Coralville Central Newsletter

Dear Coralville Central Families,

We are excited about the new school year--if this first week is any indication, we are on track for a very successful 2024-25 school year. Things are running smoothly, and everyone is settling into the “school” routine.

Our teachers and staff are fully committed to making this year an enriching and positive experience for all students. We are thrilled to see the enthusiasm and engagement in the classrooms, and it’s clear that our students are ready to learn and grow.

As we move forward, please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or need support. We are here to work together to ensure that every student has the resources and opportunities they need to succeed.

Please read through the whole Smore as there is very important information throughout. Please pay special attention to the drop-off expectations. We are asking you to use the carline only for drop off.

Thank you for your support!

Andy Gahan

Gahan.andy@iowacityschools.org

319.666.1100

• Friday, August 23rd - First Day of School! (K - Grade 5)
• Friday, August 30th - First Day of School! (PK)
• Monday, September 2nd - No School--Labor Day
• Monday, September 23rd - Picture Day
• Wednesday, September 25th - 2nd Grade Field Trip--James Theater

Here is the policy for all students' personal devices.

Personal Devices (i.e. cell phones, smart watches, tablets, personal laptops, etc.):

• ALL cell phones and other electronic devices, including smart watches, must be turned in at the start of the day.
• Phone calls can only be made from a school phone with adult supervision.
• If you need to contact a parent about an issue at school, you must first speak to a teacher or another adult about the situation.
• If it is discovered that a student has not turned in their device, parents will be called to pick it up from the office.

The district will not be held accountable for lost or stolen items brought to school by a student.

A further note, this policy extends to field trips. NO PERSONAL DEVICES WILL BE ALLOWED ON ANY FIELD TRIPS.

If you need to come into Coralville Central for any reason, please come to the front of the school and ring the doorbell. We will let you in and then you need to come into the main office and sign in. Thank you!

The link below is the description of the expectations for drop-off and pick-up at Coralville Central. Thank you for following these guidelines. We want everyone to make it safely and on time.

Drop-Off and Pick-Up

ALL parents of Kindergarten and 1st grade students - please make sure that your student has an extra change of clothes in their backpacks EVERYDAY in case of accidents. Please also make sure they are season-appropriate (for this time of year--please send sweats, leggings, or shorts).

Ms. Cretzmeyer's class made hats on their first day in Art! 🥰

Hello, Coralville Central Families,

I am happy to announce that we will continue to partner with the university for writing club. The writing club will meet on Mondays after school from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. and is available to students in grades 2nd - 5th. This will start on Monday, September 9th. Please fill out the form to get signed up! Forms should be turned into Mr. Mendoza, Student Family Advocate.

Form attached below.

Thank you,

Michael Mendoza

Student and Family Advocate

Coralville Central Elementary

Iowa City Community School District

Email: mendoza.michael@iowacityschools.org

Office #: 319.688.1100 Ext. 4513

Iowa City Youth Choir is holding auditions for this year’s choir on September 3rd & 4th.

If your child has a passion for singing and is eager to be a part of a choral community that includes a variety of educational and performance opportunities, we would love to see them at our auditions.

The Iowa City Youth Choir is an all-gender treble choir open to students in 4th-8th grades who are passionate about music and excited to develop their vocal skills. For more information about this year’s choir, tuition, and auditions, read our audition handbook.

Audition Details:

• Dates: September 3 & 4

• Time: 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM

• Location: Nolte Academy

• Registration: No pre-registration required — just drop in!

Selected youth will be placed in one of two choirs based on experience, skill, and age:

• Discover Choir: Ideal for singers looking to discover the joy of choral singing, where they will learn skills like reading octavos, ensemble singing, and healthy vocal practices. Rehearsals will be held on Tuesday evening from 6:45-7:45 PM.

• Aspire Choir: Perfect for singers who aspire to advance their choral skills, focusing on independence in reading musical scores, part-singing, and vocal technique. Rehearsals will be held on Tuesday evening from 7:15-8:30 PM.

