Our Mission
To challenge all students to achieve their full potential through engaging, responsive, educational experiences that inspire innovation, critical thinking, and collaboration.
In an effort to save paper, we will not be printing lunch menus this year. Please follow this link to know what is available for the day. Students will be given the choice of three entrees each morning, and a color-coded lunch ticket will ensure they receive the correct meal.
Important Upcoming Dates:
March 7th - 16th - Spring Break
A Message from PTO: We are participating in Box Tops for Education. The process has changed quite a bit from having to turn in physical box tops. The process has now gone completely digital. Please visit the website to get more information!
If you missed any newsletters, you can find them here!
This week’s cycle days:
Monday, March 17: Day 2
Tuesday, March 18: Day 3
Wednesday, March 19: Day 4
Thursday, March 20: Day 1
Friday, March 21: Day 2
Principal’s Press
Hello!
We hope you had an amazing break and are looking forward to returning tomorrow! We’re excited to return and welcome back our friends for our fourth quarter of school. It’s hard to believe we’re ¾ of the way through the year! And while we’re getting closer to summer, please remind your child(ren) that we still have a lot of learning left to do. Summer fever can wait a few more weeks.
- If you are interested in Little League Softball, please check out this flyer!
- Our district is partnering with the Iowa State Extension to offer a 3-week parenting workshop called “Partnering with Parents.” These sessions will take place on three Mondays in March. Please see this flyer for more details!
- Preschool registration is now open! This year, we will have students five days per week, from 8:10 - 1:10, and we will continue to provide transportation at the end of the day to any DHS-registered center in Charles City. We have listened to concerns about half-day preschool and the child care required to meet your needs. We’re hopeful that this new schedule will be a “win-win” for families and teachers. Please reach out with any questions you may have and please feel free to pass this information along to anyone with an incoming preschool student! (Not a fan of QR codes? Register here.)
- Kindergarten registration is open and you can register using this link! Our Kindergarten Roundup is scheduled for Wednesday, May 14th, from 8:10 - 11:10. All incoming Kindergarten students will attend that day, and all current Kindergarten students will not attend. If you have any questions about registration or our Kindergarten program, please contact us at 641-257-6570. One commonly asked question is about Transitional Kindergarten (TK). Our plan is to offer this program if we have enough interested families.
- We have lots of illnesses going around this time of year. Please read this announcement from our district with guidance about when to stay home and what to look out for regarding illnesses.
- Please remind your student(s) to use sidewalks and designated pathways when walking to and from school or bus stops, rather than cutting through private yards. Let’s work together to respect our neighbors’ spaces and keep our community safe and welcoming for everyone. Thank you for your support regarding this matter.
- Here are some great reasons to make time for kids to play. Play can build skills such as interpersonal communication, problem solving, critical thinking, and imaginative thinking. Need ideas? Here are a few!
- With the state’s new school attendance laws in place, it is more important than ever to let us know the reason for your student’s absence(s). Please call us at 641-257-6571 any time you need to report an absence. Use this infographic as a quick reference to our new attendance rules. A full description of our new attendance policies can be found here.
- Speaking of attendance, our classrooms will be earning rewards when all students are in class for ten days. Each classroom will fill a ten frame, with each space representing a day when all students are in attendance. When the ten frame is full, the classroom will celebrate! We can’t wait to see how our classrooms celebrate their outstanding attendance!
Have a great week!
Joe Carney
Physical Education
I hope everyone enjoyed their time with family and got some well deserved rest. When we return from break we will be playing a game called Oscar's Trash Can. This game involves lots of throwing practice along with some running.
Counselor’s Connection
COUNSELING
Hello families! I hope your student’s school year is going well.
I have quite a few parents asking me “How can I teach my child coping skills? They are emotional and I don’t know how to help them.” If you have wondered something similar, look no further. I will be adding weekly tips for teaching your child coping skills in our weekly newsletter. Here is this week’s tip.
Name It to Tame It:
The simple act of identifying and naming feelings can help us feel a little better. Help your child with this by phrases like, “I see you’re upset right now. Are you feeling worried? Or frustrated?” Model this for your child by naming your own emotions out loud from time to time. You can also help your child to understand clues in the body about feelings. For example, butterflies in the stomach or a face feeling hot. These are things I am working with students on quite often. I hope you might find some success utilizing these few small tips.
If you think there is anything I can do to help increase your child’s success at school, please call me at 641-257-6570 EXT 4053 or email me at
Thank you so much! Sandy Thomson, CCCSD Elementary School counselor
Library Activities
Students have completed their coding unit. It seems like it was a success! Students enjoyed learning about the standard and were excited to learn how to code bots as well as online coding. We have begun our next unit. Kindergarten students are practicing logging into their student accounts and will be looking at Google Classroom, doc, and Earth in the near future. First graders have learned different tools with Google doc and will also learn more about Google Earth soon.
A Note from Art
Make sure to check out the Charles City Arts Center for art opportunities! There are Friday art classes, as well as art classes during Spring Break.
REMINDER TO CHECK BELOW FOR FINE ARTS NIGHT UPDATES!
A Note from Art and Music
SAVE THE DATE! Fine Arts Night will take place on April 1st at 6pm at the Middle School Comet Gym. This will consist of both a concert with Ms. Kluver, and an art show with Ms. Hamm. Your child should have also brought home a blue paper with all of the important details. HERE is an electronic copy of that letter!
Nurse’s Nook
Did you know the best way to get rid of head lice is early detection by checking your child's head for lice at least once a week?
Find a time to spend at least 15 minutes looking through your child's hair and scalp for any signs of crawling lice and white or brown nits stuck to the hair shaft. If you find lice or a nit in your child’s hair, please begin treatment.
Nits, also known as lice eggs, will hatch if you do not remove them. Children with head lice may not show signs of an infestation, such as itching, for at least a month after they have been living in your child's hair! So when your child comes to the nurse's office with an itchy scalp they may have already had them for a few weeks.
Lice do not spread diseases and your child does not need to stay home from school. The school does ask that you begin treatment after school on the same day.
Over the counter lice killing shampoo and daily combing of the hair has been proven to be effective at eliminating head lice. You may also call your child’s doctor and request a prescription medication if head lice continues to be an ongoing problem. Please read and follow the instructions on your child’s particular head lice treatment plan.
Other treatment efforts at home include regular vacuuming, washing and drying clothing and bedding on high heat, and putting any non washable items, such as stuffed animals, in a garbage bag for 2 weeks.
For more information on how to treat head lice, please see the Iowa Health and Human Services Head Lice Brochure.