It's the First Day of School!

Dear Community Families,

The first day of school is here! There will be a lot happening at school this week to kick off the new year.

All parents are welcome to join us for a Meet & Greet after walking your student to their classroom on the first day of school. CFF will provide light refreshments as you meet and mingle with other parents and CMCS staff. Meet us on the Room 1 yard at 8:10am.

Our Beginning-of-Year Assessment windows open this week so your child will be taking diagnostic tests in reading (DIBELS for Gr. K-2 / iReady for Gr. 3-5) and math (iReady for all grade levels). Teachers will use these results to determine classroom small group instruction, after-school intervention groups, advanced math groups, and tutoring groups. As of last school year, LAUSD requires students to complete 30-45 minutes of iReady Personalized Learning per week. Your child's teacher may ask that some of these required minutes be completed at home. Join me Friday, August 16 at TeaTime with Toni to learn more about iReady and these requirements.

We hold Behavior Assemblies during the first week of school. Students are introduced to and/or reminded of our school's expectations for behavior. Every community member should know our school norms:

We Are Kind
We Are Respectful
We Are Responsible
We Are Safe
We Are Trustworthy

Behavior Expectation Posters are posted around the campus so that everyone knows what behaviors are expected whether we're on the upper yard, in the cafeteria, in restrooms, or even on the bus. Please review our Hierarchy of Interventions for School Wide Positive Behavior Support which shows Tier 1, 2, and 3 behaviors and a list of possible interventions teachers may use to address the behaviors.

All parents are invited to the Friday Morning Assemblies on our upper yard at 8:10am. During Morning Assemblies we review our school rules, recognize Students of the Week, Bus Bosses, Kindness Counts coupon recipients, and Above & Beyond Club members. This week, TeaTime with Toni is scheduled immediately after the morning assembly. I will touch on topics such as attendance, assessments, behavior expectations, building community and connections, etc. If you have a specific topic you'd like to discuss, please email me at trk2932@lausd.net with your suggestions.

Friday, August 16th is a minimum day with a 12:50 dismissal. Please remember to adjust your valet/bus stop pick up time accordingly.

We are excited to have a variety of after-school activities for our students this year. We are working to ensure that all come with the option of late bus transportation. These are the activities we have planned:

After-School Tutoring with Student Nest - Mon., Wed., Thurs., beginning Aug. 19

Math Kangaroo - Mondays beginning Sept. 9

Tuesday Enrichment Classes - Tuesdays beginning Sept. 17

Musical Theater - Tuesdays beginning Aug. 27 (look out for the registration link in next week's blog)

After-School Intervention with Teachers - Wed. and Thurs. beginning Sept. 25

We're ready and excited to begin the new school year!!

Best,

Toni

P.S.: If your child's teacher is listed as "unfilled" on the parent portal, they've been assigned to Ty for 2nd grade, Jennifer for 3rd grade, or Isabella for 4th grade.

GRADE LEVEL SCHOOL SUPPLY LISTS

Fourth Grade:

Important Notes for the First Week of School

Families may log onto the Parent Portal to find out their child’s classroom assignment for the school year. You may call the main office if you need help finding your child’s new assignment.
We do not accept parent requests for teachers or classrooms.
The first day of school is Monday, August 12th.
Campus opens for students at 7:30am each day. Supervision is not available before that time.

The schedule for the first week of school is as follows:

Monday, August 12 – 2:30 dismissal (regular dismissal)
Tuesday, August 13 – 1:30 dismissal (this is the dismissal time every Tuesday)
Wednesday, August 14 – Thursday, August 15 – 2:30 dismissal (regular dismissal)
Friday, August 16 – 12:50 dismissal (minimum day) – note new minimum day dismissal time

Important Transportation Information!!!

You should be receiving your bus route/stop in the mail directly from Transportation. If you have not, contact Kathryn and she will try to help. Kxm2679@lausd.net
You must wait at least two weeks to request changes to your route. Even if changes were approved last year, you must use the route/stop assigned this year until changes can be accommodated. Contact Kathryn beginning August 26^th and she will submit requests.
Fill out your Transportation Plan google form (link here) by August 7^th. We need to know how your child is getting home from the first day of school (and every day) in time to notify teachers and get tags on backpacks. If we have not received the google form by the 7th, our default plan will be to put your student on their assigned bus.
If the bus is your transportation plan, we encourage families to use it from the first day on. Kindergarten parents are welcome to follow the bus, park (on the upper yard) and watch your student get off the bus.
We will be putting more info about bus and valet on our website soon!

PARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED

Thank you to all the parents who have already submitted volunteer applications for the 2024-2025 school year. While quite a few applications have been approved, many are stuck in the process because of expired TB clearance. TB clearance must be updated every 4 years, so if your TB clearance was provided in 2020, it's time to update.

Parent volunteers must complete training. SAVE THE DATE to join a virtual Region West training session.

IMPORTANT: NEW LAUSD POLICY!!!!

Please be aware that LAUSD has a new policy prohibiting food deliveries to school campuses.

SCHOOL IS COMPULSORY!

Students need to come to school every day. When possible, please schedule your child’s medical appointments outside of school hours. (See the bell schedule for our school hours.) If you must schedule an appointment during school hours, please check in at the main office to pick up/drop off your child.

The following types of absences are excused: illness, doctor’s appointments, funerals, family emergencies, court dates, religious observances, etc. Examples of unexcused absences include: vacations, “we slept in,” “we took a family day,” “we went to Disneyland for her birthday,” "we visited relatives out of state/country," etc. Even if you send in a note to explain the absence, those examples would be designated as unexcused. For more information, please refer to LAUSD’s Attendance Guide.

You may know that LAUSD has an Independent Study program. This program is intended to provide make-up classwork for students who must miss school for legitimate long-term absences (for example, needing to go out of town for a death in the family, quarantine/lengthy stay at home for serious illness, or needing to make a visa appointment in a home country). Independent Study is NOT for “we are taking 2 weeks off and going abroad,” or “we are starting our Winter Break 10 days early.” For Independent Study in excess of 15 days, you must enroll in the online City of Angels program.

REGISTER FOR KIDS 4 COLLEGE FREE AFTER SCHOOL CHILD CARE

Click here for the application. Return the completed application to the main office.

Save the Dates . . .

Recurring Activities

Morning Assembly: Fridays, begins August 16
Student Nest Tutoring Services: Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays- begin August 19
Tiny Spotlight Musical Theater: Tuesdays, begins August 27

AUGUST

August 12

First Day of School
Parent Meet & Greet, Rm. 1 yard, 8:10am

August 16

Opening Morning Assembly
Tea Time with Toni - Introduction to the New School Year
Parent Meeting - Building Community and Connection
Minimum Day - 12:50 Dismissal

August 18th: MUSICAL THEATER REGISTRATION OPENS (check the blog at 6pm)

August 19

Student Nest Tutoring Services begin for select students

August 23

Mandatory Parent Volunteer Meeting
Math Kangaroo Parent Meeting

August 27

Musical Theater scheduled to begin

August 29

Back to School Night

August 30

NO SCHOOL - Admissions Day

SEPTEMBER

September 2

NO SCHOOL - Labor Day

September 9

Math Kangaroo Orientation

September 10

Council Meeting

September 13

Teatime with Toni
Parent Meeting: Suicide Prevention Awareness Training

Click here to view the 24-25 School Calendar

VALET RULES

For the SAFETY of your child and ALL children and parents at CMCS, if you are driving your child to school you MUST follow these valet rules.

Arrive at CMCS between 7:30 and 8:00

Enter through the gate on the EAST side of the school.

Drive along the left curb. The right curb is a bus lane whether or not the buses have arrived.

Wait patiently in a single file line along the left curb of the driveway.

When a valet volunteer or LAUSD staff directs you, turn right at the parking lot and pull up to the Valet Curb. There can be a maximum of 3 cars at the Valet Curb.

Under no circumstances can you park with your child and walk them through the parking lot. If, especially during these first weeks of school, you want to walk your child to the front gate, you MUST drop your child at the Valet Curb and then park your car. Your child can wait for you near the valet volunteers on the bench by the Valet Curb.

When you arrive at the Valet Curb, your child should be ready to exit the car from the passenger side of the vehicle. IF a passenger side exit from your vehicle is unavailable, your child must wait until a valet volunteer opens the driver side door and escorts them in front of your car onto the curb.

Under no circumstances should the driver exit the vehicle.

Do not pull around cars in the valet line including at the Valet Curb. The line is single file from the east gate entrance through to the west gate exit. Please wait your turn to drop off your child and to exit campus.

FINALLY, be patient and kind. The valet volunteers and LAUSD staff are there for the safety of your children. Please treat them, the children, and the other drivers with respect.

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