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Chapman FAQ

Frequently used phone numbers and links:

Chapman Office        503-916-6295 (same day changes to go home plan, general questions, Enrollment Secretary 8am-12pm)

Attendance Line        503-916-3619 (to report student absences)

Transportation           503-916-6901 (arrange for your child to ride the bus, ETAs for late buses) 

Link To Printable Calendars

Q: What time does school start and end?

A: Students may meet their teachers in their assigned areas at 7:53am to be escorted into the building.

Kindergarten- front of the building

1st and 3rd grade - on the turf field behind the building

2nd and 5th grade - under the covered area on the Raleigh St side of the building

4th grade - in front of the portable classrooms on the Pettygrove St side of the building

School starts at 8:00am. If their class has already gone inside, students should come in through the main entrance. If your child will not be in their classroom by 8:05, they must report to the office to get a pass.

Dismissal on regular school days is at 2:30pm. On early release days, students are dismissed at 11:50am.

Early release days this school year are September 25th, October 23rd, November 20th, December 18th, February 26th, March 19th, April 23rd, and May 21st

Students should always be picked up promptly after dismissal. Chapman staff cannot provide child care for students before or after school. If students are not picked up within 10 minutes of dismissal, office staff will start by calling parents/guardians, and then move on to emergency contacts if needed. Please make sure all contact information is current.

Q: When is the office open?

A: 7:30-3:00 on school days.

Our enrollment secretary is in the office from 8am-12pm. 

Please note that the office is busiest from about 8:00-8:30 as students arrive late and need passes, and again from 2:15-2:45 as our staff works to dismiss students. 

Q: How do I make sure that I am informed about what's happening at school?

A: For returning families... start with the Yearly Verification Form. Make sure that you are signed up for ParentVue where you can see your child's attendance information, report cards, and update your personal information when needed. 

****All parents should be signed up for .**** This is how the school and your child's teacher will communicate with families.

Q: What is the cost for breakfast and lunch?

A: Breakfast and lunch are free of charge for all students in the 2024/2025 school year!

Q: What is "Remind"? Do I need it?

A: You absolutely need to have .

½ûÂþÌìÌà is now using Remind for school and class messaging. This means that when you receive text messages, emails, and calls from your child’s teachers or school they are being delivered via Remind to the contact information currently in our database. This is based off of enrollment paperwork and yearly verification forms. If you don't have Remind yet, click here for instructions on how to get it. 

Q: I'm just popping into the building for a minute, do I still need to check in at the office?

A: Anyone who is in the building and is not a staff member or student must be signed in with the office, at all times. There are no exceptions.

You must wear a badge that identifies you as a volunteer/visitor. If you are on school property for any reason, this includes any parent who is accompanying a class on a field trip that departs from school, your first stop must be the office, and your badge should be visible until you check out. 

Please use this link for ½ûÂþÌìÌà Volunteer/Visitor sign-in procedures

Q: My child will not be at school today. What do I do?

A: If your child is missing school for any reason (illness, injury, religious holiday, attending a funeral, vacation, etc.) you must call the Attendance Line at 503-916-3619.

This is a voicemail that is monitored throughout the day. Please leave a message that includes your child's first and last name, their teacher's name, and the reason for the absence. If your child is not in class when attendance is taken, they will be marked absent by the teacher. If the parent/guardian does not notify the school by 9:45, they will receive an automated call at 10:30 to notify them that their child is not in school. If your child is going to be gone for an extended period of time, you should specify this in your message. Please include the first day of the absence, and when they will return to school. If your child is sent home from school by the nurse for an excludable illness (Fever, vomiting, etc) you must still call the attendance line to report the absence on each subsequent day.

**Please note that if a student misses 10 consecutive school days, state law requires that they be un-enrolled from school. You will need to re-enroll them before they can return to class.

Q: My child is not feeling well. Should I keep them home from school?

A: If your child exhibits any of the following, please keep them home from school until they have been symptom free for 24 hours. If your child develops these symptoms while at school, they will be sent home:

• Vomiting and /or Diarrhea (48 hour exclusion from school)
• Fever of 100 or higher (symptom free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications)
• Cough: deep, barking, congested or productive, and/or colored mucus
• Shortness of breath 

Q: My student is running late. Do I need to call the school?

A: No. You need not call the school to let us know that your student will be late. If a student is not in class when morning attendance is taken, they will be marked with a generic "A" for absent. When the student arrives, they must visit the office to get a pass before going to class. Office staff will then update their attendance record to reflect that they arrived late, and to document any reason given. At that point, they will no longer show as just "A" for being absent, but their record will reflect the reason for the late arrival.  

Q: I will be late picking up my child after school. Do I need to call the office?

A: Absolutely, you do.

Chapman does not have staff to provide after-school care. If you are going to be late, you must notify the school office by phone as soon as possible and provide your ETA. If we have not heard from you, we will reach out to listed parents/guardians first and then emergency contacts until we reach someone who can come get the student. 

