Get your CST gear here in the first of our 3 stores for the year. Next store in time for the holidays, final in the spring...get your orders in soon! The store closes at 11:59pm on Sunday, 8/22. Deliveries will be made at school.

• 4 T-shirt designs on a variety of shirts
  
• 4 Embroidery designs on a variety of items
  
• Hats, sweats, jackets, more!

https://chisholmtrail2021.itemorder.com/

On August 9th, beginning at 5pm, an informal social will be held at CST for 6th grade students. Students and parents are free to come up any time during this window of time, check out their locker, walk through their schedule, and connect with friends. Families are invited to stop in the gym for a brief pep assembly beginning at 6pm. This is also a good time to drop off tissue boxes, sanitizer, and Clorox wipes (table in MPR).

Please enter through the front or activity entrance.

***Pardon the mess as various construction projects wrap up in the building***

NOTE: Students must be with a parent. Masks are required for all at CST per Johnson County Board of Commissioners' public safety order.

7th and 8th grade students NEW to CST, as well as students who spent the entire 20-21 year in full remote, are invited to attend a new-student-orientation at 10am on Thursday, August 12th. They will meet with counselors, eat a school lunch, and meet other new CST students. Students will also get a chance to meet some of their teachers. This event is optional, but beneficial and recommended to our new 7th and 8th grade students. Students will be dismissed at 12:20pm. This event is intended for students only. Please RSVP by August 10th by calling 913-780-7240 with your child’s name and grade.

The first day of school for all 7th and 8th graders (2nd day for 6th graders) is on Friday, August 13th. This is a regular school day from 7:50am-3:10pm.

6th Grade Devices

• Surface Go devices will be checked out to 6th grade and new students on Monday, August 16th. Returning 7th and 8th grade students should still have their device checked out to them last school year.
  

Extra Curricular Activities

• Students are encouraged to join CST activities! There is a strong link between school involvement and academic success. Cross Country practice begins on Tuesday, August 17 and is available to all students, 6th, 7th, and 8th. Physicals required to participate.
  

Water Bottles

• All students will be provided a water bottle from CST. Students are encouraged to drink plenty of water during the day. Drinking fountains will also be available for those without a water bottle.

Backpacks

• Students will be allowed to carry their backpacks this year to limit necessary locker trips. Students are encouraged to travel light and utilize their locker to help lighten the load.

Lockers

• All students have been assigned a hall locker and are expected to keep jackets/coats/extra clothing in their locker.
  

Two topics often asked about are cell phones and attire. The screenshots below are from the student handbook found on our website. We aim to promote a distraction-free learning environment as much as possible and we remind students that "Chisholm Trail is a school, not the pool". We want to promote a positive academic learning environment in the way we dress, speak, and behave. Teachers and admin will review a variety of topics with students as part of our beginning of year talks.

https://www.olatheschools.org/Page/8153

Attention!

The USDA has announced that the National School Breakfast and Lunch program will be free for all students during the 2021-22 school year. This means that students will not be charged for “combo” breakfast or lunch in the coming school year.

However, it’s vital that families who would benefit from free or reduced district registration, transportation and other fees fill out the Kansas State Department of Education Household Economic Survey to continue to receive free or reduced school registration fees, transportation fees and other fees and school costs. Please do so by going to https://onbase.olatheschools.com/forms/household_economic_survey.html.

Families will only need to fill out this survey one time to determine qualification for reduced or waived fees for the 2021-22 school year. Filling out this survey and including all children on the form also helps the district maintain important funding that makes certain educational programming possible.

We encourage all families to consider, review and complete the Household Economic Survey application. If families do not complete the application, they will no longer be eligible for reduced fees and state funding for the district may be reduced.

Dear Olathe Parents,

We wanted to provide you with an update on COVID-19 mitigation plans for the 2021-22 school year. The Johnson County Board of Commissioners approved a Public Safety Order earlier today that requires any school with students in sixth grade and younger to require masks or face coverings, effective Aug. 9. Additionally, our Board of Education voted tonight to extend this health order through grade 12. For the Olathe Public Schools, this means that in any district building where students are present, all students, staff and visitors will be required to wear a mask or face covering. This applies to all students, staff and visitors in those buildings, regardless of vaccination status.

Additionally, all bus riders or students on district-provided transportation at all levels will be required to wear a mask or face covering while riding, per federal mandate.

The district will continue with COVID-19 mitigation measures put into place last year including:

• Enhanced cleaning and sanitation practices;

• HVAC adjustments to include increased outside air exchange and enhanced filtering;

• Frequent handwashing;

• Self-monitoring for illness and staying home or keeping children home when sick.

For more information about COVID mitigation and to access other back to school resources, visit: www.olatheschools.org/return2021.

