The Bulldog 10.3.24

Events at a glance:

• Thursday, October 3: Title I Parent Meeting, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, October 9: Spirit Night at Commune - Adults Only, 6:00-12:00
• Thursday, October 10: Picture Make Ups
• Friday, October 11: Walk and Roll
• Saturday, October 12: Read-a-Thon Begins!
• Monday, October 14: Book Fair Begins!
• Thursday, October 17: Literacy Family Night, 5:30-7:30

Note from Mrs. Lockwood

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a wonderful Fall Break. The weather is cooler and the leaves are changing; fall is finally here! Parent-teacher conferences began this week. This is a great opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher to understand their strengths and areas for growth. If you need to schedule a conference, please reach out to your homeroom teacher as soon as possible.

October is the official start of fall and also one of the longest months of the school year. Every day we encourage our students to prepare for school the night before and get good a night's sleep. These tips help with a smooth morning and ensure all Clairemont students arrive at school on time. Students are considered tardy at 8:21. Families, please help us by making sure your student arrives at school on time.

Every once in a while our Clairemont students have accidents that require a change of clothes. I would rather students change into fresh clothes and remain at school. Please send an extra set of clothes that will stay at school.

Next Thursday is our Picture Make Up day.

Each fall and spring Clairemont holds a Read-a-Thon where the goal is for your child to read or have as many minutes as possible read to them each day. Each morning, the minutes from the day before are counted and the class from each grade that reads and participates the most will be announced to the whole school as the winner! The winning teachers in each grade will get the honor of wearing a special reading cape!

Our fall Read-a-Thon will start very soon! It begins on Saturday October 12th and continues through minutes read on Thursday October 17th! Your children will log their minutes on paper logs that you will receive in your folders next week.

Read-a-Thon is also one of the biggest fundraisers for the PTA. Funds that are raised help support student activities, field trips, and fun upcoming community events such as Family Literacy Night, Spring Carnival, Field Day, and more. Your child can ask family, friends, and neighbors to sponsor them to encourage them to read as much as possible during Read-a-Thon. Sponsors can choose to donate a flat amount or make a pledge to donate a certain amount for every minute read. If a sponsor pledges to donate per minute, at the end of the week your child can tell them how many minutes they read or had read to them and they can donate the final amount. Pledge sheets will come home next week. You can send your sponsors the link or QR code below to make a donation, or donations can be made via check made out to “Clairemont Elementary PTA” that your child can bring to school to give to their teacher:

https://clairemontpta.ptboard.com/formvw?store=5258&form=3&position=157455

If you have any questions, please contact Read-a-Thon chair Tamara Miller (tpmiller@gmail.com). If you are interested in volunteering to count minutes read or sell books during the book fair, please sign up at the link below:

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/508084EABAB2DABFA7-51837135-fall

Get ready to start reading, Bulldogs!

On Tuesday night, Decatur Housing Authority (DHA) celebrated National Night Out, an annual community-building campaign that promotes police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie. Also on Tuesday, our Superintendent Dr. Whitaker visited Clairemont to meet with Principal Lockwood and leaders from the Communities in Schools organization.

With flu season upon us, please be on the lookout for flu signs and symptoms. Please keep your student at home if they are experiencing any symptoms and take preventative steps to stay healthy!

Hello Clairemont Families,

Musical rehearsals have begun! If you have a student in the musical and you have not received separate communication about the schedule, snack sign up, and more, please let us know so we can get you on the email list!

Also we are looking for parent volunteers to join our Musical Committee! If you are interested in helping with rehearsals, tickets, props, costumes, staging, or organizing of any kind please CLICK HERE or reach out to the musical committee at the following email addresses:

Monica Nelson mnelson@csdecatur.net - Music Director

Melissa Lawrence melissa.lawrence10@gmail.com - Director

Whitney DeRosa whitney.derosa@csdecatur.net - Set/Props/Communications

Busola Akinbote oluyemib@gmail.com - Rehearsals/Backstage

Thank you for your support of our Clairemont Elementary Musical!

Camera Club meets on the following Thursdays from 7:30 to 8:00 a.m.:

October 10th

October 24th

November 7th

December 5th

Come and take pictures with us!

Cameras will be shared for those students who do not have a camera.

We will focus on a different topic each week (i.e. take pictures of different things each session).

Contact Sarah Wade to RSVP or if you have questions:

225-892-7007

sarahwade2013@gmail.com

Stay up-to-date with all the Clairemont PTA news and see pictures of our fun events by following the PTA on Facebook and Instagram. You can find all things Clairemont PTA, as well as the form to join, at the Clairemont PTA website.

As fall break approaches, we're reminded of how DEF's Lighten the Load program began -- with an elementary school teacher who told us that one of her students dreaded school breaks because he and his siblings counted on having two meals a day at school. Our Lighten the Load program has evolved since then, but we're still committed to helping remove obstacles - like food insecurity - for our kids.

The number of weekend food bags we provide has DOUBLED this year, and we need your help to ensure we're able to continue to meet this need. This is our community, and these are OUR kids. Please consider donating to DEF, or purchasing items from Lighten the Load wish list today.

You probably know that September is Suicide Prevention Month -- but do you know that through Joe’s Fund, DEF’s behavioral health fund, we provide ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) workshops multiple times each year? These two-day workshops are open to ANY CSD staff member or Decatur community member. We held a refresher course just this week, and the next trainings will be: October 10-11, February 27-28, and March 13-14. Help us make Decatur a suicide-safe community - sign up using the QR code. Interested in supporting this important work? Donate here: https://decatureducationfoundation.org/donate/.

A Season of Giving is a neighbor-led organization that brings joy to local children and seniors through gift-giving.

For Assistance: To apply for gift assistance, please complete our online application at Apply by October 31st. We are excited to support children through 12th grade again this year.

Sponsor a Gift: Donors can purchase gifts based on individual wish lists for children or seniors. If you would like to be a sponsor, please fill out the form at Sponsor.

Donate Directly: If you prefer, you can make a donation, and we will do the shopping for you. Simply Donate at our website!

Volunteer: We would greatly appreciate your help! If you're interested in volunteering, please go to Volunteer and sign up.

Need Help or Have Questions? If you encounter any issues with the forms or have any questions, feel free to reach out to us at aseasonofgivingdecatur@gmail.com.

Thank you for your support and generosity of the Season of Giving!