The CPES BobChat
September 5, 2021
How Big Is Our Cherry Park Family?
As the year has started, there are many new changes to our staff and school. Some of them may not be as apparent to parents as they are to our faculty and students. Most of them are a result of the growth of the number of children in our school family. (Last year we had 720 students and this year we are at 750.) Here are a few growth points that you may have missed. 1. French has grown. We now have two classes of French at every grade level but fourth and fifth. Dr. Sandrine Hope in third grade and Mrs. Kelsey George in second grade were hired as additional teachers to accommodate our larger numbers in that program. We are excited about this increase and look forward to seeing that trend continue. 2. Our Related Arts staff has grown. We now have two physical education teachers, Dr. Christi Beard and Mrs. Emily Anderson. We also have one and a half art teachers, Mrs. Molly Garrard and Mr. Trey Moore. Mr. Moore is with us in the afternoons and is currently working with our kindergarten through second grade students. We went from 32 homerooms two years ago to having 35 now and we needed those extra positions to fully staff our enrichment schedule. 3. Our Resource/Support staff has grown. We now have two full-time school counselors, Mrs. Remi Flaherty and Ms. Miranda Baskin. (Ms. Baskin is serving as interim until Mrs. Sanders returns.) This ensures that we have a counselor available to students, staff and parents all day every day. Our counselors teach classroom guidance lessons half of each day and then do individual and small group counseling for the other half of the day. We also have Mrs. Meisha Williams who is a school based therapist who comes one day a week to work intensively with students as well. (Catawba Mental Health also sees children in our school.) In addition, every elementary school in Rock Hill now has an academic interventionist. Mrs. Emily Walker will work with our first graders in reading this year. She is going through Reading Recovery training and our goal is to provide quality early intervention to our students so they struggle less as they get older. The best time to close a learning gap is in kindergarten and first grade. 4. Our Office Staff has grown. In addition to Mrs. Angela Neal (our bookkeeper) and Mrs. Heidi Hunsucker (our new data clerk), Ms. Shyan Fortuna joined our team as receptionist. Having three office staff members yields a greater level of productivity and responsiveness to our families and faculty. We appreciate our district leadership's support in providing additional resources to promote our students' and teachers' success. As we celebrate our Labor Day holiday, I feel blessed to work alongside so many who make such a difference in our children. It takes #OneTeamOneMissionOneRockHill working together to indeed make that difference.
Strength and Blessings,
Mr. Maness, Principal
P.S. I hope you enjoy time with your family on tomorrow. Stay safe.
School News
Laptops--Are coming home for all 2nd through 5th graders. Districtwide, we are not ready to send them home for kindergarten and first grade. Please make sure your Technology Fee is paid or that you have requested a waiver. If you don't want a computer to come home, please let your child's teacher know that as well. Laptops should always stay in the cases in which they are issued. The link is below if you'd like to pay your Technology fee online.
Technology Help--If you run into a problem with your child's computer, you can get help by clicking on the "Get Help" tab in Launchpad (which comes up when you click on the Google icon) or your can call 803-324-8324. (803-324-TECH)
Measures of Academic Progress Testing (MAP Testing)--Will be the week after Labor Day September 7-10. This is an achievement test we will administer on the computer for grades 1-5 that assesses reading and math skills. Students take it with their teacher in a whole group setting in their class.
Classroom Libraries--If you have gently used children's books that you'd like to donate to our classroom libraries, please feel free to drop those books off in the office. We want to boost the collections in all our classrooms and especially support our new teachers.
Breakfast and Lunch This Year--All meals for this year will again be at no cost for families.
Attendance--We want to encourage all families to prioritize their children's attendance at school each day. (A child's achievement is directly tied to their attendance. They can't learn what they need to learn if they are not present.) For students who miss excessive time in school, attendance conferences will be held with parents and attendance plans will be developed to improve attendance. This is a state requirement. After three consecutive unlawful absences or a total of five unlawful absences, an attendance conference will be scheduled. Please click on the button below for our District Guidelines for Attendance for Elementary Students. Please note that we do not dismiss students after 2:00 PM.
Transportation Changes for Dismissal--Per district policy, parents need to know that all changes in transportation need to be made by a written note sent at the beginning of the day or parents can come in person to the office to make the change. We cannot accept transportation changes by email or by phone. These policies are in place to ensure the safety and security of your child.
Device Access--Remember that in order for your child to take his/her computer home, your child's registration should be completed and the $35 Technology Protection Fee has been paid (or you indicated on your registration that a waiver is needed.) Fees can be paid online. See details below.
Need Tech Support? Call 803-324-TECH
PTO and SIC Information
Parent Teacher Organization and School Improvement Council Update
The PTO serves to raise funds, coordinate volunteers and encourage teachers through appreciation activities. Click on the PTO Newsletter button below if you wish to receive the PTO Newsletter: PTO and SIC are tentatively planning to meet on the second Monday of each month this year. School Improvement Council meets at 5:30 and our Parent Teacher Organization meets at 6:30. We are looking for volunteers to help in PTO this year. Let us know if you are interested. Elections were held last spring for PTO officers but all parents are welcome to attend to help provide input and volunteer. You can contact our PTO at mailto:cherryparkelementarypto@gmail.com School Improvement Council members for last year were Carl Thompson, Elizabeth Lowery, Leigh Threatt, Amber Hinson, Kim Crean, Brooke Nies and Phyllis Faircloth. We will hold SIC elections this fall. You can contact SIC members at mailto:cherryparksic@gmail.com.
School Calendar
September 6--Labor Day Holiday
September 7-10--MAP Testing for Grades 1-5
September 13--5:30 School Improvement Council Meeting; 6:30 Parent Teacher Organization Meeting (More details to come about these meetings.)