Carrillo Community Update
October 1 - 7
Message from Ms. Bittel
Happy October! It was a blustery weekend, but temperatures are dropping. I hope that made your weekend even more enjoyable.
This week, students in grades 2 - 5 will take their Quarter 1 Math Benchmark exams. Our students have worked hard all quarter long and we know they will do well if they stop, slow down, read the questions carefully, and double-check their work on each problem. Thank you for supporting their efforts on these important exams helping your young cougar do the following...
- Get plenty of sleep (8-11 hours)
- Have a healthy breakfast before school (fruits, protein, and whole grains)
- Get to school on time (ideally by 8:15)
- Stay in school the whole day (so your cougar doesn't feel rushed)
- Bring a water bottle filled with water
Thank you for helping your cougar rock the test!
Fall Break is upon us, so please check out the PTO portion of the update. They have planned a wonderful fundraiser that supports both the school and the student's reading skills.
This week is also "Walk and Roll to School Week." Students who walk, roll, or carpool with another family this week will be entered into a drawing for a scooter. This is to support Pima County's efforts to reduce air pollution and traffic on our streets. Thank you to everyone who is able to participate.
Please enjoy Fall Break and remember that IXL and our other intervention programs are accessible from home. Taking a few minutes to do even 1 reading and 1 math session a day over break can significantly help students maintain skills or fill in any gaps they may have. Students who do IXL over the break will be entered into a drawing based on how many minutes they spent working and how much they were able to improve their IXL scores.
-Ms. Bittel
Save the Date
Upcoming Events
- Monday, October - Walk and Roll to School Week Begins
- Friday, October 6 - Grading Day (No Classes)
- Monday, October 16 - Quarter 2 begins (see you at 8:30!)
- Wednesday, October 18 - GAT ETesting (Ms. Leyva's class)
- Thursday, October 19 - GATE testing (Ms. Mills class)
Kind Campus Weekly Activity
Kindness in Action: How Our Brains Work
The goal is to shift to our conscious brain, where higher-level thinking occurs, allowing us to respond thoughtfully with kindness, rather than just reacting. Another built-in tool is our negativity bias: it’s hard-wired into the human experience to learn from painful episodes more immediately than we learn from pleasant ones. While the negativity bias can help us build determination and become more resilient, it can also limit our ability to express gratitude and appreciate the positive in our lives. The good news is that researchers have found we can perceive threats while still cultivating our potential to see the good in life. The more we understand how the brain functions, the more we understand how practicing gratitude and kindness can reshape our brains for the better!
School News and Updates
Nominate a Teacher Who "Goes the Extra Yard!"
The Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl has teamed up with the College Football Playoff (CFP) Foundation to celebrate "Big Day for Teachers" on Tuesday. This nationwide initiative aims to recognize and appreciate educators. The Bowl plans to gift $1,000 each to nineteen more Southern Arizona teachers, totaling $20,000 in support. Nominations for outstanding teachers are open until Monday, Oct. 15 at the Arizona Bowl website.
Nominate a Carrillo teacher who "goes the extra yard" today!
Nominate your Legendary Teacher today
The Legendary Teacher Day program is designed to recognize a teacher in our lives who made a significant difference. Submit your nomination today. Each District Legendary Teacher Honoree selected will receive a $200 honorarium, a certificate of recognition including the tribute from the submitter, and a signed copy of Legendary Teacher Stories - "How to Catch a Swamp Frog."
Additional information on Legendary Teacher Day can be found on their website.
This is a great way to thank a CArrillo teacher who has made an impact on your cougar!
Participate in "Walk and Roll to School" Week
Next week, Carrillo will join thousands of other schools in Pima County to encourage walking and rolling throughout the school year in celebration of National Walk to School Week. Students from participating schools in Pima County who walk or roll to school during the week receive colorful gifts, including bike safety reflective decals, Walk 'N' Roll stickers, and Pima County Bicycle & Pedestrian Program mood pencils.
Carrillo will raffle off a scooter to a lucky student who participates in the event. All students have to do to get a daily entry ticket is to get to school one of the following ways.
