Opening Day: 14 September 2014

Welcome

Vidyalaya welcomes all families to the start of 2014-15 session. We had a successful registration with 126 families and 194 students enrolled for the session. We have 38 new students. 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 14 September 2014 at

Brooklawn Middle School
250 Beachwood Road,
Parsippany, NJ 07054
Directions, School

All families are requested to arrive by 9am to familiarize with the location and parking. The General Assembly will be held in Cafetorium and classes will be held in B wing. When we leave Cafetorium, 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. Participation in General Assembly is mandatory and students are allowed in classroom only after General Assembly is over.

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. We welcome new volunteers. Please convey your volunteering interest via spa@vidyalaya.org

Parking

For our children’s safety 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.

Agenda for Opening Day

09:00	Arrival, pick up supply bag, organize bag
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 assembly hall with their teachers
11:00-11:45	Culture Class - see map on the back of the binder
11:45	Snacks & Dismissal

KG Students are dismissed at 11:30am. Please arrive promptly to pick your children.

Supplies

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

1. For each family
• Parent Handbook - It contains all the information about the school and its policies
• Calendar - You can put it on your message board for easy reference.
• Family information sheet - This is what we know about your family. Let us know if any updates are required. It also contains a packing list of items in the bag.
2. For each new student, please find
• A book bag
• A prayer book
• A prayer CD
• A coupon for collecting a free-gift (while supplies last)
3. For each registered student
All returning students should already have their book bag with prayer book in it. In addition, please find following items and put them in each bag.
• A half inch binder with
• blank pages,
• Homework log sheet for Language Class
• Reference Material for Language Class
• Two pencils.
• Name Tag
4. For Teachers
A thank you note from Principal and Vice Principal.

Verify the contents against packing list printed at the bottom of the family information sheet and be seated for prayers by 9:15. 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.

Class

On the family information page, please find class assignment for each enrolled student. It is mentioned on the binder for student also. In the back of the binder, 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 binder to help with the transition. Please make sure that your child has the binder to allow adults to assist the student if required.

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. Each culture class has a day reserved for making a presentation to General Assembly and a day reserved for Yoga lessons in lieu of Culture class. The dates can be found in Calendar and on the front cover of student binder. Please make a note. Please do not leave children unattended in a class.

Beyond GPA

Special After-School Class--Begins September 21, 2014: Kevin Bhatia will be hosting weekly classes for 7th graders and older students from11:45 to 12:45pm. The classes will run from September 21st until December 14th, 2014. If you are interested in enrolling your child for this class, please send an email to spa@vidyalaya.us asap. Registration fee is $40.

Please read the notes from Kevin for further details.

Walk-ins

Following rules are in place for walk-ins across the board.

1. Families who did not receive an invitation may enroll with the Admissions Team. Admission desk will open after General Assembly.
2. Completed enrollment forms should be received by 9/14 for them to start school on 9/21
3. LCT will schedule a phone evaluation or an in-person evaluation for language as necessary sometime between 9/15 and 9/21
4. LCT will be informed in writing ahead of time of where these kids are going
5. Our hope is that this will minimize the confusion that results from arranging things on the spot.

LCT - Language Curriculum Team led by Deepa Vavilala.

Website

1. Please familiarize yourself with website for the latest updates as well as detailed information about the school.
2. At the bottom of the page, you can find links for Calendar and Reimbursement form.
3. Personal information of all families is accessible at a separate password protected dakhila portal.
4. For instructions on setting up password, please click here. You can see updated class, room and teachers for enrolled students.
5. Please join our facebook page. We invite volunteer participation to enhance it.

Contact us

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

Grievance process can be found here.