Cedar Hill School Family Newsletter
Back to School Edition - August 2023
Principal's Letter
I hope you all are enjoying your summer! As July turned into August, the excitment of a new year was palpable. Cedar Hill is preparing for another great year filled with exciting opportunities for students, staff and families.
School Improvement Plan:
Our School Improvement Team rewrote Cedar Hill's School Improvement Plan at the end of last year with a focus on three areas:
1. Pathways to Academic Success
2. Community Engagement/Communication
3. School Safety
With these three focal points, our staff will be working hard to support our students, deliver high quality instruction and open even more lines of communication with families. At the same time, and as always, our lense will be through the social/emotional foundation that is built through creating strong relationships. As such, it is crucial that students attend school on a regular basis.
Attendance:
Regular attendance (95% or better) is paramount to student success, and it starts in Kindergarten. Our motto this year is Attend Today; Achieve Tomorrow (more details on this initiative coming as the year starts and at Open House).
Aspen Family Portal:
The Aspen Family Portal is NOT open for families yet; you will receive an error message if you try to log in. The portal should be open soon for families to access. Please be sure that your Emergency Information, phone numbers, email addresses, etc are up to date and that any adult who will be picking up your student is listed in the Portal. We will not release a student to anyone not listed in the Family Portal and who does not have a valid ID.
Cedar Hill Grants:
Innovation Station - Our new indoor learning space will be ready for action, as we are just putting the final finishing touches on the space. There will be four 3D printers, a Promethan Board, a STEM station, 12 Ipads and a green screen, and a lego wall. The space is an excellent opportunity for deep hands-on learning for all of our students!
Learning Inside Out Space - We also were approved for an outdoor learning space grant, plans for which are under way with a goal of being finished this year. It will include an amphitheater, gardens for each grade level, a compost station and much more! The project will allow us to take learning outside and teach our students about being ecologically sound citizens.
The Cedar Hill Website:
You can find it here: https://cedarhill.warwickschools.org/o/che. If you have any trouble finding anything or would like to see something that is not on the site, please reach out and let us know.
PTO News:
* We are gearing up for our annual Fall Fun Run Fundraiser. More details to come! Right now we are looking for business sponsors to offset the cost of the event t-shirts that every student receives free of charge. If you are interested in becoming a business sponsor please email Meg Shapiro (megshapiro41@gmail.com) for more information. We offer several levels of sponsorship and all businesses have their logos printed on the t-shirts. The deadline for logo submission is 9/15.
* Our PTO sponsored Back to School Picnic is scheduled for September 13. Grades K-2 will run from 5-6pm and grades 3-5 will run from 6-7. If you have children across those two grade level groups, you can choose which picnic you'd like to attend.
Summer Learning: Don't forget that summer learning is wrapping up (iReady is no longer accessible as we roll over into the new school year). Use the following link to access the tracking sheets due within the first couple of weeks of school - Summer Learning 2023
Open House: Our Cedar Hill Open House is scheduled for September 28th at Cedar Hill. It will run from 5:30-6:30pm. More details to come.
Family Resources: Please check out the following resources at the bottom of the newsletter - the Parent/Guardian/Student Handbook, School supplies, School Meal info and the WPS Bullying Policy.
As always, if you have any questions, you can email me at frederick.schweizer@warwickschools.org, call me at school at 401-734-3535 or call/text my cell (between 6am and 8pm) at 401-209-8629.
Thank you!
Dr. Schweizer
Back to School DAY/WEEK 1 Information
Here is some helpful first day/week information:
School Start/End times:
School begins at 8:45am and ends at 2:55pm. The earliest students can be dropped off at school is 8:30am; this allows our staff to safely monitor the children.
Attendance: Attendance is required every day. Please be sure that your child is in the building no later than 8:40am. If your child has an appointment, please be sure to bring/send a note to the main office. Attend today; Achieve Tomorrow!
Walkers Drop off and Pick up
Drop off:
Drop off locations and directions will be as follows:
Grades K-2 parents are to escort their children to the designated gathering location, next to the parent parking lot, and leave as quickly as possible. Do not cross the line of cones.
K-2 students will line up in the area near the parent lot beyond the cones (same as last year)
Grades 3-5 parents are to drop their children off at the crosswalk in the parent lot and allow them to walk to the blacktop along the sidewalk in front of the school. Parents are not to accompany their children to the blacktop.
3-5 students will walk themselves to the black top in the areas designated for each grade
For safety reasons, please do not wait in the parking lot for your child to enter the building. Family members will not be allowed on the blacktop for our grades 3-5 students; please drop them off in the parent parking lot and allow them to walk along the sidewalk to the black top.
Pick up:
Adults must pick up their students from the designated gathering location
This may take a few minutes, so please be patient!
Students will be brought to the parent lot at the end of the day
Please exit the parking lot as quickly and safely as possible
School staff need to be aware of those you have designated to pick up
More than ever it is extremely important to arrive on time for school each day so that we can keep everyone safe by keeping our pods of students organized and contained.
If your child arrives late to school, stop your car in front of the front walkway where you can clearly view the main entrance door and have your child go up to the school entrance to ring the bell. Do not leave until your child has safely entered the school.
You will need to call the school to supply the reason for the late arrival as well as send in a copy of the doctor’s note, if applicable, or a written note explaining the reason.
More than ever it is extremely important to only pick up students early when they are sick at school. Please plan all appointments for after school hours or on home learning days, whenever possible.
If you have to pick your child up early, please send in a written note to your child’s teacher or send an email to the school secretary, no later than 8:45 a.m. that morning, so that we are aware of your plans.
You will need to park your car in front of the front walkway where you can clearly view the main entrance door. Walk up to the main entrance and ring the bell and state your purpose. You will be required to show your identification and sign the sign out log which a staff member will bring out for you to sign. You will remain outside on the walkway for your child to exit the building. Be prepared for the weather as it may take a few minutes for your child to exit the building.
next to the parent parking lot and leave as quickly and safely as possible. Parents/guardians must have photo ID’s ready. If an ID is not shown, the student will not be released without permission from an administrator. Be prepared to supply identification each day.
your child(ren) from school either as a walker or by carpooling/ride
sharing, and these adults must be listed on your student’s
emergency contact list in Aspen as someone designated for pick up.
Dropping students off late:
Picking your child up early:
Nut free snacks: We are a tree nut/peanut free school. Please do not send snacks that have tree nuts/peanuts in them or that have been processed in a facility that may have cross contamination. The only exception is lunch, as we will have a tree nut/peanut free table. If your child has an allergy and you would like your child to eat at this tree nut/peanut free table, please let us know asap.
Upcoming Events
August 27: PTO Sponsored Back to School Clean up (swing by to help beautify our campus!)
September 5: First Day of School
September 12: Vision Screening
September 13: Back to School PTO Sponsored Picnic (grades K-2 = 5-6pm; grades 3-5 = 6-7pm)
September 25: No School (Yom Kippur)
September 28: Open House at Cedar Hill (5:30-6:30pm)
October 9: No School (Columbus Day)
October 17: Fun Run Boosterthon Fundraiser Kickoff Day
October 23: Professional Development Day
October 26: Fun Run Final Run Event
Helpful Family Resources
Cedar Hill Elementary School
Email: frederick.schweizer@warwickschools.org
Website: https://cedarhill.warwickschools.org/o/che/
Location: 35 Red Chimney Drive, Warwick, RI, USA
Phone: 401-734-3535