Blue Jay Buzz

In this issue you will find:

New Info

• Upcoming Dates
• Community Corner
• Updates and Other Information
• Attendance Alert Emails
• Clubs and Activities
• PTO Upcoming Events

Old News

• Cellphones, Medication, Attendance, Tardiness to school

3/7/2025 Newsletter

Mark T. Schwarz - Principal - mschwarz@dps109.org

Donnie Castans - Associate Principal - dcastans@dps109.org

Marcia Klita - Director for Student Services - mklita@dps109.org

Thursday 3/13 - Coffee @ Caruso 2-2:40PM RSVP by calling the main office

Friday 3/14 - Sunday 3/16 - High School Musical Jr.

Thursday 3/20 & Friday 3/21 - Parent-Teacher Conferences (Click here for more info)

Monday 3/24 - Friday, 3/28 - Spring Break

Tuesday 6/3 - 8th Grade Graduation @ DHS

Wednesday 8/13 - Locker Day

If you’ve ever stepped into the Learning Commons (LC), you’ve felt the energy, warmth, and enthusiasm that Mrs. Chalfin brings every day! Whether she’s helping students discover a new favorite book, supporting teachers with research projects, or leading the book club and knitting club, she makes the LC a place where everyone feels welcome.

Mrs. Chalfin is not just a librarian—she’s a reading mentor, research guru, and the heart of our school’s LC. Kids flock to the LC before school to play foosball, listen to music, read books and hang with friends. Even at lunch, students gather to discuss books and talk with Mrs. Chalfin. Her favorite part of the LC? The kids, of course!

Fun Facts about Mrs Chalfin

*She’s a HUGE Buffalo Bills fan! (Through all the ups and downs! 😂)
* She loves karaoke and isn’t afraid to grab the mic!
*Her favorite artist is Post Malone—and she’s going to his concert in May!
*She’s originally from New York.
*She has two amazing kids.
*This is her 31st year teaching, and she plans to retire in 4 years. She also taught at Walden!

Thank you, Mrs. Chalfin, for making the LC the best place to be!

Don't forget—the Book Fair is happening all next week before conferences! Stop by before or after school to browse new books and support our LC. Apple Pay and cash are accepted!

Jake Pechter: 100lb STATE CHAMPION! Jake had an awesome tournament going 4-0 over the two days. He had one of the toughest brackets, beating two returning champs in the semis and the finals. Jake won a thrilling championship match 7-4 in overtime, finishing the season with an impressive 37-1 record.

Logan Nesbitt: Logan wrestled well, going 1-2 at the tournament. This puts him as one of the top twelve in the state. Winning a match at the state tournament is a huge accomplishment as Illinois is one of the toughest wrestling states in the country. Logan finished the season with an awesome 24-6 record.

Last week our MathCounts team traveled to Oswego, Illinois and competed at STATE for the first time with over 300 other individuals that rank the best in the state for math. Three weeks ago, 6 individuals traveled to the College of Lake County for the regional competition. Congratulations to Gavin Waynee, William Xia, Aarnav Daivik, Ethan Kaufman, Justin Wang and Zach Sherman for a job well done in representing Caruso.

Last Wednesday the Instrumental Music department hosted their annual Potbelly's fundraiser. Students from South Park, Wilmot, and Caruso had the opportunity to share solos and ensembles with friends and family. 25% of sales that night will be donated to the program. We had a record turnout for the event this year! Thank you to all who came to support our program!

Again this year, parents/guardians across Illinois have an opportunity to participate in the annual survey to provide feedback about the schools their children attend. District 109 is fortunate to be able to use the Panorama platform for this survey, which is the same used for students. Ultimately, the family survey is designed for you to share your thoughts on the home-school partnership and other important elements of school effectiveness. Your responses help guide our improvement.

To take the survey, please visit https://surveys.panoramaed.com/deerfieldil/1589963429/surveys and select your child’s school. The survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete and will close March 21st.

