Coralville Central Newsletter

Dear Coralville Central Families,

It is hard to believe that Winter Break is upon us. This time of year brings a wonderful opportunity to pause, reflect, and celebrate the many accomplishments and moments of growth from the first half of the school year.

We hope that during the break, you can find joy and spend quality time with loved ones. Whether cozying up with a good book, enjoying the outdoors, or simply relaxing at home, we encourage everyone to recharge and make special memories.

As we look ahead to the new year, we are excited to continue fostering a positive, supportive learning environment for all our students. Thank you for your ongoing support, and commitment to Coralville Central.

Wishing you and your family a happy, healthy, and peaceful holiday season!

Andy Gahan

Here is the policy for all students' personal devices.

Personal Devices (i.e. cell phones, smart watches, tablets, personal laptops, etc.):

• ALL cell phones and other electronic devices, including smart watches, must be turned in at the start of the day.
• Phone calls can only be made from a school phone with adult supervision.
• If you need to contact a parent about an issue at school, you must first speak to a teacher or another adult about the situation.
• If it is discovered that a student has not turned in their device, parents will be called to pick it up from the office.

The district will not be held accountable for lost or stolen items brought to school by a student.

A further note, this policy extends to field trips. NO PERSONAL DEVICES WILL BE ALLOWED ON ANY FIELD TRIPS.

Coralville Central is now a certified Heart Safe School! A team, assembled of many Central staff members, has a cardiac emergency response plan in place and each team member is not only CPR certified, but is also ready to respond to a cardiac emergency and carry out specific roles. We have planned and implemented drills, asked questions, found better ways to respond, and this week, the Project Adam team from the University of Iowa awarded Coralville Central with the Heart Safe School designation after watching the response team run a successful drill. This is a big accomplishment and we are so proud to be the first elementary school in ICCSD to obtain this designation!

Our Lost & Found continues to be full!

Please remind your student to check for missing items often. It is EXTREMELY important to remember to label coats, jackets, sweatshirts, lunch containers, water bottles, etc. That way we can give the items back to its owner.

Prior to winter break, all unclaimed items will be donated.

When we return from winter break, we will continue to celebrate DIVERSITY. We will talk about differences among our classes, touch on neurodiversity, and celebrate diversity among our families.

Enjoy the upcoming winter break! Time for friends, family, food and fun!

Devin Redmond (she/hers)

Teacher Librarian

Coralville Central Elementary : ICCSD

Instagram @cclibrary

Facebook @coralvillecentral

Twitter @devinred

Hello Coralville Central families,

With fall upon us, it is important that all students are dressed for the weather which means having a good, warm coat. If your student needs a coat, feel free to contact me, Mr. Mendoza--Student Family Advocate. I'll work hard to ensure your student has a coat that will fit them and keep them warm throughout this fall/winter season.

Thank you!
Mr. Mendoza

Student and Family Advocate

Coralville Central Elementary

Iowa City Community School District

Email: mendoza.michael@iowacityschools.org

Office #: 319.688.1100 Ext. 4513

School Absences Due to Illness

If your student has a fever, vomiting and/or diarrhea:

• They must stay home from school for 24 hours after the last time they vomited, had diarrhea, or had a fever without taking fever-reducing medication.

If your does not feel well but does not have the symptoms above, please use your best judgement when sending them to school. We want students to be at school as much as possible! However, if your student is so tired from being ill that they cannot stay awake at school or if they cannot stop coughing, as examples, it may be best for them to stay home to rest a day. Please keep a close eye on your student's attendance.

Absences related to illness or medical appointment:

• After a student reaches the equivalent of 8 (eight) days of excused absences, parents will be required to provide documentation for medical absences to be excused. Absences may be taken in hour segments.
• Families are encouraged to provide documentation for ongoing health concerns to the school so that we can proactively work with your family to best serve your student.

School begins promptly at 7:50 AM. Any student arriving in the classroom after 7:50 AM
is late to school. Currently we are having a large number of students arriving to school late. Please know these minutes are counted in their absenteeism and can result in consequences.

Confused about attendance that is marked Unexcused?

Anything that is not a state exempt absence (Religious, Medical, Family Medical) is coded in Infinite Campus as Unexcused because it is counting the minutes missed from instruction.

Students are allowed up to 8 Medically Exempt (MEDX) absences per trimester. Medical absences after 8 must have a note to be exempt.

The District is committed to providing a safe and healthy learning environment for our students. Due to the increase in food allergies and concerns with childhood obesity, changes have been made to the district's Wellness Policy regarding classroom snacks, birthday treats, and classroom celebrations. Some elementary schools are celebrating without food, so please check with your child's school to find out their practice.

When food is served to students in the classroom as a snack, birthday treat, or during a classroom celebration, the following rules apply (ICCSD Wellness Policy 507.9):

• allow only fresh fruits/vegetables or purchased foods with the ingredients listed (no homemade foods).
• allow only foods that meet the Healthy Food Guidelines/Smart Snacks. The only exception to this would be food-tasting related to district-approved curriculum lessons.
• not allow foods with peanuts or peanut butter, or foods that were made in a factory where cross-contamination may occur.
• food that does not meet the guidelines will be sent home.
• a list of acceptable foods (Healthy Food Guidelines/Smart Snacks) will be made available to parents and teachers at the beginning of the school year (and can be found on the district web site).

