CUBS COMMUNITY COMMUNICATION
Issue #2 8.25.23
SCHOOL HOURS: 8:25-3:15 DAILY
HALF-DAY HOURS: 8:25-11:29
BREAKFAST OPENS @ 8:05-8:25
email: mailto:officecollins@uticak12.org
website: https://collins.uticak12.org
Location: 12900 Grand Haven, Sterling Heights, MI 48312
Phone: 586-797-4200
Attendance Line: 586-797-4299 (24 hours)
Facebook: www.facebook.com/CollinsCubs
COMMUNITY UPDATE ISSUE #11 OCTOBER 27, 2023
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER
OCTOBER DATES
27th: Half-Day of School END OF QUARTER 1
27th: Trunk or Treat 5:30 pm (3:30 car set up in MAIN parking lot by Front Walk).
30th: Texas Roadhouse Night
31st: Halloween Parties in AM and Parade 10:45 OUTSIDE OF SCHOOL
31st: Half-Day of School Dismissal 11:29
NOVEMBER DATES
7th: NO SCHOOL for STUDENTS-PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FOR TEACHERS
8th: French Club for Students Grades 4-8 to begin at 3:15 in Media Center
9th: HALF-DAY of SCHOOL Dismissal @ 11:29
9th-15th: Scholastic Book Fair (VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!! Sign-up HERE)
9th: Parent Teacher Conferences Half-Day 12:15-3:15
9th: Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00-7:00
15th: Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00-7:00
22-24th: NO SCHOOL THANKSGIVING BREAK
27th: Return to School
27th-December: KIWANIS CLUB CANNED FOOD DRIVE!
30th: Picture Retake
DECEMBER DATES
6th: Choir Concert @ Stevenson at 7pm
21st: HALF DAY DISMISSAL @ 11:29
21st: P.A.W.S. ASSEMBLY
21st: END OF QUARTER 2
22-Jan. 2nd: WINTER BREAK NO SCHOOL
COMMUNITY UPDATE
GREETINGS COLLINS CUBS-
The students successfully completed their first P.A.W.S. Behavior Assembly and worked hard to celebrate their fun together. Keep showing your SUPER PAWS Collins Cubs so we can celebrate you on December 21st!
SUPERINTENDENT SCHOOL VISIT
Collins also enjoyed a special visit from Mr. Monroe on Monday!! He was able to stop in and see all the wonderful learning taking place with all grades and speak to many students. What a wonderful visit. Thank you, Mr. Monroe!
END OF QUARTER 1:
It is hard to believe we have successfully completed our first quarter here at Collins. Teachers are working vigorously to have the report cards finished and ready for families by the end of next week. Please be sure to have a POWERSCHOOL account set up and ready to log in to view their report cards.
PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES
The SCHOOLSOFT MANAGER system will be open to families to begin scheduling conferences. Conferences were open on October 19th. You must schedule your appointment online. The teachers have tentatively anticipated November 9th being in-person conferences and November 15th as being both in--person and online appointments. However, in the event you need a virtual appointment on November 9th, please work with your teacher and they will accommodate this request.
REMINDER!!: HALLOWEEN PARTIES and PARADE on 10/31-HALF DAY!
Please look to your classroom teachers' newsletters communicating the Halloween Party time in the MORNING. Our school parade will be held on 10/31 with a starting time of 10:45-10:50. The parade will last approximately 15 minutes and our dismissal will be at 11:29. If you are planning to volunteer for classroom parties, you must have a background check on file. Please see the form below. If you are attending our PARADE, this will take place OUTSIDE around the exterior of the building. If the event of inclement weather, we will be hosting the parade in the gymnasium only. EARLY DISMISSALS: If you are planning to sign-your child out early on HALLOWEEN, a sign-up sheet will be in your child's classroom and available in the office. Please be sure to send in a note with this as well to notify the office. Thank you.
HALLOWEEN COSTUMES🎃
A friendly reminder for appropriate costumes:
- NO MASKS ALLOWED
- NO FAKE BLOOD OR WEAPONS ON COSTUMES
- NOTHING TOO SCARY
- PLEASE COME TO SCHOOL WITH YOUR COSTUMES ON-We will not be changing as it is a half-day.
LUNCHROOM SUPERVISORS and RECESS SUPERVISORS NEEDED!
