Welcome to the Whitaker community! We know it can feel daunting and overwhelming to navigate a new school. What school supplies do you need? How do you upload lunch money? What even is “Curriculum Night”? Where and when do I pick-up my student from school? What is a Bike Bus?! You’ve got questions and we’ve got answers!
As fellow Whitaker parents, we’re here to give you the rundown on everything you need to know (or didn’t know you needed to know) and help you be Whitaker Wise.
Start of School – What to Know:
School Calendar (2026-2027) – Bookmark it, pin it to the home screen of your phone, print it out and put it on the fridge! Stay up to date on teacher workdays, school holidays, and other key dates.
School Supplies List (2026-2027) – Get stocked on all of the supplies your student needs for the new year.
NEW Water Bottle Policy – WSFCS is implementing a new clear water bottle-only policy for the 2026-2027 school year. Insulated, metal water bottles like Yeti, Stanley, and Owala are not allowed. Only send your student to school with a clear plastic water bottle with no tinting. Filtered water stations are available throughout the school at water fountains.
Teacher Assignments – Whitaker will mail out letters with teacher assignments for your student, typically arriving during the week prior to Open House.
Open House – This is the opportunity to find your student’s new classroom and meet their teachers! Open House for the 2026-2027 school year will take place on Wednesday, August 5, 2026 from 5:00-7:00pm. Your teacher assignment letter will include information about Open House. Please note that if you have a new kindergarten student, you will attend a separate Open House at an assigned time on Wednesday, August 5, 2026 between 8:30-10:30am. You can also bring in your school supplies so that it’s one less thing to worry about on the first day of school. Find all WSFCS Open House times for elementary, middle, and high schools here.
Bus Information – Need a bus stop? Want to track your student’s bus? Check out this page for all the information you need about bus transportation. Whitaker Assistant Principal Mrs. Mikesell is your primary contact regarding buses. You can reach Mrs. Mikesell at 336-703-6740 or via email with any questions or concerns.
Lunch Menu and Money – If your student is interested in purchasing lunch at school, be sure to check out all of the information you need about lunches here. This includes: weekly menus and pricing, free and reduced meal application, and the portal for uploading money to your student’s lunch account.
After School Clubs and Activities – Whitaker offers several after school activities and clubs that are typically reserved for students in grades 3-5. These include Chorus, Wheel Power, Battle of the Books, Board Games Club, and Art Club. Eligible students can learn more about signing up for these opportunities at Open House.
Other After School Opportunities and Care: Need your student to stay after school? Be sure to pay attention to Whitaker emails or ask at Open House about Imprints (after school care provided at Whitaker), KinderSpanish, and more.
Whitaker Wear – This is exactly what it sounds like! It’s Whitaker-themed apparel in a variety of children and adult sizes. For school spirit weeks and events, your student will want to have a Whitaker shirt. You can purchase Whitaker Wear in-person at Open House and other large school events like Fall Fest or through their online store.
“Specials” – This term refers to art, music, P.E., media, and enrichment, which are special classes that each class rotates through on a weekly basis. Your student’s teacher will let you know the assigned “Specials” time for their class and which “Special” is taking place on each day. Hot tip: your student must wear sneakers for P.E. day!
K-2nd vs. 3rd-5th: What are the differences? Students in grades K-2nd have one primary classroom teacher and will stay in the same classroom (aside from “Specials,” lunch, and recess) throughout the day. Each kindergarten class has their own assigned Assistant Teacher as well as a bathroom within each classroom. For 1st and 2nd grades, shared Assistant Teachers rotate through the various classrooms. Once a student is in 3rd-5th grades, they will begin to change classes! Typically they will be assigned a morning class teacher for Math and Reading/Writing, and then will switch to an afternoon class teacher for “Specials,” lunch, recess, and Science/Social Studies. Teacher assignments will indicate which teacher your student has assigned for each portion of the day. Your students will be with a different group of students in their morning class from their afternoon class (which is fun for them as they get to be with a variety of classmates throughout the day!).
