The ESPN- January 2024

January is here!

Each month, I will be sending out a monthly newsletter that will include all of the happenings and other informational items about our building. Our goal is to stay as connected as we can with all of our families. If you ever have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us!

Three important reminders on arrival/dismissal:

1. ALL parents/guardians/students/staff NEED to use a crosswalk when coming or going. We have repeat offenders to this and while we know this is an inconvenience, we have procedures in place for the safety of all.
2. Students should never have to cross in front of a lane of traffic without a crossing guard. You must be in either lane 1 or lane 2 to drop or pick up your child. Any other area is dangerous! We are seeing more of this everyday and need your help!
3. Doors B and C lock at 8:00 AM therefore, if you arrive after 8:00 AM your child will need to go through the main doors to the office to get a tardy pass.

Thank you as well for your continued support to the CFES school community! - Mrs. Chappuis

Winter is definitely here. Please help your child come to school with appropriate winter gear. This includes: a coat, snow pants, boots, hat and mittens/gloves. If you need assistance providing the items please reach out to our school social worker, Janae Blakeslee (subbing for Courtney Molitor) at blakeslee.janae@cf.k12.mn.us.

With the cold weather approaching, its a great time to revisit our BOLD Day (Bomber Online Learning Day) guidelines. The first two cancellations due to weather will not be considered BOLD days. They will be considered a true "snow day". The days following our first two will be BOLD days and counted as regular instructional days. Your child's teacher will be communicating with you what the BOLD day learning expectations will be when that time comes. Click here to see our districts BOLD day guidelines.

Welcome to our soon to be bombers! Our kindergarten open house will be on March 4th at 3:30-4:30 PM. We will begin in the elementary cafeteria and then we will tour the kindergarten teachers. If you aren't able to make the open house and would like to visit the school or need registration information please call the school at 507-263-6800 ext. 1201.

For more information, please check out our website at the link below.

https://es.cannonfallsschools.com/parents/kindergarten

Every day our secretaries are spending a considerable amount of time attempting to reach out to families of absent students, please make every effort to call the office if your child will be absent from school. If you do not call the school the absence is marked unexcused. We absolutely have to have contact from the parents about absences by 9:00 AM. We can be reached at 507-263-6800 option 4.

As a reminder, attendance matters! If your child is not feeling well... we understand. However, we have many students reaching a concerning number of absences for other reasons. Did you know that students fall behind with as little as 2 days per month being absent? For more helpful information on the importance of your child's attendance, please read this.

Please read the document below for expectations of our parent pick-up/drop-off and other parking lot helpful hints. One main item that needs to be addressed is that ALL parents/guardians/students/staff NEED to use a crosswalk when coming or going. Please do NOT cut across the car lane. Students are always watching and we want to model for them how to safely cross in the parking lot. The document for reference can be found below. I encourage you to revisit it often. Please share with anyone that is going to be picking up your student.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1g2N7u-B_us0TtPOseZJ2e8N_btNzzy0nRe_C5oY2udM/edit?usp=sharing

As a reminder, parents/guardians will no longer be able to walk their child to their classroom. A students independence grows so much when they get an opportunity to walk into the building by themselves. You may only walk them up to their designated door. Please drop off any items that your child needs for their day in the main office and we will get it to them.

Emergency Drills

For those of you unaware, our district uses the ALICE method in the event of a threat. We will continue to remind students of our expectations during both of these types of drills. Our ALICE drills are not intended to create anxiety for our students but rather provide a knowledge base that will help them in the event they need it. During the ALICE drills, staff and students will be discussing how to follow directions when given a specific set of threat scenarios. For example: An announcement will be made over the loud speaker stating for example: "There is a threat in the cafeteria, Activate ALICE now." Here is a short video for more information on ALICE. Severe weather drills will take place in the Spring.

**If you would wish that your child opt out of safety drills, please notify Mrs. Chappuis at chappuis.jennifer@cf.k12.mn.us

Energy drinks, candy, and high sugar snacks are not ideal when it comes to fueling learning. Please only send water with your child for their beverage as well as healthy snacks. There will be times where a sugared beverage/treat is allowed for a special occasion. Thank you for your help with this.

1st Grade Informances - Week of March 11

2nd and 3rd Grade Concert - April 25

4th and 5th Grade Concert - February 22

“WIN” (which stands for “What I Need”) is a time when teachers will be personalizing instruction to further meet the unique needs of each learner in every classroom. It is a period of reinforcement, support, and/or enrichment.

Cannon Falls Elementary School is fortunate to have a multi-tiered system of support, which gives students the opportunity to improve math and literacy skills in a small group setting. This means that in addition to the literacy/math instruction your student receives in his/her classroom, he/she may receive small group instruction in the WIN classroom (or their own classroom) 20 minutes per day. Students may switch amongst the WIN teachers but the same curriculum is used throughout. Please note, this is not connected to the special education department in our school. This is an additional form of academic support for all students.

You might hear or see some different titles and acronyms such as RtI (Response to Intervention), ADSIS (Alternative Delivery of Specialized Instructional Services), and Title 1. These labels just explain the State and Federal programs where some of the funding for our WIN teachers comes from. This is why filling out the free/reduced lunch form (regardless of income status) is so important as they directly impact our WIN programming.

Cannon Falls Area Schools partnered with Care Solace to support the well-being of students and their family members. Care Solace is a complimentary and confidential care coordination service that can help you quickly find mental health or substance use treatment options matched to your needs, regardless of circumstance.

If you or a family member are looking for help with mental health or substance use and would like to use Care Solace to find a provider:

• Call 888-515-0595. Support is available 24/7/365 in any language.
• Visit www.caresolace.com/cfk12 and either search on your own OR click “Book Appointment” for assistance by video chat, email, or phone.

If you are volunteering in the classroom for parties or chaperoning for a field trip we have updated our process. You will be required to submit a copy of your drivers license and sign our volunteer agreement. This will be done once per school year. There may be situations that require a background check in addition to the two items mentioned above. This ensures the most safest environment for our students and staff. Thank you for your willingness to volunteer and partnership in our process.

Students are released at 12:50 PM on the following Friday's:

• Jan. 12th
• Feb. 9th
• Mar. 15th
• Apr. 12th

Attending school regularly helps children feel better about school AND themselves. Start building this habit early (PK or kindergarten) so they learn that going to school on time, every day is important. Eventually good attendance will be a skill that will help them succeed

Please see the document here for more information about the importance of Attendance.

If you have district transportation questions please contact Alison Godfrey at godfrey.alison@cf.k12.mn.us

• Jan. 12th PLC Early Release- 12:50 PM
• Jan. 15th- NO SCHOOL - MLK Day
• Jan. 18th- PTO Meeting via Zoom 6:30 PM
• Jan. 19th- 5th Grade Kindness Retreat
• Jan. 22nd- NO SCHOOL- Teacher Workshop
• Feb. 9th PLC Early Release- 12:50 PM
• Feb. 9th- PTO Carnival 5-8 PM
• Feb. 19th- NO SCHOOL- Presidents Day
• Feb. 26th & 29th- Conferences 3:30-7:30 PM
• Mar. 4th- Kindergarten Open House- 3:30-4:30 PM