Currently at Caruso
08-02-17
Greetings Caruso Families,
I hope this email finds you enjoying the remaining days of summer break and ready to embark upon another exciting school year at Caruso Middle School beginning on August 21st. Our goal as a Caruso staff is to make this a year where we can find endless opportunities to Engage, Inspire, Empower, and Grow!
This year will be an exciting one for many reasons:
We have added a number of new and excellent staff members to join our dedicated, innovative, and experienced CMS team.
We have completely renovated our locker rooms and have made significant upgrades to our office spaces. This is in addition to many improvements to classrooms floors, walls, and sections of our parking lot.
New projectors have been installed throughout the classrooms.
Our fitness room features brand-new equipment courtesy of our PTO and school community.
We are continuing to grow in our commitment and application of a standards-based learning environment focused on the individualized growth and achievement of every student.
This year we will continue “Currently at Caruso,” an approximately bi-weekly informational email blast to all CMS families. News items will often be posted numerous times and it will be noted how often they have been posted with each communication so that there is no confusion regarding whether or not something has been sent out. A "FINAL posting" will be noted the last time the item will be communicated. If you change your email, please make sure to log in to Family Access to update your contact information under Student Information.
Please help us by keeping an ear open for families who say they do not receive the Currently at Caruso and encourage them to update their information on Family Access. We want to make sure everyone is in the loop as we head into the start of another great year at Caruso!
Sincerely,
Brian Bullis
1ST/FINAL Posting – Schedules and Other Information
Class schedules will be available for view in Family Access on August 10th. These schedules will not be mailed home. CMS does not honor requests for specific class/teacher placements. It takes numerous weeks to schedule over 500 students into the periods of a middle school day. Once the massive puzzle of student schedules are put into place they are considered finalized, unless an error was made in the courses that your child received. If there was an error, you should contact our office.
1ST POSTING – 2017-2018 LOCKER DAY
Locker Day for Caruso Middle School is fast approaching. August 16th has been established as Locker Day for our students. Our PTO, Mrs. Chin, and Ms. Behrendt have done a tremendous job coordinating the details for the day. Students will have been assigned lockers and will have the opportunity to set up their supplies in their locker. Students will also be able to identify where classes are located in accordance with their schedules.
Locker Day will run similar to last year. There will be two sessions. The first session is from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm. The second session will run from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
If you cannot make Locker Day, we will make the building available after the 16th (we cannot open the building to students and their parents before that date due to construction projects and building cleaning). The times that families may access the halls after locker day are:
August 17th - 3:00-3:45
August 18th - 3:00-3:45
You may access the main office during normal business hours, but the times listed above are when we can safely open the building to guests prior to the start of school.
When you come to locker day you will see stations set-up which will provide families the opportunity to:
Drop off completed forms - You can find out which forms to complete by clicking here.
Complete payments for yearly incidentals - This has been consolidated into one payment (i.e. P.E. uniform, locks, consumable novels, roller skating fees, etc.) which can be paid in advance of locker day.
Lock pick-up - Students are expected to buy a school issued lock so that the school may access lockers in the event of an emergency.
P.E. uniform pick-up - P.E. uniforms are required for all grades.
PTO tables - you will be able to purchase locker ladders and Deerfield discount cards.
At this point, it is off to the student’s locker. You can find your student’s locker number by going to the Student Information section of Family Access once schedules are released.
1st Posting - PTO Lunch Program
1ST/FINAL POSTING – CMS PTO
1st Posting - The Solar Eclipse - Monday, August 21st!
School will not be in session the afternoon of August 21st, but we encourage our students to participate in this historic scientific event! It will start at 1:00 PM with an 85% total eclipse at 1:20 PM, ending around 1:40 PM. A safety note is important too...do not look directly into the sun!! Dr. Revelins (8th grade science) was kind enough to put this list of resources together:
1ST/FINAL POSTING - FEE WAIVER
1st/FINAL Posting - Celebrating Student Attendance!
1st POSTING - INCIDENTAL FEES
The middle schools have worked to determine all of the anticipated incidental fees charged throughout the year and have added them to Family Access so that families can make one easy, online payment, rather than sending many checks. We hope that we’ve accounted for all of the additional fees, but there may be others throughout the year. These school- and grade-specific fees are separate from the District book/material/technology fee that was due on July 1. If you haven’t yet paid that District fee, you will need to do so when you pay your Caruso incidental fees.
Some of the school fees are mandatory, while others are optional. You can view the fees below; here is a link to the list of fees with more specific information.
The mandatory fees have been added to your child’s account; use the “Add a Fee” feature for the optional items. Here are instructions for making a secure online payment of these fees through Family Access. If you have any questions about using Family Access, please contact District 109's Coordinator of Communications & Community Relations Cathy Kedjidjian at ckedjidjian@dps109.org.
While the final due date for incidental fees is October 1, we encourage you to make your payment before Locker Day on August 17 - especially 6th grade families who are purchasing a lock and PE uniform. Students must use school-issued locks and uniforms. Sixth grade students can use the lock or uniform of a graduated sibling; otherwise, you should purchase those items. If you purchase the lock and uniform, you must print a copy of your receipt and bring it to Locker Day to make the pickup process quick and easy. Look for more information about Locker Day coming soon.
1st/FINAL Posting - Caruso FAQ
About us
Important Caruso/DPS109 Websites & Links
Email: bbullis@dps109.org
Website: http://caruso.dps109.org/
Location: 1801 Montgomery Rd, Deerfield, IL, United States
Phone: 847-945-8430
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarusoMiddleSchool
Twitter: @109Caruso