Dear Carver Elementary Families!

Thank you again for all of your support with beginning of the year assessments, attendance, and behavior! Carver is off to a great start and we are excited to add more after school activities this month! We are hosting the first Cross Country meet at Carver on Tuesday, September 3rd and students will have practice on Thursday. Please have your student wear a Carver T-shirt to represent at the Cross Country meet! We are also excited to kick off the YES program with soccer on September 9th for selected 2nd-5th grade students! Please sign up below. We will also begin Math Air Tutoring for select 4th and 5th grade students on September 9th from 7:45-8:30 AM.

We have our first Parent Meeting on Thursday, from 3:00-4:00 PM in our Library. We need your input and would love to hear your thoughts and partner with you. Please join us! We will begin with Carver Data and goals and then proceed into our Parent Meeting.

Thank you for supporting parent drop off outside our gym doors and having your student to school on time. REMINDER that school officially begins at 7:50 AM. If your student arrives after 7:55 AM they will be marked tardy. We want all of our students to eat breakfast and have a positive start to each day; please adjust your schedule accordingly. THANK YOU to all the students that arrive on time each day! The gym doors continue to open each day at 7:30 AM for a FREE, hot breakfast in the cafeteria from 7:30-7:45 AM. ALL students will enter and wait in the gym until the bell rings, every day this school year. Carver staff will provide supervision in the gym and students will be escorted to classrooms when the bell rings at 7:50 AM. Breakfast switches to a cold breakfast from 7:45-8:10 AM, that may be eaten in the classroom. The gym doors will close at 7:55 AM and students will need to be signed in at the front office where they will receive a cold breakfast and sent to class.

BREAKFAST AND LUNCH is FREE for ALL students that attend Carver Elementary!

Dismissal is in the front of Carver Elementary at 2:50 PM each day. Students are escorted to the front of the building, walkers and parent pick up are dismissed, and car riders wait with their grade level. Please be patient as we are dismissing students to the appropriate cars.

*During inclement weather, students are dismissed from the gym.

We are excited to partner with the Skyhawks and YES program to provide FREE opportunities for our 2nd-5th grade students. The YES program will offer soccer, flag football, cheer, and volleyball for the fall semester on Mondays and Wednesday from 2:50-4:00 PM. The registration form is below and is limited to 30 students per activity, grades 2nd-5th. Attendance, behavior, and good sportsmanship will be considered as the slots are limited.

Please know that school is a partnership to help your child grow. As we have overcome many obstacles in the past, we are excited to tackle the challenges ahead. This can be accomplished by being actively involved with your student's education.

We also look forward to many opportunities to collaborate this year and create new memories with the Carver community. We want Carver Elementary School to be a place where everyone feels welcome and valued.

Again, welcome to Carver Elementary! If you are a returning family or if this your first year at Carver, we are excited to work with you to achieve great results. Please know that our doors are always open for communication, and we look forward to partnering with you in your child's education. Please look for opportunities to participate in the Parent Teacher Association, the SAC, and other volunteer opportunities.

Thank you for your support!

Mrs. Bizzell

Proud Principal

As a quality neighborhood school in D11, the Carver community is supportive and safe as staff, parents, and students are valued and involved in creating engaging, intentional learning experiences that are responsive to student needs and results in a place where everyone wants to be.

Thank you for voting for our new logo and Carver Elementary is proud to be the Heart of Our Community!! Our staff recently attended the Capturing Kids' Heart training and we are excited to build relationships, challenge ourselves and our students, and truly become the Heart of Our Community! We will continue to partner with local businesses, resources, and community members to enhance our identity statement and challenge our students to be the BEST they can be, every day at school. We are providing intentional learning experiences that involve and engage all of our students and our staff. We look forward to this school year and partnering with YOU!!

September 3rd Cross Country Meet at Carver Elementary 3:30-5:00 PM

September 5th First Parent meeting 3:00-4:00 Library

September 6th Pancakes with the Principal-7:30-8:00 AM Library

September 9th Soccer Begins 2:50-4:00 (Mondays and Wednesdays)

September 10th Cross Country Meet at Mitchell High School 3:30-5:00 PM

September 16th No Students- Professional Development Day

September 17th Picture Day!

September 10th Cross Country Meet at Doherty High School 3:30-5:00 PM

September 24th Cross Country Meet at Garry Barry Stadium 3:30-5:00 PM

September 26th Cross Country Last Practice!

