The Bulldog 10.17.24

Note from Mrs. Lockwood

We have had a great week of teaching and learning. The month of October is a celebration of literacy. Thank you to everyone who was able to join us at Tuesday night’s Literacy Family Night! It was an evening filled with storytellers, face painting, and much more!

Thank you all for the yummy cupcakes in honor of National Principals Month. It is my honor to lead and serve Clairemont Elementary every day. Thank you all for your continued support.

I’m excited to introduce our newest SLT members, Whitney Temple and Kara Slifka. They are fantastic additions to our team, each offering a unique perspective and strong support for Clairemont Elementary.

Tomorrow, I will host my first Coffee Chat of the year. Join me immediately following Community Circle. I look forward to sharing the overall good work happening at Clairemont including our achievement data, and instructional priorities. Following my Coffee Chat, our Title 1 teacher, Ms. Stacey Labouchere, will host a Title 1 parent information session. I hope to see you there!

In last week’s newsletter, I shared about new road safety measures meant to ensure that speed limits are observed when traveling to and from school. Cameras will be installed at different locations within Decatur. Those locations are:

• Scott Boulevard (SR 8) near Westchester Elementary School
• West College Avenue (SR 10) near Beacon Hill Middle School and Oakhurst Elementary School
• Clairemont Avenue (SR 155) and Church Street near Clairemont Elementary School
• South Candler Street (SR 155) near Winnona Park Elementary School

Families, here is the link to view and order retake pictures that were taken last week. Your child(ren)’s student number is the password.

Events at a glance:

• Thursday, October 17: Fall Family Fun Night at Wilson Center, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
• Friday, October 18: Coffee Chat with the Principal and Title I information session, 8:40 a.m.
• Friday, October 18: LAST DAY FOR BOOK FAIR!
• Friday, October 18: All Read-a-Thon minutes due
• Saturday, October 26: Clairemont Community Day, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.
• Tuesday, October 29: Trunk-or-Treat at Tally, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, October 30: Early Release at 12:50 p.m.
• Thursday, October 31: Treat and Read Day (book character costumes welcome!)

Click here or on the flyer below to start shopping! Enter "CLAIREMONT" in the spot for a coupon code at checkout and we will receive 30% back in store credit to purchase new books for our media center. As part of the virtual book fair, you may choose to pick up purchases at Little Shop of Stories or ship your order directly to your house. All orders over $40 ship free. Every purchase at the book fair this week will directly benefit ALL students, so thank you!

Our students have been reading up a storm! All together, Clairemont students have read well over 10,000 minutes already this week! Today is the last day for minutes to count toward Read-a-Thon, so fill out those logs and turn them in to your teachers tomorrow. We will have a final announcement next week, so stay tuned to find out our grand total!

Read-a-Thon is also one of the biggest fundraisers for the PTA. Funds raised help support

student activities, field trips, and fun upcoming community events such as Spring Carnival, Field Day, and more. Your child can ask family, friends, and neighbors to sponsor them to encourage them to read as much as possible during Read-a-Thon. Sponsors can choose to donate a flat amount or make a pledge to donate a certain amount for every minute read. If a sponsor pledges to donate per minute, at the end of the week your child can tell them how many minutes they read and the sponsor can donate the final amount. Pledge sheets were sent home last Thursday. You can send your sponsors this link or QR code below to make a donation, or donations can be made via check made out to “Clairemont Elementary PTA.” If donating by check, please have your child bring the check to school to give to their teacher.

If you have any questions, please contact Read-a-Thon chair Tamara Miller (tpmiller@gmail.com).

Great job reading, Bulldogs!

QR code leads to the Read-a-Thon pledge form.

There will be one more chance to bid on these fantastic literary pumpkins! They will be displayed out front before Community Circle on Friday for your viewing (and bidding) pleasure! Winning bids will be announced at Community Circle and the winners will get to take their pumpkins home. All proceeds from the silent auction benefit our PTA and the wonderful programs they provide!

