Program for Young Children

Carline Procedures:  *Please remember, we all are important role models for children.*
This parking procedure will be in effect for morning arrival, 1/2 day dismissal, and end-of-day dismissal. Please notify any adult who drives your daughter of our procedure. If you are unable to follow our carline guidelines and procedures, please park and walk up to drop off or pick up your child. 

General guidelines for the safety of all children: 

• When using the car line, children will be assisted into/from the vehicle from the curb side. Children must enter and exit the vehicle on the curb side for safety. Car seats should be on the passenger side to facilitate this.
• Remain with your vehicle while you are in the car line.

• Do not leave your car running unattended.

• Children may not be left unsupervised in your vehicle. 

• In the carline, please do not pull around vehicles that are paused in the carline.  This is extremely unsafe for the little children using the crosswalk.

• Cell phone conversations should be concluded before entering the pickup / drop-off line.

• You may use the Drop-Off/Pick-Off option in the Columbia Parking Lot at these times:
        8:00 – 8:30am, drop-off
        12:20 – 12:30pm, pick-up for half-day girls
        3:00 – 3:20pm, pick-up for full-day girls

ARRIVAL PROCEDURES

• You may park in a legal parking place on the street or in the parking lot at any time of day, hold your daughter’s hand, and walk to the building using the designated crosswalk. 

• When using the drop-off line, pull forward to the curb and a teacher will assist your daughter from the car. 

PICK-UP PROCEDURES

• Have your name card visible. Please let us know if you will need additional cards for other drivers.

• Remain seated in your car. A teacher will bring your daughter to the passenger side of your car when you reach the curb.

• A teacher will assist your child into the car (car seats must be on the passenger side). 

• When your child is safely buckled, proceed out of the parking lot. If you need to get out of your vehicle to buckle your child in, please park and walk up to the PYC to pick her up. 

Please review the uniform guidelines and requirements on the CSG website. Uniforms can be purchased through any School Closet location. CSG also has gently worn uniforms in our attic at reduced prices. You are welcome to come to CSG and shop the supply, just let the front desk receptionist know you are here to browse.

Students should bring a backpack and water bottle to school. Please label them with
your child's name. The photo below (Pottery Barn Kids) may help in finding the appropriate size backpack for your child. 

These vitally important medical & emergency contact forms are required to be completed before school begins. Please log into Final Forms and complete these as soon as possible. If you are new to CSG, the process for establishing your account is on the website. If you have forgotten your password, you can also reset it using the Final Forms website. 

With increased food allergies in our community, please remember that all snacks/treats brought into the Program for Young Children for birthday treats and class parties must be tree nut and peanut free. Additionally, lotions and lip balms brought to school need to be given to your child's teacher in a labeled baggy to ensure they do not include tree nut ingredients (e.g. shea butter). Students should not bring scented hand-sanitizer to school.

Coach Kelly Hoyt is the Early Drop Off (Beforecare) Coordinator. The program runs from 7:30-8:00am and begins on Wednesday, August 23. It is free of charge and there is no sign up necessary. Depending on the weather, students may be outside on the PYC Playscape or in the 4/5 Classroom. Coach Hoyt's email: khoytstandley@columbusschoolforgirls.org 

Jenny Morgan and Kiki Daniels will be coordinating Aftercare. The program runs from 3:15-6:00pm and begins on Wednesday, August 23. After hours is available for working parents, and due to staff/child ratio, space is limited. Please refrain from using it for playdates. There is a $20/day charge and sign up is required. There will be a $5/minute charge for those being picked up after 6:00pm. Please email pycafterhours@columbusschoolforgirls.org to sign up.

Easy step by step drawing tutorial (maybe add a picture to a message)

https://easydrawingguides.com/

Fun Hand Lettering techniques

https://www.artistsnetwork.com/art-techniques/easy-hand-lettering-techniques/

How to teach your child to be inclusive: 

https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/how-to-teach-your-child-to-be-an-includer

A Kids Book About Series 
We have all of these books available in the PYC Lending Library for students and adults. Please let me know if you need help finding a specific book.

https://akidsco.com/

PBS

This is a great resource for Early Childhood information

https://www.pbssocal.org/education

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/tag/early-childhood-development

How to talk to Kids about Race (podcast)

https://ohiostateuniversityinspire.podbean.com/e/how-to-talk-to-kids-about-race/

Fall Family Activity Ideas

https://whatshouldwedotodaycolumbus.com/9-things-to-do-with-your-kids-this-fall-in-columbus/

(Divisional details are linked at the bottom of this page)

Safety and Security:
Ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty, and staff takes many forms here at CSG, and we are prepared to act quickly and decisively to keep our community safe on all three of our campuses: Main Campus, Kirk Campus, and Cynthia’s Woods. We plan, practice, and prepare for unforeseen events on an ongoing basis, and we are prepared to mobilize quickly to respond to any emergency situation that could affect our students, faculty, or staff.

