Casimir Weekly Cougar Updates

Congratulations to the girls for winning with a gutsy 2-1 performance and the boys put up a valiant effort as well, with their winning 2-1 performance!

Hello Casimir 8th grade parents!

We need your help in our continued fundraising to make our students’ 8th grade promotion events spectacular and memorable.

We have two snack bar fundraisers planned for the home boys and girls volleyball games on 11/21 and 12/5. Please take a look at what you can donate and when you can help volunteer on this link https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0B4CA8A829A1F85-53230601-casimir.

Also, our class is selling See’s candy to raise money! Be sure to tell your family, friends, and neighbors that they can buy See’s candy and have it shipped directly to them! It’s a great Christmas and holiday gift! The deadline to order is Dec 6th. Here is the link for our online store https://www.yumraising.com/secure/casimirpc_casimir_middle_school_class_of_53/KerNar5391/candy.

Thank you!

8th grade committee

On Friday December 6th, we will be having a Movie Night from 3:30-5:00 PM. We will be watching The Nightmare Before Christmas. Admission is free and snacks will be for sale by the PTSA. Permission slips are available in the office and will be needed with an ID to enter.

The TUSD DELMAC Parent Confrence will be on December 13, 2024 from 9:00am - 12:00pm and the Levy Adult Center.

The theme this year is "Building Cultures: Empowering Multilingual Learners for Success." This theme emphasizes the importance of cultural exchange and inclusivity while focusing on practical strategies to support your child's language development, academic achievement, and social integration.

Parent engagement is crucial to ensuring the best education of our multilingual students, whether they are learning English or another language.

We encourage you to embrace the support of TUSD's DELMAC (District English Learner Multicultural Advisory Committee) team to learn all the ways you can best support your child at home.

Parents, please look through the latest edition of Helping Students Learn for articles about supporting your child's academic journey, privacy on social media. respectful language, addressing a poor report card, fostering school succes with responsibilities at home, and more.

This is just a gentle reminder that if your child wishes to participate in any afterschool sports this school year, the TUSD Athletic Clearance Packet AND Physical form (in the packet) are required to be submitted. All documents must be received before your child can participate in tryouts, practices, or games. Thank you.

Click the button below to see the monthly lunch menu.

The City of Torrance is exploring potential options for activating and developing the right of way (ROW) corridor at Columbia Park (the area of the park located under the power lines). As part of this effort, the City is reaching out to gain a better understanding of the community's desires and needs for this site. Your input is valuable in shaping the future of this space, and we appreciate you taking the time to complete the survey!

surveymonkey.com/r/k12columbiapark

SPANISH TRANSLATION:

La ciudad de Torrance está explorando opciones en potencia para activar y desarrollar el corredor de derecho de paso (ROW) en Columbia Park (el área del parque ubicada debajo de las líneas eléctricas). Como parte de este esfuerzo, el ayuntamiento está tratando de comprender mejor los deseos y necesidades de la comunidad para este lugar. Su opinión es valiosa para dar forma al futuro de este espacio y le agradecemos que se tome el tiempo para llenar esta encuesta.

surveymonkey.com/r/k12columbiapark

As you may have seen in the Back to School Highlights from Dr. Stowe, this year, we have unveiled an updated vision for our District. After more than 18 months of input, best practice research, and development, we have published our "Portrait of a Graduate." Our Portrait describes the key skills that we want every student to have developed by the time they graduate from Torrance Unified.

We look forward to sharing stories about how our teachers and staff are helping our students practice these elements at our school.

As a California public school student, your child may be eligible to receive a CalKIDS scholarship of $500 to $1,500 for college or career training. Funded by the State of California, a CalKIDS scholarship can be used for qualified college and career training expenses such as tuition and fees, books and supplies, computer equipment, and some room and board expenses. Checking a student’s eligibility and claiming a CalKIDS scholarship is easy. It only takes a minute. All you need is your child’s 10-digit Statewide Student Identifier (SSID), which can be found at the top of the page when you select your student in PowerSchool. For more information and to check your child’s eligibility, visit CalKIDS.org.

Our Board of Education voted to extend the free Metro GoPass program for a second year, and we are proud to offer this benefit to all our students. The program includes a Metro TAP (Transit Access Pass) card that offers FREE unlimited rides on Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority (Metro) bus rail and subway lines, including Torrance Transit, Long Beach Transit, Culver CityBus, Gardena Transit (GTrans) and LADOT Dash.

If your student has a TAP card from last year, you will just need a new code, which you can pick up from our school office. We also have a stock of TAP cards for new riders or those who lost their old cards. New cards will need to be activated before being used. For more information, visit https://www.tusd.org/administrative-services/metro-gopass.

