Patriots Family Newsletter

• Nov.22nd - 24th: Thanksgiving Break, no school
• Dec.4th - PTO Meeting, 6pm in Cafeteria
• Dec.5th: Skate Night 6:30 - 8:30pm
• Dec.15th: End of Quarter Celebration
• Dec.18th - Jan.2: No school for students, Winter Break

Hello Families!
We could use your help celebrating our students AGAIN! The first quarter celebration went so well and we had so much fun, we are going to have another one on December 15. All students get to attend and students will be able to participate in different activities based on how many dojo points they have earned.
Grade levels will come to the celebration during their encore time.
Feel free to sign up for as many time slots as you would like. You can come for part of the day, or for the whole day, just sign up for each time slot you are able to cover. If you sign up to help, you will be asked to manage a game/station for that time slot.
We appreciate all of your help!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B084AAEAB22A57-46090891-2nd

Also, Please consider helping us by purchasing from our wishlist!
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/19F9CODW7E39D?ref_=wl_share
Thank you in advance!

Dear Parent or Student,

ORDER BY 12/04/2023 Yearbook Recognition Ads are the perfect way to commemorate achievements and celebrate milestones. In addition, revenues from Recognition Ads help our school create a better yearbook. To purchase your ad online, follow the instructions listed below. Jostens is responsible for our school's yearbook ad sales. Please do not contact or send materials to the school. Please also consider our school's ad content guidelines during the creation of your ad online. All orders must be placed by 12/04/2023.

The program choice application is now open! The deadline to submit is December 15, 2023.

Program Choice is the opportunity for families to choose an instructional style or theme that is a best fit for their student.

Please see the attachment below for important information concerning timelines, placement process, and individual program Open House schedules.

CCS Program Choice

Are you interested in helping the PTO plan the Father-Daughter and Mother-Son dances?

Please come to the committee meeting Nov.27th at 6pm in the media center here at Patriots.

We are excited to be partnering with the Cabarrus County Education Foundation to provide the Reading+Mentoring 4 Success Program. The program has three components: Striving Readers Mentorship, Pleasure Reading Incentives and Book-A-Palooza events to help build home libraries. We are seeking volunteers to serve as Striving Reader Mentors for 1st and 2nd graders. This program is designed to help students improve their reading skills before entering 3rd grade when EOG testing begins and reading skills become essential to the entire educational process. These early years are critical for reading achievement. We need community members willing to come alongside our school’s educators to ensure that every child succeeds. Mentors will be paired with a student to meet 1-2 times each week for 30 minutes sessions. Lessons are planned by a curriculum expert. Contact lorie.lee@cabarrus.k12.nc.us to learn more and sign up. The program has already begun, but we still need more mentors, so don’t miss this opportunity to make a positive impact on our school community!

Hello PES families. Part of our school's commitment to outstanding STEM education is providing our students in all grade levels with access to knowledge of the growing field of STEM careers and STEM job opportunities. We are seeking out individuals who would be interested in sharing their STEM knowledge with our students as a guest speaker. STEM jobs can have direct connections to science, technology, engineering, and technology, but many jobs can also have indirect STEM connections that might initially be overlooked. For example, both biologist and farmers use their knowledge of life cycles in their jobs but in different ways. If you are willing to be a guest speaker at PES, please fill out this form. Thank you for being a part of our school community.

https://forms.gle/FvUAjfQwNShUFXbZ7

This week's P2 Character Trait is Gratitude for Nov.20-21 & Kindness for Nov.27 - Dec.1

Starting on the first day of school, August 10th, all car rider traffic will need to enter at CC Griffin Middle School and travel down the newly paved road into Patriots.

Buses & Staff will still use the main Patriots drive.

Cars will exit the main Patriots drive.

Here are details about the route:
ROUTE MAP
VIDEO 1
​VIDEO 2

Note: In afternoon only, we will use both lanes of newly paved service road to enter Patriots.

Also, please allow CC Griffin Staff to pass through to enter their parking lot.

