Chester Elementary School
October 1, 2021. Connect. Thrive
What's Happening at CES?
State Superintendent Tony Thurmond visited our Chester schools this past week. He toured Greenville as well as Chester along with Assemblywoman Dahle. It was a great experience to share our community, our spirit and our school with these state officials.
CES students are working on a Community Gratitude project. A variety of organizations are being recognized for their heroism and extraordinary contributions to our community during the Dixie Fire. We are so grateful that our students are able to express their own appreciation. This has been a wonderful opportunity for our students to connect to the greater Chester community.
CES takes pride in our thriving outdoor education program. This week the 6th grade will participate in the Outdoor Feather River Education Camp Program (FReD). We can't wait to see all the great things our 6th graders will do!
Need to call the school? Dial 258-3194 and key in extension 1201. If it goes to voicemail, please leave a message and someone will get back to you shortly.
With Flexibility and Grace,
Colly Fischer and Nicholle Crowther
Notable Stuff and Upcoming Dates
10/12 through 10/14- Scholastic Book Fair
10/12 through 10/15- 6th graders to FReD- Outdoor Education
CES Book Fair!
October 12th: Kids will preview with their teachers!
October 13th: Open 7:45-9:15 and 2:00-4:00
October 14th: Open 7:45-9:15 and 2:00-4:00
Check out the commercial for how to use the eWallet to make shopping easier!
Independent Study Explained
There are two types of independent study, long and short term. Long Term Independent Study is an option for your student if in-person instruction presents a health risk to your child. You will follow the instructions found here. Notification of Independent Study
Short Term Independent Study is provided in case a student is excluded from school due to Covid-19, exposure or symptoms and can do work from home. The school will communicate with you and explain the process. Then, we will send a short term independent study agreement to you on Parent Square. The teacher will provide work and for the work that your student completes, he/she will have those days credited and not marked as absent.
If you are planning for a child to be away from school for a family trip or the like, please notify the office. You may request a Short Term Independent study agreement in this case. This request should be 5 days in advance of your departure and will need to be approved by the principal. If approved, your child will be provided work which should be returned the day your child is back in school.
Volunteers on Campus
Volunteers on campus
CES values our volunteers who help us so much. This year, in addition to the paperwork that volunteers complete we will be requiring
proof of vaccination
Or a weekly Covid test
and be fingerprinted (this can be done at the District Office in Quincy)
You are considered a volunteer if you come in consistently to assist at school in your child’s class. Field Trip drivers or parents that help for one event are not considered volunteers in this circumstance.
Testing will occur on campus once a week starting in early October but one can get a test result from anywhere convenient. The “quick test” AKA antigen will be the test provided at the school. At this time, over the counter tests will not be accepted.
STAFF SPOTLIGHT: Mrs. Klimek
Camille Klimek, a native of Portland, Oregon has been a teacher for seven years and currently serves in the role of Reading Intervention Specialist at Chester Elementary School. Mrs. Klimek was originally drawn to the profession because it combined her passion for the environment with teaching. Later, Mrs. Klimek became inspired to become a specialist because of the joy she felt when watching struggling readers learn to read.
Mrs. Klimek loves that she is able to work with students of all ages as a specialist. Mrs. Klimek also enjoys the determination, perseverance, and the grit that makes Chester kids so amazing to work with. She says that kids have a wonderful and “optimistic take on the world” that makes her job meaningful.
Mrs. Klimek loves spending time outdoors with her family, friends, and dogs. She loves running, biking, gardening, cooking, and eating Thai and Vietnamese food. Mrs. Klimek hopes to visit the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in the central mountains of Mexico to see the butterflies in mass as they transform the trees to orange.
STAFF SPOTLIGHT: Mrs. O'Kelley
Aletha O’Kelley, a graduate of Chester Elementary and Chester High School, attended Chico State University for her Bachelors Degree and Sacramento State University for her teaching credential. Mrs. O’Kelley, a mother of two, volunteered when her daughters were in preschool. While volunteering, the excitement and enjoyment that Mrs. O’Kelley saw in children fascinated her and she became hooked on teaching.
Mrs. O’Kelley, a veteran of the teaching field, loves teaching second grade! She loves when students learn something new and when they know something so well that it goes “right down deep to their toes”. Mrs. O’Kelley loves being part of the student’s learning journey, particularly as they pass through their second grade milestone moments that include mastering addition, and subtraction, the Year of the Reptile, and developing a love for reading.
