Chisholm Update

I hope you and your family are doing well this last weekend before we go on Winter Break. There are numerous activities currently happening around the building as we begin to see the conclusion of the first semester of school. I hope you are able to manage the hustle and bustle of this time of year.

We had a big surprise earlier in the week when it was announced that Mrs. Tate, Chisholm's 2023-24 Teacher of the Year, was named as an Edmond Public Schools district finalist for the same award. Members from the administrative center dropped by earlier in the week to share this information with Mrs. Tate and we let the students know today during Charge UP! Congratulations Mrs. Tate on being named a finalist!

School will not be in session for Winter Break beginning on Thursday, December 20 through Monday, January 8. Students and staff will return to classes and the start of the 2nd semester on January 9, 2024. Grades for the first semester will be available on Friday, January 12.

We have some dress up days scheduled for next week for those that wish to participate. A flyer outlining those days is listed below. Winter parties are scheduled to take place on Tuesday, December 19 at 2:35 pm. For the homeroom parents coming to the party, I want to remind you that parking will be limited. Please don't park in or block the bus loop, and we want to be mindful that Pre-K dismissal begins right in the middle of the parties. Homeroom parents will be allowed in to set up shortly after 2:00, once our lunch times are complete.

Today at Charge Up we also recognized the December Teacher of the Month. This monthly award winner is nominated by staff at Chisholm and a gift bag is given to the winner from the Vandruff Farmers Insurance Agency. I'm happy to announce the recipient of this award today was Allie Nobles. Allie is a counselor here at Chisholm and a worthy candidate to receive this recognition. Congratulation Mrs. Nobles and thank you Kyle Vandruff for finding avenues to support and recognize our staff!

The meeting minutes from the December PTO meeting that was held this past Monday are included below in this newsletter along with the minutes from previous PTO meetings that have occured over the year.

We finalized the schedule for this year's OSTP testing that will take place in April. We wanted to let you know of those dates as soon as possible for families to make plans accordingly once we get into testing for this school year.

The January lunch menu has been added to this newsletter.

I hope you and your families are well as we enter into the last 3 days before winter break.

Have a great weekend!

Thomas Higdon

Calling all Substitutes - We've noticed in recent weeks, the growing need for substitutes here at Chisholm as we get further into cold and flu season. If you are interested in becoming a substitute, as a classroom teacher or classroom assistant, or even if you want to inquire more about the possibility of becoming a substitute in the future, please click on this link or you can call the school.

The order link for the 2023-24 Chisholm Yearbook is also included in this newsletter. The order deadline for purchasing a yearbook won't occur until February or March, but you can take care of this item at this time.

Edmond Fine Arts Camps - Edmond Fine Arts will be providing art camps for upcoming school breaks (fall, Thanksgiving, and Holiday). Contact and detailed information is listed below.

Did you know there are settings on your student’s phone or tablet that allow you to control how much they use it? In this month’s Smart Social tip, learn all about parental control options for your student’s devices. To access this information, just click on this link: https://smartsocial.com/post/parental-control?org=edmond?org=edmond

And, remember, if you haven’t signed up for Smart Social yet, EPS is providing this resource to all of our families for free for this school year. When you click the link, it’ll prompt you to sign up for your free EPS account. We hope you continue to find this information useful!

Looking forward...

Dec. 18 - Holiday Explosion - dress in your favorite holiday clothing.

Dec, 19 - Grinch Day

Dec. 19 - Winter Party Date - 2:35 in classrooms

Dec. 20 - PJ Day

Dec. 20 - Last Day of School before Winter Break and End of 1st Semester

Jan. 9 - School Resumes for 2nd Semester

Procedures for the season as we move into winter weather season that could impact in-person instruction,

Prior to these days and depending on the weather forecast, we will send student checked out devices home with the students. There also could be some paper/pencil work that is sent home as well. Teachers will create 2 google meets, morning and afternoon, and the meeting pin to access for your student to be able to check in with the teacher.Students would go to meet.google.com and enter this pin number, which would take them to the meeting. Student attendance will be taken from the work completed during the day of remote or virtual instruction when we return.

We will not send chargers home with students, so device use should be limited to school work only. Teachers will send instructions for remote day to the email listed in Infinite Campus. Hopefully, this won't happen often, but we wanted to make you aware in the event it does.

8:45 - Our school day begins with announcements. Parents need to sign in late-arriving students.

2:55 - Pre-K Dismissal begins

3:25 - School Dismissal beings

Mon -Fri from 8:00 - 4:00

Website: https://chisholm.edmondschools.net/
Location: 2300 SE 33rd Street
Phone: 405 -340-2950
Facebook: facebook.com/chisholmelementaryedmond