What You Need to Know for Back-to-School

 Good afternoon Community Families,

Well, school is in and we are as ready as can be to welcome our students back! I know there are very mixed feelings about this return to school. LAUSD is preparing plans B & C and will let us know what and if school opening plans need to shift. For now, we're all good to go.

I'd like to put your minds a little more at ease. You should know that we are following the guidance and recommendations of the CDC. LAUSD has mandated vaccinations for all employees effective October 15 and all staff and students will be tested on-site weekly. Most students and staff have tested for the return to school and I've been monitoring these baseline COVID test results. I am so happy to announce that so far there has not been a single positive case for CMCS staff and students tested between 8/2 - 8/13. I will continue to monitor late tests coming in this weekend.

If we do have a positive case, here are the protocols we follow:

PARENT ORIENTATION

What a busy Parent Orientation! Families dropped off school packets, signed up for after school programs, and collected lots of CMCS swag and gear.  New families learned about the ins and outs of CMCS and quite a few EL families joined the English Learner Advisory Committee (ELAC).  

I'd like to send a great big THANK YOU to our CFF Team, headed by Co-Presidents Stefania and Kate. They worked hard to pull the many pieces together to make sure this was a successful event! 

IMPORTANT EVENTS HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND:

Click here to view on website

ABOUT NEXT WEEK . . .

In order to ensure safety for all students and staff, we have had to make a few changes to our plans for the first day of school:

• Unfortunately, the upper yard will not be available for parking.

• Families who are driving their students to school on the first day are strongly encouraged to drop their students off at valet. Your child will be escorted to the check-in station, then to the kindergarten yard (Gr. K) or upper yard (Gr. 1-5) for supervised play until the school day begins.

• For those families who plan to follow the school bus and/or who would like to walk their student onto campus may do so, but we ask that you say goodbyes at the check-in station at the campus entrance. Your student will be escorted to their supervised play area until school begins. Please drop your child at valet, park your car in the visitor's lot*, then meet your child at valet.

• Due to increased COVID spread, we ask that parents not come onto campus at this time. 

*Parking in the visitor's lot will be very limited, so you may need to park on the streets below and walk up to campus.

Important Reminders:

• Your child must present a Daily Pass or answer screening questions to enter campus. Parents/guardians may show the Daily Pass  QR code on their phones at the valet drop-off. 
• If your child tested outside of LAUSD, he/she MUST provide a copy of the negative COVID test results at the check-in station.
• If your child has not taken a COVID test between August 2-13, please email me ASAP.
• There will be no after-school supervision for our K-1 students for the first week of school. Got Game will begin August 23.
• For this week, we will assume that K-1 students who signed up for after-school care will be taking their assigned bus home unless we are notified otherwise.
• Please do not park in the staff parking lot which is the first lot after entering the east entrance.

Schedule for the First Week of School:

School begins at 8:07 a.m. every day.

Dismissals this week are as follows:

Monday -      2:30 dismissal

Tuesday -      1:30 dismissal

Wednesday - 2:30 dismissal

Thursday -    2:30 dismissal

Friday -       12:45 dismissal

Please be sure to meet your child's bus on time!

SCHOOL MEALS

There will be no Breakfast-in-the-Classroom as of now. Instead, students may choose to take the Grab & Go meal bags which include lunch to eat on that day, supper for that evening, and breakfast for the next morning. Please encourage your child to take the food only if they believe they will eat it all. Last Spring, we had A LOT OF WASTED FOOD, some of which was left outside overnight. It made for great snacks for our animal neighbors.   

After-School Programs:

• Beyond the Bell - Youth Services will be available for Gr. 2-5 students on the first day of school from dismissal until 6:00 p.m.  If you have not yet completed an application, click here to download, complete, and return the form to school on Monday.

• Beyond the Bell's program for K-1 students will not come to our school this semester. LAUSD is prioritizing Title I schools that do not already have a paid program. We may have the program available next semester.

• Got Game Camp is our paid after school program, available to all students in grades K-5. The program is set to begin on August 23 and will run from dismissal until 6:00 p.m. Click here to register for the Got Game Camp after-school program.

Reminder: There is no late bus for students in after-care. Both programs end at 6:00 p.m. 

COMMUNITY COUNCIL NOMINATIONS

Self-nominations forms for Community Council will be emailed to all families on Thursday, August 19. We need parent representatives from each grade level to serve on this very important school committee.

LOOKING AHEAD: 

 

Back-to-School Night, scheduled for Thursday, September 2, will be a virtual event again this year.  

More details will be coming soon.