Click on the link or scan the code below to sign up for your conference slot. Pop up blockers must be turned of in order for the link/code to work.

Conferences are in person. However, if you need a phone conference, please sign up for a slot and let your child's teacher know.

https://tinyurl.com/CherokeeConferencesFall22

Dear Cherokee Families,

It was so much fun to see all of the children and their bright smiles on Friday's Picture Day! They love to express their own unique personalities and it is so fun to see! It is always such an exciting day! Thank you to our PTO team for helping with this event.

It was so nice to see many of you either virtually or in person at our PTO meeting last week! We have so many exciting events going on at Cherokee thanks to our PTO. We love for families to participate in and help with events in whatever way they can! I also wanted to express my gratitude to our PTO board, event chairs and volunteers for all that they do for our school. As a new principal, I am just so thankful to have an amazing team of people to help me, our students and staff. They put in so many hours to help make sure our students have some amazing experiences. We have so many wonderful things to look forward to!

Our biggest fundraiser, the PTO Walk-A-Thon, is this Friday, October 14th. Please see below for more information on how families can donate. We will have some really awesome prizes! Students should wear their class t-shirts and bring their water bottles to the Walk-A-Thon. I am looking forward to being turned into a human ice cream sundae by the class that earns the most donations!

Class Shirts - Class shirts will be distributed soon and the design winner will be revealed! Thank you to our sponsor, Russ Milne Ford, for our class t-shirts. If you know a company that would like to sponsor a future event click here to let us know!

Walk-A-Thon Volunteers and Spectators - Volunteers and spectators can go to the back parking lot near the large playground. Volunteers will need to check in. Spectators will have designated areas to view the Walk-A-Thon.

Grade Level Walk-A-Thon Times: Grade levels will participate at the following times.

• 9:15 AM- 9:45 AM (Kindergarten)
• 9:55 AM - 10:35 AM (1st Grade)
• 10:45 AM -11:30 AM (4th Grade)
• 12:20 PM - 12:55 PM (2nd Grade)
• 1:00 PM - 1:40 PM (3rd Grade)
• 1:55 PM - 2:35 PM (5th Grade)

Upcoming Important Events:

• Be sure to order hot lunch for October! The link and menu are available below!
• Optional Science Club (October 11th) - This is an after school club for grades 3-5. Flyers were sent home. Also, see info below.
  
• PTO Walk-A-Thon (October 14th) - Flyers were sent home and info is below.
• Free/Reduced Meal Application Deadline (October 14th) -Families must complete a new application each year to receive free/reduced lunch/breakfast. The 2022/2023 application may be completed online at https://www.chippewavalley.familyportal.cloud.
• Upcoming Half Days - October 19th, October 20th, October 21st, October 31st
• Dismissal Schedule for Half Days (11: 18 AM SACC/Safety/Service Squad, 11:21 AM Walkers/Parent Pick Up, 11:25 AM - Bussers)
• Parent/Teacher Conferences (October 19th and October 20th) -
• Click here to sign up for conferences.
• In the fall, we request a conference for all students. We will share important updates on your child's academic, emotional and social gains. Teachers will review FastBridge and/or NWEA reports during conferences. Conferences are in person this year. However, if you need a phone conference instead, please let your child's teacher know.
  
• PTO Trunk or Treat (October 21st)

• Halloween Parade and Party (October 31st) - Weather permitting, families will be able to view our outdoor parade (starting between 8:50-9:00 AM). Parties will follow the parade. Teachers will communicate specific details regarding the classroom parties. Thank you to PTO for providing a snack for our classroom parties. Children are welcome to bring individually wrapped snacks to distribute to their classmates.
• NO SCHOOL (November 8th) - Teacher Professional Development Day
• CVHS Musical Beauty and the Beast Whole School Field Trip (November 16th)

As in the past, the Paw's Press newsletters will include key information and typically will be sent on Sundays. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help make the school year a success for you and your child!

Sincerely,

Heather Batko

Cherokee Principal

hbatko@cvs.k12.mi.us

Congrats Alexis on being our t-shirt design winner!