- Walk to school
- Ride your bike/scooter to school
- Take the school bus
- Carpool with another family to reduce road congestion
Please check out the attached fliers from Pima County for more information.
Improving Reading and Math at Home
All students at Carrillo have access to a wonderful resource to support their continued growth in Reading and Math. That resource is IXL. Research shows that doing just 1 extra session a day can have a tremendous impact on student learning.
Our younger students also have access to RAZ-Plus to support literacy.
To access IXL or RAZ Plus students just log into their Clever accounts and select the icons. Please contact your student's teacher if they have any trouble.
Social Media
Parents, we are asking for your help with social media. As a reminder, most social media user agreements state that users must be 13 or older to have an account. Please take a moment to discuss the reasons for the age limits with your students.
Most social media sites do not allow attacks or abuse based on race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, disability or disease. Please encourage students to be socially conscious and report any accounts that violate those policies directly to the social media platform before blocking the account.
Parent-Teacher Meetings
The teaching staff is quite busy preparing for daily instruction in the morning. Thank you for emailing to schedule a meeting time with them rather than just dropping in. Teacher email addresses can be found on our staff webpage. Thank you for your help!
Cafeteria Offerings
We are encouraging every family to apply for Free/Reduced Lunch. The number of accepted applications directly impacts our Title I funding, so thank you for taking a moment to complete it, even if your student doesn't plan to eat school lunch. The application is located on the TUSD Meals website.
The Food Services website also has a page dedicated to this month's breakfast offerings as well as this month's lunch offerings. You can even even get a mobile app for your phone online.
Carrillo Online Spirit Store
Looking for Carrillo spirit gear? Adrian from Big Frog has set up this year's online store. You can purchase this year's "Success Across the Eduverse" shirt as well as classic Carrillo spirit gear.
Transportation and Parent Pick Up and Drop Off Reminders
TUSD Buses
For more information, visit Transportation's website to see if your student qualifies for FREE transportation and to begin routing.
Morning Drop Off Reminders
Just a friendly reminder that the earliest students can be dropped off is 7:35 a.m. at 17th Street. The office does not open until 8:00 and while Ms. Bittel is usually on campus well before 8:00, she is often in meetings or other parts of the building and unable to hear the doorbell. From 7:35 - 8:00 the only safe drop off is 17th Street. Thank you for helping us to keep all our cougars safe in the morning.
Affter school Pick-Up Updates and Request
We know that the 17th Street area can get a bit congested at pickup. To help alleviate the situation, the City of Tucson has installed new signs to direct traffic and changed the direction of Samaniego Street.
The City of Tucson is requesting that families picking up on 17th Street exit the neighborhood using the following route.
- Travel west on 17th Street
- Turn south on 11th Avenue
- Turn west to access the frontage road or turn east to return to Main Avenue and 22nd Street.
Our neighbors kindly ask that you leave the driveways and corners open when you park so they can enter and exit their homes safely. If you do wait in your car along Samaniego, thank you for waiting at the bottom of the hill on the east side of the street so the roadway is clear for all vehicles and families crossing the street.
We are also asking families to arrive no earlier than 2:35 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and no earlier than 1:35 on Wednesdays. Parents of intermediate students, if you plan to arrive at 2:50 or 1:50, that will give the primary students time to load up and reduce your wait time.
Thank you also for being patient, driving slowly, and watching the road carefully. The streets behind Carrillo are narrow and we want to avoid any further accidents. Thank you for helping us keep our Cougars and our community safe.
Follow these signs.
Thank you for exiting via S. 11th Ave.
Attendance and Absence Reporting
Attendance Reporting Made Easy
- Log into ParentVue from App or Computer
- Click the "Attendance" tab on the left column on the computer or on the App as soon as you log in the blue "report absence" with a small bell icon is there.
- On the top right corner of the page it will have a blue link that says "Report Absence" click on this
- Use the calendar to select dates and the drop-down for the reason for the absence.
- You may also add notes or upload a doctor's note and hit "save".
Of course, you may still give Ms. Diane Quiroz a ring at (520) 225-1200 if you prefer. Thank you for reporting all absences!
