Eagle News
November 2023
Words from Principal Stevens
During the month of November, many of us reflect on what we are grateful for in our lives. We would love to hear from our families about what you are grateful for at Cypress Woods Elementary.
We invite you to take a brief moment to express your gratitude to our amazing staff or our school in general by completing the survey link below. Your words of appreciation make a great impact on our culture and climate. Thank you for being such a supportive school community.
We will share all of your responses with the staff by Friday, November 17th before Thanksgiving break.
A link to the form can be found below:
ATTENDANCE MATTERS
When a student is absent from school for any reason, parents are to send in a written note to the teacher explaining the absence or email the school at cypresswoodses.absence@pcsb.org and copy the teacher on the email. Absences will remain unexcused until such documentation is received by the school. Children with poor attendance patterns may be referred to the Pinellas County Truancy Intervention Program. Class work is required to be made up during or after an excused absence. Upon returning to school following an excused absence, a student has as many days to make up the work as days absent. A doctor’s note is required to excuse a student from PE for more than 3 days and documentation is required for absences exceeding 5 days.
MARK YOUR CALENDERS
11/3: Family Lunch
11/9: Volunteer Cafe
11/10 Veterans Assembly
11/15: Great American Teach In
11/16: Fall Pictures Retake
11/20-11/24: THANKSGIVING BREAK: NO SCHOOL
XELLO
Xello is a new career exploration program available to Pinellas County Students. The app is located on your student’s Clever Account. Students can explore career possibilities and define their interests and aspirations. Please review the Xello Parent Letter and contact Laura Trudell, School Counselor if you have any questions.
Please click on attachment
🎶🎼🎹🎵 MUSIC 🎵🎶🎼🪘
The annual Veterans Assembly will take place on Friday, November 10th on the Cypress Woods Elementary PE courts at 9:00 am. Please plan to have your child wear red, white, and/or blue. The third-grade students will perform a few songs at this assembly. Third grade students should wear shorts or pants with pockets. Parents and Veterans are welcome to attend. If you would like to attend, please plan to check in through the front office at 8:50 am.
Please click on the Veterans Assembly Flyer
STEM CLUBS
STEM Clubs are up and running. Please pick up your child in the back car line (bus circle) Mon-Thurs if your child attends STEM Club during one of those days. Pick up is at 4pm.
Thank You 😉
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Hello from the P.E. Department! We are looking forward to an exciting and rewarding year. To ensure all students are safe and successful please review the rules and procedures listed below.
Overview: Pre-K students will have Physical Education class daily for thirty minutes. Kindergarten through Fifth Grade students will have Physical Education class three days a week for fifty minutes.
Attire: For your child’s safety, the P.E. Department requests closed toe shoes. We request no boots, high-heeled shoes, or sandals be worn to P.E. class. If your child wants to wear these shoes to school, we ask they be worn on days your child does not have P.E. or that they change before coming out to P.E. class.
Water bottles: We highly encourage sending a water bottle to school, labeled with your child’s name. We are monitoring heat advisories and providing water breaks and shade breaks. It is important your child stays hydrated.
Excuses: ALL students will be expected to participate in all P.E. activities unless they present a note from a parent/guardian or doctor. If a student misses P.E. for more than three days in a row, a doctor’s note is required. In instances such as hospitalization, long-term illness, broken bones, and stitches, we will require a doctor’s release note. The note must be given to the P.E. instructor before the child may resume participation.
Grading: Your child receives a grade in both skill and behavior each grading period.
Guidelines for Success:
Show self-control.
Own a positive attitude.
Act responsibly.
Respect self & others.
We follow the school wide SOAR reward program in which students receive feathers for positive behavior. Look out for our Athletes of the Month starting in September!
We hope this information will help you better understand our expectations for your child. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions. We look forward to a GREAT year!
Coach Anderson, Coach LaFave, Coach White, Coach Crispyn & Coach Evans 😊
HELLO VOLUNTEERS!!
Happy Fall Volunteers!