• Thank you to Russ Milne Ford for sponsoring our class t-shirts!
• Russ Milne Ford is located at the corner of M-59 and Gratiot (24777 Hall Road, Macomb 48042)
• Sales Department 586-842-0653
• Service Department 586-840-8285
• Click here for the Russ Milne Ford website.

Lunch must be ordered at least one day in advance.

Click here to order hot lunch for October.

Click here for a printable version of the October hot lunch menu.

Hello Families! We are so excited to see all our budding scientists for Science Club!

Reminder, it starts after school on Tuesday, October 11th in Mr. Roberts room. Students can be picked up at 4:30 in the front of the building.

Our goal for Science Club is to build a stronger

Science Olympiad team here at Cherokee. We are using the Science Club to introduce the kids to the various events of Science Olympiad.

Students can be a part of Science Club and not participate in Science Olympiad.

Science Olympiad is a big commitment that requires teamwork, dedication to studying, following directions, and representing Cherokee in a positive way. We will have more information to share with students at the first meeting.

Sincerely,

Mr. and Mrs. Roberts

• If you have any Halloween costumes that you are willing to donate to students at Cherokee, please drop them off at our office or send them to school with your child.
• Please label/note that the costume is for the Cherokee costume closet.
• Thank you!

Step #1 - nterested in participating in decorating a "Trunk"?! Please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C094DA9AC2CA6F9C70-trunkor

Please note that for the safety of all our students and families, all candy is provided by the PTO.

Step #2 - Payment - Sign Up to Participate in Trunk or Treat here: https://checkout.square.site/merchant/YDGN4SW2AS3JQ/checkout/GSCNE6JSPHXF6RA6JTGW2DKU

$5 for students, adults and kids 3 and under are free! Students of Cherokee Elementary and siblings only please!

We have lunch monitor applicants so I hope to go through the hiring process this week!

If you would be willing to fill in as a substitute lunch monitor please complete the application at Edustaff.org.

Additionally, we are setting up a volunteer program called Paw's Pals for families to volunteer in the cafeteria. More information will be coming home soon.

• We are so excited to welcome volunteers back into our cafeteria once again! See the flyer below!
• Please understand that these volunteers are not in place of lunch monitors.
• Our lunch monitors will be responsible for supervising the students, cleaning, etc.
• Paw's Pals volunteers will have time to chat with students and build relationships during lunch. If recess is outdoors, they are also welcome to go outside and spend recess with students.
• This program is very similar to the Watch D.O.G.S program that was in place at Cherokee prior to the pandemic. It is not limited to male volunteers as the Watch D.O.G.S program was.
• Just like any other school volunteer, our Paw's Pals volunteers will respect the privacy of our students.
  
• In order to participate in the program there are 2 steps to complete.
• Step One: Click here to select a date to volunteer. Keep in mind that if your 2022-2023 volunteer background check is not on file, it takes two weeks to process.
• Step Two: Click here to complete the Paw's Pals Application. The volunteer background check is a part of this application.
• Please give our main office a call at least 48 hours prior to your volunteer date if you are note sure if your background check has been approved. If you already know that you have a background check on file for this school year, you may come to the main office on the date you have selected.

• Throughout the school year we are required to complete 5 fire drills, 3 lockdown drills and 2 tornado drills.
• We have already completed our first three fire drills and the students did a great job!
• This past week, we had our first lockdown drill. These drills are comprised of age-appropriate lessons as well as practicing other tasks such as relocating to a safe place.
• We do not tell families or students the exact dates/times of these drills for safety reasons.
• The book, I'm Not Scared I'm Prepared, that is utilized for the lockdown drills is below in a PDF format in case you would like to review it with your family. This book is used at all elementary schools in the district.
• Our teachers do a great job of reviewing procedures in a way that makes students feel safe.
• We will also have several cardiac team drills. The cardiac drills are unannounced even to our staff. The purpose of the drills is for our staff to be able to respond quickly to a cardiac emergency. A notification will be sent home after each cardiac drill.
  

• Our whole school will attend the Chippewa Valley High School production of Beauty and the Beast on November 16th.
• PTO will be able to provide some funding support. Thank you PTO!
• Stay tuned for more details!