We look forward to hearing your child’s voice and welcoming them to the Iowa City Youth Choir family!

Best,

Dr. Beth Brown

ICYC Artistic Director

Who loves the Library?! (I hope everyone raised their hand!)
We're getting it all figured out! Books are being read, kids have checked out, and expectations are being taught! Excitement is here!

I was amazed by the CC parent involvement to read The Anxious Generation, the book being read by the ICCSD School Board and Admin. The Coralville Central Library bought five copies to be shared amongst the school community. Let me know if you'd like to put it on hold.
Attached is a photo of your child's checkout days. It might be helpful to know when to get library books back to our school library.

Thanks for the reading books support you give your child! It's important!

Devin Redmond (she/hers)

Teacher Librarian

Coralville Central Elementary : ICCSD

Instagram @cclibrary

Facebook @coralvillecentral

Twitter @devinred

I got a chance to introduce myself to all of your children over the past week during Classroom Counseling. They can tell you all about the pictures below. I am lucky enough to teach your students for 27 minutes each week. Below is when each class has Classroom Counseling.

We will focus on different social-emotional skills throughout the school year. Look at your monthly Smore for information regarding what your student is learning.

TUESDAY

2nd - Diveley

5th - Rolfes

K - Nicklaus

4th - Wohlers

4th - Lienen

WEDNESDAY

2nd - Witte

1st - Leathers

5th - Alberhasky

K - Cretzmeyer

K - Martinez

4th - Scheffert

3rd - Brennen

THURSDAY

1st - Lohman

3rd - Jordan

3rd - Woods

FRIDAY

1st - Lyon

Beyond Classroom Counseling if your child needs to see me feel free to reach out at bender.becca@iowacityschools.org or 319.688.1100

Becca Bender

School Counselor

Coralville Central

319.688.1100

As we are kicking off a new school year, we want to share updated information regarding student attendance expectations. Our main goal is for students to be in school daily and to confirm their safety with a parent or guardian if they are absent. While we understand absences may occur for reasons like illness, family activities or appointments, the State of Iowa requires us to track the number of days missed, regardless of the reason. Because of the State's new approach, there will no longer be a distinction between excused and unexcused absences.

Reporting Absences:

If your child will be absent, please notify your school's attendance office before the start of the school day. You can do this by creating an Absence Request in the Infinite Campus Parent Portal or by calling the school attendance office. If we do not hear from you, the school will reach out to confirm your student's safety and ensure you are aware of their absence.

State Attendance Requirements:

The Iowa Department of Education has implemented strict guidance that requires schools to address absenteeism. As part of this, schools will send notifications to guardians when a student has missed a certain number of days each grading period (trimester).

• First Letter - A written notification that your child missed a certain number of days.
• Second Letter - A certified letter sharing that your child has reached 10% absenteeism in a grading period (trimester) and that the district was required to inform the county attorney.
• Third Letter - If your child reaches 15% absenteeism, a School Engagement meeting will be scheduled, and an Absenteeism Prevention Plan will be created. If these steps are not followed, the county attorney may initiate legal proceedings.

Additional information about the State's attendance requirements and absence exemptions, as well as district guidance, is available on the updated Attendance Page of our District website.

Regular attendance is crucial for your child's success, both academically and socially. Thank you for your partnership in making this a successful year for all our students.

The District is committed to providing a safe and healthy learning environment for our students. Due to the increase in food allergies and concerns with childhood obesity, changes have been made to the district's Wellness Policy regarding classroom snacks, birthday treats, and classroom celebrations. Some elementary schools are celebrating without food, so please check with your child's school to find out their practice.

When food is served to students in the classroom as a snack, birthday treat, or during a classroom celebration, the following rules apply (ICCSD Wellness Policy 507.9):

• allow only fresh fruits/vegetables or purchased foods with the ingredients listed (no homemade foods).
• allow only foods that meet the Healthy Food Guidelines/Smart Snacks. The only exception to this would be food-tasting related to district-approved curriculum lessons.
• not allow foods with peanuts or peanut butter, or foods that were made in a factory where cross-contamination may occur.
• food that does not meet the guidelines will be sent home.
• a list of acceptable foods (Healthy Food Guidelines/Smart Snacks) will be made available to parents and teachers at the beginning of the school year (and can be found on the district web site).