Thank you for all your help last month with the APEX Fun Run, Book Fair, Filed Trips, Pumpkin Days, Brainy Boo, Lunch Pals, Volunteer Café and more! You have volunteered MANY hours this month, please remember to log those hours into the volunteer system so that our school will receive credit for our amazing community and parental support! If you need assistance, please refer to the Volunteer Quick Guide or email me at shipleyk@pcsb.org
Our busy fall season continues to offer even more opportunities for volunteers to get involved! Please look over all the opportunities below and let me know if you are available to help!
Important Dates and Opportunities:
- Tuesday, October 31st - Deadline to sign up for Our Great American Teach In on Wednesday, November 15th - This is a special day for you to spend with us whether you have 30 minutes or the whole day to share things such as careers, hobbies, sports, crafts, telling a story about an exciting trip or even reading an interesting book with our students. This year, in addition to face-to-face, we will be offering Zoom for live presentations or virtual field trips as well as any prerecorded presentations you’d like to share. If you or someone you know would like to be a presenter, please have them follow the link below to sign up (participants do not need to be a registered volunteer for this one day event)
https://forms.office.com/r/nL1hMHfV1C
- Friday, November 3rd First Friday Family Lunch – Parents/Visitors may have lunch with their child during their scheduled 30 minute lunchtime. Please check with your child’s teacher for their lunchtime, if you don’t already know it, and DO NOT enter the campus until 5- 10 minutes before the scheduled time. . All parents/visitors must bring their driver’s license and check in at the front office before entering campus. It is helpful to let your student &/or their teacher know if you plan to join them for lunch, then they will know to meet you at our picnic area. Parents/Visitors are not permitted in the cafeteria, we will have designated Level 2 volunteers available to pull them out to the picnic tables if they forget. We need Level 2 Volunteers to cover every lunch period in order for us to continue with Family Lunch Fridays (The first Friday of each month). Family Lunch Volunteers will monitor our visitors and pull students from the cafeteria when needed. If you are a Level 2 Volunteer and would like to help, please follow this link to sign up: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0F48ABA62BA31-44548048-first
- Thursday, November 9th (9:00 – 11:30 AM or until we’re finished) – Volunteer Café – Join us and help complete various projects for our teachers and staff. Coffee and refreshments will be provided. RSVP appreciated, but not required. We expect a lot of projects, so the more the merrier…Hope to see you then!
- Friday, November 10th 9:00 AM – Veteran’s Day Celebration – From 8:30 – 10ish. We will need about 7-8 volunteers to sign in our visitors and direct traffic back to the ceremony on the PE Court. You do need to be registered and activated, but you don’t need to be Level 2. If you re available to help, please email me as soon as possible. Also, if you would like to share the names of any family members who have served in the Military for our Wall of Honor at the Veteran’s Day Celebration, please follow this link: https://forms.office.com/r/Ae35vZNRfR The deadline to submit names is Thursday, November 2nd.
- Wednesday, November 15th – The Great American Teach In – Volunteers Needed - We are looking for some Level 2 volunteers to help supervise our guests as they travel around the campus for various presentations on the big day. If you are signed up to present and a Level 2, perhaps you’d be willing to stay a little extra time to help out with other visitors. We will also need volunteers to assist with keeping our refreshments updated and welcoming our visitors/signing them in, etc. If you are up for any of these tasks, please email me your availability as soon as possible. Thank you to those who have already signed up!
- Thursday, November 16th – Fall Picture Re-takes – We need 2 volunteers to assist with Picture Re-takes from 8:45 AM until around noon. Please contact me via email if you would like to volunteer, Thanks!
- Ongoing – Assist our Media Specialist in the Library with shelving books and more! Anyone interested in volunteering in the Media Center/Library, feel free to email Ms. Reyes directly at reyesja@pcsb.org
- Ongoing – Mentors/Lunch Pals Needed for some of our students! If you have 30 minutes per week to meet with a student during their lunchtime who may be struggling at home and/or at school and just needs a little extra positive attention, please sign up to take a district workshop. Then we can match you with one of our students in need of this support. Please follow this link to see the upcoming workshop schedule: www.pcsb.org/mentor
- November 20 -24 – Thanksgiving Break – No School
Thank you in advance for all your support!