Examples of Acceptable Foods:

• Veggie straws or chips
• Skinny Pop or Boom Chicka Pop popcorn
• Cheddar Goldfish or Annie's Cheddar Bunnies
• Gluten-free pretzels or pretzel chips (example: Snyder's brand)
• Carrots
• Applesauce
• Fruit leathers
• Benton's animal crackers (Aldi)
• Apples, bananas, cuties
• Pirate's Booty
• Mott's, Welch's or Annie's fruit snacks

**Snacks MUST be individually packaged.

**All snacks MUST be PEANUT/TREE NUT FREE and MUST NOT be made in a facility that processes nuts. The packaging should not have any NUT Allergy Warnings.

Read the ingredient label for any allergy warnings.

**Snacks that are not on the approved list will be sent home.

**Non-food items are always preferable so all students may safely enjoy a treat. Some examples include:

• Stickers
• Washable tatoos
• Bubbles
• Pencils/erasers

• Monday, December 23rd - Friday, January 3rd--NO SCHOOL, Winter Break
• January 14th, 15th & 28th - Hearing Screening for PK, K, 1st & 5th grades
• Monday, January 20th - No School
• Wednesday, January 29th - No School

A reminder that our music program for 3rd - 5th graders will be at the Coralville Center of the Performing Arts on Wednesday, February 19th, 2025. The program will be in the evening. More information to come!

Central Chess Club is open to all students. We meet on Tuesday mornings at 7:15 in the school library and our goal is to have fun, learn chess, and frame losses as an opportunity to learn. Students do not need to know how to play chess to join the club!! Come join us!

For any questions, please email coralvillecentralchess@gmail.com.

If you need to come into Coralville Central for any reason, please come to the front of the school and ring the doorbell. We will let you in and then you need to come into the main office and sign in. Thank you!

ALL parents of Kindergarten and 1st grade students - please make sure that your student has an extra change of clothes in their backpacks EVERYDAY in case of accidents. Please also make sure they are season-appropriate (for this time of year--please send sweat pants or leggings).

Imagine it. Explore it. Achieve it. Preschool starts here!

We’d love to welcome your little one to our preschool family! Our teachers are certified in both general and special education, and we offer free half-day programming for 4-year-olds in all of our elementary schools, with full-day options also available.

Preschool registration for the 2025-26 school year opens Feb. 6, 2025. Register on-site between 4 & 6 pm at City High, Liberty High, or West High School. Online registration is also available beginning at 4 pm on Feb. 6.

Learn more at www.IowaCitySchools.org/Preschool

DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS

IOWA CITY COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT

www.IowaCitySchools.org | /Enroll | /Branding | /CommunityRelations

The link below is the description of the expectations for drop-off and pick-up at Coralville Central. Thank you for following these guidelines. We want everyone to make it safely and on time.

Drop-Off and Pick-Up

Positive Behavioral Intervention and Supports (PBIS) is a schoolwide framework to make schools safe and promote positive behavior.

There are a few important principles we work from here at Central:

• Identify the behaviors expected in all settings
• Active teaching
• Ongoing recognition of appropriate behavior
• Clear, consistent consequences for inappropriate student behavior
• Additional support for students with more significant needs
• Collecting and using data to make decisions

Some questions you could ask your students might be “How do you know how to act in the lunchroom? Or the restroom? Who taught you the rules for the playground? How do you know you’re doing a good job following expectations at school?”

Looking for information on Securly, our web filtering tool? Find all
the information here www.IowaCitySchools.org/Securly.

If you have any questions, feel free to let me know. Thank you!

CONTACT: (319) 688-1000 | pedersen.kristin@iowacityschools.org
EXPLORE: www.IowaCitySchools.org
FOLLOW: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Mobile App

Technology continues to evolve and play a key role in learning. One recent emerging technology claiming to transform education is artificial intelligence (AI). As the district explores both the potential and pitfalls of AI, we wanted to gain your insights. The questions within the survey will help us better understand your knowledge of AI, what concerns you may have, as well as what hunches you have about its ability to enhance student learning. In addition, your expertise will assist in the creation of guidelines for both teachers and students as they use artificial intelligence in the classroom. Your anonymous feedback will play a crucial role in ensuring artificial intelligence is not only accessible but used responsibly and effectively to enrich student learning experiences. We greatly appreciate your time and thoughtful responses to the probing questions.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSevjjZDHHv9QfHLmy9ek2YhScTmen739_hMp4Q_9Hdc4XdmLA/viewform

Please make sure you review the district student handbook for questions on policies, etc.

https://www.iowacityschools.org/Page/14338

Students, Families, and Employees - The Ombuds Office is here to help! Visit www.IowaCitySchools.org/Ombuds to learn more!

In order to achieve our goals of excellence and equity for all students, we have adopted a new school improvement model called High Reliability Schools. High Reliability Schools is a framework that supports fulfilling our vision of equitable outcomes for all students. It gives us a common language to name what we’re doing, assess our current reality, align our initiatives, and determine where to go next. It is a vehicle that allows us to balance shared responsibility and autonomy to make decisions that best meet the needs of all our students.

We are excited to get this work started and we are excited to partner in this process with all of you! We value the voice of our school community and we want to make sure that your experiences are reflected in our High Reliability Schools implementation. Throughout the year, there will be multiple opportunities for our students, families, and staff to provide feedback that will inform the work that we do. Please stay tuned for information on these opportunities. We look forward to partnering with you on this exciting new adventure!

It is the policy of the Iowa City Community School District not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, religion, creed, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and socioeconomic status in its educational programs, activities, or employment practices. There is a grievance procedure for processing complaints of discrimination. If you have questions or a grievance related to this policy, please contact Eric Howard, Director of Equity and Employee Relations, 1725 N Dodge St, Iowa City, IA 52245, 319-688-1000, howard.eric@iowacityschools.org.