MacArthur Elementary School

There is quite a bit of important information in this newsletter, so I am just encouraging everyone to please take a few minutes to read and learn about these upcoming items by scrolling through the entire newsletter.

Our second grade students will be taking the IREAD-3 assessment in the Spring, grades 3, 4, & 5 will be having ILEARN Checkpoints and the Employability Survey. Our PTO Charleston Wrap fund raiser begins this Monday, September 9th. If you didn’t participate in the Un-Fundraiser, I encourage everyone to please help support this fundraiser. Our PTO supports all our students and school in so many ways. A few examples: If you have a Kindergarten student and they came home with a MacArthur Mustang stuffed animal, please thank the PTO. If your Kindergarten student comes home with a “Letter” shirt for knowing all their letters, thank the PTO. If your child is in 4th or 5th grade and participates in our after-school basketball program, thank our PTO. If your child is or has been on our Spell Bowl or Math Bowl teams our PTO sponsors those events by providing t-shirts for the team members and pizza prior to the competition. Then there is a plethora of fun family activities the PTO sponsors like Trunk or Treat, Field Day, Fun Fair, Santa’s Secret Shop, etc. We need all of our families helping support our students and school by supporting our PTO fundraiser(s). Thank you in advance for your support.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Marian Buchko

September

10th: PTO Meeting @ 4:15 pm

18th: E-Learning Day

October

3rd: Picture Day

7th: Bully Prevention Week Begins

14th-18th: Fall Break-No School

21st-25th: Red Ribbon Week

24th: Parent Teacher Conferences & E-Learning Day

25th: PTO Trunk or Treat

If you have a student in grades 2-8, there are upcoming changes to state standardized testing.

• Second grade students will now take IREAD-3. Please read more about this change at this link.
• Students in grades 3-8 will now participate in ILEARN Checkpoints rather than NWEA. You can read more at this link.

Dear Crown Point Community School Corporation Families,

We thank you for being valued partners as we work together to educate our students.

While many people often think of student success in relation to grades or test scores, it is also important to consider the social and emotional growth of our students. During the weeks of September 23 or 30, we will ask students in grades 3-5 for their feedback via a 10-15 minute online survey completed at school.

The survey will ask students to reflect on their self-efficacy, emotional regulation, social awareness, and supportive relationships. The results from the survey support our ability to address individual and school-identified needs.

We have administered a similar survey in years past as part of our Ready To Learn student services work. The data was used to implement positive behavior supports and improve school culture and climate. We look forward to using new data from this school year to identify and align services for students.

If you have any questions about the survey or do not want your child to participate, please contact your school’s main office before September 20. Students who opt out of the survey will still be able to participate in programs or services created as a result of the data.

Sincerely,

CPCSC Office of Curriculum and Instruction

Indiana Employability Skills and Competencies

Copy of Student Competency and Well-Being Survey

The sweet smell of maple syrup filled the hallways on Wednesday as our second graders celebrated their 1st Culmination Day with Paul Bunyan's flapjacks.

Dear MacArthur Families,

On Friday, September 13th our students and staff will practice a lockdown drill. Our team knows that lockdowns are sometimes a sensitive topic, but we must make sure our students and staff are prepared for all types of safety situations. Just like we practice evacuation/shelter drills, we must also practice lockdowns.

In an elementary lockdown drill, teachers and students practice turning off the lights and quietly moving out of sight. Students practice using their best listening skills to follow teacher instructions. We have age-appropriate conversations that lockdowns are used when someone is in our school who shouldn’t be. Our team is careful that these drills do not cause our students to be fearful or think that their school is unsafe.

Crown Point Community School Corporation uses Standard Response Protocol (SRP) to respond to safety situations. SRP is a consistent framework of five specific actions. When we all have training around a common language, we can better help our students. You can read more about SRP on our website at this link.

Please don’t hesitate to let me know if you have any questions.

Marian Buchko

Principal

FREE Love & Logic Parenting Course starts September 23rd!

The next virtual Parenting the Love & Logic Way starts Monday, September 23rd. This course is offered at no charge to you!! So grab your friends and register at the button below!

We all love our kids but wouldn't it be great to get a little help with the common parenting struggles we all face? Solutions for whining, back talk, chores, etc? Whether you are new to the course or coming back for a refresher, we would love to have you join us and add some more tools to your parental tool belt.

Sign up now!! This course is FREE and VIRTUAL!! Each Monday, participants will be emailed a link with the course content for the week. Links will be live for the entire week allowing participants to watch any time during the week that works best Register by clicking the link below.

Workbooks for the course are also FREE and will be dropped off at your child's school to go home with them prior to the start of the course!. You will be able to let us know if you need a workbook when you register for the course. Sign up now so you don't miss out!!