Quick Guide to Reporting Student Absences

If/When your student is absent please notify us via email by sending an absence note with the following information to cook.lindsay@tusd.org

Absence Notes should include:

1. Date

2. Name of your Child

3. Date of absence

4. Reason for absence (if out due to illness please specify what symptoms your child is having)

5. Parent/Guardian Name & Relationship (absence notes can only be accepted from Primary Guardians listed in PowerSchool)

6. Phone Number where you can be reached

If you have any questions or concerns you can always reach out to Ms. Lindsay our Attendance Clerk @ (310) 533-4498 ext. 4782

Our weekly In-N-Out winner is Kacie Lau!

Please see Ms. Beasley after school to pick up your burger card.

Dear Parent / Caregiver,

This year school staff are working to teach students about mental health and how to seek help if they are worried about themselves or a friend. We are using a program called SOS Signs of Suicide. The program teaches students about this difficult topic and encourages them to seek help.

SOS has been used by thousands of schools for over 20 years. Studies have shown that it effectively teaches students about depression and suicide while reducing the number of students’ self-reported suicide attempts.

Through the program, students learn:

● that depression is treatable, so they are encouraged to seek help

● how to identify depression and potential suicide risk in themselves or a friend

● to ACT (Acknowledge, Care and Tell a trusted adult) if concerned about themselves or

a friend

● who they can turn to at school for help

Students will watch age-appropriate video clips and participate in a guided discussion about

depression, suicide, and what to do if they are concerned about a friend. Following the video,

students will complete a brief depression screening form. This form cannot provide a diagnosis of depression but does indicate whether a young person should seek help from a mental health professional.

At the end of class, students will complete an exit slip which asks whether they would like to talk to an adult about any concerns. School staff will conduct brief meetings with any student asking to talk.

We encourage you to visit www.mindwise.org/parents for information on warning signs for youth suicide, useful resources, and some of the key messages students will learn.

Presentation will occur on November 4 and 6th.

If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s participation in this program please contact me at 310-533-4498 X 4711, Hunnel.stephanie@tusd.org or Janet Liu 310-533-4498 X 4728 any of our school counselors.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Hunnel School Counselor

Janet Liu School Therapist

Hello. My name is Stephanie Hunnel, and I am the Casimir Middle School counselor. I offer school-based counseling that focuses on academics, social, and emotional well-being.

Our mission is to provide a positive, safe, healthy, nurturing, and respectful environment where all students can become productive members of society.

Casimir offers the Wellness Center a safe place to hang out with friends, make new friends, and play board games with peers. Students are welcome to bring their lunches with them to hang out.

The Wellness Center is open daily for snack and lunch. All are welcome.

Hi, there! My name is Janet Liu, and I am the Casimir Middle School Mental Health Counselor. I offer short-term mental health services to help students address issues related to daily stress, anxiety, depression, peer relationships, grief and loss, and more.

The Wellness Center in Room 24 is a space available for students to relax, play games, socialize, and talk to the counselor. It is open everyday at lunch time.

If you need any help with this transition or with any other mental health difficulties, please reach out to the mental health team at Casimir:

Stephanie Hunnel - School Counselor

(310) 533-4498 ext. 4711

hunnel.stephanie@tusd.org

Janet Liu, AMFT
School Based Mental Health Therapist

liu.janet@tusd.org
(310) 533-4498 x4784

I want to thank our Four School Site Council Parent Volunteers, while we have the same number of volunteers as we have open spots, an election does need to be conducted. The four Parent SSC Volunteers are listed below. Please CLICK HERE to vote for up to FOUR of the candidates for the 24-25 School Site Council by the end of the day Nov 29th. Thank you.

Be sure to follow @CasimirMiddleSchool on Instagram!

Please take a moment to join our Facebook Page! You can find us at @CasimirMiddle

11/25 - 11/29 - No School - Thanksgiving Break

12/23 - 1/3 - No School - Winter Break

1/20 - No School - M.L. King Jr. Day

1/24 - End of Quarter 2

2/7 - No School - Student Free Day

2/10 - No School - Lincoln Day

2/17 - No School - President's Day

3/14 - No School - Local Non-Instructional Day

4/4 - End of Quarter 3

4/7 - 4/11 - No School - Spring Break

5/26 - No School - Memorial Day

6/11 - Last Day of School

Website: https://www.tusd.org/schools/casimir
Location: 17220 Casimir Avenue, Torrance, CA, USA
Phone: (310) 533-4498
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CasimirMiddle/