CWE Families,
Soon will be the time that we begin planning for the upcoming school year. In a few weeks teachers will begin forming classes for the 2023-2024 school year. They use a number of criteria to help them with the process including: balances in gender, race, and academic levels just to name a few. Because there are so many factors we have to take into consideration, we do not honor parent requests. Our teachers spend countless hours in an effort to create the best possible matches to ensure success for every child. If your child has unique needs that would be important for administration to be aware of, please send in a written letter or send an email explaining your child’s unique needs for administration to consider when reviewing class lists during the summer months. Letters will not be accepted which include specific requests for teachers. These letters need to be submitted to Mr. Stevens by May 3rd. Please adhere to this deadline.
Thank You and Go Eagles!!
Mr. Stevens
Spring Testing
Students in VPK – Grade 2 will begin participating in STAR Testing on April 16th – May 3rd. Students in VPK will participate in Star Early Literacy. Students in Grades K-2 will participate in Star Early Literacy or Star Reading and Star Math. Your child’s teacher will send home specific dates for testing.
In May students will participate in FAST testing for students in grades 3-5. Students in grades 4 and 5 will participate in Math and Reading, while students in grade 5 will participate in Math, Reading, and Science. Your child’s teacher will send additional information home regarding specific dates and other important details.
You can support your student in doing their best to show what they’ve learned this year, by ensuring they attend on their scheduled day, getting a good night sleep the night before their test and a healthy breakfast the morning of.
MARK YOUR CALENDERS - April
4/11 - 2nd Grade Concert 6:15-7:30PM
4/12 - Volunteer Cafe 9:00-11:30AM
4/13 - EAGLE FEST 3:00-6:00PM
4/18 - Focus on Achievement Night (See Invite Below)
4/29-5/3 - Staff Appreciation Week
4/29 - School Tour
4/30 - Volunteer Appreciation Lunch 11:00AM-1:30PM
4/30 - Strings & Band Concert 6:30-7:30PM
Please mark your calendar and plan to attend our upcoming events. We are excited to bring back our Eagle Fest...for the first time in nearly 5 years!! Our PTA is working hard to provide an exciting event for our school community. Make sure to purchase your tickets and wristbands. Also check out the silent auction for exciting gift baskets and student experiences!!
Our annual Focus on Achievement Night will be Thursday April 18th. This a night to celebrate the learning of our Eagles!! We will have a BOGO book fair, classrooms will be open, and we will have a Chorus/Drum/Orff concert to conclude our night.
As always please check your emails from PTA and School Administration. Also check out our school and PTA's Facebook for up to the minute updates.
Leave a Note of Thanks
Please take a moment and let those teachers and staff members who work with your student(s) know much you appreciate them!! These notes will be passed along to each of the staff members during Staff Appreciation Week - April 29th - May 3rd. Use the QR code or click the link below.
Ignite Youth Chior
17 CWE students participate in the final Ignite Youth Choir performance of the school year. They performed at the Central Park Performing Arts Center in Largo. They join over 70 other students from 27 Pinellas County schools. It was an incredible night of music. We are so proud of our Eagles!! We are also thankful to our very own Mrs. Richter who is one of the leaders of the North County cohort for the Ignite Youth Choir. She worked tirelessly this year to prepare our Eagles and other students for their performances. Way to go Eagles!!
Updates from Mrs. Shipley!!
Happy Spring Volunteers!
April is a BUSY month! Please read entirely to be in the know!
Thank you, so much for continuing to enter your volunteer hours! If you still have hours to enter or haven’t done so yet, please log into the volunteer system and under “Add Hours” use the current date and add the hours in one or two chunks as the dates aren't as important as the hours themselves. The last day to record hours for the school year will be Friday, May 24th. We will be reporting these hours to Tallahassee, the Department of Education, to show our community involvement and how it directly impacts our school’s success. Every hour counts whether you give your time at school, on field trips or helping from home. Please be sure to log your hours for being a Lunch Pal, a Tutor, a Classroom Assistant, a Field Trip Chaperone, helping with Book Fairs and in the Media Center, to serve in the PTA or SAC (this includes meetings), helping with Special Events, completing projects at the Volunteer Café and more. If you need assistance on navigating the volunteer system and recording your hours, please let me know.