October 1st Count Day!

October 4th Pancakes with the Principal-7:30-8:00 AM Library

October 5th Carver Clean Up Day! 9:00-12:00

October 11th-End of First Quarter!

October 11th Fifth Grade STARBASE 8:30-2:30 PM Peterson Space Force

October 14th-18th NO SCHOOL-Fall Break

October 23rd-Early Dismissal at 11:50 AM-lunch will be provided

October 25th Fifth Grade STARBASE 8:30-2:30 PM Peterson Space Force

October 29th Picture Retake Day

Dear Families,

Please be aware that Wednesday, October 23rd, will be a half-day for all students in support of Parent-Teacher Conferences. Here are the key details:

· Early Release: Students will be released three hours earlier than their typical dismissal time. For Carver, dismissal will be at 11:50 AM.

· Lunch: Lunch will still be provided before dismissal.

· Transportation: Buses will run their usual routes, but students will leave school three hours earlier than usual.

· Attendance: Please note that attendance still counts, so it’s important that your child is present.

· Pre-K: There will be no afternoon preschool classes on October 23rd.

Thank you for your attention to these changes. We look forward to seeing you at the conferences!

Best regards,
Mrs. Bizzell

District Initiatives: Attendance, Behavior, and Cell Phones

This year, we will be working hard to improve our attendance, behavior, and cell phone usage. We need your support to make these initiatives successful!

Attendance:

Good attendance is crucial for student success. We will be focusing on improving attendance and need your help to ensure your child is present and on time every day. We will call you each day if your child is absent and we do not know why. We want your student at school each day!

• Chronically Absent Students: These are students who miss 10% or more of school days for any reason, excused or unexcused. This amounts to about 18 days in a school year.
• Habitually Truant Students: These are students who have four or more unexcused absences in a month or ten or more unexcused absences in a school year.

We will be following the district guidelines and the Colorado Compulsory Attendance Law to address attendance issues. Regular attendance is essential for your child's academic progress and social development.

Behavior:

We believe in fostering a positive and respectful learning environment. Our behavior expectations are based on our core values of respect, responsibility, and safety. We will be working together to ensure that all students understand and adhere to these expectations, creating a supportive and productive school community.

Cell Phones and Smartwatches:

To minimize distractions and enhance the learning environment, we will be implementing stricter guidelines on cell phone usage during school hours. Students are expected to keep their cell phones/smart watches turned off and stored in their backpacks during class time. If a student needs to contact their family during the school day, they can do so through the main office.

Breakfast in the cafeteria 7:30-7:45 AM (cold breakfast 7:45-8:10 AM)

Office Hours: 7:30 AM-3:45 PM

Carver School Hours: 7:50 AM-2:50 PM

Tardy bell rings at 7:50

Students will have a 15 minute recess, prior to lunch.

10:50-11:10 Kindergarten and First Grade

11:10-11:30 Second and Third Grade

11:30-11:50 Fourth and Fifth Grade

K/1 12:10-1:00

2/4 1:05-1:55

3/5 2:00-2:50

Essentials: Art, Music, PE, Technology

Adaptive PE/Art: Fridays from 9:00-10:05 AM (Selected students)

Band for grades 4th and 5th (Mondays and Wednesdays)

Orchestra for grades 4th and 5th (Tuesdays and Wednesdays)

We are still accepting interested students for BAND and ORCHESTRA! Please stop by the front office for a permission slip!

We LOVE having family members in the building! Please complete the link below if you have some time to volunteer to help at school. Some activities include: cutting, tearing out workbook pages, reading to students, testing sight words, and sometimes just helping in class.
Please join us!

Hi everyone!

Students have been learning about Respect; one of the important parts of Respect is personal space and boundaries. We will be reading the book “Personal space camp” by Julia Cook, this book addresses the complex issue of respect for another person's physical boundaries (Kinder practice this during PE last week).

Have you heard the phrase “personal space bubble”? A personal space bubble is an imaginary bubble around you to represent the comfortable distance between you and other people or objects. Each person has varying comfort levels of personal space bubbles. Some are larger than others.

BUT WHAT INFLUENCES YOUR PERSONAL SPACE BUBBLE? People, places and even things can influence your personal space bubble. For example, most of us are comfortable with a shorter distance between ourselves and family members versus teachers, other adults or even friends. Maybe you feel more comfortable with people in your own home, or familiar places versus new situations or locations.

