Currently at Caruso
10-18-16
Greetings Caruso Families,
Thank you for all of your efforts to promote positive school attendance and for having conversations with your children regarding the same.
Absences can add up quickly; a child is chronically absent if he or she misses just two days each month! Maintaining good attendance has a huge impact on a student’s academic, social, and emotional success. We realize some absences are unavoidable due to health problems or other circumstances. However, we also know that when students miss too much school—regardless of the reason—it can cause them to fall behind. A child is less likely to succeed if he or she is chronically absent—which means missing 18 or more days over the course of an entire school year.
Also important to note is that the compulsory school attendance law in Lake County, IL states that a child who is absent without valid cause for 5% (changed from 10%) or more of the previous 180 regular attendance days is considered chronically truant. This means that students can only miss 9 days of school for the entire year. For more information about the Compulsory School Attendance Law, click here.
Sincerely,
Brian Bullis
1st/FINAL Posting - District Common Assessments
We occasionally get questions from parents regarding our district common assessments (DCAs). You can click here for a brief description of these assessments and here to see how DCAs fit into our larger instructional and assessment cycles.
Parents can access their child's math and ELA DCA quarterly results through their child's School City account.
1st/FINAL Posting - Calling in Absences
If your child is absent please be sure to call them in, before school, the morning of their absence. To report an absence, you can email carusoattendance@dps109.org or call the school nurse at (847) 945-8430, option 3 by 8:00am
Curious about how a valid absence is defined? Please refer to our DPS109 School Board Policy below:
School Board Policy 7:70 - Students - Attendance and Truancy
The parent/guardian of a student who is enrolled must authorize all absences from school and notify the school in advance or at the time of the student’s absence. A valid cause for absence includes illness, observance of a religious holiday, death in the immediate family, family emergency, other situations beyond the control of the student, other circumstances that cause reasonable concern to the parent/guardian for the student’s safety or health, or other reason as approved by the Superintendent or designee.1st/FINAL Posting – Bar/Bat Mitzvah Clothing
This just serves as a general reminder as our students have done a good job following the practice in past years. At CMS we have a practice of discouraging students from wearing the clothing that they may receive as a gift for attending a friend’s Bar Mitzvah and/or Bat Mitzvah the week after the event occurs. We want to be sensitive to the students who may not have been invited to the event as we all understand the delicate emotions of this age group. We will not ask anyone to change their clothing choice should they arrive in said apparel; instead we are requesting that you ask your child to rethink their clothing choices for one week after the event occurs if they have a desire to wear these items.
1st/FINAL Posting - Strategic Planning Survey Reminder
1st/FINAL Posting - New PTO Board Position
The Caruso PTO is currently looking to fill a new executive board position. We are looking for someone to fill the position of Vice President of Extracurricular Activity Fundraising. This position would entail heading up a booster program to help raise funds for athletic and other extracurricular activities. The funds would be used to purchase new uniforms, equipment, etc. This would be a board position and would require attendance at one monthly meeting of the PTO. The position can filled by one or two people. Please contact Lori Berk at lberk@sbcglobal.net or Lisa Brody at lisawbrody@yahoo.com if you are interested or would like more information.
1st/FINAL Posting - PTO Announcement - Caruso Student Directory
Attention all parents!! Please make sure your child is in the Caruso Student Directory. If your child is not in the directory, go to www.carusopto.org. You will need to set up an account if you do not already have one. Once you have created the account, select add student. If you already have an account, you can just add your student(s).
1st/FINAL Posting - Notification of a vote on Amendments to the Caruso PTO By-Laws
PTO membership will be voting on changes to the Caruso PTO By-Laws at the November 3rd PTO meeting at 7:00 pm in the Caruso Library. The changes are attached. Please attend the meeting to vote on the changes.
2nd Posting - Caruso Parent Data Night
3rd Posting - Halloween Dress Reminders
*Note - our student council invites students to participate in an all-school costume theme. The theme is "Movie and Book Characters."
Caruso will encourage students to express their creative sides and dress for Halloween while in school on Monday, October 31st.
Please be mindful of the impact of small group costumes. We want to promote the social-emotional well-being of all students. If your child is participating in a small group costume please remind them to consider others and not intentionally exclude anyone.
The following costume criteria must be followed. If it cannot be followed, parents will be contacted to bring alternate clothing for the student. Parents should have full knowledge of what their child will wear for school on October 31st.
Students can only apply make-up, spray colored hairspray, or put on costumes at home.
Students will not be permitted to wear any type of mask or any other costume that will obstruct the learning environment at school.
School rules for dress will apply. Students should not wear anything that has a sexual connotation or would be considered inappropriate dress, for example.
Students should respect political views and religious beliefs.
Costumes that promote graphic violence are discouraged.
Students should not use costume props of a violent nature, such as toy guns, toy knives, and/or toy swords, to name a few.
4th Posting - Student-Led Conference Sign-up
Caruso Middle School will once again be hosting student-led conferences, on November 21st and 22nd this year. You can follow this PTCfast link (not Family Access) to sign-up your child or children. If you encounter problems or have any questions please contact the front office for assistance. Sign-ups will close a week prior to conferences at which time you will need to call the front office if you need to sign-up or adjust a time.
8th Posting - Yearbook Ordering Information
This year we are working with Jostens for our school yearbook. The yearbook is a great memory for middle schoolers as a keepsake of what their life was like during their time enjoyed at Caruso.
You can order a yearbook directly at www.jostensyearbooks.com or through our direct link http://jostensyearbooks.com/?REF=A01749750 or by phone at 1-877-767-5217.
Ordering MUST be done online- we do not accept cash or checks for the yearbook. The yearbook is $25.00 if you order before September 30th. After that, the price will increase.
Please keep in mind that yearbook is NOT a part of any fees you already paid- it is separate and optional to purchase. Don't let the memories fade away, order your yearbook today!
9th/FINAL Posting - CMS Spirit Wear!
Archived Communications
10-19-16 Currently at Caruso
08-02-16 Currently at CarusoAbout 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