Preparing for the School Year

Preparing for the School Year

We know that preparing for the upcoming school year can be overwhelming at times, so here’s a list of required steps and helpful items to help you and your student(s) get ready for the first day!

List of 11 items.

  • Required Steps for All Students

  • Additional Steps for New Students/Families

    New Student Profile form 
    Fill out the New Student Profile form on My Ancona. This form is intended to collect information about siblings, grandparents, parent workplace, occupation and other demographic information such as ethnicity. Note: This form will be available within 2 weeks of signing your contract.

    Parent Directory - Privacy Settings

    You may adjust your 
    privacy settings if you'd like to fine-tune who can see certain parts of your profile when using the Parent Directory. Members of our community use the Parent Directory to send invitations to events such as birthday parties. Sticking with the default settings is highly recommended so you don't miss out!

    View/Update your Child's Info
    Directly under the "My Ancona" logo, you should see your child's name (below the "Children" heading if you have more than one enrolled at Ancona.) By navigating to the "Contact Card" you can check to ensure the information is complete (and upload a picture if you haven't already done so). In the fall, you'll be able to view your child's schedule, including a list of teachers and their contact info.
  • SchoolPass

    SchoolPass provides an easy way for parents to communicate with the school about absences, early pick-ups, sending your child to After School, and carpools, including a list of people authorized to pick up your child.

    New parents should have received an email with an invitation to get started. When you get that message, please download and sign into the SchoolPass app.

    For more details, please see the "Getting Started" portion of Ancona's 
    SchoolPass FAQ page. Watch for an announcement regarding using SchoolPass to indicate which days your child should be sent to after school. 

    The carpool option "99999 Send to After School" lets teachers know to send your child to after school on a particular day. New for 2024-2025, there is a  self dismissal option for 5th-8th grade students. By choosing the carpool “99998 Self Dismissal (for 5th-8th students)”, you give the school permission to allow the student to self dismiss (leave independently) during dismissal time. 
  • Family Handbook

    All parents and caregivers are expected to review the Ancona School Family Handbook at anconaschool.org/familyhandbook. For quick reference throughout the year, the handbook is also linked on the My Ancona Parent Resource Board.
  • Illness and Injury Guidelines

    Please review the Illness and Injury Guidelines found at this link for information about:
    • How to report absences
    • When to keep your child home from school
    • Contact information for our school nurse
  • My Ancona Resource Board

    The My Ancona Parent Resource Board is a portal to find links and information for Ancona parents and caregivers. 

    Please visit the My Ancona FAQ for more details about this robust resource.
  • What Communications to Expect From Ancona

    Do you think you might be missing communications from Ancona? Please visit our Communication Help page.
    • Summer welcome email from teachers with supply list (early July).
    • Your child’s homeroom/advisory assignment and class roster (early August)
    • The Hopes and Expectations Form, to be reviewed by your child’s teachers before the school year begins (emailed early August; available through September)
    • Occasional summer updates or announcements
    • Weekly all-school newsletters begin on the last Thursday of August and are sent every week through the end of the school year. Recent newsletters and other communications can be found on the Ancona Email Archive page at this link. If your spam filter is blocking messages from Ancona, please add these addresses to your email contacts:
      • registrar@anconaschool.org,
      • info@anconaschool.org,
      • feedback@anconaschool.org,
      • anconaschool@myschoolapp.com, 
      • anconaschool@myschoolemails.com, and
      • Your child’s teacher's email address, which can be found on the grade level group pages in My Ancona.
    • A test of Ancona’s emergency notification system, along with an accompanying email. (September)
    • Weekly emails from your child's teacher. (Beginning in September)
  • Calendar

    The best way to stay up-to-date is to subscribe to Ancona’s Event Calendar. Instructions for subscribing using your preferred calendar platform are on the Calendar page of the Ancona School website.
  • Supplemental Learning Resources

    As a benefit to Ancona families, subscription sites such as World Book Encyclopedia are available to Ancona families, and can be found on the Online Student Resources page of My Ancona.
  • Dismissal and Drop-Off Car Line

    Please Note: Updated Car Line information for the 2025-26 school year will be available in August 2025.

    2024-25 Information:
    Starting from the academic year 2024-25, Ancona will distribute name tags specially designed to be clipped to the passenger-side sun shade in the car. The tags are designed in such a way that they can be easily hidden or displayed as the sunshade is flipped up and down. These tags will help the car line staff to identify families and radio ahead to make the car line more efficient. Families can pick up their name tags during the first week of school. 

    To ensure that the text on the tags is legible, families should write their family (last) name in large letters using a permanent marker. It is recommended that families do not write first names to protect their privacy. In case more than one family shares a last/family name, please add a first initial as a distinguisher. 
     
    Please see and follow the procedures outlined here: Ancona Car Line Parent Instructions.
  • Additional Resources

    Ancona Extended
    Check out the Ancona Extended Resource Board to learn more about our after-school, before-school, and conference day programming. Ancona Extended pricing is listed on the Tuition & Fees page of our website. 

    Volunteer 
    We can’t do it without your help! Find out about volunteer opportunities and how you can get involved at this link.

    Family Directory
    The Family Directory on My Ancona (link) is searchable by parent name, student name, grade level, or homeroom. Each July, new family information becomes visible in the directory, and we recommend that new families log in to verify that their information is correct. By default, student names, grade levels, homerooms, and parent contact info are shared in the directory. You can fine-tune what information you’d like to share about yourself and your child (or opt out of sharing entirely) by adjusting your privacy settings in My Ancona.

    Faculty Directory
    The searchable Faculty Directory includes all faculty and staff members at Ancona.

    Need Help?
    For most questions, we encourage you to contact your child’s teacher or advisor first. Then, find the person on the list at this link who can best help. 

    Online Giving
    Like all independent schools, Ancona relies on the generosity of our community to bridge the gap between the price of tuition and the total cost of an Ancona education. Please visit anconaschool.org/give to contribute to the Butterfly Effect: Ancona's Annual Fund.
    • Affiliations

      Independent Schools Association of the Central States

    • Affiliations

      Lake Michigan Association of Independent Schools

    • Affiliations

      National Association of Independent Schools

    • Affiliations

      American Montessori Society

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