The ESPN- November 2024

November is here!

Each month, I will be sending out a monthly newsletter that will include all of the happenings and other informational items about our building. Our goal is to stay as connected as we can with all of our families. If you ever have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us!

Three important reminders on arrival/dismissal:

1. ALL parents/guardians/students/staff NEED to use a crosswalk when coming or going. We have repeat offenders to this and while we know this is an inconvenience, we have procedures in place for the safety of all.
2. Students should never have to cross in front of a lane of traffic without a crossing guard You must be in either lane 1 or lane 2 to drop or pick up your child. Any other area is dangerous! We are seeing more of this everyday and need your help!
3. Doors B and C lock at 8:00 AM therefore, if you arrive after 8:00 AM your child will need to go through the main doors to the office to get a tardy pass.

Breakfast Reminder- VERY IMPORTANT TO READ

Breakfast is served from 7:40-7:55 AM. Grab and go breakfast will be offered after 7:55 AM until 8:05 AM. Students in grades 1-5 who ride the bus will head straight to breakfast. Preschool and kindergarten eat with their classrooms after school starts. Parents who drop off students, please make every effort to be here by 7:45 AM so that your child has enough time to eat their breakfast. We are seeing a lot of students being dropped off after 7:55 AM desiring to get breakfast. At that time, they will be offered a grab and go. Thank you for your help!

Absences- PLEASE READ

*A reminder: You must notify the school if your child is going to be absent for any reason. Please call the office at 507-263-6800 opt. 4, or email: cfattendanceelem@cf.k12.mn.us by 9:00 AM.

Missing school can impact your child's success. Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school AND themselves. Start building this habit early (PK or kindergarten) so they learn that going to school on time, every day is important. Eventually good attendance will be a skill that will help them succeed. Students who miss more than 10% of school days are more likely to fall behind academically and struggle with social skills.

Please see the document here for more information about the importance of Attendance.

Hello CFAS Families-

The holiday season can be a stressful time for many. Cannon Falls Schools work with many community members who graciously help sponsor families who are in need. If you are a family struggling to provide gifts this holiday season, please fill out this form so that we may find a group to help support you by purchasing and wrapping gifts! We do our best to match every family who reaches out in need of holiday gift help, however, this is not guaranteed as it depends on available sponsors. The program is completely anonymous, and our school social workers and counselor will keep this information confidential.

The deadline for this form will be Friday, November 8th.

Here is the form for requesting Holiday Help:

Holiday Help Request Form

Sponsors -- Thank you so much for your interest in becoming a sponsor. We are truly grateful for the incredible response this year and are now fully booked with sponsors. We encourage you to join us next year to be part of our amazing lineup.

Any questions feel free to reach out to the building social workers:

Elementary- Courtney Molitor- molitor.courtney@cf.k12.mn.us

MS/HS- Laura Burvee- burvee.laura@cf.k12.mn.us

The Cannon Falls Education Foundation is truly one of a kind. CFEF supports and promotes excellence in education by providing funding for all types of educational programs and activities that are above and beyond the programs supported by general education dollars. The following listed projects totaling just under $8,400.00 dollars were funded so far this year at the elementary school.

• 5th grade Kindness Retreat- Mrs. Molitor
• Sensory Room Pillow and Steam Roller- Mrs. Chappuis and Mrs. Jacobson
• Decodable Books- Mrs. Hjellming
• Differentiated Instructional Tools- Mrs. Hovel

Thank you to the CFEF for these amazing items and for supporting our district. We are so grateful for our partnership.

Recently, we are seeing an increase in students receiving/sending messages during the school day through their smartwatch. This causes a disruption to student learning. Students may wear their smart watch ONLY if it is "offline or do not disturb" mode. If you need to reach your child for any reason, contact the school and they will get the message to your child. If your child engages with the smartwatch for anything other than checking the time, they will be asked to put it in their backpack. If there is a repeat incident, it will need to be picked up in the office by a parent. Also, as a reminder cell phones must stay in backpacks during the school day and on silent or off mode. Students are not to use them at any point during the school day. Thank you for your partnership on this matter.

The lost and found will be cleared out and donated on November 22nd at 3:00 PM. This gives all families three weeks to claim their items. If you are wondering if an item is there, please call the school. You may visit the lost and found before or after school or call the school and ask for other times to visit. Thank you for your help as we really want these items to go back to their owners!!

Please read the document below for expectations of our parent pick-up/drop-off and other parking lot helpful hints. One main item that needs to be addressed is that ALL parents/guardians/students/staff NEED to use a crosswalk when coming or going. Please do NOT cut across the car lane. Students are always watching and we want to model for them how to safely cross in the parking lot. The document for reference can be found below. I encourage you to revisit it often. Please share with anyone that is going to be picking up your student.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g2N7u-B_us0TtPOseZJ2e8N_btNzzy0nRe_C5oY2udM/edit?usp=sharing

The Cannon Falls Education Foundation (CFEF) has announced that they are participating in the state-wide Minnesota Give to the Max Day, an online giving holiday organized by GiveMN.org. The money raised by CFEF goes directly to Cannon Falls pre-K—12 school classrooms through requests made by teachers for specific educational programs and activities that are above and beyond the programs supported by general education dollars. Whether it’s purchasing new technology for a STEM project, providing equipment for a creative endeavor, or stocking classroom libraries to foster a love of reading, these grants ensure that every student has access to the resources they need to thrive.

