September Update

Hello Primary School Families!

Welcome to Preschool, Transitional Kindergarten, Kindergarten and First grade! We are looking forward to seeing you in our hallways very soon. Teachers are busy in professional learning next week and Ms. Theresa, our school custodian, has our hallways shining!

My name is Sarah Walker and I am the principal at Chimacum Creek Primary School. This summer I enjoyed traveling to Chicago with my son and visiting the dinosaurs at the Field Museum of Natural History. Beyond dinosaurs, I love playing outside, building Lego, and reading great books, especially Elephant and Piggie! I can't wait to meet all of you and hear about what you love!

Cowboy Day is August 29th. We will start with a tour of the school and meeting our teachers from 3:30-4:30 and then head to a barbecue at the main campus from 4:30-5:30 with the rest of the Chimacum School District. We hope you are able to join us.

August 29: Cowboy Day

September 3: First Day for 1st Grade

September 6: First Day for TK and K

September 9: First day for Preschool

Please plan on arriving between 8:45 and 9:05 if you are walking or driving by car. Parent drop off is located in front of school.

Students will come in through the garden gate and head straight to the cafeteria for breakfast (free for all kids) when they arrive. Staff will be there to help you. Teachers will join at 9:05 to bring their children to the classroom.

• If you are running late, that's ok, please check in at the main office and we will walk them into class.
• The same is true if your child has an appointment or you need to pick up early, please come to the main office for help.

At the end of the day, teachers will walk students to the bus or to wait for you in the pick up area. Please let your child know who to expect at the end of the school day.

Coming to school, and attending on time have a HUGE positive impact on educational outcomes for kids. Additionally, kids succeed when they feel connected to their peers.

In general, students who attend 90% of school days feel more connected, and reach greater academic success. That means a students should not miss more than 10 days in a semester. Please plan on attending school every day unless your child is ill.

If a problem arises where your child needs to miss school for an extended period of time, please let me know so we can make a plan to support.

Please check here for more information about meals.

https://www.csd49.org/departments/food-nutrition

Please complete the family income survey. This data is important so we can continue to offer free meals at school.

Healthy food is important for our school community, please do not send treats or candy to share at school.

Your child's safety is incredibly important. Please communicate your regular go home plan with your child's classroom teacher. We know that sometimes plans change. The following guidelines really help changes run smoothly.

• If you have a change to the go home plan please communicate with the office by noon.
• Please know the bus number, and stop if there is a change.
• If your child is going home with a friend, please let us know by noon.

We know emergency changes happen, please call the office as soon as you can.

Some kids will tell you everything that happened in a school day and others have a hard time saying much more that "it was good". I know as a parent that it can be a little frustrating when you want to know more details about the day. Here are a few tricks to help you get more information:

• Ask them what their friend was doing in the day
• Ask them to describe only one part of the day: "What game did you play at recess?"
• Ask them about a feeling: " Can you tell me something funny that happened today?"