House Bill 99:
This June, Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 99 allowing local boards of education to authorize school employees and teachers to carry firearms in schools. CSG will remain a weapon-free campus. Our approach to safety and security relies on regular threat assessments, training, and close partnerships with local first responders—namely, the Bexley Police Department. Teachers are well trained to keep our students safe during any threat and will continue to take a defensive approach to ensuring the safety of our students. You can help us in this effort by speaking with your daughter and reinforcing the need to maintain a secure building by not propping doors or opening them for strangers, and by letting the school know of any threatening behavior.

Our Partners:
In addition to close partnerships with first responders in central Ohio, we maintain a contract with Armada, a leading provider of preparedness solutions worldwide, to continually evaluate and elevate safety procedures throughout our three campuses. Armada also supported the development of our emergency operations action plan, which we regularly audit and revise to most effectively handle any situation. 

Training & Emergency Operations:
We work with our faculty, staff, and students to ensure everyone is prepared in the event of an emergency. We partner with Armada and CSG’s Operations and Facilities Director, Brian Botzman, to provide training for our faculty, staff, and Emergency Operations Team. Trained to proactively plan for, respond to, and communicate about crises, our Emergency Operations Team (EOT) is charged with carrying out our action plan in the event of an emergency on any of our campuses. Emergency operations plans are available to all faculty and staff through our emergency notification app. Students regularly participate in tornado, fire, lockdown, and auxiliary drills throughout the year. Division Directors will also share safety-related, age-appropriate best practices with your daughter as we start the year. Some of the best ways to ensure campus security are to never prop open doors and never open doors for strangers. Students who have a concern should immediately report all information to their teachers, division director, or any trusted adult on campus. Your help reinforcing these best practices during conversation with your daughter is greatly appreciated.

Communication:
In the event of an emergency, we will use our emergency communication system to provide you with accurate and up-to-date information related to the situation. Once the situation is resolved, you will receive an all-clear message through the same system and, if available, additional information about the situation through email. The emergency notification system uses your preferences set in MyBackpack to notify you via phone, email, or text. If you want to update your preferences at any time, please login to your MyBackpack account to make the change(s).

2023-2024 Major Dates:
Please click here for this year’s major dates calendar.

You should have received an email, call, or text from our emergency notification system at 12:00pm on August 11, 2022. This system is used to notify you of any time-sensitive information related to emergencies or school closures. If you need to update your contact information, please log in to MyBackpack to make changes. If you did not receive the test or are having trouble logging in to MyBackpack, please email communications@columbusschoolforgirls.org.
 

FinalForms: Required school forms for the 2023-2024 school year
FinalForms is our system for completing required school forms related to health, transportation, school policies, and other related topics. Please log into: https://columbusschoolforgirls-oh.finalforms.com/ to access your account. If you have not logged into Final Forms before, please follow the online prompts to establish your profile. If you have forgotten your password, please follow the online prompts to reset your password. Students in Middle and Upper School will also receive a confirmation email once parents and guardians have registered and completed the forms. Students will also be required to digitally sign forms such as the Student Handbook and the Acceptable Use Policy. 

Transportation:
Please click here for current information related to school transportation including pickup and dropoff times. Should you have any questions related to transportation, please contact Brian Botzman, Director of Operations & Facilities. Registration for bus transportation is located within FinalForms.

Important Contact Information:
Our Division Directors and program leaders are eager to hear from you with any questions you may have. You can reach them at anytime using the details below:

• Angie McLarty (PYC)
• Betsy Gugle (Lower School)
• Pam Hartshorne (Middle School)
• Scott Parsons (Upper School)
• Leisan Smith (Chief Equity Officer)
• Megan Henry (Athletic Director)