Indiana Legislature requires that each public school shall provide age-appropriate, research-based instruction as provided under IC 5-2-10.1-12(d) focusing on bullying prevention for all students in grades 1 through 12. Crown Point elementary students will receive age-appropriate, research-based instruction using the Second Steps Bully Prevention Unit by October 15th.

Indiana legislature has adopted legal requirements that each Indiana public school, including charter schools and accredited nonpublic schools, shall provide age-appropriate and research and evidence-based instruction on child abuse and child sexual abuse to students in kindergarten through grade 12. Note that this expands the previous requirement from providing education in grades 2-5 to grades K-12. In order to meet the new requirements, Crown Point school counselors and home-school facilitators will be providing age-appropriate, research-informed student personal/body safety sessions from September 2024 through December 2024. At the elementary level, students will learn the Protect Yourself Rules with their counselor or home-school facilitator in a classroom session of approximately 30 minutes. Parents can view the Protect Yourself Rules and related materials at the Barbara Sinatra Children’s Center Foundation website fightchildabuse.org.

Parents/Guardians are encouraged to contact Ms. Bellamy, school counselor at abellamy@cps.k12.in.us or via ParentSquare with any questions.

Some of our Kindergarteners have already earned their letter shirt in the month of August! Way to go!!

• President - Stephanie Heim
• Vice President - Amy Harvey
• Secretary - Lissette Martinez- Kadisak
• Treasurer - Katie Santostefano
• Volunteer Coordinator - Open Position
• Communications Coordinator: Aurora Schmidel

PTO is excited to kick off another amazing school year. We are accepting cash donations to help fund all of the amazing opportunities that we provide for students, teachers and staff throughout the year. We can't do this without your help! If you'd like to donate to us, visit www.macpto.com/join to submit your credit card donation, or you will be able to donate via cash/check through the "no-sell" donation form that will be going home with students. Donating automatically makes you a member of PTO which enables you to cast your vote at any of our meetings on budget discussions, big decisions, etc. Becoming a member DOES NOT REQUIRE YOU TO JOIN A COMMITTEE OR VOLUNTEER!!! We of course would love to have your help if you are interested, but understand schedules and interests vary. Please donate if you can - your support is absolutely seen and incredibly appreciated. www.macpto.com/join

Strack & Van Til helps local schools by providing FREE classroom supplies. All you have to do is collect your receipts from Strack & Van Til and send them in an envelope to the school office with ATTN PTO on them. Receipts need to be dated from September 1, 2024, through March 31, 2025. Receipts are due by April 15, 2025.

Ask your family and friends to save their receipts, too! Every dollar spent earns a point towards FREE classroom supplies.

Our Department of Food Service is excited to announce the launch of online, digital menus for our district!

With our new MealViewer system, you can:

• View what is being served each day

• View the nutritional information for each meal

• See if any of the Big 9 allergens are being served

• Get notified when your student’s favorite meals are being served

• Print menus by week or by month that include favorites and/or allergen information

• Rate menu items to provide feedback for our Food Service team

Menus are always viewable without an account. Parents who want to sign up for an account can customize notifications, allergens, and more for each child in your family. Payments to your child’s meal account will continue through My MealTime.

Find more information and your school’s menu at schools.mealviewer.com. If you have questions, please contact our Food Service team at 219-663-3371 x 10601.

Our printable PDF menus will still be available on our website through the first semester. However, the most up-to-date menus will be the new digital version.

We look forward to the additional information and accessibility that this new tool will provide for parents and students!

Free & Reduced Applications can be completed online at www.mymealtime.com.

Birthday ice cream treats are $1.00 each. Money can be uploaded via the Mealtime app or cash/check sent to the cafeteria. Treats are paid for the day the money is received. A 1 week notice is needed to order the treats.

Stock up on your spirit wear! You can save 20% at all Crown Point Schools online spirit wear stores with the code SAVE20. You’ll find gear and accessories with dozens of official designs on over three hundred items. Brands include companies like Under Armour, Nike, NorthFace, Ogio, and more. Visit www.cps.k12.in.us/spiritshop to find your school’s store.

Marian Buchko, Principal ext. 16001

Laura Florek, Assistant Principal ext. 16003

Carla Gard, Treasurer ext. 16000

Kim Wasserott, Secretary ext. 16002

Jodi Kvachkoff, Nurse ext. 16081

Email: mbuchko@cps.k12.in.us
Website: https://mac.cps.k12.in.us/
Location: 12900 Fairbanks Street, Cedar Lake, IN, USA
Phone: 219-662-3600
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/maccpcsc