Town
You can access the Town of Darien’s website here. In the event of a town emergency, information is provided by the First Selectman. If you would like to sign up for this information on town emergencies or other important notices from our First Selectman, click here.
District
The Darien Board of Education and the Darien Public Schools will often use outside resources to assist in communicating with families. For some of these resources listed below, you will need to either create an account in order to access the information provided or the district will provide you with account information so you are connected to the right place. Guidance will be provided when you register any new child to the district.
Aspen
This is the district’s main system for all information and communication. First it is most important that your information is current and accurate (personal information, emergency and health information for each child) as teachers will communicate with parents through this system in addition to communicating grades and report cards. If you have never used this before in Darien, you will need to request an account, click here. Once you have an account, you will be able to access it to update with your password, and the district will notify you of the posting of grades and report cards.
First View
This is an app that you can download once your child has been assigned to a bus. It will provide a gps update as to where the bus is along the route. This is helpful for kindergarten parents as an adult is required to be present to allow a kindergartener off the bus, even at their own home.
Food Services
In partnership with our new food service provider, Chartwells, the District is now using Nutrislice to publish school menus to an interactive website and a free smartphone app. Monthly menus will include nutrition information and can be filtered for common food allergens like nuts, wheat, and dairy. Nutrislice allows parents or students to place orders a week in advance, the night before, or in the morning on the same day. Nutrislice provides for meals that are prepared and served in the safest way possible for students and staff alike. Simply download the Nutrislice app on your smart phone and find Darien Public Schools. Using your computer, visit darienps.nutrislice.com. Select your preferred school(s). Should you have any questions, please email Meghan Bendish, Chartwells Director of Dining Services at mbendish@darienps.org. In the Hybrid learning model, meals will be preordered. Lunch will primarily be prepackaged options served in the classroom for elementary students.
K-12 Payment Center
Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, the Darien School District will be using MySchoolBucks to fund lunch accounts as well as making payments for student activities. This will allow parents to have one user ID, and one password for both. We will no longer be using School Cash Online.
School Dismissal Manager
At the beginning of the school year, you will set a default as to how your child will be getting home each day here. The school will provide you with a password to your account and teachers will only be allowed to send your child home based on the instructions you provide. If there are exceptions such as a playdate, you will need to change that in the app or on the website to allow them to go home with someone else. Hand written notes are not accepted. Also, please make sure this is updated and current each day prior to 1:30pm, as the office is a busy place in the afternoon.
School Messenger
School Messenger enables school administration to efficiently communicate with our families via an automated system. The primary uses of the system will be to notify you of delayed openings, early dismissals, school closings, and emergencies. This will enable the district to disseminate information to each of our families in the most time efficient manner possible in a variety of methods – including phone calls, email, and text message.
Do you have a question for the district beyond this information? Please click here to see the Chain of Communication and find the right person to ask your question.
PTO
All Hindley families are automatically part of the PTO, there is no fee to join, however, we are separate from the school, so read below for ways that the PTO executive board and its committees will communicate with you.
A to Z Directory Information
The PTO does not have direct access to ANY personal information about the students or their families attending Hindley. However, you can opt into the school directory by clicking the link when provided in late August and completing the form with your name, telephone number and home address. This information will be included for other Hindley families who purchase access to it, either by receiving a printed hardcopy and/or by using the online app.
Hindley Wire
Each week, the PTO receives submissions about upcoming events from committee chairs, and/or from the community. As a service to all families, the PTO curates all the information and sends a weekly digest including the school calendar for the week, information about upcoming events at Hindley, as well as a community events that Hindley families might be interested in participating. You can sign up to receive the Hindley Wire every Sunday morning by clicking here.
Pay4schoolstuff.com
All PTO events are handled separately from the district, and a secure website has been set up for all ticket sales to events. From time to time, other items will be for sale through pay4schoolstuff.com as well. When this site is used, you will receive a direct link for payment. The first time you use it, you will need to create an account, and add a new student (as many who attend Hindley), and link to the classroom teacher. Once linked, you will see any upcoming sales we have available for purchase.
If you have any questions for the PTO (such as how to get involved) please read more here.