Hawk Updates

March

24th: VAPA Vision Day

25th: KONA ICE after school on Tannin Dr.

27th: Melody Makers at the Poway Performing Arts Center. More info to come!

28th: Community Gathering

April

1st: New Student Enrollment Opens

1st - 10th: APEX

4th: Kindergarten Musical Performance. 9am and 2:15pm. See Flyer Below!

7th: School Site Council. 3:45pm

9th: IEP Training Series in the MPR. See Flyer below.

9th: APEX Fun Run

10th: Dining for Dollars - Perfect Pizza. See flyer below.

14th - 18th: Spring Break. No School. CHES Office Closed

23rd: 1st Grade Musical Performance. See Flyer below.

23rd: CAPES Foundation Meeting

25th. Community Gathering

25th - May 2: Book Fair

Click HERE for the School Calendar.

Parent access to Trimester 2 student progress reports via Synergy ParentVUE will be available on Thursday, March 20th at 5:00 pm. For instructions on how to access your child’s progress report, please click here for the parent directions in English or here for the Spanish version.

Important!!

Thank to all families who have completed your Continuing Student Registration. This process is REQUIRED for all families returning to CHES next year. Failure to do Continuing Student Registration could result in your student losing their seat at CHES.

If you have not done Continuing Student Registration yet, please see directions below and complete it as soon as possible. If you need assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out the CHES office for help.

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Parents-

PUSD 2025-2026 Continuing Student Registration is open!

Online Continuing Student Registration will be open from February 28 - March 31, 2025. We must receive a completed digital packet for all returning students. This will allow for proper placement of your student(s) for the 2025-2026 school year. This annual digital process allows a family to complete one single “family” packet instead of completing one packet per student. Packets can be completed using any computer, tablet, or smartphone with an internet connection.

Continuing Registration Steps:

1. Login and complete the digital registration packet via the online registration portal found here.

2. Review and complete any required forms located at the conclusion of the process. A packet is not considered finalized until this step is completed.

Please note: THERE WILL BE AN ENROLLMENT CONFIRMATION PROCESS IN AUGUST AND YOUR PARTICIPATION WILL BE ESSENTIAL TO ENSURE A SMOOTH START TO THE SCHOOL YEAR.

Please note: MEDICATION FORMS and ADDITIONAL SIGNED SITE SPECIFIC FORMS WILL NOT BE COLLECTED UNTIL SCHOOL BEGINS IN AUGUST FOR THE 2025-2026 SCHOOL YEAR.

Forgot your username or password? Need technical help? You can retrieve your username as well as reset your password by visiting https://password.powayusd.com and clicking the button that represents the help you require. Technical help is also available by sending an email to accounthelp@powayusd.com.

Please email Principal Little or Assistant Principal Chambers as soon as possible if you do not plan to return to PUSD for the 2025-2026 school year.

alittle@powayusd.com

cchambers@powayusd.com

Thank you for your attention to this important process,

The PUSD Enrollment Team

What is the CA Reading Difficulties Risk Screener?

The CA Reading Difficulties Risk Screener (RDRS) is a tool that is used annually with all K-2 students to assess their early reading skills. The RDRS is used to identify students who may be at risk of reading difficulties and need additional support in reading and literacy to ensure success in school. The RDRS screening process will begin in the 2025-2026 school year.

Why is the RDRS important?

The screener helps identify reading difficulties in the primary grades, giving students the best chance to improve their reading skills. By identifying challenges early, teachers can offer targeted support and interventions that help all students become confident readers. Early identification and support lead to better outcomes in literacy and overall academic success.

How does the RDRS work?

The screener will be administered to students in the primary grades (Kindergarten through 2nd grade) through a series of short assessments focused on foundational reading skills. The results help teachers understand where a student may be struggling and whether further assessment or intervention is needed.

RDRS Community Input Meeting

Learning Support Services will be hosting a Community Input Meeting on April 1, 2025 from 5:00-5:45 pm. We invite parents and community members to join our Community Input Meeting to ensure all voices are heard in selecting new learning materials for our schools. Community feedback is essential in choosing resources that support student success, reflect our district’s values, and align with educational goals. This meeting will be held via Zoom, and can be accessed HERE.

For more information, please click here for an infographic explaining the RDRS selection process and timeline.

A special Thank You goes out to Stevie Zech, Carolyn Miller and all of the wonderful volunteers who made our Annual Family Art Night a HUGE success, even in the rain. It was great seeing families explore the hundreds of art pieces in the MPR, grab some food, create some of their own art in our Art Room and snag some face painting in the library. Truly a great night!

