Carrillo Community Update
December 17 - 23
Message from Ms. Bittel
This is our final week of the first semester. Thank you all for your ongoing support of student learning and success. This week our 4th and 5th graders will show off their math knowledge as they take their Quarter 2 Benchmark exams. Thank you for reminding them to get enough sleep the night before and to eat a healthy breakfast on the day of the test.
This past weekend, Carrillo students participated in our 87th Annual Las Posadas. Thank you to everyone who participated and attended. It was a very special evening!
This week we welcome our final holiday event of the school year. On Wednesday, our PTO has invited Santa Claus to come to Carrillo and he has accepted. We hope to see you at this free event on Wednesday, December 20th. Please check out the Updates and PTO sections for more details, including what you can donate for families in need and how you can volunteer to make the night memorable for our Carrillo Cougars.
And finally, don't forget this week is Spirit Week! See the update below to see each day's theme. Tomorrow it is time to get your decade on. I'll be rocking a 1970s vibe for any students that want to join me!
Once again, thank you all for an amazing semester! We will see you all tomorrow for another amazing week! Go Cougars!
-Ms. Bittel
Save the Date
Upcoming Events
- Tuesday, December 19 - Math Exam (grades 4 and 5)
- Wednesday, December 20 - Santa Comes to Carrillo
- Friday, December 22 - Quarter 2 Grading Day, No Classes
- Monday, January 8 - Quarter 3 Begins!
Kind Campus Weekly Activity
Kindness Question of the Month
Why should we make time to practice kindness?
What will happen if we make time regularly?
Kindness in Action: Stretching and Breathing
- Stand strongly with your feet hip-width apart.
- Lift your right arm into the sky as high as you can. Notice how far you can reach your arm while your feet are still planted solidly on the ground. Keep your breathing steady. Is there a limit to how far you can reach? What is it?
- Lower your right arm and notice how it feels different from your left arm. What else do you notice?
- Keeping your breathing steady, lift both arms up as far as they can go, as though you’re pulling a balloon down from the sky. Can you stretch a bit farther to grab the balloon? What do you notice in your body as you stretch? If you’re holding your breath, your body is telling you to build awareness that you’ve gone as far as you can.
- While you keep noticing your breath, find a comfortable place to stretch your arms so it feels good but doesn’t cause any strain. When you’ve reached the right stretch point, bring your arms down to your sides.
- Talk with your family about the different sensations you felt in your body. How did it feel to stretch too far? How did you feel when you found your comfort zone? (Snel, 2013)
*To download the attachemtn, you must open the newsletter "in browser."
Weekly Updates
Santa Comes to Carrillo
Don't forget, Santa is coming to Carrillo THIS Wednesday the 20th from 5:00 - 7:30 pm. Save the date to enjoy this PTO-sponsored tradition. If you, or an older student, is able to donate some time to help the event run smoothly PTO appreciates the help. All you have to do is pick a spot from their sign-up. There are still a few spots that need to be filled in order to make this event a success. As a bonus, your family will get a "Santa Fast Pass." Thank you for taking time to spread joy this week!
*To download the flier, you must open the newsletter "in browser."
Spirit Week!
Student Council has selected the week of December 18 - 21 for Sprit Week. Here's a preview of the week.
- Monday, December 18 - Decades Day
- Tuesday, December 19 - Sports Day
- Wednesday, December 20 - Holiday Day
- Thursday, December 21 - Dress Up or Dress Down
Please check out the Student Council-created flier around campus for more details!
Nutcracker Outreach Tickets
A huge thank you to our community partner, Ballet Tucson! They have once again set aside tickets for members of the Carrillo Community to attend the ballet. If you are interested in attending their performance of "The Nutcracker" please complete the form to receive tickets. Again, these are on a first-come, first-served basis. For more details on Ballet Tucson or the Nutcracker, please visit their webpage. If you want a sneak peek behind the scenes at the Nutcracker, check out this video! You'll see one of our own Cougars in the interview and learn about her role in this performance.
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. Clever can be accessed from the Carrillo Webpage by selecting the "Applications" tab in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Please contact your student's teacher if they have any trouble.
Grief Support
The holidays can be tough for families experiencing grief. If your family is in need of support, Tu Nidito can help. Visit their website to begin a self-referral to help your family and your cope with grief.
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.
After School Reminders
The primary pick-up is 17th Street. Due to the size of our office, students will be unable to wait in the office. Parents, if you are parking up front, we invite you to wait in the Carrillo Art Gallery to meet your students.
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 January 17th at 5:20 pm it will be a hybrid event. Join in person in the Carrillo MPR or on Zoom. Ms. Bittel will be sharing the Carrillo Letter Grade Report with families.
-Carrillo PTO
Please email PTO if you have any questions.
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. Back on October 26th, Carrillo won $10 for the school in a sweepstakes! Thank you all!
The Top Classes are...
- #1 - Grade 1 with 129 box tops
- #2 - Grade 4 with 60 box tops
- #3 - Kindergarten with 49 box tops
- #4 - Grade 3 with 26 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.