We are still in need of RECESS SUPERVISORS!! Please contact the front office if you are interested in this paid position from 11-1pm Monday-Friday. Thank you.
Wishing you all a lovely weekend ahead!
Principal Ciacchella
REPORT CARD INFORMATION
Dear Parents,
Report cards will be posted in your PowerSchool account after 4:00 p.m. on Friday, November 3, 2023. Here are the top three things you need to know:
- Access to the report cards will not be available through the PowerSchool app. The report cards are available by logging into your account through your favorite browser (Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc.).
- We strongly encourage you to make sure you can access your account by a web browser. If you need technical assistance, please contact our school office.
- You must have a PowerSchool account to see the report card. If you do not have an account, please follow the instructions at this link.
For more information on how report cards will be shared, where to access the report cards, how to request a new password or set up a PowerSchool account, please see this link.
PARENT TEACHER CONFERENCES
Introducing the Collins FRENCH CLUB!
BONJOUR!
Collins Elementary is proud to present a FRENCH CLUB to be offered to students in grades 4-8 beginning on NOVEMBER 8th (Please note the Date Correction) here in the Media Center. This club will be offered by two UAIS High School Seniors after school and supervised with a Collins Staff Member.
If your 4th, 5th, or 6th graders is interested in joining, please complete the digital permission slip form and you will be provided with a paper copy of the permission slip next week. The original club was going to begin on NOVEMBER 1st, but we are looking forward to a start date on NOVEMBER 8th. For more information, please contact Mrs. Ciacchella.
Here are the introductions from the two IB/UAIS High School Students:
VIOLET CENO: Hi everyone! My name is Violet Ceno and I’m pleased to announce the start of French Club here at Collins Elementary. I’m a junior at IB/the Utica Academy for International Studies and have been learning French since elementary school. My love for foreign languages came from a combination of Mandarin Chinese classes, French clubs, and a household filled with English, Albanian, and Italian. My main motivation for wanting to start a French club; however, is to introduce kids to the importance and beauty of the French language. The benefits of immersing your child in another culture are endless. Through volleyball, I’ve run camps where I worked with kids from 3rd-10th grade and also have had CPR training. Our main mission with this club is to create a fun, immersive, and educational environment for the children which hopefully will lead to their love for foreign languages. Throughout the year, we will play numerous games, sing songs, and learn all the basics of French. We hope you will consider signing up your student(s) for this club!
NICHOLAS SLAUGHTER: Hello everyone! My name is Nicholas Slaughter, and I am so excited to be co-running the Collins French Club this year! A little about why we started this club: Being an IB student requires many things, one of them being the completion of CAS. CAS is a program that incorporates Creativity Activity and Service. Due to my adoration of the French language, I thought it would be best to teach others about it for my service component. Originally, I was born in Oklahoma, but have moved to Florida, and now am lucky enough to call Michigan my home! I have had a lot of experience with children from a young age, including babysitting and teaching ages 5-11, and have basic CPR training. Through this French club, I aim to see your child’s admiration of, and knowledge about the French language grow exponentially, and I am so excited to see how it goes!
SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
VOLUNTEERS...WE NEED YOU!!!!!
The Book Fair CANNOT run without parent volunteers!! If you have a morning or afternoon to spare, we would greatly appreciate your help! The Book Fair runs from November 9-15. The morning session is from 8:30 a.m. -11:30 a.m. and the afternoon session is from 12:30 p.m.-3:15 p.m.
Please sign up online at: https://tinyurl.com/Collinshelper
🐾INTRODUCING COLLINS CARING CUBS!🐻
Congratulations to the following staff members for showcasing their PAWE-SOME Caring CUBS! We appreciate you and value your support with our Collins Community. Please join me in celebrating our CARING CUB staff members!!
CONGRATULATIONS COLLINS CUBS!!
Introducing our Classroom Caring CUBS award!! Students at Collins always show their P.A.W.S. but now we get to celebrate their class with the Collins Cub CARING CUB award. Students that are celebrated have the opportunity to house the CARING CUB stuffed animal trophy in their classrooms for the week. They can read with it, work on Math with it, etc. In addition, they have a certificate that is placed on their door and celebrated in the main hallway as well. Congratulations to the following classrooms!
KIWANIS CLUB CAN FOOD DRIVE
STUDENT BEHAVIOR POLICY
P.A.W.S.
