Are you or someone you know interested in working at CST? Contact CST assistant principal, Krista Dueringer (kdueringercst@olatheschools.org), about a para position at CST.

Beginning Tuesday, your child will take the Fall MAP assessment in their language arts class. This assessment will be taken again mid-year and a 3rd time late in the spring. Scores will be shared with parents around conference time which will include a "projected growth" for their springtime assessment. Students completed their math MAP assessments this past week. Feel free to reach out to your child's math/ELA teacher with questions.

Bookmark this site...all athletic rosters IN THE CITY will be kept at this location in lieu of printing programs for games. This includes all sports, all year. Check it out!

https://rosters.weebly.com/

Parents,

This week is Suicide Prevention Week. As this is a sensitive topic with varying levels of awareness and understanding at the middle school level, I want to provide the announcements that will be read throughout this week. Our focus is on the ACT acronym that stands for Acknowledge, Care, and Tell (further explanation below). Below are the morning announcements that'll be read this week. These are published here to encourage discussion at home with your own child as you see fit with regard to this topic. Our counselors have many more resources upon request, but our all-school approach is intended for all students which does not include the additional resources and/or interventions we would use in an at-risk situation. Please reach out to your child's counselor if you have concerns or would like more resources.

Tuesday, Sept. 7: This week is Suicide Prevention Awareness Week. During this week, our school will be promoting ways our students can help themselves, a friend, or family member who may be at risk. There are many resources available for someone who may be in need of help. This week we will be focusing prevention by using the acronym ACT. ACT stands for ACKNOWLEDGE, CARE, and TELL. If somebody you know talks about wanting hurt themselves it’s okay for you to talk about it with them. There are important things for you to remember as you are talking. You should ACKNOWLEDGE their feelings; show them you CARE about them by listening to what they have to say, and let them know you are going to TELL an adult who can help them be safe.

Wednesday, Sept. 8: Today's prevention action is ACKNOWLEDGE

Research shows that people who are having self-harm thoughts feel relief when someone asks if they are okay or in need of help in a caring way. Acknowledge their feelings and emotions. You could say, “I understand how much pain you are in right now and feeling overwhelmed.” If you recognize warning signs of self-harm thinking or talk in your friend or family member, it is important to take them seriously. Listen attentively, acknowledge their struggle, and let them know you are there for them. Let them know you want to help them.

Thursday, Sept. 9: Today prevention action is CARE

Individuals are more likely to feel less depressed, less overwhelmed, and more hopeful after speaking to someone who listens without judgment. Listen without judgment. Listen with compassion and empathy. You can say something like, “you seem really down lately, not like your usual self, is everything okay?” Let them know you are concerned about them. Remain calm, listen attentively, and assure them that you are there for them and will help them get help. Avoid telling the person “get over it”, “it’s not that bad”, “you are just looking for attention”, or anything else that is not supportive. Listen and then let your friend or family member know that you want to help them by letting a trusted adult know just how badly they are feeling. Let them know you are going to get help for them because you care about them and want them to be safe.

Friday, Sept. 10: Today's prevention action is TELL

The most effective way to help someone that is thinking about or threatening to hurt themselves is to tell an adult that can help. Never agree to remain quiet or keep secret about someone at risk of hurting themselves. Never think that the person will just get over it and the risk will just go away. Never take on the responsibility of keeping someone safe all by yourself. The best and most important thing you can do is tell an adult. Tell your friend or loved one that you care about them and want to help them by telling someone who can help them. If they say they won’t be your friend or can’t trust you anymore, let them know that you care about them and want them to be safe so you are going to risk them being mad at you. Telling someone who can help is critical when someone's safety is at risk.

All Olathe students, grades 3-12, take the Panorama survey. Students will take the Panorama survey as they've taken a couple times each of the past several years. The data from these surveys help us as we develop district and building-wide goals targeting social-emotional needs. This is a brief (10-15 minute) survey completed during WIN time this Wednesday, September 8th.

Note: Beginning with last year's (20-21) Panorama survey, questions regarding race and cultural experiences at school were included in the survey. These questions have been included to help guide our buildings and district toward developing programs to address social-emotional concerns and mental health needs that arise in these areas. Parents may find it valuable to preview the questions and discuss with their child prior to the survey.

Below are sample questions from past surveys. Please contact your child's counselor if you have questions.

We are excited to begin our extended hour opportunities for our students to get help both BEFORE and after school. These programs are known as "Wildcat After Hours" (WAH) and "Math Lab". Below are available times for students to get help with homework. Please note, we are adding a "before hours" WAH program on Monday and Wednesday as well.

***These academic programs will begin the week of September 6th***

No Equipment Needed

Lacrosse is the fastest growing team sport in the country.
Come see why lacrosse is becoming such a popular sport.