School Arrival – There are multiple options for dropping your child off at school. Your student can take the bus; you can use the carpool line (enter from Buena Vista Road and a staff member or safety patrol volunteer will open your car door to let your student out); or you can park and walk your student up to the front entrance from the Dartmouth Road parking lot. Parents may walk their students inside the building and to their classrooms for the first week or two of school (at the discretion of the Principal who will communicate the time frame for this).
School Release: Walker vs. Car Rider vs. Bus Rider – At Open House, your student’s teacher will want to know if your child will be a walker, car rider, or bus rider. A walker means that you will park and walk-up to the front entrance of Whitaker for school release – a teacher will bring out your child and release them to you. Kindergarten and 1st graders come out onto the blacktop/basketball court next to the front playground around 2:15/2:20pm and are released to you once their teacher sees you; all other grades are released from the front entrance between 2:20-2:25pm. A car rider means that you plan to pick-up your student in the carpool line accessed from Buena Vista Road – you will display a hang tag with your student’s information on it, and your student will be brought to your car. A bus rider means that your student will be taken to the back parking lot and loaded into their appropriate bus for transportation home. Always communicate to your student’s teacher about any changes to their transportation home.
After School Playground Protocol – Because kindergarten and 1st grade walkers are released on the blacktop next to the front playground, school administration kindly requests that no children be on the playground until after 2:30pm. All children must be accompanied by a parent or caregiver after school.
Classroom Parents – These are two parent volunteers who will be working with your student’s classroom teacher to organize class events, parties, teacher gifts and more. You will receive an introductory email or message from your classroom parents at the beginning of the school year.
Teacher Communication Platforms – Bloomz, Class Dojo, and Remind are the typical platforms or apps that Whitaker teachers use to communicate with parents (it seems to be a personal preference depending on the teacher!). You should receive information from your student’s teacher at Open House about how to join their communication channel.
Throughout the Year – What to Know:
LOME Volunteer Portal – Interested in volunteer opportunities at Whitaker? The LOME website is where you can sign-up to help with Circle committees, be a classroom parent, volunteer for the monthly Whitaker Bike Bus, Rent the Rock in front of the school for painting, and much more.
Sign-in and Check-Out Process – If your student arrives late to school or needs to check-out early, you’ll need to go directly to the front office. Be sure to have your driver’s license ID with you to check-in/check-out your student on the computer, where you can list reasons for the late arrival or early dismissal. If checking a student out, the front desk assistant will call down to your student’s class and ask their teacher to send them to the front office.
Infinite Campus – This is the school system-wide portal is used by both students and parents to access a variety of student information. Follow the instructions to set-up your account and add your student(s). Then, download the Infinite Campus app to access your student’s grades and test scores throughout the academic year.
Student ID Number -This unique number is assigned to your student to use throughout their K-12 WSFCS educational experience. This number will be given to them by their teacher for access to many school-affiliated apps and programs. Student ID #’s are also used as lunch numbers. Hot tip: You can always find your student’s ID # listed on their progress reports or report cards.
Tuesday Yellow Packets – Every Tuesday your student will bring home a yellow packet containing completed school work, announcements, and other school-related information. Sign the front of the yellow packet next to that week’s date and send it back empty to school in your student’s backpack the following day (if there’s something to sign and return like a field trip permission slip, you can place it back in the yellow packet).
Curriculum Night – This event is a chance for parents to visit their student’s classroom in the evening (fall semester) and hear directly from teachers about grade-level curriculum, learning goals, and student expectations for the coming year. Typically, this is a parent/adult-only event.
