Carrillo Community Update
November 26 - December 2
Message from Ms. Bittel
I hope you had a great Thanksgiving weekend and were able to spend time with family and friends. At school, we have been focused on gratitude this month and I want to express my gratitude to the entire Carrillo community for your support of our young cougars. Carrillo students work hard day in and day out to master new academic and social skills that will help them to be successful. They are guided daily by some of the hardest working, most caring teachers around who know that every student at Carrillo is capable of success with the right support. We are approaching Quarter 2 benchmark assessments where we will see how many students are on track to meet their annual goals and how many need additional support. It is critical that all students are at school so that they are getting the instruction they need to pass these quarterly assessments. Thank you for your help.
As a community that cares about all students, I'm also reaching out on behalf of a Carrillo parent who is looking for carpooling help. If you live near the Cardinal and Valencia area and are willing to help a family out 3 days a week, please reach out to me so that I can connect you with this parent.
Again, thank you all for everything you do to support Carrillo. We have two short weeks until testing begins and four short weeks until the Winter Break. Every minute counts! See you tomorrow. It's going to be a wonderful week!
-Ms. Bittel
Save the Date
Upcoming Events
- Thursday, November 30 - Picture Make-Up Day
- Wednesday, December 6 - TUSD STEP UP Event
- Saturday, December 9 - Las Posadas Rehearsal at El Presidio
- Friday, December 15 - 87th Annual Las Posadas
- Wednesday, December 20 - Santa Comes to Carrillo
- Friday, December 22 - Quarter 2 Grading Day, No Classes
Kind Campus Weekly Activity
Kindness Question of the Month
Why does the practice of kindness take commitment?
How can we practice kindness skills in small ways each day?
Kindness in Action: Kindness at Home
Kindness Themed Art Wanted
This fun project helps us create beautiful visual reminders of kindness and raise funds to support free educational programming. Selected designs will be translated into mosaic stepping stones or used in Shop Kind merchandise design.
We will feature the design along with the completed stepping stone, your school’s name, and the student designer’s first name when featuring the design. All proceeds go towards furthering our education programming and spreading kindness in our communities.
*Teachers will be contacted if a design is selected.
What to do….
1. Ask your students if they’d like to create a kindness-themed design for Ben’s Bells!
2. Students can draw their design on the template provided. Please make sure that all information is filled out.
3. Return forms to Ben’s Bells by:
- Dropping them off at a nearby Ben’s Bells studio
- Mailing to Ben’s Bells at 40 W. Broadway Blvd., Tucson, AZ 85701
- Scanning and emailing to Ben's Bells
- Submitting through form below
4. Have fun! Remind your students that expressing kindness and gratitude is a great way to be kind to yourself and help make our community more kind.
Visit their website for the template and submission form.
School News and Updates
Picture Make-Up Day
If your student was late or absent on picture day, the photographers will be back this Thursday, November 30 to take photos.
Middle School Night Merged with TUSD's STEP UP Event - Dec 6
We had planned a Middle School Night for this week. We know it is a popular event with families looking for the right fit for their 5th graders going into middle school.
This year, TUSD has moved its STEP UP event to Wednesday, December 6th. Because that date is so close to the date we had planned back in July, most middle schools are unable to make both events. As a result, we are canceling our event to support TUSD's STEP UP night at the TCC. Please save that date (December 6th) and plan to visit all the TUSD middle schools in one easy location, the TCC Exhibition Hall.
We will be at the same event, helping to enroll kindergarteners for next year. Just a reminder, siblings of magnet students still have to complete an application and enter the lottery for a seat at Carrillo. Siblings are not automatically enrolled.
Whether you are enrolling for a magnet middle school or a sibling kindergarten seat, please be sure to get your application in early. We recommend completing it before the winter holiday so that you make the first lottery draw in January.
Sandbox Updates
Due to the use of the sandbox by feral cats in the neighborhood, it was removed this past week. PTO will be helping Carrillo to replace that space with other student activities. We've begun looking for replacement activities and once a list has been created students will vote to determine what goes into that space. If you or your student has any suggestions(either things you'd like to see or things to avoid), please send them to Ms. Bittel via email so we can get that process started soon. All suggestions need to be emailed to Ms. Bittel by Friday, December 1st. Thank you!
