Summer Family Newsletter

July 7, 2022

Welcome to our Summer Family Newsletter!  As we get ready for our 15th year we can not help but to think about all of our amazing students. This year had many unexpected moments, some great and some challenging. We are thankful for you and your resilience, flexibility, and determination to ensure our students get the best education. 

We hope you are enjoying the summer and working on your summer reading packets.  We are working really hard this summer to prepare for this upcoming school year.   This year we have partnered with Vision to Learn Eagles Eye Mobile so all students can receive free eye exams and glasses if needed. We are working to improve our garden so we can use it to plant and also as a space for mindfulness.  As mentioned in the June Family Newsletter, our principal, Mrs. Yolanda Cooper has retired and is already enjoying time with her family. Our assistant principals, Ms. Mercedes  Mason and Mr. David Shemaria will take on the roles of Lower School and Upper School Principals.  Another change to note, our school day is now 8:00AM to 3:15PM.  

There is so much more we can’t wait to share!  Together we can achieve anything and we are excited for this new journey.  In this newsletter, we have provided some resources, reminders and things to look forward to. We will continue to share information on Class Dojo, our website and via email throughout the summer.   

If you have questions you may contact the office at information@panamcs.org or (215) 425-1212.

Office Summer Schedule

The office is always here to help, during the summer months you can make updates to student records, provide updated emergency contact information, and more.  The office will be open throughout the summer Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 2:00pm.  You may also call (215) 425-1212 if you have questions for the office staff. 


Summer Reading Tours

We will be hosting a series of Summer Reading Tours: Read and Play.  Pan Am staff will be reading aloud books and will give families books to take home as well as activities.  Please join us for our first installment of the tour at Pan Am’s Playground on July 25th at 12PM. Stayed tuned for more details.

New for 2022-2023

As mentioned in the June Family Newsletter, our principal, Mrs. Yolanda Cooper has retired and is already enjoying time with her family. We wish her the best in her retirement.

Our assistant principals, Ms. Mercedes  Mason and Mr. David Shemaria will take on new roles: Ms. Mercedes Mason, Lower School Principal overseeing Kindergarten through Fourth Grade. Mr. David Shemaria, Upper School Principal overseeing grades five through eight and After School Programming. 

Our new school day hours are 8:00 am – 3:15 pm. The gates will open at 7:50 for arrival and at 3:15 for dismissal.

School Opening and Upcoming Events

The first day of school is August 29th for 1st through 8th grade.  Kindergarten will have  an orientation on August 30th and their first day is August 31st.  

You can view a complete list of events on our school calendar HERE.   

We can’t wait to see you at the BACK TO SCHOOL PARTY on August 26, 2022!!  Save the date!!  We will share more details in the coming weeks.   

Home Visits
Building Trust & Community 

Since 2008, Pan American has prided itself in conducting Home Visits at the start of every school year.  Even during the Pandemic we continued our home and school connection by conducting virtual home visits and met with families via Zoom.  

The purpose of our home visits is to establish communication and develop a relationship with families. They are not a replacement for parent-teacher conferences, but are a process through which teachers demonstrate their support for students’ families by visiting the home environment or an alternative location where the family feels at home and comfortable.

Because the COVID environment is so unpredictable, we will continue to conduct virtual home visits via Zoom.  Your child’s assigned home room teacher will reach out to you.  Teacher’s first day back from summer break is August 15th, they will be in touch shortly after that.  If your phone number and email address have changed during the summer please contact the main office to make arrangements to complete the necessary forms.


Uniform Updates

There have been some updates to the uniform. We have added additional uniform choices to give you options, you can view the changes on Cramers’ website.  We have also updated the requirement by grades, which are now divided by K-4 and 5-8.  These items must be purchased from Cramers at the store or online. The items will have the school logo on them. Cramers is located at 4628 Frankford Avenue Philadelphia , PA 19124 (215) 743-0750. You can order online and pick up for free in store, you can order online and have it shipped to your home for a charge, or you can shop in-store. 


Supply Lists

Get ahead and catch the summer school supply sales!  HERE is a list of the required supplies.