Opening Day: 9 September 2012

Welcome

Vidyalaya welcomes all families to the start of 2012-13 session. We had a successful registration with over 170 families and 260 students enrolled for the session. This year we are also introducing conversation classes for Hindi and Gujarati. The volunteers worked very hard over the summer to organize the school and we look forward to another great year.

First day

The first day of the school is on Sunday 9 September 2012. You can see the calendar for the whole year here. All parents are invited to a meeting on the first and last day of school. This is a great opportunity to ask any questions you may have about Vidyalaya to any of the other volunteers.

Location

The school will be held at Brooklawn Middle School (Directions) located at 250 Beachwood Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054. It is east of Littleton Road (Rt. 202) between Route 10 and Route 80.

Arrival

All families are requested to arrive by 9am to familiarize yourself with the location and parking. The General Assembly will be held in Cafeteria and classes will be held in B wing. When we leave Cafeteria, we are at upper level. If your classroom is at lower level, please take the stairs down one floor. Stairs are located at both ends of the B wing hallway.

The rest rooms are located in the middle of the hallway at both upper and lower levels.

Supplies

As you come to the building, you should see us with the white bags containing supplies for all registered families. Each bag is highly customized for the family. Please provide your family ID and collect your bag. All registered families should collect their school supplies bag at the entrance. The bag should contain

• a Handbook, Calendar (for your refrigerator) and a family information sheet.
• For each registered student, we provide a half inch folder with blank pages, a set of pencil, eraser, ruler and sharpener and two extra pencils with Vidyalaya printed on it.
• Families enrolled in 2011-12 will also receive a DVD for the Mela event.
• There is an additional note for KG students.

Pick up bag identified by your family ID, verify the contents against packing list printed at the bottom of the family information sheet and be seated for prayers by 9:00. Please return any additional items you received and let us know if we forgot to put any material in it. We will try to fill it at the earliest. All previously enrolled students should bring their school bag and prayer book. Families need not purchase any supplies for students.

Class Assignment

On the family information page, please find class assignment for each enrolled student. It is mentioned on the folder for student also. In the back of the folder, you will see a layout of the classes. The class rooms for the student are highlighted in bold. Please note that when you come out of Cafeteria after General Assembly, you are on upper level. There are stairways at both ends of the hallway to go down.

Many students will need to change room at 11am. Maps are printed on the back of student folder to help with the transition. Please make sure that your child has the folder to allow adults to assist the student if required.

Each language class has a day reserved for making a presentation to General Assembly and a day reserved for Yoga lessons in lieu of Culture class. Kindergarten is exempted from separate Yoga class. The dates can be found in Calendar and on the front cover of student folder. Please make a note.

Agenda

09:20-09:40	Prayers, special blessings by Shastriji Pravin Maheta
09:40-10:00	All Parents’, Volunteer, Student Meeting
10:00-11:00	Language Class – students leave with their teachers
11:00-11:45	Culture Class
11:45	Snacks & Dismissal

Teachers

Please familiarize yourselves with your room location prior to the prayer session. You should also receive an email with attendance sheet and contact list for students in your class.

Language teachers should report at 9:00am and become familiar with the location of their new classroom. You will also be requested to line up by the cones immediately after morning assembly at 10:00am to escort your students to the class. Please note that when you leave cafeteria, you are on upper level. There are stairs at both ends of the hallway to go down to lower level.

Website

Everyone please familiarize yourself with website: www.vidyalaya.us for the latest updates as well as detailed information about the school. At the bottom of the page, you can find links for Calendar and Reimbursement form.

Personal information of all families is accessible at a separate password protected dakhila portal. For instructions on setting up password, please click here. You can see updated class, room and teachers for enrolled students.

Volunteers

We welcome new volunteers. Please convey your interest for volunteering in a particular team by sending an email to spa@vidyalaya.us

Board of Trustees

Vidyalaya is pleased to welcome Asmita Mistry as a new Trustee. Asmita is a long time volunteer at Vidyalaya and will continue her role as the Language Curriculum Team coordinator. She joins Praveen Mehrotra, Reena Shah and Kiron Sharma in the 4 member Board.

Parking

For our children’s safety - we strongly recommend that no cars be parked for drop off or pickup in front of the school. Please park in a designated parking spot and bring your child in to the school building. Everyone must respect all fire lanes. Fire regulations are extremely strict and even a small infraction will get us booted from the facility. Drive very carefully when around the school. As a volunteer organization we support each other and make it a fun learning experience for our kids.

Please note that only the front-entrance to the school facility will be open. If you are parked in the back of the building, you will need to walk around to enter the facility.

Contact us

spa@vidyalaya.us	This is the address for enrolled families to contact Vidyalaya
payment@vidyalaya.us	Matters relating to money are managed by this address.
info@vidyalaya.us	This is the general address for any issue.

Grievance process can be found here.