Upcoming Dates & Opportunities:
- April 1st – 15th Cereal Box Donation Drive! – Please donate as many new unopened cereal boxes as possible to our school over this 2-week period. Our goal is 300 boxes! These will be donated to our CWE families in need for the summer months. If we get enough, we may have a special “domino style” show for the students using them. Thanks in advance for your support!
- Thursday, April 11th – 2nd Grade Music Program 6:15 PM Cafeteria
- Friday, April 12th – Volunteer Café - in the Media Center from 9 AM – 11:30 AM, Join us to work on various projects for our teachers, socialize and enjoy a breakfast treat and coffee. THANK YOU GradePower Learning, for donating the delicious snacks each month for this event, we truly appreciate your support! RSVP appreciated, but not required. THIS IS THE LAST ONE FOR THIS SCHOOL YEAR, SO WE EXPECT SEVERAL PROJECTS AS TEACHERS BEGIN TO CLOSE OUT THE YEAR AND PREPARE FOR THE START OF THE NEXT SCHOOL YEAR...HOPE YOU CAN MAKE IT!
- Saturday, April 13th is PTA’s Eagle Fest, from 3 – 6 PM – (See attached flyer) Volunteers are needed, please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080B4BADA923A1FF2-48367898-eagle#/ For additional information or questions, please email cweptaboard@gmail.com April 5th is the last day for pre-order wrist band pricing!
- Thursday, April 18th – Focus on Achievement Night 4:30 – 7:30 PM - Book Fair in Media Center & Strings & Drum Ensemble at 6 PM in Cafeteria.
- Friday, April 26th – PTA Parent/Son Baseball Game – Thresher’s Field in Clearwater. Please watch for more information from our PTA to be sent home soon!
- Testing begins in April and continues until May 24th, different grades will test on different days. That said, we want to limit distractions and create a calm and quiet testing environment to allow students the best opportunity for success. This means that our campus will be closed to volunteering on testing dates unless the teacher has made special arrangements with administration in advance. This includes volunteering in the Media Center. ***The only exception is our Lunch Pal Mentors who will continue their normal schedule during testing. Lunch Pals, please watch for a separate email with more information soon.***
- Tuesday, April 30th is our Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon 11:00 AM – 1:30 PM. Please see the attached invitation and RSVP by 4/24/24 at: https://forms.office.com/r/81UbvUqivX
A Note about Field Trips…
The Field Trip season is upon us. Teachers will let you know if/when there is a field trip and ask for chaperones. Please note, some field trips restrict the number of chaperones, your child’s teacher will let you know if you have been selected. All chaperones must be registered volunteers and have an active status. If you have never registered to volunteer, you may do so at www.pcsb.org/volunteerregistration. The registration will generate a free district background check for a Level 1 status and may take up to 5 business days, you will receive a system generated email once you have been approved to volunteer. If you have already registered to volunteer but have not reactivated for this school year, you will need to log into the volunteer system and answer the reactivation questions. Please see the attached instructions that include the volunteer system web address and your login format. DO NOT use a phone or skip questions as this will place you on hold. The system works best with a PC on Google Chrome as your browser.
Many field trips require Level 2 screenings if you will be separated from a staff member during the field trip. This is an extra level of background check that requires fingerprinting that costs a fee and last for 5 years. Please follow this link for more information about our approved Level 2 fingerprint vendors: www.pcsb.org/Level2 You must obtain your Level 1 approval BEFORE going for your Level 2. The district does not notify me when volunteers are upgraded to Level 2, so you will need to follow up with me 7 – 10 days after you get fingerprinted. Then we can arrange for you to get a Level 2 badge and complete some forms required by the district.
As always, thanks for all your support!
ATTENDANCE MATTERS
When a student is absent from school for any reason, parents are to send in a written note to the teacher explaining the absence or email the school at cypresswoodses.absence@pcsb.org and copy the teacher on the email. Absences will remain unexcused until such documentation is received by the school. Children with poor attendance patterns may be referred to the Pinellas County Truancy Intervention Program. Class work is required to be made up during or after an excused absence. Upon returning to school following an excused absence, a student has as many days to make up the work as days absent. A doctor’s note is required to excuse a student from PE for more than 3 days and documentation is required for absences exceeding 5 days.
Cypress Woods PTA
Get the latest updates from our PTA. Please consider joining PTA or participating in one of their awesome programs!
https://www.cypresswoodspta.com/
