Kutz Cougar Courier Times
KUTZ ELEMENTARY SCHOOL'S NEWSLETTER
May 4, 2020
Parent Positive Facebook LIVE Event with Dr. Katherine Dahlsgaard- 5/7 at 4 PM
Working cooperatively with The CB Cares Educational Foundation, the Central Bucks School District invites our entire community to take part in a very special Parent Positive Facebook LIVE event hosted by Dr. Katherine Dahlsgaard on Thursday, May 7th at 4 p.m. Presented courtesy of Dr. Dahlsgaard, the event entitled “The Second Greatest Generation? A Call to Action Over Anxiety,” will feature a 30-minute LIVE presentation by Dr. Dahlsgaard followed by a 20-minute public question and answer session. During the event, Dr. Dahlsgaard, a psychologist specializing in the treatment of anxiety disorders, will discuss strategies for psychological survival during the once-in-a-generation pandemic of Covid-19. She hopes to inspire our community to manage our fears and build resilience for our future. A long-standing supporter and friend to CBSD, Katherine Dahlsgaard, Ph.D., ABPP, is Clinical Director of the Anxiety Behaviors Clinic in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. We hope to “see” you live. Visit www.cbsd.org/facebooklive beginning at 4 p.m. on Thursday, May 7. You DO NOT need a Facebook account to watch the LIVE event.
The Kutz Book Nook
**Important Information Regarding Specials**
*Start Date: Specialists lessons and activities officially began on April 14th, with required work being posted weekly! This includes Art, Library, Music, Physical Education, and QUEST! It also includes orchestra and band for students that participate in instrumental classes.
*Posted Assignments: Specialists assignments will be posted weekly for all class periods. Some units may span over a few weeks, but each assignment should not take more than 20 minutes.
*Completion Time: Students can complete lessons and activities on their assigned special day or at any time that is convenient during the week. If possible, please have the current work completed by Sunday night at 7 PM before a new week of work begins.
*Lesson Location: Specialists have their schedules, office hours, and any initial assignment directions listed on their Kutz Distance Learning Website. The teacher’s district websites will direct students/parents where to go to complete assignments, primarily it will be SeeSaw!
*Accessing SeeSaw: Students should access SeeSaw via the Clever app in myapps.microsoft.com or another method that has been indicated on the district communications or by your classroom teacher. Visit myapps.microsoft.com
Login with the students User Name and Password (User name needs to be followed by @student.cbsd.org)
Click Clever
Click SeeSaw
Toggle between the student’s classes in the top left corner
*If you are already logging into SeeSaw for the classroom teacher using a different method, continue to use that method! Please check that all classes (Homeroom and Specialists) are available by toggling between them in the upper left corner.
*If there are siblings sharing the same computer, please make sure one logs out of SeeSaw (upper left corner > click the students name > click gear > sign out) before the next student uses the computer so they can post to their own classes SeeSaw pages.
*SeeSaw Tips and Tricks: Most, if not all, Specialists assignments will be posted in the Activities section of SeeSaw. Most submissions of student work can be posted by clicking Add Response to an activity. If you want or need to send something separately, the students can click on Journal to post. Make sure the child is logged into their account (not a siblings) and to the correct Specialists class (top left corner in SeeSaw). Visit https://wakelet.com/wake/7ff49d6e-ac4f-414d-8338-e304854369fd for more tips and tricks for SeeSaw.
*Library Links and Passwords: https://www.cbsd.org/cms/lib/PA01916442/Centricity/Domain/269/Library%20Resources%20Home%20Access%20Codes.pdf- This will take children to home access codes. They can also get to it by going to Mrs. Smith's website, clicking Passwords and Usernames for Distance Learning and that brings them to the link called Access Codes.
*Feedback: You will know that your Specialist has received your work once it has been approved, but you will not see feedback for every submission.
*Username and Password: If students do not know their CBSD User Name and Password, please email the classroom teacher for help! Tip: User names must be followed by @student.cbsd.org. Example: Smith.T123@student.cbsd.org
*District Home Support: https://www.cbsd.org/homesupport
*Questions about a lesson: Email the specialist teacher for help or clarification!
Distance Learning- Phase 2- Week 5- Flip Grids
Thank you for your Flip Grid ideas on Friday. You has wonderful ideas. Some will be featured this week. Others will be used in the upcoming weeks. I encourage your children to participate in the school’s daily Flip Grids. This is the link for the week, but you will have to find the correct topic for each day- https://flipgrid.com/adelberger9915. The topics are also linked directly below. The password is Kutz2020. To access Flip Grid, your child can either use the links above or below or login through My Apps and/or Clever. If they are accessing it through Clever or My Apps, they can just type the flip grid code of “adelberger9915”. The code is always what comes after the backslash. To add a video the students will click the white plus sign inside the green circle. Then the students can click “login with Microsoft” and use their Central Bucks username and password. The videos are moderated so your child’s video will not appear until I approve it. Please let me know if you have any questions. Have fun!
