2-27-23 UPDATED - PAW'S PRESS

See links, images and PDF of full flyer below.

Dear Cherokee Families,

We hope you are having fun on your break! We miss our students and can't wait to see them when we return on Monday, February 27th. This newsletter contains basically the same information as was sent out before break with just a few updates.

We had so much fun at our Valentine's Day celebration! Some pictures are below!

It is hard to believe that March is just around the corner! More fun is headed our way during March! During March we will celebrate March Reading Month! See below for more information!

Upcoming Important Events:

• Ordering Lunch - See below for the February and March menus and ordering links.
• Classes Resume After Mid-Winter Break (February 27th)
  
• PEN Learning Fun Night Grades 3-5 (March 1st) - rescheduled due to snow day

Schedule for the event:

5:45 - Check-in Begins

6:00 - Dinner served (pizza, salad dessert)

6:35 - Games and fun begin!

Questions? Contact Michele Harrison (Coordinator) mharrison@cvs.k12.mi.us

• Spring Picture Day (March 3rd)
• District Science Olympiad Competition (March 4th) Go Wildcats!
• Teacher Professional Development/No School (March 7th)
• Severe Weather Drills - We will have 2 in March
• PTO Meeting (March 9th) - Cherokee Media Center - 6:15 PM
• Leadership Assemblies & Ticket Store (March 10th) - Wear class shirts or other Cherokee team shirts (such as LEGO Robotics, Science Olympiad etc.)
• LEGO Robotics Competition (March 10th) Go Wildcats!
• Spring Forward Daylight Savings Time (March 12th)
• Spring Report Cards (March 15th and 16th) - Report cards will either be sent home or given at conferences.
• Spring Conferences (March 15th and March 16th) - Spring conferences will be held in March. Spring conferences are "as needed" if requested by a teacher. Your child's teacher will let you know if a conference is required and provide sign up details.
• Half Days (March 15th and March 17th) - Dismissal 11:21 AM
• Clinton Macomb Public Library Night (March 23rd) - Come to the library for activities, read alouds and lots of fun from 6-8 PM. Event is drop in and no pre-registration is required.
• PTO Mom/Son Event (March 26th) More details coming soon!
• Half Day & PJ/Movie Day (March 31st) - Spring break begins after dismissal (11:21 AM).

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

The Cherokee Science Olympiad Team will compete in the Chippewa Valley Schools District Competition on Saturday, March 4th. We are so proud of their hard work! A big thank you to head coaches Mr. and Mrs. Roberts. Also, thank you to our many parent event coaches. Go Wildcats!

2023 Cherokee Science Olympiad Team

Kylie Mucha

Harlow Anderson

Rachel Wolf

Vivienne Bennett

Aminata Fall

Evan Malerich

Niko Prantzalos

Aydin Vandenheede

Luka Mladenovic

Natalie Kincher

Piper Kincher

Michael Nawrocki

Julia Theisen

Ben Chambers

Jack Laezza

Jackson Zborowski

CJ Farmer

• Hard copies of many items will come home after break.
• Click here for digital resources from our Media Clerk, Sarah Tropper.

READING MONTH SPIRIT WEEK

3/27 I'm a WILDCAT!

• Dress in your Cherokee Gear

3/28 I'm a CHARACTER!

• Dress as your favorite character from a book

3/29 I'm a STAR!

• Dress to represent your skill or talent

3/30 I'm a READER!

• Wear something that represents your favorite book and bring that book to school to share with others!

3/31 PJ & Movie Day!

• Wear your PJs for Leadership Celebration/Movie Day to show YOU are a Leader & Learner

Please note that we have received new communication that it is ideal for families to order lunch by 9:30 AM the school day prior. For example, when ordering lunch for pizza on Monday, it is ideal to order by 9:30 AM on Friday. This helps with the accuracy of our lunch count. We of course always order extra but this helps with accuracy.

Click here to order hot lunch for February.

Click here for printable hot lunch menu.

Click here to order hot lunch for March.

Click here for printable menu link for March

• 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.

We will host a parent only informational night for families who have incoming kindergarten students for the 2023-2024 school year. It will be a PARENT ONLY INFORMATIONAL NIGHT on May 23rd at 6:00 PM.

Click here for registration information and more!

Good luck to the 2023 Cherokee LEGO Robotics Team! Their competition date is March 10th. Thank you to head coach Allison Sadowski and our parent volunteers. We are so proud of these amazing students! Go Wildcats!

2023 Cherokee LEGO Robotics Team

Dean Handley

Emma Dismuke

Evan Malerich

Landen Gregory

Aubrey Henson

Mia Clymer

Brycen White

Chase Vagts

Sawyer Antkiewicz

Mason Folk

Liam Drost

Jack Wolf

• If your child is not feeling well, please keep them home and call our attendance line.
• Attendance at school is of course very important. However, if a child is not feeling well they should stay home so they are able to rest and recover. This year it seems that it is taking children longer to recover from some of the viruses that are going around. We know this and totally understand.
• We a want to prevent the spread of illness as much as possible.
• Students should be fever free for at least 24 hours (without the assistance of fever reducing medication) before returning to school.
• Students should also wait at least 24 hour to return to school after vomiting.
• Students who are having difficulty breathing, severe cough, etc. are also strongly encouraged to stay home.

• 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.

• 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 for March Sign Up Dates OR Click here for April Sign Up Dates. 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 three lockdown drills. The students did a great job!
• 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 just had our first cardiac drill on 11/17. 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.
  

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.

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

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 :)

Upcoming Meetings/Events

• Thursday, April 20th (meeting)
  
• May 1st - May 5th (Teacher Appreciation Week)
• May 19th (Spring Fling)
• Tuesday, May 30th (elections)

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/