If you have children in multiple schools, we encourage you to provide feedback on both schools. Please know that your identity and responses are confidential and will not be connected to you or your child. Thank you in advance for taking the time to give us this important feedback.

Our goal in District 109 is to work together to ensure the success of every child. As we head into the last few months of the school year, we want to remind you that regular attendance at school is vital to your child’s success.

If your child has been absent for 12 or more days so far this school year, you will be receiving an attendance alert email from us early next week. The email is solely for notification purposes as we want to make sure you are aware that your child is at risk of being considered chronically absent by the end of the school year.

• Chronic absenteeism is defined as absences totaling 10 percent or more of school days—including absences with or without valid cause—during the school year. If a child is absent for 17 days or more during the school year for excused or unexcused reasons, that child is considered chronically absent.

We are committed to supporting your family with any concerns regarding student attendance. There are many people in our building ready to help address any challenges in getting to school regularly or on time. We can also help identify barriers to regular attendance and implement key resources to support your family in these efforts. If you receive an attendance alert letter next week, please do not hesitate to reach out so that we can discuss how to best support your child moving forward.

Just a few months ago, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a warning about the mental and physical toll of parenting, and we’re seeing those challenges right here in Deerfield. This growing problem requires a local solution.

Join us next Tuesday, March 18, at Caruso Middle School as we:

• Hear from medical professionals about the trends and behaviors they are observing related to dependence on technology—for both adults and children.

• Collaborate on ideas our community can implement to foster greater independence.

This important discussion will take place in the Caruso Auditorium from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Click here to RSVP.

Caruso is presenting their musical of High School Musical Jr!

Shows are at:

Friday, March 14th @ 7:00pm

Saturday, March 15th @ 7:00pm

Sunday, March 16th @ 3:00pm

You can get $10 tickets using this link: https://cur8.com/14267/project/128275

We hope to see you there!

Please email sdolins@dps109.org if you have any questions.

Group texts can be helpful, but they can also become overwhelming. Check out this flyer for more information on managing group texts effectively.

It's wonderful to see our CMS Bluejay Community coming together to support Orphans of the Storm, a local animal shelter dedicated to providing care and finding loving homes for orphaned, abandoned, abused, or neglected dogs and cats. The CMS philanthropy club is hard at work helping to make a difference in the community.

How You Can Help:

• Feature Your Pet: Make the suggested $5 donation to have your pet's photo displayed on the Pet Wall of Fame, helping us achieve our goal of covering an entire hallway.

• Monetary Donations: Even if you don't have a pet, your financial support is invaluable. Donations provide crucial medical care, food, shelter, and a loving environment for animals awaiting their forever homes. You can donate online directly through the shelter's website. Be sure to put CMS in the dedication field.

• Donate here (suggested donation of $5 for a pet to be hung.)
  Donate Supplies: The shelter has an ongoing need for various items, including:

• Pet food (dry and canned for both dogs and cats)

• Twin-size blankets and comforters

• Bath-size towels

• Pet beds

• Dog and cat treats

• Cat litter

• Cleaning supplies (bleach, paper towels, laundry soap, etc.)

See Flyers for more information or email jgold@dps109.org for details

Parents/Guardians,

District 109 participates in a Consortium for Interdistrict Collaboration (CIC). The CIC is a group of educators from neighboring North Shore districts who discuss and explore instructional practices that make districts high-performing. As part of their work, they visit one another’s schools to observe, benchmark practices, celebrate successes, and offer recommendations for continuous improvement.

A visiting team will be in District 109 March 12-14, and we are looking for 15 parents/guardians to participate in a 40-minute focus group at Caruso Middle School on Wednesday, March 12th at 1:30PM. Any information provided in the focus group would not be associated with an individual name. It would simply help the team identify trends across our school settings.

