Our staff gathered on September 27 for our second teacher-professional collaboration day of the school year. Our staff continues to appreciate our families for allowing this collaboration time to occur. While our educators love seeing your children each day, we know having adequate plan and collaboration time benefits students in the long run.

These days are a significant benefit for our elementary staff that will, in turn, support our students’ academic success. I want to share some details about how our staff spent the day.

As a staff, we focused on understanding the neurodiversity that is present in our classrooms today and how we begin to support the changes in our student needs. We dug into building wide behavior and worked on how we are reinforcing expectations across the building. Finally, there was a large focus on small group instruction and adapting to students' present academic needs.

Thank you for your continued support and partnership. Have a great weekend!

Help us review and reinforce the expectations at CHE! This would be a great opportunity for you to have a conversation with your student and use the same resources we did during CHAMP CAMP, in the classroom, and on the announcements to talk about our expectations of all students.

Recess is a time that students love to move their body, focus on social interactions, and just get some time to be outside. It's also one of the most unstructured times of the day. That presents a lot of opportunity for freedom, but it also can be a time when students test boundaries or fall back on outside of school behaviors. In order to keep recess as safe and consistent as possible, please take some time to talk to your student about the expectations below.

Celebrations:

As a reminder, PTO and the CHE leadership team have shifted to a volunteer only celebration. If you are not signed up as a volunteer for the celebration, you should only plan to attend the parade.

Costumes:

Families should work with their students to select costumes that are worn for the entire school day and ensure they can use the restroom without assistance. Blow up costumes should only be worn during the parade at the end of the day. We will not be changing or assisting students with costumes throughout the day. Please be advised that students may not wear costumes that contain a weapon (real, play, or fantasy), blood, or scary costumes that are not appropriate for elementary school students.

Parade:

We are tentatively planned for 2:45pm. Our building leadership team is confirming that next week. Stay tuned for an update soon!

We have demonstrated a need to address electric scooters and bicycles used by students coming to and from school. There have been many instances this year already where students around the vehicles are not safe, as well as the students riding them.

For the safety of all, we will implement the following:

• This mode of transportation is a family decision. The school is not responsible for the equipment when left at school or in the bike racks.
• Helmets and locks are highly encouraged.
• While on district property, the scooter or bike must be walked. This goes for the walking path behind the school, service road behind the school, and all CHE and PRMS property in front of the school.

School staff will do their best to support this during arrival and dismissal. We will be reminding students for two weeks and then start to contact families if there are concerns with individuals. If applicable, we appreciate you reviewing this with your student and supporting the safety of all at CHE.

Our CHE annual family picnic is just around the corner on Tuesday, October 8th from 5:30-7:00 at the CHE green space right behind the school. This year we are so excited - we will be having Bryce's food truck and Irvzilla Hawaiian food truck there!

Also, be sure to bring your kites to fly and canned food to get a start on your class food donation for CHE Cares. One class from each grade with the largest donation will win an extra recess! (See below for a list of your grade's assigned food item).

During the week of Oct. 7-14, Cedar Hills will be participating in a food drive for Community for Kids. Community for Kids is an organization right here in the Blue Valley School District that helps provide for students that live in food insecure homes. Each grade level is assigned specific items to donate (voluntary). The class in each grade level with the most donations will be rewarded with an extra recess! Donation bins will be located in the front entrance of the school the entire week.

See graphic listed for your grade's assigned food item!

Also, MARK YOUR CALENDARS for October 15th! There will be a CHE Cares' event held after school to help sort/pack the food, as well as work on some projects that will help to spread kindness in our community.

As we begin the school year, we would like to remind you to review the updated Blue Valley Student Code of Conduct. It can be found on our www.bluevalleyk12.org under the “Student Quick Links” section at the bottom main home page. It can also be found on our school website home page.

Student Code of Conduct

• Down Syndrome Awareness Month - celebrates those with Down syndrome and raises awareness of their abilities and accomplishments. The colors blue and yellow symbolize support for the Down syndrome community.

• National Bullying Prevention Month and Bullying Prevention Day (October 2nd) raise awareness about the harmful effects of bullying and promote kindness, acceptance, and inclusion.

• Filipino-American Month - celebrates the heritage and achievements of the second-largest Asian American population in the U.S.

• Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year. The observance begins at sundown on Wednesday, October 2, and continues through the evening of October 4. Some families will attend synagogue services, eat apples and honey for a sweet new year, and/or abstain from work, school, activities, and technology use.

• Yom Kippur - the Jewish day of Atonement (Forgiveness). The holiest day of the year starts at sundown on October 11. For some, families may fast for 24 hours, attend services at synagogue, and/or abstain from work, school, activities, and technology use.

Head on over to our spirit wear store here, order your gear and when PTO receives the items they will be delivered to your student's classroom.

• We have seen an increase in food arriving from paid delivery services during the school day (ex: Door Dash, Grub Hub, Uber Eats, etc.) or drop offs of outside food/drinks without adults staying to have lunch with their student.
• Food delivery services create a disruption to the learning environment and pose a potential security concern. A variety of doors have been utilized and most delivery service providers have been unfamiliar faces which are difficult to verify.
• We will not accept meals delivered by paid delivery services during the school day for students. These deliveries will be refused.
• If you want to bring outside food or drinks in for your student during lunch, you must stay to have lunch with them. Please only bring lunch for your student. Outside drinks are not allowed in the classroom as they may not meet our nut-safe priorities.

At Blue Valley Schools, student safety is our top priority. Our approach to safety blends proactive prevention, fostering strong adult-student relationships and maintaining robust physical security measures. Central to our strategy is understanding and addressing potential threats.

What Constitutes a Threat?

A threat includes any expression of intent to harm, whether spoken or written. Identifying and responding to these expressions is crucial to the safety of our school community.

The Role of Threat Assessments

Blue Valley’s comprehensive threat assessment process has two primary objectives:

• Preventing Violence: We work to intervene before potential threats escalate.

• Resolving Underlying Issues: By understanding the reasons behind a threat, we can resolve conflicts and provide necessary support.

Structured, Evidence-Based Approach

Blue Valley Schools follows the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG), a nationally recognized, evidence-based program. This approach ensures that we not only prevent violence but also support individuals in need.

Since the fall of 2023, Blue Valley building leaders have been trained in and actively using this Threat Assessment approach. This consistent use of CSTAG has equipped leaders with a common vocabulary and protocol, enabling them to resolve situations more effectively when threats arise.

By staying committed to this structured and compassionate approach, Blue Valley Schools ensures that students and staff are supported, safe and able to focus on what truly matters–learning through extraordinary educational opportunities.

More information about Blue Valley’s threat assessment process is available on the district website.

Please refrain from bringing your pets to the entrance of the school at arrival/dismissal. Please keep pets away from the front circle and no closer than the service road in the back. Some students are very allergic, and others are afraid of animals. Even the friendliest pets can get anxious around a large number of students. We appreciate your help and support with this request.

Email: CedarHillsElementary@bluevalleyk12.org
Website: https://www.bluevalleyk12.org/che
Location: 9100 West 165th Street, Overland Park, KS, USA
Phone: 9132393300
Twitter: @cedarhillselementary