Luce Notes
Important information, dates, and school updates.
What's the scoop at the Luce?
Hello Luce Families,
We had a strong start to the new school year for our 1st-5th grade students. We are excited to welcome our Kindergarten students on Tuesday, September 6th. Please make sure to read the important information in this week's Smore for up-to-date news. Also, remember, there is no school tomorrow Monday, September 5th as we observe Labor Day.
Luce School Council Parent Representatives Needed
What is needed:
- We need two Awesome parents/guardians to fill two 2-year posts.
- If you are interested in learning more about our School Council, email me at lamoury@cantonma.org
- Elections will be held on September 15th.
The Monthly Calendar is Updated!
The updated monthly calendar of events for the End of August and September is attached below. Please review the document and post it nearby to keep informed on upcoming Luce School events. The Canton Public School (CPS) year-long calendar is also attached below.
See you soon, Crew!
Please see the important events coming up.
What's Coming Up at the Luce...
9/5 Labor Day:
9/6 1st Day of School for K Students
9/14 New Parent Orientation 5-6 pm
9/15 2-5 Open House 5-6:30 pm
9/15 School Council Parent Election
9/15-10/15 Hispanic Heritage Month
9/16 First SHINE Assembly (NEW DATE)
9/23 Early Release School Hours (8:40-11:50)
9/26 Rosh Hashana: No School
10/5 Yom Kippur: No School
10/10 Columbus Day/Indigenous Day: No School
10/21 Early Release School Hours (8:40-11:50)
We got this, Crew,
Yeshi Lamour
Proud Principal
Arrival & Dismissal Procedures (Repost)
Pick Up/Drop Off
When dropping off or picking up your child, please pay close attention to the crosswalks and crossing guards. When you reach the school, please follow the traffic pattern indicated by signs and cones along the driveway. Drop off your child on the sidewalk side of the car for safety. If you need to linger, please park your car in a parking spot and walk your child in, as there may be a line of cars waiting to use the drop-off area.
Under no circumstances should you park in the Fire Lane. Due to the limited size of our parking lot; to ensure
safety for all. There should not be any idling at anytime in the parking loop.
The speed limit is 5 MPH, and pedestrians always have the right of way. Remember, our in and out is a ONE WAY. When picking up your child after school, please wait for them outside the building entrance. Students may not enter the parking area unaccompanied by an adult.
Parking is allowed in designated parking areas only. There are 2-3 15-minute parking spaces for visitors that should be utilized. No parking is permitted in marked fire lanes next to the kitchen, and do not block our handicapped spots. Idling is not permitted at any time. Students are dismissed to line up for their buses at 2:55 pm.
Arrival 8:20-8:35
Students arrive at school.
Students who do not go to breakfast can play outside on the upper-level playground (2nd & 3rd) or lower playground (4th & 5th) according to their grade level.
Kindergarten & 1st-grade students enter through the Kindergarten/first-grade entrance (double doors past the front entrance and closer to the gym). First graders will file to class, hang up bookbags and head out to morning recess. Kindergarteners sit by their classrooms in the Kindergarten lobby until 8:35 am. At 8:35 am, all students file to class.
Students in grades 2nd-5th enter the building via the main entrance or the doors located off of the playground and go to class.
Dismissal 2:55-3:05 pm
- Walkers are dismissed via the main school entrance, classroom doors, or the kindergarten side entrance, depending on their grade.
- Kindergarteners are dismissed through the gym doors.
- Cars should not arrive before 2:55 pm.
- Parents and visitors picking up by car must park and turn car engines off.
- No vehicle should move until the children have been dismissed, safely walked to cars, and are safely inside.
No vehicle can pass a school bus/van loading or unloading children.
Bicycles
Students are permitted to ride bicycles to school. An adult must accompany students under grade 4. As a reminder, it is a state law that children must wear a helmet while riding their bicycles. Cyclists should keep their bicycles at the racks provided, and a lock is recommended. For safety reasons, children must walk their bikes and scooters on school grounds. Skateboards are not permitted. The school cannot be responsible for damage to bikes or the safety of students riding outside of school property.
