Casimir Weekly Cougar Updates

Our talented students proudly showcased their musical abilities, making it an unforgettable evening filled with joy and holiday spirit.

The program began with our amazing Casimir Choir students, who performed several beautiful songs, including impressive solos that were both melodious and captivating.

Our Jazz band was a true treat! Their performance was outstanding, reflecting the extra time and care they’ve put into rehearsals during homeroom. They were accompanied by some snazzy dancers who added flair and excitement to the show.

The Beginning band amazed the audience with their impressive musical talents, proving that even at the start of their musical journey, they are already making a remarkable impact.

The Advanced band delivered a performance that was nothing short of professional. Their execution of several musical numbers was so flawless, I’d confidently compare them to the LA Philharmonic any day!

We were also treated to an incredible performance by the Casimir Orchestra, the only middle school orchestra in the District. Their Christmas melodies were beautifully executed and left the audience in awe.

The program concluded with a spectacular grand finale, where all musicians joined together to perform a medley of holiday classics. It was a crowd-pleasing, awe-inspiring moment that truly captured the holiday spirit!

I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the many individuals who made this event such a success:

• Mr. Aaron Rose, our dedicated and talented music teacher, who works tirelessly every day to inspire and teach our students. With six music classes and countless eager students, Mr. Rose’s leadership and passion have helped our music program grow tremendously.

• Mr. George, for your behind-the-scenes support in ensuring everything ran seamlessly—from the dazzling lighting across the quad to the flawless sound system. Your efforts truly added magic to the evening.

• Rose & Carlos, our incredible custodians, for making sure our campus was at its best, allowing our students to shine even brighter and our families to feel welcomed and proud.

• Mr. Sabo, for lending your amazing voice as the narrator, adding an extra special touch to the performance.

• Casimir PTSA, for your ongoing partnership and unwavering support of our programs, helping us reach new heights for our students.
  
  

Finally, a huge thank you to all of our parents for attending, cheering, and supporting our students. Your enthusiasm and encouragement mean the world to all of us and, most importantly, to our Casimir students.

Last night’s performance was a beautiful reminder of the incredible talent, hard work, and collaboration within our Casimir community.

Proud Principal,
Warmly,
James

This was part of a Student Council-sponsored event where the Grinch made an appearance as a fun and festive addition to the scavenger hunt activity this week.

Recognition from the U.S. News Best School Ranking # 254 in CA

Recognition of the Educational Results Partnership Honor Roll

Recognition: 2024 CA Distinguished School

The amazing School Counselor, Ms. Hunnel, and School Therapist, Ms. Liu, are providing exceptional support to students as they engage with Naviance! This program is an integral part of Torrance Unified School District’s comprehensive 6-Year College and Career Readiness Plan.

Starting in middle school and continuing through high school, this plan is designed to help students achieve college readiness and ensure they are well-prepared for success in their futures.

We are so proud to see our students embracing this opportunity to develop essential skills and prepare for the bright paths ahead of them!

Attention 8th Graders, Are you biliterate?? Can you read and write in English and another language? If so, please see Ms. G in Room 83 to earn the Pathway to Biliteracy Award.

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.

Parents, please look through the latest edition of Helping Students Learn for articles on simple ways to help your middle schooler feel motivated, making plans for attendance, reducing power struggles, reading for fun as a family, math and science study strategies, and more!

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

Throughout the year, our Casimir Media Arts class will be creating PBIS posters to promote the Cougar Code around Casimir. The sayings on each poster are based on Casimir data and student feedback. This month our school focus is "I am safe because I take emergency drills seriously at Casimir." Casimir staff will recognize students for following the monthly focus with Gotcha tickets, such as during our shelter in place drill we had on 12/4. If we see you doing a great job with the Cougar Code, you could eaen a Gotcha ticket! This is also a great time for parents to discuss the monthly focus with their child at home to further support he Casimir Cougar Code.

At Casimir, being on time is very important for student success in all classes. Below is some data showing Casimir tardies from 11/25 - 11/26.

From 11/25 - 12/16 there were 183 tardies at Casimir.

Period 1 = 62% of Total Tardies

Period 2 = 11% of Total Tardies

Period 3 = 8% of Total Tardies

Period 4 = 5% of Total Tardies

Period 5 = 8% of Total Tardies

Period 6 = 5% of Total Tardies

6th grade = 31 students were tardy = 16.32% of the total tardies

7th = 30 students were tardy = 14.15% of the total tardies

8th = 52 students were tardy = 24.3% of the total tardies

Our goal is to see these tardy numbers decrease and parents, you can help! With winter break approaching, now is a great time talk to your child about the importance of being on time to class. You can also check the number of tardies your child has in PowerSchool and you can be notified if your child is tardy to class. For help with PowerSchool or to get the PowerSchool app, please click the button below.

Our weekly In-N-Out winner is Matias Valdesuso!

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

Mr. Merrihew's Gotcha Raffle winners are Tyler Chin and Nathaniel Ma! Congratulations!

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

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/