Carman Paw Print

Dear Carman Families,

Just as a reminder, there is no school on Monday, September 6th, for the Labor Day holiday. Have a wonderful long weekend and we will see everyone back on Tuesday!

Also on Tuesday, Sept. 7th, our amazing PTO is having a Zoom Meeting for everyone to virtually attend at 6:30 p.m. The link to join the meeting is below in this issue of the Paw Print. We hope to see you there and welcome in our new Board members!

Another important virtual event during the week takes place on Thursday, September 9th: it's Virtual Curriculum Night! Just click on the link below to connect with your child's grade level teachers! Virtual Curriculum Night will begin at 6:30 p.m.

With CT pride,

Allison

We would like to welcome you to our annual Title I Review and Update Meeting that will take place at our first PTO meeting. You are invited to hear more about what it means to be a school that receives Title I funding and what special programming and benefits our students receive.

Here are some documents that will be referenced at the meeting in addition, these documents will be reshared via email to all families too.

• Parents' Right to Know document
• School, Parent, and Family Engagement Policy
  
• Carman Trails Schoolwide Title I Program Plan
• ESSA Complaint Procedure
  
• School-Parent-Student Compact - After reading this document, please sign this form as a final step for our record keeping. It is essential to get all of our families to complete this form.

We will go over more details about Title I programming this Tuesday, September 7 via Zoom at our PTO meeting.

Please mark your calendars for VIRTUAL Curriculum Night on Thursday, September 9 from 6:30 - 7:35 pm. The focus of this night is to discuss the grade level curriculum as well as the procedures and routines of the day.

Please use this link to access the grade level meeting links.

There will be two parent sessions offered. The first session is from 6:30 - 7:00 pm. The second session is from 7:05 - 7:35 pm. The night is designed with a presentation by the grade level team followed by a short Q&A session. Please look for a form from your child’s teacher to submit any questions you have. We ask that you submit your questions prior to the event so teams are able to customize the presentation as much as possible. If you have more global questions about decisions that are made at the district level, please use feel free to contact Dr. Love or Dr. Villigram. We would like to keep the focus of Curriculum Night on classroom learning and procedures due to the limited amount of time.

We want to thank our families for your ongoing support. Thank you for always being our biggest supporters!

We must ask each parent or guardian to perform a daily health assessment of your child before sending them to school, in order to maintain our goals for this year in keeping everyone healthy and to avoid disruptions to in-person learning as much as possible. Please refer to the Student Symptom Decision Tree below if your child is exhibiting any symptoms.

In order to provide the safest environment for students with food allergies many of our classrooms are nut free. If you have been notified there is a nut allergy in your child's classroom please refrain from sending peanut/tree nut products for snack and lunch (when eating in the classroom). All snacks should remain nut free , however you may send nut products when your child is eating in the cafeteria.

If you have questions about when your child is eating lunch in the classroom please reach out to their teacher. Thank you for your help in keeping our Carman Trails kids safe!

If you are looking for nut-free items please review the following:

http://www.firstkidspreschool.org/images/peanut-freesnacks.pdf

Nurse Connie Connelly

Regular attendance is essential if children are to gain the most from their educational experiences. We urge you to have your children attend school with as few absences and tardies as possible. If your child must be absent please call the absence line, 314-415-6126, before 9:00 a.m. You may call this number at any time, 24 hours a day, to leave a message. If we do not hear from you, and your child is not at school, we will contact you by phone to be sure that your child is safe. Again, please ALWAYS call the absence line or speak to a secretary in the office if your child is absent.

Please contact Jeni Oliver at Girl Scouts 314.400.4632 and joliver@girlscoutsem.org or Christine Helmbrecht at christinehelmbrecht@gmail.com or 314-409-0561for more information!

For the 2021-2022 school year, breakfast and lunch will once again be free for all students who attend Carman Trails. Menus can be found in the Parkway App, on the Parkway website, as well as here: https://parkwayschools.nutrislice.com/menu/carman-trails-elementary

Although lunch is free for everyone this year, it is important to have families fill out the form to apply for the free and reduced lunch program every year. The benefits of this distinction carry over to September 2022. In addition, our building also receives additional funding to help with staffing and special programming based on the number of families that qualify. If in a typical school year it would benefit your family to receive free or reduced lunch pricing, PLEASE fill out this form.

What is the Sustainable Schools Challenge?

This is an annual Parkway program for all students, staff, and families to participate in sustainability activities while competing for prizes for their school running Sept 1, 2021 - April 29, 2022. It's designed to connect our district mission of preparing students to respond to an ever-changing world with our district sustainability goals incentivizing actions that reduce our environmental impact.

What you can do:

• Share and watch the 21-22 Sustainable Schools Challenge video presentation (6 mins) introducing the program, new updates, and a walkthrough of the website.
• Sign up now! Each student, staff, and family can sign up to earn a point for their school and receive the monthly newsletter with activities.
• Get the word out - schools have had success encouraging participation through their school newsletters and websites

Updates to the program include:

• Monthly prize winners will be selected through a drawing
• 50 points = 1 drawing entry
• New Mini-Grant program to fund projects up to $400
• Virtual Elementary, Middle, and High added as competing schools

Links
Sustainable Schools Challenge homepage

Sustainability Department homepage

Do you know someone looking for a fun and flexible job working with students? Send them our way, or consider applying yourself! Community Ed is currently hiring Adventure Club before and/or after school care staff at all Parkway elementary schools. Pay starts at $12/hr. Flexible hours with no nights or weekends. Perfect for a college student or adult looking for a part-time job. Be part of the fun before and after school! Learn more: https://bit.ly/3lpCa1V

September

September 6: Labor Day - No School

September 7: General PTO meeting - Everyone is invited and encouraged to welcome the new board - see the link at the top of this newsletter

September 7: Title I Updates at the PTO meeting

September 9: VIRTUAL Curriculum Night - 6:30 - 7:35 see details above

September 9: PTO Fundraiser Night at El Maguey

September 15: Early Release - Dismissal at 2:00 PM

September 17: Kona Ice Night (previously called the Ice Cream Social) 6:00-7:00 on the campus of First Free Church to allow for more space and restroom usage (more info coming soon)

Email: alove@parkwayschools.net
Website: parkwayschools.net/carmantrails
Location: 555 South Weidman Road, Ballwin, MO, USA
Phone: 314-415-6100
Facebook: http://facebook.com/CarmanTrails
Twitter: @trailscarman