5 Things to Help You Prepare for the First Day of School

August 10, 2023

1. Review Our Quick Reference Guides

One of the first things you’ll need to begin preparing for your year at Portsmouth Christian Academy is to read through our school-specific Quick Reference Guides. These guides are usually about 15 pages long, but are chocked full of helpful information about the upcoming school year, including Arrival and Dismissal procedures, lunch sign-ups, and the yearly calendar.

Take a look at this year’s Quick Reference Guides here:

PCAP

Lower School and Middle School

Upper School

2. Take a Look at the Dress Code

At Portsmouth Christian Academy, we believe that a student’s individuality is more properly expressed by what he or she does and believes than by what he or she wears. Therefore, our dress code, across the school, is meant to promote neat and modest fashion that encourages our students to focus their attention on their pursuit of meaningful skills and experiences in and outside the classroom as opposed to the latest fashions.

You can find the dress codes for our Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools here:

Lower and Middle School Dress Code

Upper School Dress Code

3. Stock up on School Supplies

Each class your child takes at Portsmouth Christian Academy requires a different set of supplies. Some are subject-specific like rulers or instruments. Others are more broad, like notebooks, pencils, and crayons. We want to make sure your child is fully equipped to learn, create, problem solve, and explore as a student here at Portsmouth Christian Academy.

You can find the Supply Lists for our Preschool, Lower, Middle, and Upper School here:

PCAP (Page 5 of PCAP Quick Reference Guide)

Lower/Middle School

Upper School (Pages 14-15 of Upper School Quick Reference Guide)

4. Review our Arrival and Dismissal Procedures

The first day of school is full of tangible energy—and lots of cars! Once you’ve experienced the Arrival and Dismissal lines once, you’ll be dropping off and picking up your kids like a pro! Before you drop your student off (prior to 8:10am), take a look at the route you’ll take to drop off your PCA student(s).

You can find the explainer video for our Arrival and Dismissal procedures below.

5. Ask Us Anything You Need!

We welcome at least 130 new students to our community every year. That’s over 80 new families figuring out everything mentioned in this article—and we’re here to help you at every step of the way!

If you have any questions about what to expect in your upcoming school year, please reach out to our administrative team to get all your questions answered! The contact information for your child’s school level is laid out below.