Our students have been busy reading, reading, reading! We can't wait to hear the grand total of how many minutes everyone has read this week. Spirit Week has been everything from cozy to wacky tacky this week, and we've had fun doing it!

We want to say a big thank you to the volunteers from Communities in Schools who were guest readers this week to help us get those Read-a-Thon minutes. Another big shout out to Ms. Lockwood's daughter and Mr. M's daughter who were our special guest artists for the face painting station at literacy night. A good time was had by all!

Camera Club meets on the following Thursdays from 7:30-8 a.m.:

October 24

November 7

December 5

Come and take pictures with us! Cameras will be shared for those students who do not have a camera. We will focus on a different topic each week (i.e. take pictures of different things each session).

Contact Sarah Wade to RSVP or if you have questions at (225) 892-7007 or sarahwade2013@gmail.com.

Community Day at Clairemont – Volunteers are needed to improve our school grounds!

Hello Bulldog parents and families – Happy Fall! As we enter into the new season, the Clairemont PTA will be hosting its first Community Day on October 26th. To address some needs and suggestions from the teachers and administration, we are looking for volunteers to help us spruce up the campus and help make sure our youngest CSD students have a clean, safe, and enriching space to grow and thrive. Come meet other Clairemont families, spend some time with our CREW, and enjoy the fall weather while we work to improve the campus together. Sign up today!

Stay up-to-date with all the Clairemont PTA news and see pictures of our fun events by following the PTA on Facebook and Instagram. You can find all things Clairemont PTA, as well as the form to join, at the Clairemont PTA website.

Grab a friend and join us! We need all sorts of volunteers (parents, family, neighbors, teachers and students) to make this event happen. Clairemont students can take photos, be greeters, be concierge, help decorate, or sell beverages in the café!

Parents are a critical set of volunteers, and you can pick what you want to do – Sell raffle tickets? Help decorate the café? Be a troubleshooter or concierge for artists? We have a spot just for you!

We’re also looking for Clairemont Crew to help unload our classrooms, setup, load in artists and transform our little school into an amazing artists marketplace, then help with breakdown, load-out and put the classrooms back together.

Just a few hours of effort on Friday afternoon or Saturday evening ensures a WONDERFUL event. Sign up to volunteer here!

Click here for more info or register or volunteer for the Literacy Trunk or Treat festival.

Sign up here to volunteer for the Fall Carnival and chili cookoff.

Grab your friends and neighbors and help us celebrate the return of Decatur Education Foundation's highly-anticipated fall FUNdraiser - Supper & Sips! Join us on Thursday, Nov. 14th, from 6-10 pm at The Chapel on Sycamore for an evening of food, fun, and fellowship - all for a good cause. The Supper provides crucial support for DEF, allowing us to continue our work addressing unmet needs, providing enriching opportunities, and supporting our educators.

Get your tickets today! Interested in sponsorship opportunities? Email Meagan@DecaturEducationFoundation.org.

DEF was founded more than 20 years ago by a group of residents who wanted to ensure that EVERY student in CSD had what they needed to learn and thrive. Today, DEF's mission remains focused on Decatur's kids and educators, and we are still 100% reliant on the support of the Decatur community. DEF puts the community's contributions where they will have the biggest impact on our students, and DEF's Step Up Circle is a special group of supporters that allows us to operate programs like Lighten the Load, Teacher Innovation Grants, behavioral health support, arts programming, and so much more. There are also benefits - for both businesses and individuals - to joining DEF's Step Up Circle (beyond the warm and fuzzy feeling you get from supporting Decatur's kids!). Visit https://decatureducationfoundation.org/step-up-circle/ to learn more about the different giving levels.

We previously communicated that all students enrolled in a PE class in CSD would be taking part in the state’s new Fit GA fitness assessment this year. However, due to continued, unresolved technical issues with the state’s new Fit GA platform, CSD has decided to waive participation in the Fit GA assessment for the 2024-25 school year. While some classes and students already participated in a pre-test, no classes or students will be post-tested this year.