Clarks Creek Chronicles
September, 2018 - News and Notes to Keep You Connected
A Note From the Principal
Happy September 1st! We have had an outstanding first month of school! Thank you all for helping us begin our year so smoothly - from you, as parents, to our outstanding staff, bus drivers, and everyone else who has played a role, THANK YOU! We had many parent volunteers from our PTO helping our youngest students beginning on day one, and we all commented on how quickly all of our students were in their new classrooms on that very first day. This was thanks, in large part, to their help!
Our teachers have been working hard to get to know all of their new students and have already begun looking at student data to help them understand every child's specific needs.
We are excited for another amazing year of learning and growing for all of our students!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Donovan
Welcome, Mr. Edwards - Dean of Students!
ISTEP Scores - Student Results Returned, State Results Delayed
ISTEP reports for students who took these tests in grades 3, 4, and 5 were returned to schools and were sent home last week.* Please contact your child's teacher, Mrs. Donovan, or Mrs. Perry if you have any questions about the scores. Scores from the state have been delayed, so we are not yet able to report our data publicly, but this should happen this month.
*If you are new to Clarks Creek and your child was in third or fourth grade at another school last year, you will need to contact your previous school in order to get the printed copy of your child's ISTEP report.
A Note on Attendance from the Assistant Principal, Mrs. Perry
Some of the things that you can do to help support attendance are:
- Schedule all doctor’s appointments outside of the school day, if at all possible.
- Share with your child how important it is to be at school all day, every day.
- Make sure to communicate absences in advance when you know about them ahead of time, so the classroom teacher can better plan for helping your child learn any content missed during the absence.
- Help make sure that your child arrives at school on time each day. The doors open at 8:30 and students need to be seated in their classroom each morning by 8:50 or they are counted tardy.
Working with your child/children each day is a pleasure. We want to make the most of each and every minute we have with your child.
PRIDE - EXPECTATIONS
Students and teachers have been working daily on showing PRIDE. Each Friday we hold our PRIDE credit drawings and we are so excited about the number of credits that have already been given out to students who are meeting Clarks Creek's expectations! If you have not already asked your child about PRIDE credits, please take the time to ask him/her.
We are very close to earning our next school-wide credit award because of the hard work of our students last year, in addition to that of the students thus far in these first few weeks. We look forward to a special event - coming soon!
You can reinforce these safety procedures with your child at home!
Congratulations to Mrs. Mennonno!
Visiting School? Pre-Register to Save Time at the Front Desk!
Pre-register here: https://secure.safevisitorsolutions.com/Safe/Visitor/plainfield2807
Click the red button, above, to see the entire parent calendar of events. New events will continue to be added throughout the year, so you may want to bookmark the link and check it frequently! A few important dates are listed below, but be sure to check out all of them on the calendar.
- 9/5 Trash Bag Sales Begin
- 9/10 PTO Meeting 6:30pm- library (enter door 3)
- 9/11 LQA, Mrs. Fast, and Mrs. Smith's Student Pictures
- 9/11 September 11th Event - details below
- 9/12 PTO Meeting 6:30pm- library (enter door 3)
- 9/12 Student Pictures - Clarks Creek and LQA
- 9/19 NO SCHOOL - Teacher Professional Development Day
- 9/24 - 9/28 Fall Book Fair
- 9/27 Grandparents' Night - 4:30 - 6:00 p.m. (open house format)
- 9/28 - Deadline for all students to be up to date on immunizations
Celebrating Patriot Day by Honoring Our Local Heroes
On September 11th, we will participate in our annual Patriot Day remembrance and celebration of our local heroes. We invite all local law enforcement, firefighters, EMTs and other first responders, along with any current or retired military personnel to come to school at 3:00 that afternoon. At that time, we will begin having all of our classes come through Town Hall to shake hands and thank these great Americans. Following this, our students will participate in a silent dismissal to honor all of these guests, to remember those lost on September 11th, and to remember those who have worked to provide safety for all of us - both on September 11th and every other day of the year.
Please spread the word and invite your friends and family who are in any of the professions mentioned to attend this special event. Please sign them up (or ask them to do so themselves) ahead of time on this link: https://goo.gl/forms/agIPI2e78fkgiiY83
We look forward to having another great turn-out of our local heroes! Be sure to ask your child about the event that afternoon when they get home. It's a special one!
Picture Day is Coming!
Sept. 11th will be picture day for LQA students attending that day and for students in Mrs. Fast and Mrs. Smith's rooms. September 12th will be picture day for all other Clarks Creek students. Picture forms will come home next week. You may also purchase a picture package and look at all of the options by clicking the button below.
