TIGER TOWN NEWSLETTER

Halloween’s just around the corner, and we’re bracing ourselves for the candy-fueled chaos! Costumes, pumpkins, and enough sugar to keep the kids bouncing for days—it’s all coming. In the meantime, check out this week’s CAS updates to stay ahead of the madness. We can’t promise it’ll stop the sugar rush, but at least you’ll be prepared! Next week you’re invited to join our first PTO meeting of the year on Thursday night, prep your kids for school store on Friday and fill those Christmas stockings by supporting our spirit wear sale, going live on Sunday. Let’s do this!

• 10/21-25: School Safety Week

• 10/21 - Fire Prevention Assemblies

• 10/23 - Halloween Safety and Stranger Danger Assemblies

• 10/24: Kindergarten Principal Chat at 6:00pm (RSVP Required)

• 10/24: VIP Training at 7:00pm (Required for school volunteers)

• 10/24: PTO meeting at 7:30pm

• 10/25: School Store for students

• 10/31: Halloween assembly and parade at 2:30pm

• 11/01: Diwali (early dismissal)

• 11/04-06: Single sessions/parent & teacher conferences

• 11/04-11/05: Book Fair

• 11/07-08: School closed

Scroll down to see the full '24/'25 School Calendar. Or Click Here

Our CAS Fall online spirit wear sale is here! The oh so popular CAS tie dye shirt is back, and so much more. All items are offered in multiple colors, so be sure to click through the site. Happy shopping now through Monday October 28th. https://centralaveschoolmadison2024.itemorder.com/

The Fall Scholastic Book Fair is booked for Monday, November 4th & Tuesday, November 5th! (Reminder - these are half-days of school for Parent-Teacher Conferences.) Students will shop with their classrooms during the school day. Parents and families can shop after school during special afternoon and evening hours! See all details below!

When can we shop?

Monday, November 4th

• 8:45am-12:45pm - Students shop with their classrooms
• 12:45pm-2:00pm - Family Shopping Hours
• 4:45pm-8:00pm - Family Shopping Hours

Tuesday, November 5th

• 8:45am-12:45pm - Students shop with their Classrooms
• 12:45pm-2:00pm - Family Shopping Hours

What payments are accepted at the Book Fair?

Cash, credit cards & Scholastic eWallets

What’s a Scholastic eWallet?

It’s a safe, cash-free payment option that makes your child’s Book Fair shopping experience easy and stress free. Simply create an account, add funds with a credit card, and your child is ready to shop with their electronic wallet! Any unspent funds can be used at future Scholastic Book Fairs.

How do I create a Scholastic eWallet?

Go to our CAS Book Fair homepage. Scroll down to the eWallet section, click “Get Started” and follow the outlined steps. It is super easy!

If you’ve set up eWallets for previous Scholastic Book Fairs, sign in using the same email address to create a new eWallet for Fall 2024. You’ll be prompted to transfer over any unused funds from previous Book Fairs. You can then add additional funds to the existing balance.

You can print the eWallet and send it in with your child on their shopping day. Or, we can look up your child’s account in our system during the Fair.

Can I donate Book Fair purchases to my child’s classroom?

For this particular Fall Book Fair, we are giving our collection of Scholastic bonus points to CAS to be distributed and spent across classroom libraries as needed. Therefore, Teachers will not be creating individual Classroom eWallets for this Book Fair.

If you want to make a small donation to our upcoming Book Fair, we encourage you to support "Share the Fair" - a Scholastic giving program that allows us to make sure all students are able to purchase a book from our Fair. You will find more information and be able to donate directly towards "Share the Fair" on the Scholastic site when you are setting up your child's eWallet.

Can I volunteer at the Book Fair?

We’d love your help! We have a few more slots left to fill. Sign up for a volunteer shift via our SignUpGenius Link.

Courtney Supple & Rachel Currie,

Book Fair Chairs

This program helps add books to the CAS library through your generous donations. Your donation will buy high-quality, specially bound books in the genre of your choice. When the books arrive, Mr. Paradiso will invite your child to pick one from their chosen genre. A special label honoring your family or child will be placed inside, and your child will be the first to check it out from the library. This will be open from the week of November 11th through the week of December 16th. Stay tuned for more info as we get closer.

The class of 2025 will receive their one and only yearbook to remember their time at CAS and we need your help! Please begin submitting your photos of the children in our fifth grade class (no siblings or friends from other grades, please) ASAP!

How to upload photo submissions:

• We will be sending out requests for specific photo categories throughout the year. Each category has a unique email address. Upon sending your photos, you will receive a confirmation email from the company we use to print them - Entourage Yearbooks.