Bus
Please ensure your child is familiar with the letter of the bus they take to and from school. These will be a letter and a number (i.e. C1 etc.,). It is helpful to check the local Canton newspapers and the District website for specific information. Please note that the exact pick-up times cannot be determined until the route becomes routine. For safety, accountability, and overcrowding concerns, students are NOT allowed to switch buses or bus stops for any reason.
Luce Updates
Nurse Bonner Updates
What a great start to the school year. As we all adjust to new schedules and welcome our Kindergarteners this week here are some tips to help our students have a healthy year.
Sleep: Keep a good sleep routine each night. Have you been staying up late in the summer and there's no way we can go to bed an hour earlier now? No problem. Just move up bedtime each night by 15 min and soon they will be back in their routine.
Nutrition: The days are long at school and starting off with a good nutritious breakfast that has some protein in it will help them stay focused and ready to learn.
Stay active: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends 60 minutes of activity a day for children 6 and older. Maybe consider walking or biking to school this year if you can.
Stay connected to your doctor and checkups: Make sure you have scheduled your annual physical each year and bring me a copy once you have had one.
Cheers to a healthy 2022-2023 school year!
Nurse Bonner
Luce CAPT Update
Welcome Back to our returning families and a friendly warm welcome to our new families. We are looking forward to enriching the school day and community this year through numerous programs and events. It brings us such joy as an organization to help our teachers and school staff and make the day even better for our students. As a reminder we cannot do this without your membership fees and donations of time and service. Our hope is to bring back all the loved traditions of the LUCE and some brand new ones as well.
How can you help?
* Volunteer for events throughout the year. These include the LUCE carnival, circus, fun run and musical.
* Join CAPT for $25 per family. This helps to reach our goals to fully fund items such as in school programming. (Click here for online membership) or down
* Spread the word about our fundraising events such as the boosterthon, penny wars, and more.
* Use amazon smile (type in LUCE Capt into charity search under amazon smile) and box tops to help us raise money by just doing your normal shopping.
* Come to our meetings to help us decide our budget, how to support the school and more (only paid members can vote).
* Volunteer to be a room parent (click here). These roles will differ in each classroom and it is up to the teacher to dictate. We do a lottery if we have more than one person interested per teacher.
We are currently looking for volunteers for our board, committee chairs, and day of event help. See more information by clicking here.
Our website is a great place to stay connected to us and see what we have going on! Click Here.
Please join us for our first meeting on 9/13. We will meet at 7pm in the LUCE library. We will have light refreshments and it is a wonderful opportunity to meet other families and form lasting relationships at the LUCE.
If you have questions please reach out to Jenni Putnam, CAPT President at LUCECAPT@gmail.com
Creating a culture of Excellence, Inspiration, and Joy!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
1st day of School at Luce!
K & 1 Open House!
District Update(s)
Elementary Handbooks Sign Page Due September 9
ACTION REQUIRED: Please be on the lookout for an email from ___Donna Ferguson__ with the subject line: Your Child's Name: __Luce Elementary School_____ Demographics Information--Please Verify. When you see this email, please follow the link to verify and update your child's demographic information, review the updated school handbook, and sign off (or not) on several permissions that we are requesting. We ask that you complete this task by Friday, September 9. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you.
K-5 Curriculum Overviews
Elementary Curriculum Overviews
Information about the curriculum taught at each grade level in core subjects; English/Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies, can be found in the new Curriculum Overviews that are available on the District website. They have been translated into Arabic, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese. If you need a different language, please contact Deborah Rooney at rooneyd@cantonma.org or your child's teacher.
Parents and Guardians can access this information on the Teaching and Learning page of the District website: https://www.cantonma.org/curriculum-and-instruction/elementary-curriculum-overviews
Community Connections
Around Town Resource: Local Resources and Events in Canton
To learn more about what is happening in the community, from local resources to events, please check out the "Around Town" link (also found on the CPS website) below.