Exciting news for our TK program! Beginning 2025-26, PUSD Transitional Kindergarten will be a full-day program. The range of age-eligibility will also expand - children who turn four-years-old on or before September 1, 2025, will be age-eligible for TK. (Students who turn 5 on or before September 1, 2025 will be age-eligible for Kindergarten) Please feel free to share this news with your friends and neighbors who have children in this age range.

Enrollment for TK for next year opens on April 1, 2025.

It’s hard to believe it but it’s already time to begin to think about the 2025-2026 school year!

Here are some important dates to mark on your calendars:

• Transfer Requests - beginning on February 1st at 8:00 am, we will accept transfer requests for students who live in the Poway Unified boundaries and would like to attend a different Poway school. This includes incoming siblings of current students, as well as students who have not yet enrolled. Transfer requests can be made on the Poway Unified website by clicking THIS link. The transfer window closes on March 31st at 5:00 pm.

• Continuing Student Registration - from February 28 - March 31st, all parents whose current students will continue in Poway Unified for the 2025-26 school year need to complete online continuing registration. Look for more information coming soon.

• New Student Enrollment - beginning on April 1st at 8:00 am, new student enrollment opens on the Poway Unified website. We are excited to welcome our new students!

More details can be found on the Poway Unified website at www.powayusd.com.

As we begin planning for the next school year, we want to share our process for student class placement. Our goal is to create well-balanced classrooms that support the academic and social success of all students. To achieve this, we carefully consider a variety of factors, including academic needs, learning styles, peer relationships, and overall class dynamics.

Because of this thoughtful process, we are unable to accept teacher requests for individual students. Please know that our staff works diligently to ensure that each child is placed in an environment where they can thrive.

Thank you for your understanding and support. If you have any specific concerns about your child’s learning needs, feel free to share them with us, and we will do our best to take them into account during the placement process.

Aaron Little

Principal

Hello 5th grade families! Exciting and nerve wracking times with your students heading into middle school in just a few short months. You may be wondering how you can stay connected with the schools as education becomes more independent and students start to have multiple teachers and less of a “home base” for the last seven years of their public school eduction. Volunteering is a great option! While much less time consuming than elementary school volunteering, it still gets you the opportunity to connect with the campus, teachers, and admin. At Bernardo Heights Middle School, both PTSA and Foundation boards are actively recruiting for next year’s board. There are positions that require just a few hours per school year, and those that are more time intensive. Please reach out to hear more, if you would consider volunteering!

For PTSA, please reach out to Rachel, rachel.ashcraft@gmail.com and for foundation, please reach out to Heidi, heidihatcher@gmail.com. We look forward to connecting!

Use the QR Code above to get a seat in the Chaparral section and have a portion of your ticket price donated back to the school!

A big thank you to Ms. Westmoreland who has put her wonderful artistic ability to work by decorating many of our windows throughout campus!

Order Your 2024-25 Yearbook Today!

Chaparral Hawks Yearbooks are available for purchase. Choose softcover or hardcover and personalize for free by creating two custom pages filled with your own photos and memories. Personalized pages are optional but must be completed by Monday, April 21st.

Click here to order your yearbook—log in or create an account to get started.

Share Your Photos for the Yearbook!

Help us feature your smiling kiddos in the yearbook! Please upload your photos, such as "First Day of School" and "Fall Book Fair", to TreeRing by logging in and selecting Share Photos. Prefer an app? Download the free TreeRing Yearbooks app! Need detailed instructions? Click here.

(To be eligible, photos must be high quality and taken on campus. The deadline to include fall and winter school photos is January 31st.)

Parents-

We’d like to remind you that when students are checked out early, we wait until the parent or guardian arrives at the school before calling them out of class. This allows students to remain engaged in their learning for as long as possible, minimizing missed instruction time.

Additionally, please remember to bring ID!

Thank you for your understanding and patience when picking up your student.

It takes a lot to ensure our kids are getting the best experiences and education. If you or someone you know wishes to donate to a teacher's classroom or the overall school, one way you can do so is through the follow site: CLASSROOM SUPPLIES - ONLINE DONATION PROGRAM

Valentine's Day Grams

• Decade Day- Dress up from your favorite decade...past OR future! 1950s? 1990s? 2090s? The world is your oyster!