Keeping schools open for learning will continue to be the main priority in the Olathe Public Schools. The district will continue to work closely with state and local health officials. We look forward to an outstanding start to the school year.

Olathe Public Schools Administration

The 8th period on your child's schedule is our new "Academic Extension with Intervention" time. This period will take place right after 1st hour (see schedule below). At CST, we are calling this time "Wildcats WIN" (WIN = What I Need). This time will occur daily for all students and will be a time to receive a variety of learning. This time will include social emotional learning (2nd Step), reading intervention and strategies, silent reading, school-themed lessons and information, content-related materials, and student-choice learning. This time is truly intended to be a "what I need" time for students.

This intervention time will take place in all Olathe middle schools and the new bell schedule below will be utilized in most of our middle school buildings. Watch the weekly for more information on Wildcats WIN as the school year gets underway. This will be a valuable time for our students as we aim to cater more to their educational needs.

All students have been assigned a locker. Students will have the option to carry their backpack from class to class this year as we found success with this last year. Whether locker use is regular or intermittent, students will be expected to keep their coats, jackets, and other bags in their locker. It is recommended for students to keep their lunch in their locker as well.

Reminder: Combinations operate on a "right-left-right" pattern along with skipping the middle number once.

Example: 05-42-19---spin dial to the right a few times to get started, turning right, stop precisely on the "05". Spin left passing the "42" once until you get back to 42 where you'll stop on the 42. Turn right until you get to "19" where you'll stop and lift the handle.

Locker issues?

There will be a locations in the office and halls to write down locker concerns. Concerns may include combination issue, need a bottom locker/can't reach top hooks, etc. Students are expected to keep their combination private and to not share with anyone. Please reach out to Mrs. Richerson if there are locker issues (eericherson@olatheschools.org)

Access to school calendars, hour listings for buildings

District Calendar Page

Year-at-a-glance, single pager/downloadable

District Calendar PDF

1) I send a weekly email through Blackboard with a link to an online parent newsletter called The Weekly Wildcat. Important information regarding the next week and beyond is included in this newsletter. Watch for the first Weekly Wildcat the first week of August.

2) The link to The Weekly Wildcat will also be available on the CST website as well as all past newsletters for the year.

3) Unless necessary, I try to limit communications to only the weekly newsletter.

Welcome to the 2021-2022 school year! While there's still some summer remaining, we are certainly gearing up for what will be an amazing school year. This is the first Weekly Wildcat of the school year and I want to take a moment to highlight what you can expect from this newsletter.

1. Each week will come with an "at-a-glance" section (see below). This will highlight upcoming and notable events for your planning.
2. New information--this is a scrolling newsletter and will have new information in the top half of the page. "New" is considered to be anything that was not in the previous weekly.
3. "Repeated but still relevant" section. Anything still relevant from the previous week will be in the recycled section. This section is labeled.
4. Pictures from the week! Don't forget to follow us on Twitter @CSTWildcatsMS
5. A new newsletter and link will be created weekly and sent out via email.
   

...WELCOME to the CST Family! This is the Weekly Wildcat newsletter that is emailed weekly to CST families. Below is a brief outline of what to expect out of this weekly communication...

• This newsletter is updated weekly (except during the summer) and sent out each weekend
  
• You will receive an email letting you know the WW was updated along with a list of new topics
• The newsletter is divided into two parts: new info and "repeated but still relevant"
  
• This is a great way to stay in the "know" on what is occurring at CST
  
• In addition, you can also always check out our home page (https://www.olatheschools.org/chisholmtrail/ ) where there is a link to the Weekly Wildcat on the CST home page
  
• Also, follow us on Twitter @CSTWildcatsms to see learning and activities at CST
• If at any time you feel like you may not be receiving information from the school please contact us at 913-780-7240. Data Operator, Melynda Marquardt (mrmarquardt@olatheschools.org), will be able to verify and/or correct the contact info on file.

Recently, I was able to meet our 5th grade students in person! While we weren't able to have an in-person pep assembly like we normally would, we were able to bring a pep assembly to them virtually and share some of the wonderful things available to them at CST! We also had a little surprise for our future wildcats...check out the videos below for your child's school (watch all the way to the end and you may even spot your own child!)

Mr. Sola and the CST wildcat visit 5th Graders!

• Arbor Creek: (https://youtu.be/PxKSbkbym18)
• Madison Place: (https://youtu.be/cPEg5hgjtZI)
• Sunnyside: (https://youtu.be/961o4mHpNsU)

The next scheduled building communication will occur later this summer regarding events and the upcoming school year, but for now, welcome to CST! Please don't hesitate to reach out with questions. CST is a great place to be and we can't wait to have you join the CST Family!

Rick Sola

CST Principal