Summer Update
I hope you are all enjoying your summers! Welcome to all of our new Carpenter Families in kindergarten and in our other grades. Our powerschool roll-up occurred, so it's much easier to send messages out to everyone now that it is all in the same system. For our new families, you'll receive a weekly update like this once the school year begins. I typically send it Saturday morning, but if I have something personal going on, then it will then likely come Sunday Night.
In my next email, I'll share new staff members to Carpenter since we are still finalizing some hirings. I will let you know that our 1st grade split, so we will have four sections of first grade next year.
Kindergarten - 3 Homerooms -65 students
1st Grade - 4 Homerooms - 73 students
2nd Grade - 4 Homerooms - 75 students
3rd Grade - 3 Homerooms - 73 students
4th Grade - 3 Homerooms - 75 students
5th Grade - 3 Homerooms - 73 students
(Check out the neat pattern from 1st through 5th)
*We are welcoming 11 new 1st-5th Grade families this year. For our new families, please not the new family orientation that we will be having on Wednesday, August 7th followed by a PTO meeting. Make sure you Save the Date!
*If you have any questions prior to the start of school, please feel to reach out. I am here throughout the summer.
Enjoy the rest of your summer and I'll send out another update sometime in early August.
Mr. Balduf
Dates to Know
Monday, August 5th - Homeroom emails sent throughout day
Wednedsay, August 7th - Pizza Store Opens (PTO Sponsored Thursday Pizza)
Wednesday, August 7th - 6:00 pm - New Family Orientation
Tueday, August 13th - School Supply Drop-off (more details coming) (8:15-9:15 am); PTO meet/greet
Wednesday, August 14th - First Day of School
Thursday, August 15th - Fastbridge Testing begins (K-1)
Tuesday, August 20th -MAP Testing begins (2nd-5th)
Wednesday, August 21st - Parent Night 6:00 pm
Week of August 26th - SAFETY WEEK
Friday, August 30th - Stuff the Squad
Friday, August 30th - Pacers begins
Thursday, September 12th - 5th Grade Camp Duncan Extended Field Trip
Friday, September 20th - Picture Day
Saturday, September 21st - Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast Day
PTO Room Parent Sign-up for 2024-25 School Year
The Room Parent Committee would like to thank our current Room Parent Volunteers for an AMAZING job-we truly appreciate everything you did to make this school year a success.
At this time, we are inviting any parents interested in acting as a Room Parent for their child’s classroom during the 2024-25 school year to complete and submit the Google Form below. You must submit a separate form for each child that you are interested in being a Room Parent for. The responsibilities include:
- being an active member of the PTO (attend at least 1 meeting per quarter)
- help recruit/promote the PTO
- serve as an ambassador to your homeroom
- coordinate classroom Halloween and Valentine’s Day parties
- work with the yearbook committee to collect photos throughout the year
communicate PTO announcements and assist in any other homeroom activities/requests as needed.
You will be contacted in August with the opportunity to accept or decline this volunteer position. Unfortunately, we are unable to grant each interested volunteer a spot for this position as there are only two parents assigned to each homeroom. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions.
Join the Award-Winning D64 Instrumental Music Program!
We would like to invite your student to join the District 64 Instrumental Music program next year! Beginning in 4th grade, your child is eligible to join Orchestra and 5th grade students are eligible to join the band or orchestra. To learn more about the program and the string instruments offered, please see the links below:
Read: Important Information About Instrumental Music
Video Presentation: All About Band!
Video Presentation: All About Orchestra!
If you already registered your child for the 2024-2025 school year but did not select instrumental music, log back into your account to add band/orchestra: Click Here to Add Instrumental Music, click "Forms" on the left, then "Enrollment" at the top and scroll down to instrumental music.
Click here for a video tutorial on how to add band/orchestra to your child’s registration!
The instrumental music registration deadline is August 1. Band/Orchestra teachers will communicate more information via email with registered families the second week of school. Lessons will begin the week of September 2.
If you have any questions, please email Erica Faulhaber (efaulhaber@d64.org), Curriculum Specialist for Instrumental Music.
Lookahead to Next Year: Phones/Watches and Daytime Calls/Texts
We've seen an increase in student smart watches and phones at school. We've noted an increase in distractibility with the watches and inappropriate usage. We've also seen an increase in student to parent and parent to student texting taking place during the school day. Please note that next year we will be implementing a process of follow-up for utilization of smart watches that become a obstacle to learning and engagment in the school day.