SUPER CUBS SHOW THEIR P.A.W.S!
P: Positive Choices
A: Act Responsibly
W: Will be Respectful
S: Shows Integrity
All Collins Cubs are expected to follow protocols and procedures while showing their PAWS! That includes inside the classrooms, during the hallways, on the playgrounds, and for arrivial/dismissal as well. Teachers will be on the lookout for ways to celebrate students showing their PAWS and have a chance to earn incentives.
UTICA COMMUNITY SCHOOLS PARENT HANDBOOK FOR BEHAVIORS
Please review all Utica Community Schools behavior policies in the Parent Handbook attached to the link below. It is expected that all UCS policies and procedures will be adhered to at any/all school functions and on school properties. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
SCHOOL SAFETY UPDATE
Safety remains a priority for our school. Collins Elementary is once again providing training to our students on our safety protocols. The protocols identify actions that students may be asked to take in the event of a potential incident: hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate and shelter.
The training is provided through a short, animated video. In the video, the teacher – Mrs. Appleton – and her students walk through the different responses in a very relaxed and engaging way for younger children. The script was written by our staff.
The protocols will continue to be part of the training while practicing our regular school safety drills, such as fire drills, security drills, tornado drills, evacuation procedures, etc.)
The video is available for you to review at this link: UCS School Safety: Standard Response Protocol - Elementary - YouTube If you have any questions, please contact our office.
UCS CALENDAR ALERTS
*NEW* SMILE! SECURITY UPDATE!
*NEW!* In adherence to our safety protocols, every member of the community must show their PHOTO IDs to the camera prior to entering our school doors. Please have your IDs with you at all times when coming to the front office. Even if we know you, we are making sure to have a record of all our wonderful families present and following necessary SCHOOL SAFETY measures. Thank you for your understanding and support in keeping all our CUBS safe at school!
FREE MEALS AT COLLINS
ATTENTION FAMILIES: FREE MEALS AT UCS UPDATE 2023-2024
All meals are free this year thanks to the Michigan School Meals law (2A). Students that would like to be eligible for benefits, such as pay-to-participate sports, college entrance/AP testing fees, summer EBT cards and more need to complete the Eligibility Benefits Form or the School Meals and Summer EBT Form (2B). These forms are available at https://utica.familyportal.cloud. Please encourage your parents to complete these forms to ensure our Title I and other specialized funding is received from the state. Paper applications are arriving at your schools this week. For Elementary schools please only send 1 copy home with either the oldest or the youngest child in the family. Secondary schools please have paper copies available in your main offices.
SPECIAL DIETARY RESTRICTIONS
Students with food allergies that wish to use school meals must have a Special Dietary Needs form (11A) completed and signed by a physician. Forms need to be turned in to the office of Food and Nutrition Service. Without this form we cannot make accommodations. This form must be updated every year to ensure accuracy. Since all schools have vegetarian options, parents do not need to complete a form for that option.
*PAY SCHOOLS UPDATE*
Important Note About Pay Schools for the 2023-2024 School Year
PaySchools has improved its platform this year to provide a system that is consistently more reliable and user friendly. The end result for parents will be that the information they need will be personalized for their child.
As a result, families will be asked to recreate an account (even if you previously had a PaySchools account). Once created, you will be provided with those product choices that directly relate to your child.
Just follow these easy steps:
Create an account from your computer or tablet at: www.payschoolscentral.com
Complete the account registration by selecting register, enter your profile details, setting up your password via the email link that will be sent to you, then logging in.
Add your children to your account using their student ID numbers. ID numbers are found on their report card available through PowerSchool.
If you like, enter credit card and/or banking information as forms of payments to use with your PaySchools account.
A complete guide (with screen shots) is available at this link.
Need help with your PaySchools Central account?
8:30 a.m. – 7:30 p.m. ET (M-F)
877-393-6628
BRUCE COLLINS PTO COMMUNICATION
PREVIOUS CUB COMMUNICATION
Bruce Collins Elementary
Principal of Collins Elementary
Email: collinsquestions@uticak12.org
Website: https://www.uticak12.org/Collins
Location: 12900 Grand Haven Drive, Sterling Heights, MI, USA
Phone: (586)797-4200
Facebook: facebook.com/collins