DIBELS – DIBELS (“Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Learning Success”) is a K-3rd grade reading assessment used to monitor students’ progress in reading, fluency, and comprehension, as well as identifying areas where students need additional support. This assessment is a part of the NC Read to Achieve legislation supported by the NC Department of Public Instruction. In parent-teacher conferences, your student’s teacher will review your student’s DIBELS scores and make suggestions for continuing to grow and develop your student’s reading skills.
iReady – iReady is an online reading and math program used to monitor your student’s progress and identify opportunities for growth throughout the school year. Many teachers require students to complete a certain number of minutes or lessons within iReady on a weekly basis (in the classroom or at home). Students have access to Chromebooks and iPads to utilize iReady at school.
Fall Fest – This annual October event is a large fundraiser for our school. Held on a Friday evening, our school community comes together to play fun games, enjoy a variety of foods and treats, explore the haunted house hosted by 5th graders, and raffle off great prizes to ticket holders. Students are encouraged to sell raffle tickets to friends, family, and neighbors prior to this event.
Online School Payments – Make an account through WSFCS’ Online School Payments (OSP) website to quickly pay for field trips and other program costs. Hot tip: You can add multiple children from multiple schools to your account using their student ID #’s, making payments super easy!
School Pictures – School pictures are taken twice a year, once in the fall and again in the spring. The individual fall student pictures are taken on traditional, plain backdrops and will be used in the school yearbook. Spring pictures are typically taken using more unique backdrops. Your student’s teacher will let you know the assigned day/time for individual and class pictures throughout the year.
School Musicals – Throughout their time at Whitaker, all students should be able to participate in a school musical with their grade level. Each year, 2nd grade students put on a holiday-themed musical in December while 5th grade students participate in a spring musical in April. Musical performances are typically held once during the day for the entire school body and again in an evening performance for family, friends, and the community. These performances are all held in the Whitaker school gym. Hot tip: The gym gets literally hot with so many people packed in there. Dress accordingly!
AIG Testing – Universal screening for Academically & Intellectually Gifted (AIG) services takes place in 2nd grade. Students who test into AIG will be placed in AIG-specific classes in 3rd-5th grades. Learn more about the testing and identification progress on the WSFCS website here. If you have additional questions, contact the Whitaker AIG coordinator, Mrs. Sarfert.
Field Day – This fun outdoor event takes place on the Whitaker back parking lot and lawn and the adjacent soccer fields. Students of all grade levels participate in a variety of fun exercises, games, and activities. Our P.E. teacher depends heavily on our great community of volunteers to pull off this event! Be on the lookout for volunteer sign-ups when information comes out about Field Day.
Teacher Appreciation Week – We love our Whitaker teachers, which is why we love to celebrate them big throughout Teacher Appreciation Week! Coordinated by the Whitaker Circle and a team of volunteers, teachers are treated to coffee trucks, lunches, care packages, kind notes and words of encouragement from students, and much more.
Whitaker Bike Bus – The Bike Bus is a monthly opportunity for Whitaker students to bike to and from school together along a safe route! Students leave from the Buies Market parking lot and arrive at school in the back bus parking lot where they can leave their bikes for the remainder of the school day. After school, students bike back to Buies Market along the same route. Parent volunteers are needed monthly for 10-15 minutes at various intersections along the Bike Bus route. Parent volunteers are also needed to join in riding along with the Bike Bus! Sign-up to help on the LOME Volunteer Portal here.
End of School – What to Know:
Yearbooks – Students love receiving their Whitaker yearbooks! You’ll receive multiple communications throughout the year about how to order a copy. Yearbooks typically arrive in May and both students and teachers enjoy signing each other’s copies, so don’t miss out!
EOG Testing – End of Grade Testing (better known as EOG’s) are mandated by the NC Department of Public Instruction and takes place the week before school ends each year. Students in 3rd and 4th grade take two different EOG tests – math and reading. Students in 5th grade take three tests – math, reading, and science. EOG check-in tests are given throughout the year to assess students’ progress and learning in these different subject areas.
Teacher Gifts – While you’re welcome to say “thank you” to your student’s awesome teacher around the holidays or end of the school year with an individual gift, please know that classroom parents collect funds (Venmo, PayPal, or cash) designated for teacher gifts from the entire class.