Have you ever been somewhere, and an object makes you back up and increase your distance from it? Think about a time when you were at a haunted house and saw something scary. You increases your personal space and move backwards rather quickly to avoid being too close to the scary object.

There are four distinct zones of personal space: intimate space - for hugging or whispering, personal space - interactions among family and good friends, social space - interactions between acquaintances, and public space - public speaking. These distances are dependent upon your culture as well.

Young children will crawl onto your lap, touch your face or slobber on your shirt with no sense of personal space but as we get older we begin to follow social cues and begin to establish our comfort levels with personal space for ourselves and others. The ability to maintain proper personal space helps to establish effective communication and good interpersonal relations.

*Check out this book: “Harrison P. Spader, Personal Space Invader” by Christianne C. Jones, illustrated by Cale Atkinson - https://video.link/w/IH3Xc

“Limits and boundaries create a consistent, trusting, safe space for students to develop” by #theparentingskill

Mrs. Gio (Giovanny) Franco-Diaz, MA, LPCC

School Counselor - 504 coordinator , Student Council Advisor

Phone # 719-328-2171

What is happening in Random Acts of Kindness?

RAK is delivered throughout the week in each classroom. We will continue to focus on Respect and introduce Empathy for the month of September.

We are a PBIS (Positive Behavior and Support School) and we will continue to practice our School Wide PAW expectations.

P- I am Prepared

A-I have a great Attitude

W-I Work hard

S-I am Safe

Student Council is coming back!

Carver student council did great things last year at Carver and it will continue to do so this year. Student Council gives students an opportunity to develop leadership skills by organizing and carrying out school activities and service projects, student council is also the voice of the student body. Representatives from 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades are selected each fall and serve for the entire school year. Complete applications are due Friday September 6. Please check out the site https://www.d11.org/domain/6650

Safety is our top priority at Carver Elementary School, and we are committed to ensuring the well-being of all students, staff, and visitors. We now have a secured entrance to monitor ALL visitors and a fence that surrounds the back of the school. To this end, we follow the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) to prepare for and respond to various emergency situations. We conduct monthly and quarterly drills to practice these protocols, ensuring that everyone in our school community knows what to do in case of an emergency. Here is an overview of the SRP we follow:

• Hold - In Your Classroom or Area

• Directive: "In Your Room or Area"
• Purpose: This protocol is used when hallways need to be kept clear of occupants. Students and staff remain in their rooms or areas until further notice.

Secure - Get Inside. Lock Outside Doors

• Directive: "Get Inside. Lock Outside Doors"
• Purpose: This protocol is used to safeguard people within the building by securing all exterior doors. Normal activities continue inside the building.

Lockdown - Locks, Lights, Out of Sight

• Directive: "Locks, Lights, Out of Sight"
• Purpose: This protocol is used to secure individual rooms and keep occupants quiet and in place. Doors are locked, lights are turned off, and everyone stays out of sight.

Evacuate - To a Stated Location

• Directive: "Evacuate to [Location]"
• Purpose: This protocol is used to move people from one location to a different location, either within or outside the building. The specific location will be communicated during the drill or emergency.

Shelter - State the Hazard and the Safety Strategy

• Directive: "Shelter [Hazard] and [Safety Strategy]"
• Purpose: This protocol is used for group and self-protection based on the specific hazard (e.g., tornado, hazmat). The safety strategy will be clearly communicated.

Monthly Drills:

To ensure we are prepared, we conduct monthly/quarterly drills for each of these protocols. These drills help students and staff practice the appropriate responses and become familiar with the procedures. Your support in reinforcing the importance of these drills at home is greatly appreciated.

Communication:

In the event of an actual emergency, we will communicate with families promptly. Please ensure that your contact information is up to date in our records so that you can receive timely notifications.

Thank you for your cooperation and support in keeping our school safe. If you have any questions or concerns about our safety protocols, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Together, we can ensure a safe and secure learning environment for all our students.

Carver Elementary is a Title I school.

The purpose of Title I is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments.

If you have any questions, please reach out:

https://www.d11.org/TitleI

Email: lisa.bizzell@d11.org
Website: https://www.d11.org/Page/69
Location: 4740 Artistic Circle, Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Phone: 719-328-7100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carver.d11.org/