Improving Reading and Math at Home
All students at Carrillo have access to a wonderful resource to support their continued growth in Reading and Math. That resource is IXL. Research shows that doing just 1 extra session a day can have a tremendous impact on student learning.
Our younger students also have access to RAZ-Plus to support literacy.
To access IXL or RAZ Plus students just log into their Clever accounts and select the icons. Please contact your student's teacher if they have any trouble.
Social Media
Parents, we are asking for your help with social media. As a reminder, most social media user agreements state that users must be 13 or older to have an account. Please take a moment to discuss the reasons for the age limits with your students.
Most social media sites do not allow attacks or abuse based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability or disease. Please encourage students to be socially conscious and report any accounts that violate those policies directly to the social media platform before blocking the account.
Parent-Teacher Meetings
The teaching staff is quite busy preparing for daily instruction in the morning. Thank you for emailing to schedule a meeting time with them rather than just dropping in. Teacher email addresses can be found on our staff webpage. Thank you for your help!
Cafeteria Offerings
We are encouraging every family to apply for Free/Reduced Lunch. The number of accepted applications directly impacts our Title I funding, so thank you for taking a moment to complete it, even if your student doesn't plan to eat school lunch. The application is located on the TUSD Meals website.
The Food Services website also has a page dedicated to this month's breakfast and lunch offerings. You can even even get a mobile app for your phone online.
Carrillo Online Spirit Store
Looking for Carrillo spirit gear? Adrian from Big Frog has set up this year's online store. You can purchase this year's "Success Across the Eduverse" shirt as well as classic Carrillo spirit gear.
Transportation and Parent Pick Up and Drop Off Reminders
TUSD Buses
For more information, visit Transportation's website to see if your student qualifies for FREE transportation and to begin routing.
Morning Drop Off Reminders
Just a friendly reminder that the earliest students can be dropped off is 7:35 a.m. at 17th Street. The office does not open until 8:00 and while Ms. Bittel is usually on campus well before 8:00, she is often in meetings or other parts of the building and unable to hear the doorbell. From 7:35 - 8:00 the only safe drop off is 17th Street. Thank you for helping us to keep all our cougars safe in the morning.
Affter school Pick-Up Updates and Request
We know that the 17th Street area can get a bit congested at pickup. To help alleviate the situation, the City of Tucson has installed new signs to direct traffic and changed the direction of Samaniego Street.
The City of Tucson is requesting that families picking up on 17th Street exit the neighborhood using the following route.
- Travel west on 17th Street
- Turn south on 11th Avenue
- Turn west to access the frontage road or turn east to return to Main Avenue and 22nd Street.
Our neighbors kindly ask that you leave the driveways and corners open when you park so they can enter and exit their homes safely. If you do wait in your car along Samaniego, thank you for waiting at the bottom of the hill on the east side of the street so the roadway is clear for all vehicles and families crossing the street.
We are also asking families to arrive no earlier than 2:35 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and no earlier than 1:35 on Wednesdays. Parents of intermediate students, if you plan to arrive at 2:50 or 1:50, that will give the primary students time to load up and reduce your wait time.
Thank you also for being patient, driving slowly, and watching the road carefully. The streets behind Carrillo are narrow and we want to avoid any further accidents. Thank you for helping us keep our Cougars and our community safe.
Follow these signs.
Thank you for exiting via S. 11th Ave.
Attendance and Absence Reporting
Attendance Reporting Made Easy
- Log into ParentVue from App or Computer
- Click the "Attendance" tab on the left column on the computer or on the App as soon as you log in the blue "report absence" with a small bell icon is there.
- On the top right corner of the page it will have a blue link that says "Report Absence" click on this
- Use the calendar to select dates and the drop-down for the reason for the absence.
- You may also add notes or upload a doctor's note and hit "save".
