Letter to VCMS Parents About Parent-Teacher Conferences on March 18 & 19

February 2026

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Our upcoming spring Parent-Teacher Conferences will be held on March 18th and March 19, 2026,  the schedule will be as follows:

March 18, 2026

March 19, 2026

In Person

12:40 PM

1:40 PM

In Person

12:40 PM

2:10 PM

Virtual

1:50 PM

3:00 PM

Virtual

2:20 PM

4:00 PM

In Person

6:00 PM

7:00 PM

Virtual

7:20 PM

8:30 PM

In an effort to streamline the process and make it most convenient for parents and guardians, we will, once again, be using an online scheduling program called “Pick-A-Time,” which will enable you to schedule your own appointment using a home computer or other electronic device. Attached to this letter you will find steps necessary to schedule your conferences. Once scheduled, you will be able to print a full schedule of what you have chosen. Access to this website will be available starting Monday, February 23rd through Monday, March 16th. Information is available on the Middle School home page and will be posted on your child’s Google Classroom and on Valley Central social media.

**When parents schedule their appointment with the team, they will automatically be scheduled with their child’s core team teachers covering Math, Science, English, and Social Studies. Some exceptions may apply, but parents will be able to see these from the scheduling screen.   If a student is a part of a collaborative class, the special education teacher will be included in these team meetings also. All other teachers can be scheduled individually. Special area classes are scheduled with the individual teacher.

If you schedule virtual conferences, it is advised that you email yourself your schedule from the Pick-A-Time scheduling screen.  This will provide an email containing all your Google Meet live links to your appointments.  On the date and time of your appointments, please join each Google Meets through this email. During these times you will be provided with an opportunity for a private conference with your child’s teacher(s). Each parent-teacher conference is limited to ten minutes.

Please note Pick-A-Time will only allow you to schedule one appointment per teacher per student and one team per student. For students who have collaborative teachers, the program will schedule both teachers at the same time. If you need to cancel or change appointments, you must do it in Pick-A-Time and give at least 24 hours notice. 

We believe that direct and personal communication with your child’s teachers is vital to their success.  We encourage you to participate in these parent-teacher conferences. If for some reason you cannot attend, please be reminded that you are welcome to call the Middle School throughout the school year to meet or speak with any staff member.

If you have any questions or problems with scheduling, such as multiple children, co-parenting or technology concerns, please contact Amanda Collins at amanda.collins@vcsdny.org

Sincerely, 

Jayme Ginda-Baxter

 Directions for Parents Teacher Conference Scheduler

There are two ways to access the scheduler:

THIS DATABASE IS ONLY FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS, if you have a student in another building you MUST use that database to schedule your appointments.

Please note that the scheduler will NOT open until:

 FEBRUARY 23, 2026 at 8:00am, but you can add your student before the portal opens to make the process easier

They have modified the process for scheduling appointments, you can find updated directions by clicking on this PARENT DIRECTIONS, or following the directions listed below: 

Please be advised that all previous profiles have been cleared, so even if you have registered in previous years, you will need to register again. Enter your email address and click NEXT, you may need to create a new account, enter your information then click CREATE YOUR FREE ACCOUNT.

Click the three small lines in the top left corner and then select the event.

Enter your student’s Name and Date of Birth (ex. 04/21/2015)

Click ADD STUDENT, the screen should show your student, you can either

Click PROCEED, or ADD ADDITIONAL STUDENTS, if needed.

Click the student name to book an appointment, click NEXT STEP.

Select the teacher and click FILTER SLOTS.

Select a suitable time with each teacher from the available time slots.

Click CREATE APPOINTMENT, then Return to Booking button, to create additional appointments if needed.

Clicking on the gear ring on the booked appointment you can see available options, (ex. Details, Cancel or Change time) In the Change Time mode, you can select a new available time with a teacher.

When complete, you can view all of your appointments and print your schedule in the Main Navigation Menu on the left hand side. It may be helpful to email the schedule to yourself for use during conference time. 

If you find that all appointments have been booked, please e-mail Amanda Collins at amanda.collins@vcsdny.org.