Mrs. O’Kelley also loves spending time with her family. She loves hiking and exploring the Lake Almanor Basin as well as reading. She dreams of visiting Germany and Ireland someday. Mrs. O’Kelley loves a good chocolate chip cookie and believes that there is no greater place to be than Chester Elementary School. Green and white, green and white, green and white-GO!
Covid Protocols
Hello Chester families!
We’d like to remind all of our families that the same COVID protocols remain in place from last school year. If your child is ill, you will need to keep them home and follow the return to school criteria (see below). The complete PUSD Covid Protocols are found
Please use the At-home Staff and Student Screening to screen your children at home prior to sending them to school. The schools will contact any guardian for pick-up if your student develops symptoms during the school day. After experiencing any of the symptoms on this list, the student must meet the return to school criteria before they will be permitted back on campus. If you have any further questions, please contact your school office.
Here is to a great year!
Your PUSD nurses,
Emilee Pruitt, BSN, RN, Lead School Nurse
Jessica Logan, BSBA, RN, School Nurse
Lauren Tasaki, BSB, RN, School Nurse
Christina Tate, LVN
Emilee Schramel LVN
State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond
Mrs. White's 4th grade
Mrs. T's 5th grade
School Menu
COMMUNITY INPUT NEEDED
Let's help our community gather input that will be used do develop the Almanor Rail Trail! The survey can be found by clicking on this link:
Here is more information on the grant opportunity:
Now more than ever our region needs to capitalize on opportunities to add new trails or rebuild lost trails caused by the Dixie Fire. Almanor Recreation and Park District’s (ARPD) Trails program continues to focus on adding "Trails Around the Lake". ARPD has been working with Collins Pine Company (CPC) for over a year performing due diligence studies for potential transfer of the Almanor Rail right of way (ROW). CPC offered to donate the ROW to ARPD in 2019. The studies are almost complete, and the findings are mostly favorable for a property transfer.
An available grant offered by the California Department of State Parks, called the Rural Recreation and Tourism Program Grant, due in November 2021, is considered by ARPD and Almanor Basin Trails Coalition members an excellent potential grant to both finalize the acquisition of the entire 12-mile, 100-foot wide, Almanor Rail Trail AND to develop the first 1.8 miles from Chester’s Main Street to the west end of the highway 36 Causeway into a greenway park with a recreation trail. This grant would also permit the renovation of the 100-year-old Railroad Trestle behind Olsen Barn to provide a safe and direct connection to the Causeway and the Olsen Barn property.
The Grant application requires community input to determine the community's interest, desires, and support for the potential project. We have created an electronic survey using Google Forms to obtain regional community feedback and opinions on the overall idea and type of development, and desired features within the park/trail. Due to Covid 19 and the Dixie Fires, we were not able to obtain community input using traditional meetings, video conferences, or pop-up venues.
Feel free to send the link to others that you feel support this grant opportunity. Thank you for your support!
Almanor Parks and Recreation District
Free Crisis Counseling
It’s been a tough last year and half for many in our county. The Covid 19 pandemic has brought hardship and uncertainty to our community, and the added stress of several catastrophic wildfires in the past two summers has added another layer of difficulty.
This double crisis has put tremendous burdens on all of us, and many people have no choice but to struggle alone. This is why California State has started a productive new partnership with BeWellLine, a partnership that will bring care to the people who need it most.
The BeWellLine mission is to provide evidence-based, free-of-charge care to people who might not have access to it otherwise. This is a free service, available to anyone, without regard to existing insurance coverage or qualification. Everyone in the state of California is entitled to reach out and get the help they need, receive advice and counseling, and share their story.
If you’ve been struggling through the pandemic alone or feel like you need greater guidance and support, get in touch with the BeWellLine by calling (855) 838-6910 or visiting bewellline.com or calhopeconnect.org today to arrange a counseling session or learn more about how they can help you.The counseling services are available by phone, online chat, and video conferencing, and are free.
Bus Route
Chester Elementary School
Email: cfischer@pcoe.k12.ca.us
Website: ces.pcoe.k12.ca.us
Location: 158 Aspen Street, Chester, CA, USA
Phone: 5302583194
Facebook: facebook.com/ChesterElementary