Examples of Acceptable Foods:

• Veggie straws or chips
• Skinny Pop or Boom Chicka Pop popcorn
• Cheddar Goldfish or Annie's Cheddar Bunnies
• Gluten-free pretzels or pretzel chips (example: Snyder's brand)
• Carrots
• Applesauce
• Fruit leathers
• Benton's animal crackers (Aldi)
• Apples, bananas, cuties
• Pirate's Booty
• Mott's, Welch's or Annie's fruit snacks

**Snacks MUST be individually packaged.

**All snacks MUST be PEANUT/TREE NUT FREE and MUST NOT be made in a facility that processes nuts. The packaging should not have any NUT Allergy Warnings.

Read the ingredient label for any allergy warnings.

**Snacks that are not on the approved list will be sent home.

**Non-food items are always preferable so all students may safely enjoy a treat. Some examples include:

• Stickers
• Washable tatoos
• Bubbles
• Pencils/erasers

You’re Invited!
Here at Coralville Central and throughout the ICCSD, we use the PBIS framework to support students’ behavioral, academic, social, emotional, and mental health. It is a way to create positive, predictable, equitable and safe learning environments where everyone thrives (Source: https://www.pbis.org/).
We have a PBIS team at school that meets the second Wednesday of each month- after school. We would love to have a parent on the team. Are you interested? Please contact; bender.becca@iowacityschools.org.

Looking for information on Securly, our web filtering tool? Find all
the information here www.IowaCitySchools.org/Securly.

If you have any questions, feel free to let me know. Thank you!

CONTACT: (319) 688-1000 | pedersen.kristin@iowacityschools.org
EXPLORE: www.IowaCitySchools.org
FOLLOW: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Mobile App

Technology continues to evolve and play a key role in learning. One recent emerging technology claiming to transform education is artificial intelligence (AI). As the district explores both the potential and pitfalls of AI, we wanted to gain your insights. The questions within the survey will help us better understand your knowledge of AI, what concerns you may have, as well as what hunches you have about its ability to enhance student learning. In addition, your expertise will assist in the creation of guidelines for both teachers and students as they use artificial intelligence in the classroom. Your anonymous feedback will play a crucial role in ensuring artificial intelligence is not only accessible but used responsibly and effectively to enrich student learning experiences. We greatly appreciate your time and thoughtful responses to the probing questions.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevjjZDHHv9QfHLmy9ek2YhScTmen739_hMp4Q_9Hdc4XdmLA/viewform

Please make sure you review the district student handbook for questions on policies, etc.

Students, Families, and Employees - The Ombuds Office is here to help! Visit www.IowaCitySchools.org/Ombuds to learn more!

In order to achieve our goals of excellence and equity for all students, we have adopted a new school improvement model called High Reliability Schools. High Reliability Schools is a framework that supports fulfilling our vision of equitable outcomes for all students. It gives us a common language to name what we’re doing, assess our current reality, align our initiatives, and determine where to go next. It is a vehicle that allows us to balance shared responsibility and autonomy to make decisions that best meet the needs of all our students.

We are excited to get this work started and we are excited to partner in this process with all of you! We value the voice of our school community and we want to make sure that your experiences are reflected in our High Reliability Schools implementation. Throughout the year, there will be multiple opportunities for our students, families, and staff to provide feedback that will inform the work that we do. Please stay tuned for information on these opportunities. We look forward to partnering with you on this exciting new adventure!

It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic status in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or a grievance related to this policy, please contact Eric Howard, Director of Equity and Employee Relations, 1725 N Dodge St, Iowa City, IA 52245, 319-688-1000, howard.eric@iowacityschools.org.