• Donate grocery store gift cards (no more than $25 per card) for PUSD families in need. Let’s try to raise $1,000! There will be another announcement about this during the community gathering on 3/28

• Snuggle up with a good book! To help celebrate the book fair that starts April 25th, we are asking each teacher to host a read-a-thon in their classrooms to encourage kids to read!

• Book Character Day! Dress up like your favorite book character in honor of the book fair and the read-a-thon!

We are excited to announce that we have a new Student Support Assistant, Ms. Jenny Oesterblad. Ms. Oesterblad will be working with Mr. Hicks to support our students with Second Step lessons and all of our children's social-emotional needs. Welcome!

"What's this 'Second Step' I keep hearing about?" Great question! Second Step is a longstanding program at Chaparral and throughout our district. It forms the foundation of our Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum, which is designed to help students from Transitional Kindergarten (TK) through all grade levels develop vital social and emotional skills.

Second Step lessons guide students in building empathy, learning strategies to self-regulate and calm down, solving problems effectively, and understanding bullying prevention, along with many other important life skills.

At Chaparral, we have a dedicated SEL team: Ms. Oesterblad teaches our youngest learners in TK through 2nd grade, and Mr. Hicks works with students in grades 3 and up. Together, they equip students with the tools they need to confidently navigate social and emotional challenges, fostering a positive, inclusive learning environment where all students can flourish.

2024/2025 School Year Birthday Marquee Signups are now open!

Complete the form from the link provided below if you would like your child's name (first name and last initial) to appear on the Chaparral Marquees during the week of his/her birthday. To secure your marquee reservation, please make a $25 donation to CAPES after submitting the form.

Note--Each marquee has only two (2) available sign-ups per week. If a week is not listed, it has reached the maximum capacity of reservations. Holiday weeks have not been included. This form is ONLY for the 2024/2025 school year. Please do not submit a response for a future school year.

Your child's birthday message (ex. Happy Birthday Lizzie B.) will appear at some point during the week and will stay up for a minimum of 1 day.

Please note that our CAPES volunteers may need at least one (1) week of advance notice to honor birthday marquee reservations.

Click the link HERE to sign up today!

We are looking for any parent who may be interested in helping with the 24-25 Yearbook!

If you are interested, please reach out to Will Smith at chaparralcapes@gmail.com.

Thank you!

PUSD provides breakfast and lunch to all students free of charge pursuant to the California Universal Meals Program. Free meals are available to all families, regardless of their free or reduced-price meal eligibility status. Breakfast service will begin at 8:25 am and end at 8:40 am. Students will report directly to the playground after eating breakfast. Students not eating breakfast need to arrive when the playground opens at 8:25 am.

Meal program details are provided on the Food and Nutrition Department website at PUSD Food and Nutrition. Families are still encouraged to submit a school meal application for free and reduced-priced meal benefits because this information may be used for other programs such as Federal and State funding for your school, reduced registration fees for academic tests, free or discounted fees for bus passes, ESS childcare, and athletic programs, discounted rates for internet service and many more! The application can be found online at https://www.myschoolapps.com/ . Applications must be submitted on an annual basis.

In order to Volunteer on campus, PUSD's Volunteer Requirements must be met and the following documentation needs to be submitted to the office:

1) Volunteer Application & Megan's Law clearance form + picture ID (signed annually)

2) TB clearance/negative result from a health care provider (Good for 4 years)

3) Code of Conduct form (signed annually)

4) Code of Confidentiality (signed annually)

Note--the district office needs at least 2 weeks to process and clear volunteers once all forms/documents are submitted; therefore, please submit the volunteer paperwork as soon as you are able.

Obviously, the best environment for any student to learn is the school environment. Whenever possible, families are strongly encouraged to avoid taking vacations and other trips that results in their students missing extended periods of time from school.

However, when these trips are unavoidable, parents can request an OCIS contract. Details of OCIS contracts can be found below.

Off Campus Independent Study (OCIS) Contracts

This contract allows the student to complete work that he/she would be doing if they were in class and helps the school to continue to receive funding from the state. The student needs to work with his/her teachers closely to submit the assignments.

The threshold for implementing an OCIS contract is limited to a minimum of 3 days through a maximum of 14 school days. The 14-school day limit for OCIS contracts is cumulative for the entire school year.

At least 5 school days of notice is required to set up an OCIS Contract.

*A family who plans to keep their student out of school beyond the 20 days must enroll their child in Poway Home Education Program (PHEP: TK through 8th grade)

Please refer to the PUSD website for more information and contact the student’s counselor.