WHERE: Walnut Grove Elementary, 119th and Pflumm

WHEN: September 25 & 26, October 2 & 3; 4:00 ‐ 5:15pm. Come to just one or all four, whatever works for you.

WHY: There is a reason why lacrosse is a growing sport. It is fast‐paced with lots of action for all players on the field. Kids tend to really enjoy learning to throw and catch a lacrosse ball.

AGES: Girls grades 3‐8 are welcome. We will separate by age and playing experience.

SEASON: Lacrosse is a spring sport, although there are options to play out of season with various clubs. For Spring 2022, Westside Wild intends to put teams in the KC Metro League that play on Sundays at Blue Valley North and also is striving to have a 5v5 beginner’s league.

EQUIPMENT: Lacrosse stick, goggles, mouth guard (Coaches can help source. Overall cost is modest, less than $100 for all)

REGISTER: Please visit https://westsidewildlax.com to learn more and register or email Chris Harrington at c_harr@hotmail.com to do so.

COLLEGE LACROSSE: There are almost 600 women’s teams at 4‐year institutions between D1,2,3 and NAIA, more than men’s, providing wonderful playing opportunities for those that excel.

As we return to school with all students, please be reminded of our traffic pattern and important directions that will promote safety and efficiency for all our students...

• Students should be ready to exit when the car stops--gathering of items should be minimal
  
• No stopping on the cross walk in front of the school--those being dropped off in the parking lot will come across on this path
  
• Students should wait to cross the cross walk (either direction) until prompted to do so by a CST staff member
• Cars may pull up past the crosswalk and students exit right onto the sidewalk
• There are two lanes of front drop-off in the morning, there are 3 lanes of pick-up in the front in the afternoon--refer to the map below
• We love dogs and will often have Milk Bones in the afternoon--bring your pup for a ride too!
  

6th Grade Devices

• Surface Go devices will be checked out to 6th grade and new students on Monday, August 16th. Returning 7th and 8th grade students should still have their device checked out to them last school year.
  

Extra Curricular Activities

• Students are encouraged to join CST activities! There is a strong link between school involvement and academic success. Cross Country practice begins on Tuesday, August 17 and is available to all students, 6th, 7th, and 8th. Physicals required to participate.
  

Water Bottles

• All students will be provided a water bottle from CST. Students are encouraged to drink plenty of water during the day. Drinking fountains will also be available for those without a water bottle.

Backpacks

• Students will be allowed to carry their backpacks this year to limit necessary locker trips. Students are encouraged to travel light and utilize their locker to help lighten the load.

Lockers

• All students have been assigned a hall locker and are expected to keep jackets/coats/extra clothing in their locker.
  

Two topics often asked about are cell phones and attire. The screenshots below are from the student handbook found on our website. We aim to promote a distraction-free learning environment as much as possible and we remind students that "Chisholm Trail is a school, not the pool". We want to promote a positive academic learning environment in the way we dress, speak, and behave. Teachers and admin will review a variety of topics with students as part of our beginning of year talks.

https://www.olatheschools.org/Page/8153

Attention!

The USDA has announced that the National School Breakfast and Lunch program will be free for all students during the 2021-22 school year. This means that students will not be charged for “combo” breakfast or lunch in the coming school year.

However, it’s vital that families who would benefit from free or reduced district registration, transportation and other fees fill out the Kansas State Department of Education Household Economic Survey to continue to receive free or reduced school registration fees, transportation fees and other fees and school costs. Please do so by going to https://onbase.olatheschools.com/forms/household_economic_survey.html.

Families will only need to fill out this survey one time to determine qualification for reduced or waived fees for the 2021-22 school year. Filling out this survey and including all children on the form also helps the district maintain important funding that makes certain educational programming possible.

We encourage all families to consider, review and complete the Household Economic Survey application. If families do not complete the application, they will no longer be eligible for reduced fees and state funding for the district may be reduced.

The 8th period on your child's schedule is our new "Academic Extension with Intervention" time. This period will take place right after 1st hour (see schedule below). At CST, we are calling this time "Wildcats WIN" (WIN = What I Need). This time will occur daily for all students and will be a time to receive a variety of learning. This time will include social emotional learning (2nd Step), reading intervention and strategies, silent reading, school-themed lessons and information, content-related materials, and student-choice learning. This time is truly intended to be a "what I need" time for students.

This intervention time will take place in all Olathe middle schools and the new bell schedule below will be utilized in most of our middle school buildings. Watch the weekly for more information on Wildcats WIN as the school year gets underway. This will be a valuable time for our students as we aim to cater more to their educational needs.

Access to school calendars, hour listings for buildings

District Calendar Page

Year-at-a-glance, single pager/downloadable

District Calendar PDF