Sandwich Spotlight
Strong Start
As we settle back into the school year and get ready for the Sandwich Fair to begin, we want to highlight a couple of other changes in the district.
First, you will notice that we have one school photography company district-wide this year. We selected the company from several options based on pricing, ease of use, and the goal of providing families with one consistent platform for ordering school pictures.
Another important change is the addition of art at the elementary level. For several years, it has been a goal of the Board of Education and the district to provide Art Education to our K-5 students who have not previously had a structured district art curriculum in several years. We are very pleased to welcome Miss Tori Smith as our new K-5 Art Teacher. She will work with district administration and our elementary teams to ensure students have regular, weekly opportunities to experience and grow in the area of art.
The district continues to develop long-term financial planning strategies and to identify the best ways to support our facilities/operating funds for the future. We will have more information to share with the community about these options later this week.
I hope everyone is settling into the school year, and we look forward to seeing many of you at the fair!
We are Sandwich!
Ryan Janisch
Superintendent, Sandwich 430
US News and World Report- Best High School Ranking
Last week, we learned that Sandwich High School earned recognition as a U.S. News & World Report Top High School, an honor awarded to the top 40% of high schools in the country. The recognition is based on several important measures, including proficiency levels, AP testing, graduation rates, and other indicators of student success. These are all areas of focus for our high school, as the staff has put tremendous effort into improving ninth-grade on-track rates, reducing course failures, increasing proficiency and attendance, and strengthening graduation rates.
While this is certainly a recognition of the outstanding work happening at Sandwich High School, it is also a district-wide accomplishment. We know that everything we do in Sandwich from Pre-K through 12th grade ultimately ends at the high school. Congratulations to the entire Sandwich High School team and to every member of our district who has contributed to helping our students succeed over the years. This recognition belongs to everyone!
District School Resource Officer
We want to introduce the community to Officer Joel French, who will serve as the district's new Student Resource Officer. He is a 26-year police veteran and has 16 years of teaching experience as a driver’s education instructor. Officer French is excited to work with students, staff, and families to help create a safe, positive, and supportive school environment.
If you ever have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact Officer French at srofrench@sandwich430.org.
Communication Apps- Infinite Campus and ParentSquare
The district utilizes two apps for communication and management purposes. Infinite Campus is used for all student-related functions—such as grades, attendance, fees, and more—while ParentSquare is used exclusively for communication. ParentSquare helps us share newsletters, send alerts, manage parent-teacher conference sign-ups, and coordinate volunteer opportunities. If possible, we encourage all families to download the mobile apps for both platforms to stay connected and informed throughout the school year.
Infinite Campus- Link
Schedules
Bus Information
Fees
Grades
Attendance
Food Services
Parent Square- Link
Communications
Sign-ups
Student Fees and Free and Reduced Lunch Rollover
The 2026-27 school year student fees will be assessed in Infinite Campus within the week. Please note that school fees are due by Tuesday, December 1. Please go into your Infinite Campus parent portal to pay all student fees. This is located on the drop-down option labeled “Fees”. Again, student fees will populate in this field later in the week.
The carryover period for students who were receiving free/reduced lunch (FRL) for the 2026-2027 school year will end on September 24, 2026. If a new 2026-2027 application has not been submitted, your child will automatically be put on paid breakfast and lunch. Also, just a reminder that all families on FRL will also qualify for the student fee waiver.
If you would like to fill out an application, please log in to your Infinite Campus parent portal account and click on “More”, then “Meal Benefits”. Once your application has been submitted and reviewed, you will receive an approval/denial letter in the mail via USPS.
In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, and Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 or (202) 720-6382 (TTY). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer
Meal Rates for the 26-27 School Year
Breakfast (K-12) $2.15
Elementary/Middle School Lunch (K-8) $3.90
High School Lunch (9-12) $4.05
Schedule Reminders
We wanted to share a few schedule reminders that are coming up in the next two weeks.
Friday, September 4 - Early Dismissal for School Improvement Day
Friday, September 11 - Non-Attendance Day
Below you will find a link to our website and our school calendar for the 26-27 school year. There you will find an interactive school calendar and our “Calendar-at-a-Glance”.
Traffic Adjustment
We wanted to make all families aware of a traffic change at the high school. In response to the increased crowding on Lions Street, we opened the traditional one-way road between the high school football field and the high school practice fields to two-way traffic today. We are hopeful this change will make it easier for students and staff to enter and exit the student parking areas while also removing several vehicles from the front of the high school during the school day. The road was lined, and the signs were adjusted late last week, and communication went to all HS families over the weekend. Please use caution as everyone adjusts to the new traffic pattern, and thank you for your cooperation.
District Leadership Team
The District Leadership Team will continue its work this year and begin with the continued implementation of our three-year district improvement plan. We have finalized the following goal areas for our District Improvement Plan:
Professional Learning Communities
Aligned Instruction and Curriculum
Student Support System (MTSS)
Supportive and Engaged Culture
District Resources (Finance and Facilities)
Under each of these goal areas we have specific tasks listed for each year. We will continue to hold ourselves accountable to these expectations. Having a clear understanding of the vision and direction of our school district is vital to our success and growth. Please take a few moments to read through the District Improvement Plan.
Attendance Policy
Last year the district worked closely with the Regional Office of Education to create an attendance policy that is more aligned with the rest of the county. Our goal is to reduce the number of Chronic Absentee students within the district.
CHRONIC ABSENTEEISM- a student who misses 10 percent of school days (18) within an academic year with or without a valid excuse. According to school research, these students are at greater risk of educational loss. Students within this category are reported to the state and monitored on the district/school report card.
To achieve this goal, we updated our attendance policy to create systems of support to monitor attendance and support families. The biggest changes are outlined below for families. Additional details can be found in the student handbook for each school.
All excused absences count toward a student's total of 10 days of absence.
After 10 absences, the district will ask for a doctor's note for future absences.
All absences must be reported daily by 10:00 AM
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If a student is not reported absent by 10:00 AM the district will begin to identify the student’s location and reason for the absence.
Parents/Guardians will be contacted first.
If no one can be reached, we will contact emergency contacts.
If no one can still be reached, we will contact the district SRO to do a safety check at the student’s home.
Support for student absences will begin at the seventh absence of the school year.
Please help us achieve a positive school outcome through consistent student attendance. This is a significant predictor of student and school success. If someone in your family is unable to attend school for the day, it will be important that you report the absence by 10:00 AM.
Core Values
Our District Culture and Climate Committee created a set of district Core Values. These values are designed to be the cultural base of our learning community. We are using these core values as a set of expectations for staff and students. We want to ensure that our learning community not only supports academic growth but that it embraces a high set of cultural expectations.
These District Core Values were presented to the District Leadership Team and the Board of Education for input. We continue to implement these Core Values with students every month. Please take a few moments to familiarize yourself with our core values.
District Core Values
We are Sandwich!