If interested, please complete this 1 minute form no later than Wednesday, February 26th. If more than 15 parents/guardians express interest, we will select by lottery. A confirmation of your selection will be sent no later than Wednesday, March 5th. Thanks in advance for considering. We are really proud of our school and can’t wait to share it with other educators!

Caruso Bluejays Coed Softball

Love softball and having fun? Then join the Caruso Bluejays Coed Softball team! Our season kicks off in early April and runs through mid-May. Practices last one hour and take place either before or after school, with games scheduled 1-2 times per week. We play with a 14” ball, so no glove is needed. If you're interested, grab a packet from Mr. Fowler or Mrs. Spies and get ready to hit the field! All grades are welcome!

Join us for coffee @ Caruso; a way for the adults in our students' lives to build stronger connections with us at Caruso. Space is limited to 25 people per event. Please RSVP by calling the Caruso Main Office at 847-945-8430. Thanks to the PTO for Sponsoring Coffee.

If you have any cool pictures you would like to see in the yearbook, please email to ecadkin@dps109.org or hmatan@dps109.org, or you can upload them to this link.

Thank you,

Hayley Matan and Eliza Cadkin

Cell phones will be off and away in lockers from 8:00 am - 3:00 pm every day (8:00 am - 2:00 pm on early release Wednesdays). Here's the why: This will help our students focus on their learning, build relationships with those around them, and hopefully disconnect from the anxiety that comes from even just having a phone in the pocket, wondering what notifications they are missing.

If students are using their phones during the school day, they will be instructed to bring their phone to the main office. There will be a progressive response when this occurs that resets each semester:

First and Second Occurrence: Email home and student picks up phone at the end of the school day.

Third Occurrence: Parent/guardian must come pick the phone up from school. Student will serve a lunch reflection.

Fourth Occurrence +: Parent/guardian must come pick the phone up from school. Student will also drop phone off at office each morning. Student will serve an after-school reflection.

MUST be wired and are not used during passing periods.

A student who fails to meet the expectations will be asked to comply with them and may be subject to a verbal warning or behavior check in.

Backpacks must be kept in students’ lockers throughout the school day unless it is a documented accommodation. They will not be traveling from class to class. Here's the why: We do not have room in our classrooms to safely store backpacks without having a tripping/fire hazard, and—by keeping backpacks in lockers—we have a wonderful opportunity to teach and reinforce important executive functioning skills with material organization, case-its, and other organizational tools.

We ask that you try to limit student deliveries during the school day. We will not be allowing and/or accepting any DoorDash or similar delivery options for any student under any circumstances. All deliveries will be refused. Families are welcome to drop off lunches themselves. We have extra Chromebooks, chargers, and copies of books here at Caruso, so it is not necessary to drop what you're doing and run these items to school. If something is truly needed during the day, we ask that you bring it in to the front entrance, label it with your student's name and grade, and leave it on the Drop Off table in the vestibule. We will then bring it into the office for your student to pick it up. Please note, students are not permitted to order their own lunches during the school day. If you order/bring lunch for your student, please do not provide food for other students.

Please do not send any medication, over-the-counter pain pills (Tylenol/Advil/aspirin), or cough drops with your students. State law prohibits students from taking medication at school outside of the nurse's office with a doctors' note on file. We will confiscate any meds found outside of the nurse's office. Contact our school nurse Ms. Gwen Dowell gdowell@dps109.org

If your student will not be in school, please report the absence to the health office by phone (847) 945-8430 x6103) or email (carusoattendance@dps109.org) before 8:00 am. If you do not contact our school nurse by this time, she will contact you at home or at work to ascertain your child’s whereabouts. Children must be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school. Students will only be dismissed to a parent or legal guardian, or to emergency contacts designated in Family Access.

PTO Facebook Page

Email: cmsoffice@dps109.org
Website: https://www.dps109.org/Page/9
Location: 1801 Montgomery Road, Deerfield, IL, USA