWER: The Kleinert Tower includes three floors housing the Middle School office and 7th & 8th grade classrooms, Head of School’s office, the Upper School administrative offices, Center for College & Life Planning, and core US classrooms.

US: Upper School Division – 9th to 12th grade.

QUICK REFERENCE

Main line: 972.239.8011

Email format: firstinitialLastname@parish.org

ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL SCHEDULES GRADE LEVEL

ARRIVAL

DISMISSAL

PreK

Early care drop off 7:10 a.m.

Carpool begins at 7:40 a.m.

School begins at 8:00 a.m.

PreK half day at 11:45 p.m.

PreK full day at 3:00 p.m.

K – 2nd

Early care drop off 7:10 a.m.

Carpool begins at 7:40 a.m.

School begins at 8:00 a.m.

3:00 p.m.

3rd/4th

Carpool 7:00 – 7:55 a.m.

School begins at 8:00 a.m.

3:20 p.m.

5th – 8th

Carpool 7:00 – 7:55 a.m.

School begins at 8:00 a.m.

3:35 p.m.

9th – 12th

Carpool 7:00 – 7:55 a.m.

School begins at 8:00 a.m.

3:45 p.m.

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www.parish.org