The Bulldog

Note from Mrs. Lockwood

This has been a great week of teaching and learning. I hope everyone can attend our annual Back to School Picnic this Friday. It will be a great time to connect as a Clairemont community!

Thank you for honoring our arrival and dismissal procedures! Arriving and leaving each day is becoming a much smoother process…We Are Crew!

Starting this Friday, Community Circle is open to families! We invite you to attend Community Circle. It’s a wonderful time to come together and celebrate our learning for the week. Community Circle begins at 8:20. We hope to see you there!

Each month we have an Early Release Day. The purpose of the Early Release Day is professional development for all CSD staff. Our first Early Release Day will be Wednesday, August 28th. Students will be dismissed at 12:45. Our dismissal process will be the same just earlier in the day.

Are you interested in serving on the School Leadership Team (SLT)? If you are not familiar with this, please look at this page to get an idea of what the team does at the school and system level. Applications are due by Tuesday, August 27, 2023. Please look here for the SLT application. You will have the opportunity to vote at Curriculum Night on the 29th.

Curriculum Night will take place Thursday, August 29, from 5:30-7:00. Before Curriculum Night begins, we will have a General PTA meeting, 5:30-6:00 and then begin Curriculum Night at 6:00. Join our PTA, Clairemont instructional team, and your student’s teacher to get an overview of what the learning will look like this year.

Beginning next week, Clairemont families will receive one CSD district newsletter. The transition to one newsletter is in response to feedback from the CSD school community to streamline and reduce the volume of weekly communications to families from multiple schools.

The new district newsletter will include Clairemont school news, district news, and links to all school newsletters. A link to the Clairemont newsletter will be embedded next to the school's logo.

Events At A Glance

• Friday, August 16th, Community Circle (families welcome!), 8:20 am

• Friday, August 16th, Back to School Picnic, 5:30-7:30 pm

• Tuesday, August 20th, Spirit Night @ Bad Daddy’s, 4-8

• Thursday, August 22nd, Title 1 Parent Input Meeting, 8:20-9:20 am (In person) & 5:00-6:00 pm (Virtual)

• Thursday, August 29th, Curriculum Night, 5:30-7:30

Claire the Clairemont Bulldog earned first place and bragging rights for the next year in the first annual CSD Mascot Run last Friday. Go Claire!

Our bulldog artists have started off the new school year strong! We have been busy learning about and reviewing lines. We have a few needs for the art room. I am asking parents for donations of paper towels, baby wipes, and paper plates (the cheapest kind). Feel free to send any with your student or drop off to me in the carpool line in the morning. Thanks so much!

Also, we have an Instagram page! Check out @clbulldogart to see our latest artwork.

Stay up-to-date with all the Clairemont PTA news and see pics of our fun events by following the PTA on Facebook or Instagram.

Find us at: https://www.facebook.com/ClairemontElementary and on Instagram @ClairemontPTA.

And of course, you can find all things Clairemont PTA as well as the form to join at our website: https://clairemontpta.ptboard.com/

Celebrate the start of a great school year with our annual Bulldog Back to School Picnic on Friday, August 16th from 5:30-7:30 at the Clairemont Elementary School Pavillion. This event will happen rain or shine!

The PTA will provide pizza and water for all to enjoy and we are asking families in each grade level to bring an item to help with the celebration as follows:

Kindergarten: Gilbert: Plates Pettigrew: Cups

1st Grade--whole fruits (like bananas, oranges, washed apples) or applesauce pouches

2nd Grade--individually wrapped, nut-free desserts (like packages of oreos or chocolate chip mini cookies)

Volunteers Needed!

If you are able to help out with set-up, clean-up, selling spirit wear, etc, please CLICK HERE to sign up for a volunteer spot!

The artist application for our annual Decatur Holiday Marketplace is NOW OPEN!

You can find the vendor application HERE. The application closes on September 30.

Please help us spread the word!

Can you help us?

We need a parent that is a certified or registered public accountant to help us review the records we keep at the end of the raffle.

Please email Marketplace Chairperson Melissa Godbee at decaturholidaymarketplace@gmail.com if you are able to help!

Our students were challenged to READ, READ, READ this summer! All Summer Reading Bingo forms are due TOMORROW. All students who turn in a completed form will be invited to a popsicle party at the end of the month!

Reminder! City Schools of Decatur's first Early Release Day is Wednesday, August 28, 2024. Here is the schedule of release times by school level:

College Heights: Pre-K: 12:15 PM (0-3 program will remain on the normal schedule)

Lower Elementary: 12:50 PM

Upper Elementary: 12:15 PM

Middle School: 1:45 PM

High School: 1:35 PM

The remaining early release dates are listed below:

Friday, September 20, 2024
Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Friday, November 22, 2024

Thursday, December 19, 2024

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Wednesday, February 26, 2025

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Beginning next week, Clairemont families will receive one CSD district newsletter. The transition to one newsletter is in response to feedback from the CSD school community to streamline and reduce the volume of weekly communications to families from multiple schools.

The new district newsletter will include Clairemont school news, district news, and links to all school newsletters. A link to the Clairemont newsletter will be embedded next to the school's logo.

We're off to a fantastic start this school year, with teachers already diving into instruction and engaging students in deeper learning. Last November, the City Schools of Decatur Board approved a new grading policy for the 2024-25 school year. Please click the CSD Grading Handbook link below to learn more about the details and implementation. Additional opportunities for discussion and questions will be available during each school's curriculum night.

CSD 2024-25 Grading Handbook

The STAR assessment testing window is open for CSD Pre-K through 12th grade students. Please check your school’s newsletter for specific testing dates for your student’s school and grade band. See frequently asked questions about STAR here.

The Teaching and Learning Department will host an informational webinar to provide an overview of STAR and discuss score reports on Tuesday, September 17, at 6 p.m. Join the webinar here.

Additional resources:

• To learn more about STAR, click here.

STAR vs. MAP: view a research study on score correlations here.