Locust Street Expressive Arts
Learning Through the Arts Best Prepares Students for Life
Welcome Back
I am very excited to welcome you and your student back to a new school year. You should receive a letter in the mail soon with information about the 2021-22 school year, but can also find all of the information you need here in this newsletter.
I would like to encourage all parents to join our Parent Teacher Association. The PTA directly supports various student activities and assists with meeting school needs throughout the year. Without the support of the PTA, there are many activities and opportunities we would be unable to offer our students. PTA will host a table at Meet Your Teacher Night.
Again, I want to welcome you to another school year, as we pursue the arts and student academic excellence together. Please feel free to contact me any time at jcoggins@cpsk12.org or make an appointment by calling 573-214-3530, should there be anything I can assist you or your child with this school year.
With Gratitude,
Mrs. Coggins
Registration for the 2021-2022 School Year
Columbia Public Schools has begun preparations for the 2021-2022 school year. Annually, parents/guardians must complete registration updates and family connection sign ups. Completing this process is required for all families. If you are unable to complete this process electronically you will have time to update your information at Meet Your Teacher Night.
To get started, log in to the CPS Families Portal (https://launchpad.classlink.com/cpsfamilies) with your CPS-issued 6-digit guardian ID and password. A guardian ID reminder message was sent to guardians on June 25.
If needed, guardian ID and/or password information can also be found here: www.cpsk12.org/familyupdate.
- Forgot your ID: https://web.cpsk12.org/cpsonline/familyupdate/familyupdate.php#!
- Forgot your password: https://launchpad.classlink.com/resetpassword?scode=CPSFamilies
In the CPS Families Portal you will have access to:
- Guardian acknowledgements
- School registration update
For technical assistance with the registration update or the CPS Families Portal, please contact the CPS Helpdesk at Helpdesk@cpsk12.org or 573-214-3333.
Meet Your Teacher Night
The school nurse, Adventure Club, Student Transportation of America, and Boy Scouts will have information tables for you to visit in the cafeteria.
PTA will be selling spirit wear and taking 2021-2022 memberships.
There will also be an opportunity for you to meet with your student's teacher.
We are looking forward to seeing you soon!
Dropping Off & Picking Up
When picking up your student after school, again please use the circle drive. If your child is unable to buckle themselves, you will need to park in a spot and walk to the Black Box Theater doors to pick them up. Please DO NOT get out of your car in the circle drive. This cause a large traffic jam on Waugh Street and Locust Street, which are both one way streets. We will be using transfer buses again this year and we need to keep the streets clear for buses.
Kindergarten Assessments
Arts Integration at Locust Street
Arts as a Curriculum: I am excited to announce that after much transition...redistricting lines in 2018, construction from 2019-2021, and even a pandemic, we are able to return to a 5 day specials rotation. Typically, an elementary school runs on an ABCD schedule for specials...Art, Music, PE, & Media.
At Locust Street we will include a 50 minute Theater & Dance class to our specials schedule.
This means your student will have Art, Music, PE, Media, & Theater/Dance for 50 minutes each weekly!!!
Art-Enhanced Curriculum: Our teachers strive to use the arts in the classroom to enhance the learning. This might look more like a song to support memorization or a craft to show understanding. You are guaranteed to see the arts everywhere!
Attendance Matters
This means if your student arrives at 7:41 am and is not in the classroom Ms. Erica must enter that into the computer system.
It is important that your child arrives before 7:40 am. Our school doors open at 7:20 am and we serve breakfast between 7:20 and 7:40. When the bell rings at 7:40 am teachers begin their academic day and breakfast should be completed by this time.
Parents are welcome to walk their student to the classroom between 7:20 and 7:40 am, we would encourage you to let your student show their independence by walking themselves to class. Parents will not be allowed to walk students to the classroom after 7:40 am.
Please remember to call (573-214-3530) and let us know if your child will not be at school. You can also email Ms. Erica at echapin@cpsk12.org.
PTA News!
Our PTA does so many wonderful things for our students and teachers! WE NEED YOU!
PTA will meet on the second Thursday of every month. For more information about PTA check out the Locust Street webpage: https://www.cpsk12.org/domain/8719
Current COVID Procedures
Prior to the start of our summer school session, Columbia Public Schools reminded families that we would continue to monitor COVID-19 and other variant cases in our community and in our schools and make changes in COVID protocols if the number of cases increased. The number of cases among our summer school students has increased. The district consulted with health experts and medical professionals in our community, including the Columbia/Boone County Health Department, and is making some adjustments to our current procedures. Taking action now supports a healthy and safe school experience for our scholars.
Beginning July 12, the district is made the following adjustments to its mitigation strategies:
Masking
- Scholars 11-years-old and younger will be required to wear a mask when indoors and on school buses.
- Scholars will not be required to wear a mask when outdoors.
- Masks are still strongly encouraged for those 12-years-old and older when inside CPS buildings.
Contact Tracing and Quarantine
- Quarantine is NOT required for fully vaccinated individuals who have no symptoms. You are considered fully vaccinated if:
- It has been 2 weeks since your second dose in a 2-dose series, of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
- It has been 2 weeks since your single-dose vaccine, of the Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine
- Quarantine is NOT required if the individual exposed was wearing a mask indoors and they have no symptoms.
- Contact tracing is done for those not wearing a mask within 3 feet of the positive individual indoors for a cumulative time of 15 minutes or more within a 24-hour period.
- The district will continue with a 10-day quarantine if an individual is exposed to the virus or a 7-day quarantine if the individual obtains a negative PCR test (available through local health providers) between days 5 and 7 and shows no symptoms. Both the 10-day and the 7-day quarantine protocols also require an individual to wear a mask through day 14.
- The revised contact tracing and quarantine protocols will begin today, Friday, July 9, and will not be retroactive. Those in quarantine prior to July 9, will need to complete the process as outlined in the instructions provided by the school and/or health department.
The district continues to encourage all those who are eligible to get vaccinated. Vaccines are widely available in our community for those 12 and older. You can use this link to find a vaccine provider in our community: https://www.como.gov/covidvaccine/ (Scroll to the ‘Need An Appointment’ section).
The district will continue to monitor COVID-19 and other variants in our community and will re-evaluate our mitigation procedures as needed. We will update our families prior to the start of school in the fall.
Thank you for your continued support, flexibility, understanding and grace.
Dr. Brian Yearwood
Columbia Public Schools
Superintendent
Follow Us @LSEArts
Locust Street Expressive Arts School PTA (Private Group)
Staff to Know
Secretary - Erica Chapin echapin@cpsk12.org
School Counselor - Taylor Moog tmoog@cpsk12.org
Nurse - Ashley Mendoza amendoza@cpsk12.org
Mark Your Calendars
18 - Meet Your Teacher Night - 4:30-6:30 pm
24 - 1st Day of School (Grades 1-5)
26 - 1st Day of School (Kindergarten)
September
6 - No School - Labor Day
9 - PTA Meeting
16 - Get the Scoop Night 4:30-6:30 pm
22 - No School - Teacher Work Day
Locust Street Expressive Arts Elementary
Email: jcoggins@cpsk12.org
Website: https://www.cpsk12.org/Domain/22
Location: 1208 Locust Street, Columbia, MO, USA
Phone: 573-214-3530
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/leeartspta/
Twitter: @LSEArts