- May the “4th” be with You Monday- Happy Star Wars Day! Who is your favorite Star Wars character? What is your favorite Star Wars movie? Share anything Star Wars related. (https://flipgrid.com/94d66f68)
- Thank a Teacher Tuesday- It's Teacher and Staff Appreciation Week! Thank the teachers and staff for all that they do. (https://flipgrid.com/29ad2367)
- We Appreciate Nurses Wednesday- It's Nurse's Appreciation Day! Thank Mrs. McFadden and Mrs. Donovan for their help in the nurse's office at Kutz. (https://flipgrid.com/0d30f27b)
- Throw a Ball Thursday- Tell us your favorite sport to play or to watch. (https://flipgrid.com/f91efa89)
- Favorite Game Friday- Share your favorite board game or video game. (https://flipgrid.com/efb10557)
Tech Support from Mr. Controy
Parents, do you have questions navigating the technology related to Distance Learning?
Please feel free to reach out to Mr. Controy, our QUEST teacher! Not only does he teach QUEST, but Mr. Controy also provides technical support to both parents and teachers. Feel free to email him at acontroy@cbsd.org or message him in Seesaw. He's here to help!
Support CB Families in Need!
Help us share food with families and children throughout the Central Bucks School District during this crisis! Click HERE to support our Go Fund Me.
The CBSD Farmers Market at Barclay was started a year ago by a small group of principals and teachers, collectively known as The Friends of John Barclay, with a mission to address food insecurity for children in the Central Bucks School District. Through the generosity of local organizations, including Bucks County Opportunities Council (BCOC), Philabundance, and Rolling Harvest, we distributed thousands of pounds of fresh produce to families and children at our monthly markets.
A week after the start of the COVID-19 crisis, we were able to quickly expand our operation, and we now distribute food every week on Wednesdays at 4:00 at Barclay Elementary School. Last week, we shared milk, eggs, fresh produce, and dry goods with over 200 families throughout the district. Unfortunately, this number has been increasing each week. We believe that in a community as well resourced as ours, no child should ever be hungry. We also believe that at some point in time, we all might need a little extra support, and we should feel confident in the compassion and empathy of our friends and neighbors.
Eighty percent of the funds we raise will go directly to CBSD families and children in the form of weekly food support. While we receive many donations, we have built relationships with wholesalers who are able to offer excellent prices on bulk purchases of perishable and non-perishable groceries that we don't receive from outside organizations. We have no overhead or administrative costs, as our efforts are completely volunteer supported. The other twenty percent of the money we raise will be donated to the three organizations above--BCOC, Philabundance, and Rolling Harvest. To give you a sense of their generosity, we received nearly 5,000 pounds of food donations from them just last week. Without their kindness and support, none of our efforts would be possible.
The Friends of John Barclay, and our small group of employee volunteers, are very grateful for even the smallest donations. Please consider supporting families and children throughout the district who need a little help during this difficult time. Thank you for your kindness and generosity.
Spirit Week- 5/4-5/8
Expectations for Student Behavior When Using Microsoft Teams
Consider watching this "Teams Call Etiquette Overview Video" with your children (https://www.wevideo.com/view/1629173941).
Policy
Our main goal is keeping students safe on-line. With Teams, and any of our Live Check-in tools, our district can monitor all chat and conversations. According to our current Board Policy 815, CBSD will provide protection measures for minors and maintain a usage log. We also have the obligation of monitoring online activities of minors.
Please remind your child about appropriate content on all of our online tools. When being shown on video, they should use appropriate behavior. Teams uses SSL technology and encrypts the contents of video conferences end to end. Only individuals who have an invitation link are able to join such a video conference.
Student Expectations
Students are expected to conduct themselves appropriately. Their actions should always reflect our district policies and procedures. All students are to adhere to the same standards of behavior online as they would face-to-face. Everything the students post in the chat window can be viewed by our teachers.
Students are not permitted to take or post images, videos or screenshots of classmates, teachers or class content and post to the web or social media.
All students are to support and assist efforts to promote acceptance of others. Teasing and hazing will not be tolerated.
A Message from the Home and School Board
To our resilient, strong, incredible Kutz Community,
We are writing to let you know we are here. We know these are some of the most challenging, exhausting, emotional days. As a full-time working parent who is attempting to homeschool a 3rd grader and 1st grader while watching an 11 month old baby, all while staying sane, I can understand and relate to the insanity.
