CMS Thursday Notice
September 9, 2021
CMS K-8
A wonderful place where we all learn and grow . . .
Email: lakint@norwalkps.org
Website: cms.norwalkps.org
Location: 46 Concord Street, Norwalk, CT, 06854
Phone: (203)899-2840
Important Dates
Thursday, September 16: YOM KIPPUR - School Holiday
Sunday, September 19: CMS Back-to-School Family Picnic
Thursday, September 23: CMS Virtual Open House
Wednesday, October 6: Picture Day
FUN AT MR. FROSTY'S!
SAVE THE DATE!
All CMS parents are encouraged to join us on Thursday, September 23 for a virtual Back-to-School Night. Each grade level will conduct virtual sessions with parents that will describe the curriculum, protocols, and plans for the school year. Grade level presentations will be staggered to give parents the opportunity to attend more than one meeting. Complete details will be in next week's Thursday Notice.
COME ON IN . . .
Japanese in K-162!
Sliding into 1st Grade!
Building friendships in 2nd Grade!
3rd Grade Math Time!
Morning Meeting in 4th Grade!
7th Graders testing Newton's Law of Motion
A MESSAGE FROM MR. NUNES:
Hello CMS K-8 Families! I am Mr. Nunes and I am so excited to get our instrumental music program going this year. At this time, I have visited and spoken with students from 3rd to 8th grade about the strings program and band program.
If your child is in 3rd to 8th grade, is interested in ORCHESTRA, and you haven't filled out a permission slip yet, please click on the following link:
https://forms.gle/hB8YmwTDP9fNddGN8
If your child is in 3rd to 8th grade, is interested in BAND, and you haven't filled out a permission slip yet, please click on the following link:
School Breakfast and Lunch Information
Free Breakfast and Lunch will be offered to all Norwalk Public School students through June, 2022.
Breakfast and lunch are available to all students through the Chartwell’s Food Service Program. A monthly menu is published so that parents/students can select the dates that they wish to order breakfast and/or lunch. Each meal is completely balanced and nutritious. Students may opt to bring a packed lunch from home if they prefer. Parents may also view menus on the CMS WEBSITE homepage: https://cms.norwalkps.org/ and click on the “Lunch Menus” Quick Link.
SCHOOL PICTURE DAY IS COMING!
NPS TRANSPORTATION SURVEY
NPS is aware of the arrival and dismissal traffic backups this week. We know that the first week of school is always challenging, as there are more parents driving kids to school, new students getting used to bus routines, and drivers working around unexpected accidents and detours.
This year is also the first time that we have had all students back in person under new start times. A change to school start times was approved in October 2019, following recommendations by the NPS School Start Time Committee, which included community members, parents, teachers, administrators, and medical experts, and supported by a consultant in school district transportation.
Over an 18-month period, Start Time Committee work included a comprehensive review of the health research and data on the impact of school start times for high school students. The work included extensive parent, student and community outreach; discussions of the potential impact on athletics and after-school activities; consideration of potential impacts on other grade levels; and a thorough analysis of complex timing and transportation scenarios.
As a result, Norwalk Public Schools adopted a high school start time of 8:30 am, to begin with the 2020-21 school year. The transportation model selected in 2019 meant that there were only minor changes to times for other grade levels.
Unfortunately, Covid interrupted some of the detailed planning and traffic evaluations that typically would have been completed in Spring of 2020, before the schedule change was due to be implemented. When the new start time schedules were rolled out last year, they included comprehensive health and safety protocols added in response to the pandemic. However, with fewer people driving during Covid, and fewer students in schools, the true impact on arrivals and dismissals was not visible.
We are looking closely at this week’s delays to determine where changes should be made to make things easier and more efficient for all.
To help with this work, we ask that all families please take a few minutes to fill out a short survey to provide us with your feedback. (Please click on the link below.)
CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW TO ACCESS THE NPS BACK-TO-SCHOOL FAMILY GUIDEBOOK.
CMS PTA NEWS AND EVENTS!
CMS Back-To-School Picnic
Sunday, September 19
Join the CMS Community on September 19 from 1:00-4:00 for a fun filled afternoon. Pack a picnic for your family and a blanket and join us on the CMS Playground. This is a FREE event!
Upcoming Pie/Cookie Dough Fundraiser
The CMS PTA will sponsor a Lyman Orchard Pies and Otis Spunkmeyer Cookie Dough fundraiser from October 1 through October 22. Look for more information coming home soon.