Of course, you may still give Ms. Diane Quiroz a ring at (520) 225-1200 if you prefer. Thank you for reporting all absences!
Attendance Matters
Missing a day of school here and there may not seem like much, but it adds up.
When a student misses 2 days a month they will miss...
- 20 days a year (the equivalent of a month of instruction)
- 30 hours of math instruction
- 60 hours of reading and writing instruction
- Over a 1 year of instruction by graduation
When a student misses 4 days a month they will miss...
- 40 days a year (the equivalent of two months of instruction)
- 60 hours of math instruction
- 120 hours of reading and writing instruction
- Over a 2 year of instruction by graduation
PTO News and Volunteering Opportunities
PTO Meeting this week.
Good evening families, We are pleased to announce that Santa will be coming back to Carrillo on Dec. 20th! In order to make this a successful event, we need your help. Please check out our sign up for the event and volunteer a half hour of your time to be a front door greeter, line monitor, craft table supervisor, or help hand out refreshments. Every volunteer receives a "Santa Fast Pass" to reduce your family's time in line to meet the real Santa! Volunteers may be parents, guardians, or even middle and high school siblings that are needing their community service hours as part of a graduation requirement. Mrs. Dal Pra would love to have your help at the MPR tables to supervise a crafting activity. Thank you to everyone for your continued support! Our next PTO Meeting will be on December 13th at 6 pm on Zoom.
-Carrillo PTO
Please email PTO if you have any questions.
Art Volunteers
Ms. Dal Pra is seeking First Grade art volunteers on Thursdays from 12:35-2:35. You can help students build a mini-town. The art classroom needs two or three volunteers to help students during the “construction” process. Students will be house painters and landscapers as they create their own parcel of land within “Cougar Town.” Contact the art room via email or just stop by after signing in at the front office.
Volunteers / Visitors
We encourage all parents to register as volunteers on the TUSD website as the process takes a few weeks to complete. Parents cannot volunteer on field trips without completing this in advance.
We ask non-parental volunteers (grandparents, aunts, uncles, community members, etc.) to contact the office before registering as a volunteer so we can explain the process and help identify volunteer opportunities.
Box Tops for Education
Even if you don't buy anything on the "Box Tops" list you can enter the school in a sweepstakes for scanning. On October 26th, Carrillo won $10 for the school in a sweepstakes! Thank you all!
The Top Classes are...
- #1 - Grade 4 with 54 box tops
- #2 - Kindergarten with 39 box tops
- #3 - Grade 3 with 25 bix tops
- #4 - Grade 1 with 20 box tops
- #5 - Grade 5 with 10 box tops
Community Events
Please check back here to learn about upcoming community events of interest to Carrillo families.
Tucson Community Tennis Program
When: Saturday mornings
Where: Pueblo High School
Time: 8:00 - 9:30 am
Don't have a racquet? No worries, TCTP has loaner racquets students can use at the clinic.
For more information about TCTP, please visit their website.
Discovery Nights at the Children's Museum
Join us for Free Discovery Nights
from 5-7 pm every Thursday
at Children’s Museum Tucson!
Enjoy free admission, bilingual programming, and extended hours every Thursday! Reserve your tickets on the Discovery Nights webpage.
Art After Dark
Every Second Saturday, come learn about Tucson's vibrant arts community!
- Guest artists each month
- Hands-on activities
- Free museum admission 5:30 - 7:30 pm
- First 400 people receive a free return-visit pass.
Stay in Touch!
Stay current on our events by visiting our Facebook Page as well as the school website. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or concerns please reach out. It is our mission to provide all students with a first-rate education in a kind and respectful environment.
Email the Principal:
Visit Our Website:
Location: 440 South Main Avenue, Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone: (520) 225-1200
Like Us On Facebook:
Mission Statement
Carrillo K-5 Communication and Creative Arts Magnet School engages children's minds, bodies, and senses using multiple modes of learning, thought, and self-expression.
Vision Statement
At Carrillo K-5 Communication and Creative Arts Magnet School, students become 21st Century leaders in a diverse world, through the development of a strong academic core, communication skills and creative arts abilities.