• If your child has any health updates, please contact Mrs. Shawn Rhodes (school health aide) at srhodes@cvs.k12.mi.us
  
• PowerSchool login information was sent home last week. Please keep this information in a safe place. You will use this information to log into the Parent Portal.
• The document below gives directions for how to verify/update student contact information, verify/update student addresses. Please review your child's information to make sure that it is correct. Thank you for your help with this!
• The document also explains how to verify receipt of other items such as the handbook, etc. This digital process will help eliminate papers being sent back and forth to school.

Our school works in partnership with parents and the transportation department to keep our students safe. With a new school year, there are always ways we can improve our processes. Feel free to contact our office if a new issue needs to be brought to our attention. Our team works very hard to problem solve any issues. We have many staff members with our children at the bus loop for arrival and dismissal that are also happy to help.

Bus Tags - The Cherokee staff put a bus tag on each child's backpack at the start of the year for grades K-2. If the tag comes off your child's backpack and your child is uncertain of their bus route number, you may want to consider adding your own tag or label. If your child is uncertain of their own full name (first and last), teacher and bus number you may want to label their backpack with this information.

Bus Safety - The Cherokee staff have reviewed bus safety expectations with all children. You can help us keep our busses safe by reviewing safety expectations with your child. Children should be reminded that it is very important to stay seated during the bus ride and use an "inside voice."

Logging into VersaTrans: If you have not had your child go on the bus yet (and you plan to this year) it is very important to double check the VersTrans site. It is key to do this for each child because we have a found a few discrepancies where children from the same family were assigned different routes. Checking ahead gives us the opportunity to reach out to transportation in advance to remedy the issue. Thank you so much for your help with this!

Reviewing Route Numbers: It is also helpful to review the bus route number with your child. Some children have been attempting to go on their route from a previous year when their route has changed. Teachers also do this as well at the start of the school year. Thank you for your support with this.

Communication with Transportation: Additionally, I have asked transportation to remind bus drivers not to release students off the busses at school until an adult is present to help the younger students. This has been a past practice but there are many new bus drivers. We have many staff assigned to the bus loop to ensure the safety of our students.

Click to visit: CVS Transportation Webpage

Click here or below to access step-by-step directions on locating your Bus Stop Information

Click here to log in to VersaTrans

In December, some CVS schools piloted a new bus tracking system. This system is now available to Cherokee Families as well! Click on the MyStop button below for more information.

From Transportation (on 9/11) - E-Link has resolved the issue with the server. All student passwords were reset to the 8-digit birthdate, and you will have to reset the password again, but this time you will not get the error. E-Link has since been reactivated and you are able to log in any time.

Full Day Dismissal Times:

3:05 SACC, Safety & Service Squad

3:08 Walkers & parent pick up

3:12 Bussers

Half Day Dismissal Times

11: 18 AM - SACC, Safety and Service Squad

11:21 AM - Walkers and Parent Pick Up

11:25 AM - Bussers

Bus Riders:

• Busses may run slightly late picking up students the first few days of school as our drivers and students learn their new routes. It is still recommended that students arrive at their bus stop 10 minutes prior to their scheduled time.
  
• Busses may run slightly late for drop off this week since students and drivers are learning their routes.
• Directions on accessing Transportation information can be found below.

Walkers/Riders:

• Walkers/Riders should line up and be dismissed from their classroom entrance doors. Teachers will pick-up their students from their entrance at 8:25 when the morning music begins.
  
• A map of grade level entrances can be found below.
  

Parking Lot:

• Please review the Parking Lot procedures below to know your student's entrance and exit.
• Staff will be present in the Parking Lot, Bus Loop and Building Entrances to help ensure a safe and smooth arrival and dismissal process at the start of next week.
• We ask for your patience and support as our new families learn the process and our returning families get back-in-the-swing-of-things :)

We love celebrating birthdays at school! Please send treats that are prepackaged, include ingredients, and are individually wrapped.

If your child is placed in a peanut/tree nut free classroom, the treats should be peanut/tree nut free as well. We should avoid sending snacks that have been processed in a facility with peanuts/tree nuts. Thank you!