You may be aware that Hanke Photography is no longer operating in Plainfield. Prior to their move to Texas, they worked with us to establish a connection with another reputable local company that has done pictures for many neighboring school districts. We are excited for this for this new partnership with Cripe Photography and look forward to seeing all of our students' beautiful pictures!
Purchasing pictures is a family decision and is completely optional. ALL students will be photographed to be included in the yearbook whether a picture package is purchased or not. (Yearbook orders are taken in the spring.)
Helping Your Child Establish a Growth Mindset
Those of you who were with us last year know that we worked on understanding what it means to have a "growth mindset" and understanding that just because we don't know something yet, doesn't mean that we won't know it in the future. Hard work, determination, and learning from our mistakes can change things!
Here is a great list from the folks at Big Life Journal. These are simply ideas for ways to wish your child a good day while encouraging a growth mindset. Starting each day with a positive mindset helps cultivate readiness in students to learn!
Volunteer at Clarks Creek!
Another thing we ask all volunteers to complete annually is the Volunteer Confidentiality Form. This form is available in the school office and should also be completed before the first volunteer experience.
We appreciate the help of all of our volunteers! We couldn't do it without you!
LATE BELL
School BEGINS at 8:50. This means that students must be in the building, have emptied their backpacks, and be seated at their desks by this time. If you bring your child to school by car, plan on arriving by 8:40 to allow your child plenty of time to accomplish all of this.
School Lunch Information
- Click "Explore" in the top right
- Click the "Parent Info" link
- Scroll down to "Food Services"
From there, you'll be able to click on the various menus and find pricing details and other information about breakfast & lunches.
Visiting for Lunch
We know that parents often want to come in and eat lunch with their children on special occasions. You are welcome to do so by following the usual school visit procedures - beginning with stopping in the office to sign in and get a visitor tag. Please be aware, though, that space in our cafeteria is currently VERY limited. Please be prepared for the possibility that you may have to eat in another location with your student when you arrive. Staff members working in the cafeteria will direct you, as needed.
Those of you who have already visited at lunch may have experienced sitting in the LGI room where our overflow seating will be. We did just receive our additional new tables late this week, so with some rearrangement and narrowing of aisles now that students have learned the dismissal routines, we were able to add the "other half" of the tables that had been facing the wall, so our parent space has doubled. We do anticipate that we will still need to use the LGI on some days. To avoid this, coming on a day of the week other than Friday will help, as that is by far the busiest day for parent lunch visitors.
Also, be aware that we will only allow those visitors who appear as parents/guardians or emergency contacts in PowerSchool to visit for lunch. If you have a special friend or family member who is not already in our system who wants to come for lunch, please notify your child's teacher and Miss Conley at the front desk ahead of time that you are allowing this person to visit your child for lunch. All visitors must be processed through the Safe Visitor system before going down for lunch.
Don't forget to bring your ID!
Immunizations Required by Sept. 28th
They will continue to work on additional skills through the end of September, including: listening/following rules, sportsmanship/friendship, tattling, respect for others, and empathy. We hope this builds on what you have already worked on at home and gives all of our youngest CC Quakers a good foundation for developing friendships and being "good citizens" throughout their lives.
DRESS CODE REMINDERS
The Imagination Lab - Update
It has been an exciting month as all of our students went to The Imagination Lab to experience their very first Odysseys in August. Each class will visit once a month for an hour and a half to learn something new! We are thrilled to have the opportunity to provide this "learning incubator" for our students and are grateful to our district leaders for their vision to help all of our schools bring joy to learning!
A few of our students were able to accompany Mrs. Donovan and Mrs. Perry to the Community Launch this week to assist with the festivities. They represented all of the students in Plainfield schools who will be learning and growing in The Imagination Lab. They waited patiently through all of the formal proceedings and got to shine in their big moment in helping with the ribbon-cutting ceremony!
PTO Info
Upcoming Meeting
The first PTO meeting of the year will be on Monday 9/10 @ 6:30 in the library. Please enter through door 2 and walk down the hall to the right to the library.
The Book Fair is Coming!
The fall book fair is just a few weeks away! The first fair of the year will be the week of Sept. 24th. If you'd be available to help with this great event, please email clarkscreekpto@gmail.com.
Nightmare on Elm Drive
Planning is underway for our annual Halloween event will be happening soon. Email clarkscreekpto@gmail.com if you'd like to help organize the event. We'd love to have your help!
Find Us on Facebook
Stay up to date with lots of different PTO information. Find us here: https://www.facebook.com/ClarksCreekPTO/