This year the Cannon Falls Education Foundation Give to the Max Day fundraising goal is $10,000 by midnight on November 21. Anyone who supports excellence in education in Cannon Falls schools may choose to make a tax-deductible donation online, in-person, or by mail. Donations can be made online at givemn.org/organization/cfef anytime now through November 21. If an online donation isn’t an option, donors may choose to mail a check to Cannon Falls Education Foundation, 820 E Minnesota St, Cannon Falls, MN 55009 or stop by La Boutique Unique located at 101 Fourth Street North (stoplight corner) in downtown Cannon Falls Monday – Saturday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. or Sunday between noon and 4 p.m. and donate by check, cash or card.

The Cannon Falls Education Foundation is very thankful to the donors who graciously support Cannon Falls students and teachers throughout the year so local students are provided with tools and opportunities to help promote excellence in education. Follow the CFEF Facebook page at facebook.com/cfedfoundation for more details and to see how donations to CFEF make a difference in the lives of Cannon Falls students.

Emergency Drills

Cannon Falls Elementary school have conducted and will continue to conduct safety drills throughout the school year. The drills will include fire drills as well as ALICE lockdown drills. Staff and students will be instructed to follow proper Fire Drill procedures for exiting the building.

For those of you unaware, our district uses the ALICE method in the event of a threat. We will continue to remind students of our expectations during both of these types of drills. Our ALICE drills are not intended to create anxiety for our students but rather provide a knowledge base that will help them in the event they need it. During the ALICE drills, staff and students will be discussing how to follow directions when given a specific set of threat scenarios. For example: An announcement will be made over the loud speaker stating for example: "There is a threat in the cafeteria, Activate ALICE now." Here is a short video for more information on ALICE. Severe weather drills will take place in the Spring.

**If you would wish that your child opt out of safety drills, please notify Mrs. Chappuis at chappuis.jennifer@cf.k12.mn.us

Energy drinks, candy, and high sugar snacks are not ideal when it comes to fueling learning. Please only send water with your child for their beverage as well as healthy snacks. There will be times where a sugared beverage/treat is allowed for a special occasion. Thank you for your help with this.

Kindergarten Informances - Week of December 9

1st Grade Informances - Week of March 24

2nd and 3rd Grade Concert - April 24

4th and 5th Grade Concert - February 27

Cannon Falls Elementary School's PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports) program recently received another generous grant of $5,000 from the Nibbe Family Foundation, which is dedicated to giving back to communities through impactful support in the areas of Arts & Athletics, Health & Wellness, and Education. Social worker, Mrs. Molitor, applied for the grant in hopes of expanding the scope of prizes awarded to CFES students for behavioral accomplishments. The additional funding will allow CFES to broaden the range and quality of prizes and incentives awarded to students who demonstrate exemplary behavior and uphold the school's core values. By expanding the reward system, the school aims to motivate students to continuously engage in positive behaviors, thus fostering a school-wide culture of respect, responsibility, and readiness to learn.

Pictured is the Elementary School Principal, Jennifer Chappuis, and Nibbe's President, Dawn Guse.

Trimester 1 ends on November 22nd. Report cards will be viewable in your parent portal in Infinite Campus (for grades K-5 only) on Wednesday, December 4th by 10: 00 AM. If you would like a printed copy or need help logging into Infinite Campus, please contact Andrea in the office at

mandelkow.andrea@cf.k12.mn.us. Grading rubrics will be coming from your child's classroom teacher via email as well as a specialist newsletter (PE, Media, Art & Music)

Cannon Falls Area Schools partnered with Care Solace to support the well-being of students and their family members. Care Solace is a complimentary and confidential care coordination service that can help you quickly find mental health or substance use treatment options matched to your needs, regardless of circumstance.

If you or a family member are looking for help with mental health or substance use and would like to use Care Solace to find a provider:

• Call 888-515-0595. Support is available 24/7/365 in any language.
• Visit www.caresolace.com/cfk12 and either search on your own OR click “Book Appointment” for assistance by video chat, email, or phone.

If you are volunteering in the classroom for parties or chaperoning for a field trip you will be required to submit a copy of your drivers license and sign our volunteer agreement. This will be done once per school year. There may be situations that require a background check in addition to the two items mentioned above. This ensures the most safest environment for our students and staff. Thank you for your willingness to volunteer and partnership in our process.

Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school AND themselves. Start building this habit early (PK or kindergarten) so they learn that going to school on time, every day is important. Eventually good attendance will be a skill that will help them succeed

Please see the document here for more information about the importance of Attendance.

If you have district transportation questions please contact Alison Godfrey at godfrey.alison@cf.k12.mn.us

• Nov. 4 No School- Teacher Workshop
• Nov. 7 Fall Bomber Academy Begins 3:00 PM- 4:20 PM
• Nov. 8 No School- Teacher Workshop
• Nov. 11 Veterans Day Program (only for elementary students) at 9:00 AM
• Nov. 12 PTO Meeting via Zoom 6:30 PM- link here
• Nov. 21 Give to the Max Day- Cannon Falls Ed. Foundation
• Nov. 22 Trimester 1 Ends
• Nov. 26 Turkey Bingo- (grades PK-5)
• Nov. 27, 28, 29 No School Fall Break
• Dec. 4- Trimester 1 Report Cards- in Infinite Campus- 10:00 AM
• Dec. 6 Preschool Screening
• Dec. 13 PTO Family Fun Night
• Dec. 23- Jan. 3 Winter Break