Dear Cherokee Families,

Safety is our top priority in Chippewa Valley Schools. This year, the Clinton Township Police Department is continuing their commitment to school visits in our district. Road police officers and deputies have already visited our school several times this year to greet students and staff during the school day. They will continue to do so throughout the year. They have been invited to be a periodic presence at arrival and dismissal in addition to the school day. We are grateful for their efforts to keep our students and families safe.

In other safety related efforts, we have completed all three of our fall fire drills. We have improved the amount of time it takes to exit the building each time. The students did a great job! We will do two more in the spring. We will be having a lockdown drill very soon. Please see below for more details. 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.

Upcoming Important Events:

• PTO Meeting (October 4th at 5:30 PM) - Families are welcome to attend in person or virtually. Click here for Zoom link.
• Picture Day (October 7th) - Flyers were sent home on Friday, September 30th.
• Optional LEGO Robotics Team (forms due October 7th) - 5th grade students will have the opportunity to try out for our LEGO Robotics team. Hard copies of flyers have been sent home. See below for details from Mrs. Sadowski.
• 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.
• Parent/Teacher Conferences (October 19th and October 20th) - Sign up information will be coming soon. 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.
  
• 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.
• CVHS Musical Beauty and the Beast Whole School Field Trip (November - Date TBD)

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

We are in need of lunch monitors at Cherokee. We started the school year with just one lunch monitor. We have been able to hire an additional lunch monitor. Currently we do not have any lunch monitor applicants. We have many students in our cafeteria. If you know someone who is willing to be a lunch monitor please encourage them to apply.

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

Click here to apply for our lunch monitor applications.

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.

• 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!
• In October, we will have the first of our lockdown drills. 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.

• Mrs. Sadowski is looking for 5th grade students to join the LEGO ROBOTICS team.
• Hard copies of the form below were sent home with 5th grade students.

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

• Bussers who need free breakfast should go to the cafeteria after exiting the bus. Safeties will escort K/1 bussers who need breakfast.
• During the past two years, free breakfast and lunch have been offered to all students. However, this year families will need to have a 2022-2023 approved application on file for free breakfast/lunch benefits.
• Families must complete a new application each year.The 2022/2023 application may be completed online at https://www.chippewavalley.familyportal.cloud.
• There can be no exception to the due date of October 14th.

• Completing this application is the only way to be considered for free or reduced meals this school year. Please click on the "Meal Changes Letter" link below from the Chippewa Valley Food & Nutrition Services Department for details.

• Meal Changes Letter

• Students who do not have an approved 2022/2023 application on file as of October 14, 2022, will no longer receive meal benefits.
• Please see the document below with key information.
• Free breakfast will take place before the start of the school day(approximately 8:00 AM-8:30 AM). Breakfast services beging September 12th. If a student is not eligible for free breakfast, they are still welcome to purchase breakfast. See information below.
• For the 2022-2023 school year, families who do not qualify for free or reduced meals will resume paying full prices for school meals.
  
• Click here to access the Food Services 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.

• 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/