10-30-22 PAW'S PRESS

Dear Cherokee Families,

We will kick off our week with our Cherokee Halloween celebration! Just a reminder that Monday, October 31st is a half day. The dismissal schedule for half days is 11: 18 AM SACC/Safety/Service Squad, 11:21 AM Walkers/Parent Pick Up, 11:25 AM .

• Please take a moment to review important information regarding activities and costumes.
  
• School-wide Parade: Cherokee’s parade will begin at approximately 8:50- 9:00 AM. We will begin the parade as soon as we have taken attendance and have the children ready to go. We plan on holding our parade outdoors, weather permitting. Parents and family members wishing to view the parade will have the best opportunity to do so by lining up along the swing set playground, basketball court, and bus loop. Please wait along the edges of the sidewalk so our students can safely parade around the perimeter of the school. Only students and designated volunteers will be permitted back into the building after the parade. In the event of rain, the outdoor parade will be cancelled, and a student-only indoor parade will take place instead. We will record the parade and send out the video at a later time in the event of inclement weather.
• Classroom Parties and Volunteers - Classroom parties will follow the parade. Teachers will be communicating details about their classroom parties and volunteer needs. Volunteers need to go to the main entrance (door 1) to check in. Please do not enter through the classroom doors.
• Snacks - Our PTO will provide a pre-packaged snack and drink for all students to enjoy. Students are welcome to bring in store bought, individually wrapped, prepackaged treats to exchange. If your child's classroom is peanut/tree nut free, the snacks will also need to be peanut/tree nut free. Thank you PTO!
• Costumes: Since Halloween will be a ½ day of school, students can wear their costume to school in the morning. Please remember when making decisions about Halloween, costumes should represent a non-violent, friendly theme and should not promote violence. Costume accessories such as spears, play guns, or weapons of any kind should not be brought to school. Costume masks should not be worn at school and large accessories are not permitted on the bus. Please help your child plan a costume appropriate for our school parties and parade. For younger students, please remember that they will need to be able to sit in their costume and use the bathroom without assistance.
• Thank you again for your cooperation in helping make Halloween a safe and enjoyable day for all!

IMPORTANT - STUDENT INFORMATION VERIFICATION FORMS - These forms came home copied on bright yellow paper. Please make any changes regarding your child's information in red and return to your child's teacher. If there are no changes, please indicate this and return the form to your child's teacher. These forms are crucial in case of an emergency and just day to day communication.

IMPORTANT - ORDERING HOT LUNCH (NOVEMBER) - The NOVEMBER link for ordering lunch is now available. SCROLL DOWN FOR HOT LUNCH ORDERING INFO. Just a reminder that school lunches need to be ordered at least 1 school day in advance. This helps us with our accuracy for ordering so we do not run out of food. Thank you for your help with this!

Upcoming Important Events:

• NO SCHOOL (Tuesday, November 8th) - Teacher Professional Development Day
  
• CVHS Musical Beauty and the Beast Whole School Field Trip (November 16th) Permission slips and other info come home on November 1st (due November 11)
• Ms. Batko Sundae - New date coming soon (rescheduled)
• Picture Re-take Day - December 2nd

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

Click here for the Halloween Snack Safely Guide.

Lunch must be ordered at least one school day in advance.

Click here for the link to order hot lunch for November.

Click here for the link to the printable November lunch menu.

• Our whole school will attend the Chippewa Valley High School production of Beauty and the Beast on November 16th.
• Ticket cost will be $7. Permission slip and other info will come home on 11/1. Thank you to PTO for covering a portion of the cost so that our tickets are at a reduced rate.
• If your family is having financial hardship and can't afford the cost of the ticket, please let your child's teacher know. Please still return the permission slip.
• Student's will need to bring a bagged lunch on the day of the field trip.
• More details about this amazing day coming soon!
• Stay tuned for more details!

Cherokee Elementary School's fundraiser starts TUESDAY, November 1st.

The frozen cookies are easy to bake and have on hand for the holidays! Delivery is mid- December! Thank you for your help with this fundraiser!

Our goal is to raise funds for essential programs not currently funded through traditional means.

It's as simple as 1, 2, 3!

1. Register TONIGHT at www.ShopFund.com
2. Share custom support links with family & friends via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email, Text and more.
3. Student Goal: 5 Online Supporters.

REGISTER-SHARE-WIN: Sharing gets you tickets for chances to win over $100,000 in instant prizes.

Fundraiser Links:

• Why We Fundraise - (https://vimeo.com/showcase/8770815)
• How To Videos - (https://vimeo.com/showcase/8752340)
• Kick-Off Videos - (https://vimeo.com/showcase/9642654)
• Parent Letter - (https://bit.ly/3N9FCK8 )
• Prize Program - (https://bit.ly/3JlRAyo )

On behalf of the PTO and staff at Cherokee Elementary School, thank you for doing your part to make our fundraiser a success.

• 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.

At Cherokee we have systems in place to support the unique learning needs of all of our students. ALL students participate in Wildcat Workshop Monday-Thursday for about a half hour. During this time staff members (teachers, para professionals, etc.) work with students in small groups on specific literacy skills. Wildcat Workshop will be starting this month. More details coming soon.

Our lunch monitor position was re-posted. Click here to apply

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. 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 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/