Dr. Paul A. Tisdale, superintendent of Biloxi Public Schools, offers the following advice for parents as the new school year approaches:

--- Be sure your child’s school has a telephone number where you can be reached; update your phone number whenever it changes.

--- Read and review the Student Handbook with your child when it's brought home. Keep it in a handy place at home for your reference; there’s a school calendar on the back.

--- If your child does not come home after school, let us know; we’ll help locate your child.

--- If someone bullies your child, report the incident(s) to the assistant principal or principal.

--- Check our website, www.biloxischools.net, frequently for current events and timely information. Sign up to receive the free Windtalker e-mails.

--- PIN numbers for Information On Demand (IOD) will be mailed to parents near the end of August; the PIN number and your child’s ID number permit you to monitor your child’s grades over the internet.

--- Cell phones are not to be brought into the school building. Phones that are seen or heard will be secured by the principal until the end of school, then released to the parent or guardian.

--- Take advantage of Lunch Box, the district’s new online meal payment program. Sign up now on the district web site.

--- All teachers have e-mail addresses; contact them by e-mail.

--- Before jumping to conclusions, contact the school. Often the facts, as interpreted by students to their parents, are inaccurate or incomplete.

--- We all want your child’s experience at school to be a successful one; communication is the key!

Hundreds of members of the Biloxi Public Schools faculty and staff are gathered today at Biloxi Junior High School to continue preparing for Thursday’s opening day of school.

A day of motivational speakers, policy updates and other information is being discussed by 800 or so teachers, teachers assistants, and others assembled in the auditorium at Biloxi Junior High School.

“You have the most important jobs in the city of Biloxi, and I would venture to say the most rewarding,” School Board President Kenny Holloway told the audience in opening remarks this morning. Holloway thanked teachers and staff for their dedication and noted that more than $15 million in being invested in improvements throughout the school district this year alone.

The Biloxi Public School District is now offering parents the ability to conveniently manage their child's meal account online.

Parents will be able to view and print their child’s cafeteria transaction history, check to see how much money the child has in his or her cafeteria account, and set spending limits.

The online meal accounts will be accessible through the Lunch/Wellness page of the school district web site, biloxischools.net.

To read a PDF with instructions on how to set up an online meals account for your child, click here.

To manage your child's meal account online, click here. Once you set up the account, you may want to bookmark the sign-in account page for future reference.