Attendance Matters
Missing a day of school here and there may not seem like much, but it adds up.
When a student misses 2 days a month they will miss...
- 20 days a year (the equivalent of a month of instruction)
- 30 hours of math instruction
- 60 hours of reading and writing instruction
- Over a 1 year of instruction by graduation
When a student misses 4 days a month they will miss...
- 40 days a year (the equivalent of two months of instruction)
- 60 hours of math instruction
- 120 hours of reading and writing instruction
- Over a 2 year of instruction by graduation
PTO News and Volunteering Opportunities
PTO Meeting this week.
Carrillo PTO Annual READ-A-THON InformationWe hope everyone got their read-a-thon fundraising sheets! Individual prizes for $ raised and the student who raises the most $ from each class wins a special experience as a prize. Also, the class that raises the most $ will earn a special experience prize. Please do not forget that your sheets and money raised is due 10/18/23! Please email PTO if you have any questions.
Carrillo's Fall Festival is also coming up on Oct. 27th. PTO will be there selling tickets for use at all booths for food and games. Tickets will be $0.50 each. PTO will also be doing our very popular Cake Walk. Donations of cake and other store-bought baked goods can be made to the office starting Wednesday, Oct. 25th. Our Pumpkin Decorating contest will return as well. To sign up to help with these PTO booths please click on this link.
Lastly, PTO would like to thank all of the students and staff for showing their appreciation on Thursday, Sept 28th. We received many sweet cards, letters, Kindness Notes, and a lovely poster signed by 2nd grade! Carrillo's PTO loves their Cougars xoxoxo
Our next meeting is October 18th on Zoom at 6 pm. See you there!
Art Volunteers
Ms. Dal Pra is seeking First Grade art volunteers on Thursdays from 12:35-2:35. You can help students build a mini-town. The art classroom needs two or three volunteers to help students during the “construction” process. Students will be house painters and landscapers as they create their own parcel of land within “Cougar Town.” Contact the art room via email or just stop by after signing in at the front office.
Volunteers / Visitors
We encourage all parents to register as volunteers on the TUSD website as the process takes a few weeks to complete. Parents cannot volunteer on field trips without completing this in advance.
We ask non-parental volunteers (grandparents, aunts, uncles, community members, etc.) to contact the office before registering as a volunteer so we can explain the process and help identify volunteer opportunities.
Box Tops for Education
The Top Classes are...
- #1 - Grade 4 with 50 box tops
- #2 - Grade 1 with 18 box tops
Community Events
Please check back here to learn about upcoming community events of interest to Carrillo families.
Discovery Nights at the Children's Museum
Join us for Free Discovery Nights
from 5-7 pm every Thursday
at Children’s Museum Tucson!
Enjoy free admission, bilingual programming, and extended hours every Thursday! Reserve your tickets on the Discovery Nights webpage.
Art After Dark
Every Second Saturday, come learn about Tucson's vibrant arts community!
- Guest artists each month
- Hands-on activities
- Free museum admission 5:30 - 7:30 pm
- First 400 people receive a free return-visit pass.
Hola! A Tucson Block PArty
¡Hola! A Tucson Block Party celebrates the diversity of our local community with musical performances, great food, and fun activities! For more details, visit the event page.
Meet your neighbors and make new friends at this cultural celebration where all are welcome! Museum admission is “Pay What You Wish” all day for kids and families.
- When: Saturday, October 28
- Time: 9 am - 1 pm
Stay in Touch!
Stay current on our events by visiting our Facebook Page as well as the school website. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or concerns please reach out. It is our mission to provide all students with a first-rate education in a kind and respectful environment.
Email the Principal:
Visit Our Website:
Location: 440 South Main Avenue, Tucson, AZ, USA
Phone: (520) 225-1200
Like Us On Facebook:
Mission Statement
Carrillo K-5 Communication and Creative Arts Magnet School engages children's minds, bodies, and senses using multiple modes of learning, thought, and self-expression.
Vision Statement
At Carrillo K-5 Communication and Creative Arts Magnet School, students become 21st Century leaders in a diverse world, through the development of a strong academic core, communication skills and creative arts abilities.