The days are certainly long and tricky to navigate. There are tears and tantrums and later bedtimes and SO MANY DISHES. But I'm also seeing glimmers of beauty - my daughter finding new cozy reading nooks in our house and getting lost for hours in a book. My son asking for extra snuggles on the sofa in the early morning before I head to "work" (my office in the basement). My 11 month old loving every moment of unlimited time with all of us together.
We are here to support you in whatever capacity is needed.
The Home & School board is still here, attempting in whatever way possible, to make our students and parents feel like they're not alone.
If you have a nurse / doctor / essential worker in the family, we'd love to support them.
If you have a birthday for a Kutz student coming up, we'd love to celebrate them.
If you have Coronavirus and need help, we want to help.
Please don't hesitate to reach out to us.
Thanks,
Home & School (Courtney, Steph, Heather, Deb & Jen)
It’s time to start planning the 2020-2021 school year!
There are many ways you can volunteer and be involved with the wonderful staff and families at Kutz!!
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Open Home and School Board Positions for the 2020-2021 School Year
The Home and School Board has two openings for the 2020-2021 school year. We are looking to elect a co-president and co-treasurer. It is a two-year term for either position.
We are happy to announce that we have a candidate for co-president, Heather Laphen, who has been the co-treasurer for the past two years.
If you are interested in running for either of these positions, please send your name and brief biography to stephanie@charranweb.com
The election will be done online, and parents can submit their votes during the week of May 18, 2020. The link for voting will be sent in a future email. Winners will be announced the following week.
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Open Committee Chair Positions
Another great way to get involved at Kutz is to run a committee. We have several committee chair positions available for the upcoming school year.
Here is a list of some committees that need a new leader:
Assemblies
Box Tops
Active Fundraising
Hospitality
Blood Drive
If you have any interest in joining a committee or would like more information about committees please send an email to stephanie@charranweb.com
Wearing a Mask- Social Story
Looking for a family activity to do in the evenings?
District Information
New Student Registration
Tell friends and neighbors who will have new Central Bucks students! Enrollment for ALL new students (grades kindergarten through 12) is now ongoing. Registering students now ensures that buildings plan for appropriate staff and resources for the coming year. Visit www.cbsd.org/registration to complete the process online.
Student Directory 2019-2020
Kutz Student/Parent Handbook
Below is the Kutz Parent and Student Handbook. This handbook provides a comprehensive summary of school and district policies and programs for students and their families. We hope you will find this to be a valuable resource
I Run 4 Life!
Breakfast and Lunch Information
Child Care Program
Student School Day Information
- Arrival begins at 8:30 AM
- Student Day Begins at 8:50 AM
- Student Day Ends at 3:30 PM
- Dismissal Ends at 3:50 PM
- For early dismissal days- dismissal begins at 12:10 PM
- For 2 hour delay days- arrival begins at 10:30 and the student day begins at 10:50
Kindergarten:
- Morning Kindergarten Ends at 11:25 AM
- Afternoon Kindergarten Begins at 12:55 PM
"Free" Money for KUTZ !!!
At no extra cost to you, you can help us raise money while you shop!
Please take a few minutes to review the below options and sign up, so Kutz will get the maximum benefit from each company's donations! Ask your neighbors and family members to sign up too!
How Can I Contribute?
Collect Boxtops!
Collect box tops throughout the year, and your teacher will let you know when to send them in for the classes to compete for prizes. Or drop them in the Box Top box in the hallway at Kutz any time!
Shop with Amazon Smile!
Turn your Amazon purchases into donations to Kutz by using Amazon Smile! Amzon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible Amazon Smile purchases to Kutz!
Shop at GIANT
The more you shop the more money Kutz makes. Please follow the directions attached to register your GIANT card and start benefitting Kutz TODAY!
Interested in volunteering?
All Central Bucks School District Volunteers play a vital role in supporting the staff, students, sports programs and other activities of our schools. Please click here for detailed information and answers to frequently asked questions about required clearances and volunteering in CBSD. If you have additional questions about volunteering in our district, please contact Florence at fhughes@cbsd.org or at 267-893-2086.
The CB App!! Do you have it??
Want CB info on the go?
There’s a free app for that. Learn more about it here.
About Kutz
Perseverance, Integrity, Respect, Responsibility
Website: www.cbsd.org/Kutz
Location: Kutz Elementary School, Turk Road, Doylestown, PA, USA
Phone: 267-893-3900
Twitter: @CBKutzElem