Students who are not picked up on time will be on the front steps or in the lobby area with staff, rather than in their usual pickup spot with teachers. 

Q: I need to pick up my student early. What is the process?

A: Students can be called out of class for early dismissal. 

Students will only be dismissed to a parent/guardian or other authorized contact who is currently at the main entrance and visible on our security cameras. The parent/guardian/authorized pickup person must be in our system prior to attempting to get the student from class. Upon arrival, ring the buzzer at the main entrance (these are the only doors that can be used when picking up a student). The office will ask for your name, the name of your student and their teacher, as well as the reason for early dismissal. If needed, office staff will come to the door to check ID at this time.

Only after having contact with a parent/guardian/authorized contact at the main entrance will a student be called from class for pickup.

We ask that you wait outside for your student to come to the door. Often, students are in another classroom (music, art, library, p.e.) or at recess or lunch, where it may take some time to get them back to the classroom to retrieve their things for dismissal. Please give yourself plenty of time when picking up early, especially if you are picking up more than one student.

Students will not be sent to parents who are waiting in parked cars, they must be met at the door. Staff will be watching via our security cameras to make sure the student and the parent find each other. For this reason, we ask that you remain on the front steps when picking up. 

If you are unable to climb stairs, please wait at the base of the steps and call the office at 503-916-6295 so that other arrangements can be made.

There are no early pickups during the last 15 minutes of a school day between 2:15-2:30 on regular days, and 11:35-11:50 on early release days.

Q: I want to volunteer, how do I do that?

A: Volunteers are a big part of our Chapman community. They have a presence in classrooms, various locations in the building, our lunchroom, and on field trips. To participate as a volunteer you must have a completed background check on file. Please fill out an application online at pps.net/volunteer. Once completed, it is valid for 3 years. Volunteering in the building or the classrooms should always be prearranged. Contact your child's classroom teacher if you are interested in helping out. We are always in need of help in our lunchroom as well. Get your application in early so that you can participate in field trips. 

Q: What if I need to make a change to the way my student is going home today?

A: Call the office at 503-916-6295 and speak to our staff directly for ANY same day changes to your child's go-home plan.

These updates are so important to the safety of our students! We want to speak with you to make sure that we get all the details and appropriately notify our staff who are involved with the dismissal process. 

Parents should communicate with teachers directly regarding their child's daily/regular go-home plan. Any long-term changes to that plan should be communicated to the child's teacher(s) via email. The office only needs to be notified of same-day changes.

Unless there is a call to the office, and you speak to staff directly about a change, students will be dismissed based on their default plan. When a change is relayed to the office, we will add the information to a document that all teachers view before releasing students at the end of the day. 

Please notify us as soon as possible about these changes. Once the dismissal process begins at the end of the day, it gets more difficult to facilitate changes.

We know that things happen... but please be mindful that frequent changes to dismissal plans can be unsettling for a child and a routine is best whenever possible. 

Q: How do I get my child on the bus to/from school?

A: The ½ûÂþÌìÌà Transportation department handles all bus-related transportation. They can let you know, based on an address, which route and stop your child will use in the morning and after school. If a student rides a different bus in the morning than they do after school, they need a bus pass for each route and stop. Students will ride their assigned bus at all times.

We cannot accommodate last-minute changes to ride a different bus (such as requests for students to ride a bus to another location for playdates). 

Staff can only put a child on a bus after ½ûÂþÌìÌà Transportation has been consulted, and has provided the parent with route and stop information. Once you have been given this information, call the office to have a bus pass made. This is the only way to guarantee that your student's bus information reaches us. We will ask you about the route/stop and what day the child will begin riding the bus. We will then create the bus pass and deliver it to your student.

Q: My child's bus is late. If I call, can you tell me where it is/give me an ETA?

A: Office staff at Chapman do not have a way to track bus locations. You may contact ½ûÂþÌìÌà Transportation at 503-916-6901 if you have questions about the current location of a bus.

Q: My child is having a birthday. How can I help them celebrate?

A: Please speak with your child's classroom teacher(s) about this. Deliveries of food, gifts, balloons, etc. are not allowed at school. 

Q: What if my child needs to carry a cell phone?

A: Chapman staff understand that some students need to have a cell phone for use before and after school. However, these devices are not allowed during school hours. 

If a student must carry a cell phone, it must be turned off and stored during school hours. If a student is found using a cell phone during the school day, they will receive a warning. If they continue, the phone will be confiscated and kept in the office until the end of the school day, when the student may retrieve it. This policy applies to other electronic devices including headphones, AirPods, smartwatches, etc.

We encourage students to leave these items at home unless absolutely necessary. Chapman cannot be responsible for ensuring that these items are not lost or damaged.

Q: I have legal documents that the school needs to see (updated custody order, name change, etc), what do I do with them?

A: You may email your document(s) to the school secretary. Staff will evaluate and reach out to our legal department for interpretation when necessary. We must have a complete and certified copy of the document. Excerpts cannot be properly evaluated, so you must provide the document in its entirety.