This site can be reached at this link: About/Around Town.
Did you miss last week's Smore?.. Look here for a recap
Last Week's News
School Supplies
Free Breakfast & Lunch Update
We are pleased to inform you that Canton Public Schools will provide free meals to all students under the Massachusetts and USDA’s Child Nutrition Program through June 30, 2023.
This week Student ID Numbers and Pin Numbers were mailed out to all households.
Students will be using their PIN Numbers at breakfast and lunch this year.
If you are new to the District, please visit our website here to learn more about the Canton Public Schools Food Service Department, Nutrikids, and MySchoolBucks.
Please see this month's lunch menu attached below.
Free Meals Notification
New Bus Vendor and Bus Information
Dear Parent/Guardian:
We would like to welcome First Student as the new transportation provider for Canton Public Schools and St. John School. First Student joins us with more than a century of experience in providing safe and reliable transportation to students across the U.S. and Canada. You may have seen their buses around town this summer providing summer session transportation and familiarizing their drivers with the town.
First Student has done their best to keep the routes similar, if not the same as the existing routes from last year. There will be a few changes that First Student believes necessary to optimize timing and safety. For instance, all of our buses will be numbered this year (Ex. C1, C2, C3 etc.). Some stops may change, but are still within the safety guidelines set forth by Canton Public Schools.
All buses will be equipped with video and audio surveillance cameras. Video and audio recording will not be monitored, and only reviewed for the purposes of investigating a specific incident. Only Canton Public Schools Administration will have access to review recordings.
First Student and Canton Public Schools are working to implement a Parent App which will provide real time bus location information as well as to provide important notifications. The App is expected to be rolled out to families later this school year.
We would like to remind you of some long standing policies that we often receive questions about. More information regarding transportation can be found in the District Appendix of your school’s Student Handbook.
- Every kindergarten student must be accompanied by a parent or designated guardian at their bus stop in the morning and afternoon. Any kindergarten student who is not met by an adult will be returned to their school (or the Rodman Administration Building).
- Buses will not travel on private roads, cul de sacs, dead end roads or dirt roads. This has been a long standing policy for First Student and Canton Public Schools.
- A student’s stop may be up to a half mile (0.5 mi) from their home. This includes kindergarten students. We do not provide door to door transportation unless it is deemed necessary due to safety.
- Students must be at their designated stop 5 minutes prior to their designated stop time. These times will be listed on the temporary passes issued by email and the routes that will be posted online.
- If your stop is listed as your home address, the student MUST BE OUTSIDE, WAITING AND VISIBLE to the driver. The new drivers will not know to stop for any students they do not see waiting outside.
First Student is doing a great job preparing their drivers for the start of school, however, we are asking you for patience as we begin the school year. There is a great deal of anxiety surrounding the first days of school. Some students have difficulty getting on the bus and the traffic can be heavier than usual. Timing will be off until the drivers and students are familiar with the routes! Please plan accordingly! The team at First Student and our transportation coordinator will be ready to help with any questions you may have.
First Student Dispatch
781-961-3824
CPS Transportation
781-821-5060 ext 1156
Please be patient in waiting for your response. The first couple of days of school are extremely busy for First Student and Canton Public School Transportation Coordinator. Any questions or comments that are not an emergency should be emailed to transportation@cantonma.org.
The bus drivers and staff are looking forward to a safe and successful year!
Respectfully,
Brett McCloud
Enrollment & Transportation Coordinator
New School Hours For SY 22-23 (REPOST)
NEW Start Time: 8:40 am
Half Day Time: 8:40-11:50 am
NEW End Time: 2:55 pm
Please make a note of these changes to best prepare for your family. If you have any questions, please email me at: lamoury@cantonma.org.
Dean S. Luce Elementary School
Email: lamoury@cantonma.org
Website: https://www.cantonma.org/luce/index
Location: 45 Independence Street, Canton, MA, USA
Phone: 1(781)821-5075
Twitter: @LuceSchool