Beginning July 1, Cabarrus County Schools will use ParentSquare for school communication, primarily with email, text and app notifications. ParentSquare syncs your contact information directly from PowerSchool and updates daily. If you are receiving this message as an email or text, there is an account established for you in ParentSquare.

If you have not verified that account, you may visit www.parentsquare.com and register. Click "sign in" at the top of the ParentSquare homepage. Once directed to the sign-in screen, look for the "REGISTER" box. To register your account, enter the email or phone number where you received this message. On your initial sign-in, you do not need to enter a password. You will create your account password after you register. You can then follow the instructions to verify your account. If you do not register your account, you will still receive emails, phone calls and texts at this number or email moving forward. However, registering will allow you to enjoy the interactive features associated with ParentSquare and engage with your school community.

Once your account is registered, please visit your account settings page where you can choose your language preference and message delivery methods. You can choose to receive messages instantly, or you may choose to receive all non-emergency messages in one "digest" email at 6 p.m. daily. All emergency or urgent messages from your school or district will override your settings and deliver those messages instantly.

Any time there is change, there will be bumps in the road. However, we believe ParentSquare gives our schools and district an innovative approach to communicating and engaging our school families. If you have questions or concerns, please contact Cabarrus County Schools Director of Communications, Philip Furr, at philip.furr@cabarrus.k12.nc.us and we will work to find a solution to your problem so you can enjoy the benefits of ParentSquare.

What is ParentSquare?
ParentSquare is a unified communication platform that offers a whole host of tools which allows district, school administrators and teachers to more effectively communicate and engage with families and students. Some features include:

• Mass notifications and Urgent Alerts with two-way communication
• Mobile application for administrators and parents (iOS and Android)
• Attendance notifications
• Teacher and classroom communication
• Direct Messaging with two-way automatic translation
• Appointment Sign Ups (parent-teacher conferences, technology pick-ups, etc.)
• Calendar and RSVP
• Volunteering and classroom supply sign-ups
• And so much more!

How do i activate my account and Get Started?
Parent Getting Started Guide
Guía de inicio para padres
English Introduction Video
Vídeo de introducción en español
Tips for Parents & Guardians - English
Consejos para padres y tutores - Español

What is changing?
K12 Payment Center will no longer be used to process meal payments. All prepaid balances have been transferred to LINQ Connect, but parents will need to create a new account on LINQ Connect. Other school payments (school fees, etc.) will continued to be payed using K12 Payment Center. FAQs for both the ​desktop and app versions of LINQ Connect are attached to this post.

What is LINQ Connect?
LINQ Connect is a secure, online portal that allows families to:
• Make an online payment to their student’s meal account
• Remotely monitor their student’s accounts
• Set up automatic recurring payments
• Set up low balance email message alerts
• Submit an online application for free and/or reduced meals
• View online breakfast and lunch menus

How do I get started?
1. Register: Create an account at https://linqconnect.com and selecting Register.
2. Verify your Account: Verify your account by clicking on the email verification link sent to your email address.
3. Sign In: Now you can sign in at https://linqconnect.com using your email and password.

How do I add my children to my account?
You will need to add your student to your LINQ Connect account. Click on + then Type and complete the information to link your student. You will need to complete this process for each student you wish to add.

Where can I get more information or help?
Please see the attached FAQs for both desktop and app versions of LINQ Connect. Contact Maria Antunez in the Cabarrus County School Nutrition Department at (704)260-5554 for further information.

CCS has launched a new school bus tracking app. Parents can track their student's bus location on this app. Currently the messaging portion is not active yet, so if a sub bus is running it won’t show the sub bus number or info. But otherwise should be working to track regular buses.

Here are some links to get started using this app:

Edulog English

Edulog Spanish

Edulog Info Graphic English

Edulog Info Graphic Spanish

See directions linked here to set up Parent Account for CANVAS.

Parents can see classroom information & resources on CANVAS.

Email: amy.peters@cabarrus.k12.nc.us
Website: https://www.cabarrus.k12.nc.us/patriots
Location: 1510 Holden Avenue SW, Concord, North Carolina 28025
Phone: 704-260-6230