If you have any questions about birthday treats, please reach out to your child's teacher. Thank you!

• Information for SchoolStore.net was sent home this past week. This is a simple fundraiser that generates a lot of funds for our school.
• Funds will be used for assemblies and other fun learning activities for our students.

Click here for the link to the district calendar. Printable versions are available at this site as well.

• We have many students at Cherokee with severe peanut/tree nut allergies. Therefore peanuts/tree nuts products and products contaminated in a facility that processes peanuts/tree nuts will not be allowed for certain classes, common areas, etc.
• Due to the severity of some of our students with allergies it has been asked that some classes avoid bringing peanut/tree nut products for both lunch and snacks consumed in the classroom. Other classes have only been asked to avoid bringing peanut/tree nut products for snacks consumed in the classroom. Guidelines have been communicated to individual classrooms/grade levels. Please contact your child's teacher if you have any questions about the guidelines for your child's classroom.
• The link for the Snack Safely Guide is below. This guide has many great many recommendations for foods do not have peanuts, tree nuts and are not processed in facility with these items. This guide updates regularly so it is best to check the link below rather than printing.
• Click here for the Snack Safely Guide.

• A new district practice is in place for volunteer background check.
• The coordinator of the event/volunteer opportunity will let our office know the volunteers for an event, classroom volunteer opportunity,etc.
• The office will send the digital volunteer background check form to those individuals. Therefore, we won't be able to post the form on this newsletter/website. The link/documents that were previously posted below have been deleted for this reason. Thank you for your patience.
• Once the link is sent to a parent and it is filled out, it goes directly to central office digitally.

Please remember, ALL of the policies and procedures put in place at Cherokee are intended to keep our children safe. Many of these policies are district-wide and can either be found in the CVS Return to School Guidelines, the CVS Student Code-of-Conduct, or Cherokee's Paws' Policies & Procedures. Links can be found below.

We appreciate your understanding and appreciate those families who continue to model kindess, patience, and respect. You make a difference & we are all doing the best that we can!

Please Remember:

• Adults are to remain outside of the building and must be "buzzed-in" by the front office.
• All adults must show their ID at the entrance if they need to drop something off or pick-up their child early.
• Contact information must be up-to-date in case we need to contact your family.
• We release children to only those people listed on your child's PowerSchool contact list.
• Changes in your child's dismissal process must be called in no later than 2:30 so we can be sure to get the information to our staff.
• Families are asked to preorder lunch using the online ordering system below.
• Refrain from parking on Rivergate near the school including the bus loop.

A NOTE FROM MRS. ASHLEY

For families looking to register for SACC

• SACC registration is first come first served.
• Due to limited staff and capacity limits some registrations may not be approved at this time until more staff are available.
• As staffing levels increase, so will our ability to enroll more students. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.
  
• Once your registration application is submitted you must receive a registration approval email before your child can attend.
• Registrations will remain pending in the system and will be approved as openings become available.

For families currently enrolled in SACC

• Adding on additional days other than what was originally scheduled may be limited at this time due to student and staff ratios. You will be notified if your schedule change can be approved (some days may be available where others may not)
• If your child does not need to attend on a scheduled day please remove them from the schedule to open up a spot for someone else.

We appreciate your understanding at this time and anticipate more staff to be available soon. Until then we must adhere to the Licensing Rules for Child Care Centers and stay within the required student to staff ratios. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

NOTE: SACC will continue to remain peanut/tree nut fee.

Ashley Murphy

Cherokee SACC Director

(586) 723-4860

• CLICK HERE to access the CVS SACC informational page.

If you would like to be a Cherokee Elementary sponsor please contat our PTO at 35pto@cvs.k12.mi.us or call our main office.

We choose to Inspire, Believe, Achieve & LEAD!

Website: https://www.chippewavalleyschools.org/schools/elementary-schools/cherokee/
Location: 42900 Rivergate Drive, Clinton Township, MI, USA
Phone: 586-723-4800
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CherokeeWildcats

https://www.facebook.com/CherokeeWildcats

https://www.facebook.com/groups/CherokeePTO/