• To start, we are requesting a baby photo for every student. Please list your child’s name in the subject line and email it to: submit+1603725@edophotos.com

• We are also accepting photos for the following categories (group photos preferred):

• First day of school (5th grade) submit+1603731@edophotos.com

• First day of school (Kindergarten) submit+1603732@edophotos.com

• Kindergarten memories (field trips, concerts, etc.) submit+1603733@edophotos.com

• Visit our website: https://sites.google.com/view/cas-yearbook/home for a full list of photo categories

Please click here for all info related to our upcoming CAS Halloween parade & classroom celebrations.

The Madison Police Department has instituted parking rules near the school. Parking is permitted on one side of Walnut Street (the same side as the school) from the crossing guard at DeHart Place and up to Ridgedale Avenue. Parking on the other side of Walnut Street is not permitted during the following hours: 7:00-9:00am, 11:00am-1:00pm, and 2:00-4:00pm. Parking is not permitted on DeHart Place and limited on Cedar Street. Please make sure you adhere to parking signs and parking rules.

All elementary kids participating in concerts need a black shirt. Support Madison Music & Arts by ordering your student's shirt here: Madison Music Tshirts.

Ordering ends on Oct 21st.

Our first window of Star administration occurred during September/October. The Star assessments are diagnostic assessments designed to provide educators and parents with important information about a student's progress. Students in grades 1-5 take the Star reading and/or early literacy assessment as well as the Star mathematics assessment benchmarked for their specific grade. To read general information about the Star assessments, parents are encouraged to visit their family resources page.

Kindergarten teachers administer the Star CBMs (Curriculum Based Measures) in both reading and mathematics. The Fall kindergarten reading assessments assess a student's understanding of letters and their sounds, basic phonological awareness, and early decoding. The kindergarten math assessments include recognizing numerals and their value. Often times the CBMs may be administered in other grade levels, on an as-needed individual basis. For more information regarding the Star CBMs, please click here or see flyer below.

This month, Ms. Mirabella is visiting classrooms to talk about kindness, respect, and the importance of being an upstander against bullying.

• In K-2 classes, we are reading “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” and discussing why it’s important to be kind and respectful. Students are coming up with examples of how they can be “bucket fillers” at school, in the community, and at home.
• In grades 3-5, students are learning about the differences between teasing, mean moments, conflicts, and bullying. They are also learning how to prevent or identify these behaviors and be upstanders to help stop bullying.

During the Week of Respect, all CAS students pledged to stand up against bullying and bias, while showing empathy and respect to their peers. As part of this initiative, students created a paper chain of promises, with each link representing a commitment to kindness and respect.

The Blue Tiger Reading Challenge is underway. Students should have received their first calendar of this year this week in school! Just a reminder how this competition works-the entire school is broken up into 4 teams. Students will keep track on the calendar how much they are reading at home each night. At the end of the month, they will submit their minutes to Mr. Paradiso on the monthly google form. This form can be found here, in their library google classroom, in the PTO newsletter, or on the CAS library website.

Whatever team reads the most minutes each month will win a custom 3D printed keychain, courtesy of Mrs. Walch. We are also working together as a school to see if we can beat our score from last year, which was 1,080,788 minutes.

Please try to encourage your students to participate in this fun challenge, and Mr. Paradiso will send reminders near the end of each month to remind students/parents to submit their minutes on the Google form. Please contact Mr. Paradiso with any questions!

PTO dues support activities including monthly assemblies, enrichment programs, and teacher appreciation and supplies to name a few. The suggested amount is $40 (more or less as your circumstances allow). You can pay online here or via Venmo @CASPTO

We’re looking for TWO parents to join as this year’s incoming PTO vice presidents. In this role, you’ll shadow current presidents Dawn Ellis and Pat Attenasio, then take over as co-presidents for the 2025-2026 school year. It’s fun, rewarding and your kids will be proud! Please email caspto@gmail.com with any questions.

Scholastic Book Fair

Our Fall Scholastic Book Fair is scheduled for November 4th & 5th. We could use some volunteers to help with set-up, floor staff and clean-up! Please consider registering for a volunteer slot via our SignUpGenius link.

The Madison SEPAG (Special Education Parent Advisory Group), is an advisory group of parents with children involved with the Special Services Department in the Madison Public Schools.

SEPAG Fall Meeting:

Wed, Nov 13 @ 7pm via Zoom, SEPAG meeting

Click here for more info and to learn how you can be a part of Madison Reads.