Charlemagne eNews
September 29, 2019
Dear Charlemagne Families:
Thanks to everyone who joined us at the Community Night Out at Yogurt Extreme last week! It’s great to see the turnout supporting our school.
We also appreciate everyone who attended Curriculum Night. If you missed it and would like to know more about ways to volunteer and support Charlemagne, please email us at frenchiepto@gmail.com. We would love to have you involved!
Walk+Roll to School Challenge
On October 2, Charlemagne is participating in the Walk+ Roll to School Challenge. We hope you will try walking, biking, scooting, or skating to school.
People-powered transportation can help your child's health,growth and independence and makes a positive impact on the environment. This year we are raffling off Defy and Get Air gift cards. Make sure your child fills out a raffle ticket in the front of the school to enter the raffle when they arrive to school on foot or bike, skateboard or scooter. Looking forward to seeing you out there on Wednesday!
And, speaking of walking and biking to school… please slow down and be safe in cars!
Recently, the school has received numerous concerns about traffic safety during drop-off and pick-up. We are so lucky to have our school located in a safe and convenient neighborhood and we are growing increasingly concerned about speeding and the safety of students, neighborhood residents, pets, resident wildlife and bike commuters.
Please, even if you are in a hurry, remember we all play a role in keeping our community safe. Slow down in the school zone and do not pass cars exiting neighborhood driveways. When exiting the Charlemagne parking areas, look both ways for students crossing. In the back parking lot, leave space for busses who need to exit quickly and safely.
If you have questions about any of this, please ask! Thanks for looking out for everyone’s safety.
Wearing the Right Shoes for PE
Please wear appropriate footwear for activities that require running, jumping, walking, etc. Rain boots are highly discouraged as they often fly off feet and rain around the gym. Remember to send your child to school with sneakers on PE days, which are listed below:
Kindergarten (Mme Michele), 1st, 4th, and 5th – Monday and Wednesday
Kindergarten (Mme Elise), 1st, 2nd, 3rd– Tuesday and Thursday
Amity Interns
Our four French interns are now integrated into Charlemagne classrooms. If you have a student in 2nd-5th grade, we hope that you will get to know "your" intern. See them all in the attached photo with their Amity program rep at orientation.
2nd grade - Tippi Omhovere
3rd grade - Alex Moser
4th grade - Enora Gennevois
5th grade - Yves Jeudy
The first host families of the year are much appreciated! Now it is time to ask for further hosting help. We need 2-4 more families to raise their hands and host from January to June 2020. Please send an email to charlemagneinternprogram@gmail.com for more info. We are now offering stipends to host families-- don’t hesitate to reach out no matter your student’s grade!
Next PTO Meeting
We invite everyone to join us for our first PTO meeting on October 15 at 6:30 p.m. Your involvement is critical to the success of all our children, so we would love to have as many parents involved as possible. Please come join us! Childcare will be available.
After School Activities
Just a reminder that if you want to know more information about clubs and after school activities, please visit the Charlemagne website for details.
Upcoming Dates:
October 2 - Walk + Roll to school day
October 10 & 11 - No School
October 15 - PTO General Meeting
October 18 - School Pictures & Health Screening
Have a great week!
ErinMarie Langsdorf and Jenny Jonak
PTO Co-Chairs
A Few Notes from Mme Courtney:
It’s been a fantastic-- and busy!-- start to the school year. Below is a collection of updates from our program.
Piloting a new reading and math assessment. Charlemagne teachers have volunteered to pilot a new district assessment this year, one we’re very excited about given the data it can produce about student growth and gaps. FastBridge replaces the EasyCBM assessments families in 1st - 5th grades are used to seeing and is delivered three times a year. We use the FastBridge data-- along with other classroom measures-- to ascertain how we can shift our instruction to suit student needs.
While we’re having just a few implementation conundrums, we hope to have different and better information to share with you at Parent-Teacher conferences in November.
New resource for student support. Many of you know Laura Naraguma-Muco, longtime instructional assistant and after-school French tutor. Laura has a new role this year as a behavior support assistant. She will work directly with individual students to help build social-emotional skills and will also be running small groups.
Mme Laura joins Mme Laura Dale, school counselor, and your student’s teacher(s) as a dynamic support team for student success. Very soon, Mme Laura and Mme Dale will be forming small groups for students. These groups may be centered around different themes, including friendship, health and wellness, divorce, and sporting behavior. Groups provide a safe and confidential place to grow empathy, receive support and discuss feelings and concerns.
Your student does not need to have a particular challenge to join or benefit from a group. As children move through different developmental stages, it’s helpful for them to discuss ideas and feelings and for families to take advantage of any opportunity for open lines of communication.
Some of your children have participated in groups in the past. If you are interested in having your child newly participate or be a part of the group again discuss this with them, then please contact Mme Laura (naragumamuco_l@4j.lane.edu), Mme Dale (dale_l@4j.lane.edu), or your classroom teacher.
New funding sources available to schools. This spring, the Oregon Legislature and Governor approved the Student Success Act (HB 3427). This is a historic and much needed investment in K–12 schools. Eugene School District 4J is expected to receive about $12–13 million per year starting with the 2020–21 school year—about 5% of the district’s general fund budget—to increase academic achievement for all students, reduce disparities among student groups, and meet students’ behavioral and mental health needs.
Eugene School District 4J is seeking community input to inform the plan to invest these new funds. Student Success Act funds may be spent in four broad categories: increasing learning time, addressing student health and safety needs, reducing class size / increasing classroom staffing, and expanding well-rounded learning opportunities.
For more information, please visit https://www.4j.lane.edu/2019/08/student-success-act-survey-forums/ and take fifteen minutes to fill out the district-wide survey to share your thoughts: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/4jstudentsuccess.