Principal’s Post – August 25, 2012

• August 27, 8:45am, FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL (All PK4 – 5th grade students should report; PK3 students will be phased in at CHM@L)
• September 3, Labor Day, NO SCHOOL for students or staff and no before/after care
• September 5, 6:00 – 7:00, New Parent Orientation #3, Room 107
• September 6, 6:30-7:30pm, First Parent, Teacher, Student Organization (PTSO) Meeting
• September 13, 6-7:30pm, Back-to-School Night
• October 3, 7:30am, Walk-To-School Day @ Lincoln Park
• October 8, Columbus Day, NO SCHOOL for students or staff and no before/after care
• October 17, Professional Development Day, NO SCHOOL for students and no before/after care
• October 22, Parent, Teacher Conference Day, NO SCHOOL for students and no before/after care
• October 27, 6-9pm, Haunted House/Fall Festival

 

 

Principal Post

August 25, 2012

 

Hello CHM@L Community,

I am excited that our students are returning to school on Monday! See you Monday at 8:45am. The school is ready, both inside and out, thanks to all the wonderful parent and community volunteers at today’s Beautification Day. 

THANK YOU

Thank you to all the parent, student and community volunteers to who came out today to help spruce up the place on Beautification Day! The school looks great and ready for Monday. Also, on behalf of the entire school staff, thank you to parents Kafayat Husband, Amy Caspari and Becky Levin for organizing the staff breakfast on the first day of professional development.

 

LUNCH AND RECESS TIMES

The lunch and recess times for CHM@L are as follows:

·       11:45 – 12:20 Primary Lunch and Elementary Recess

·       12:30 – 1:05 Elementary Lunch and Primary Recess 

TEACHER AND ASSISTANT TEAMS

The teacher/assistant teams are as follows:

·       Ms. Bennett – Ms. Horton

·       Ms. Couts – Ms. Spurlock

·       Ms. Freer – Ms. Watson

·       Ms. Garrison – Ms. Johnson

·       Ms. Kaufman-Relph – Ms. Adams

·       Ms. Lee – Ms. Powell

·       Ms. Warrick – Ms. Latson

 

SCHOOL SECURITY PROCEDURES FOR ALL VISITORS

The main entrance of the school building shall be used for all exits and entries to the school except in cases of fire or emergency. Anyone found to be violating this rule should be immediately reported to the principal or the school security officer. 

All visitors must report to the security desk or station to identify themselves and receive a visitor’s badge, prior to having access to the building. Proper identification must be presented in order to receive a badge. Proper identification includes a driver’s license or other government issued personal identification card, passport, or a current employee identification card from a local or federal government agency or private entity.

All visitors must sign the school security visitor’s log. The log shall have appropriate columns so that visitors can provide their name, agency/office, purpose of visit or person they are visiting, times of entry and departure, and badge number if applicable.

Visitors must follow the instructions provided to them at the security station. School security may limit the areas and time during which the visitor may access the building. The scope and duration of the visit will be tied to the purpose of the visit.

Visitors must wear or display their visitor’s badge at all times while on school premises. Upon exiting the building, the visitor shall return the visitor’s badge to the security station. All visitors must sign out on the visitor’s log prior to exiting the building.

All staff members shall relay concerns regarding the presence or conduct of visitors to school security or the principal immediately so that further appropriate action may be taken.

 

NEW DROP-OFF PROCEDURES

CHM@L has been working with DC Department of Transportation’s Safe Routes to Schools to provide better rules, direction and signage to help make the morning drop-off experience safer for students, less chaotic for families and more respectful of the neighbors. Please make sure you read and understand these steps before Monday! 

• Please observe the No Parking Zone immediately in front of the school building on G Street NE (as shown on the map on the next page). Dropping off students is allowed in this area, but only if the driver remains in the vehicle at all times and leaves after the child exits the vehicle.
• If you need to park to walk your student into the school, please find a safe and legal parking space. There will be two 15-minute parking zones as shown on the map on the next page. One will be on 3^rd Street NE adjacent to the school building and the other will be on G Street adjacent to the school parking lot (just past the No Parking Zone).
• When dropping off students, make sure to pull all the way up to the curb and let your children out on the school side of the street.
• Never stop in the traffic lane to drop off or pick up anyone.
• Do not make U-turns near the school.
• Do not block fire hydrants, driveways, mail boxes or trash collection receptacles.
• Obey the speed limit and cell phone laws!
• Be polite to other drivers and children.
• Teach your children to respect our neighborhood’s private property.
• All pedestrians/bike riders use the crosswalks or cross at intersections only.

 

NEW ELEMENTARY TEACHER

Ms. Pallandre recently accepted a job in California. I hired Rachel Kimboko as the third Elementary teacher.  Ms. Kimboko is an AMI-trained Elementary teacher. She has a Bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth and a Master’s degree from Harvard.  Her daughter went through our Montessori program when it was at Watkins.  She is excited about the opportunity to work at CHM@L, and I am excited to have her as a member of my staff.  

 

 

BACK-TO-SCHOOL JAMBOREE AND HEALTH EDUCATION FAIR EVENTS

There will be a Back-to-School Jamboree and Health Education fair on Friday, August 24 at United Medical Hospital (formerly, Greater Southeast Hospital), 1310 Southern Avenue SE, and on Saturday, August 25 at Howard University Hospital, 2041 Georgia Avenue NW. These events will feature:

·       Health Screenings and Workshops

·       Well-Child Health Screenings (Parents Bring School Health Form)

·       Fun, Fly and Fit Demonstrations

·       Cooking Demonstrations/Healthy Eating Workshops

·       Substance Abuse/Smoking Cessation Prevention Workshops

·       Public Safety Information—Preventing Bullying in Schools

·       ESA Recertification Applications Accepted Due August 1-31 ONLY

·       Plus; free food, fun, entertainment and free school supplies. 

CHANGING CLASSROOMS

Last school year was a very unusual year for our program, and I moved many students trying to balance class lists and honor parent requests to try a different teacher.  From this point forward, I am not going to move students from one classroom to another unless a change in classroom environment has been recommended by the Student Support Team (SST).

  

SWS @ PEABODY UPDATES

Nurse Frasier will be shared with SWS.  A buzzer is being installed on one of the playground doors, so SWS staff can walk the students over to our building when they need to be seen by the Nurse. 

The 2^nd floor nap room has a newly installed wood floor. A special education conference room has been created on the 2^ndfloor of our building.  Part of that space is planned to be teacher storage space for SWS.

The playground fence has been moved to create a larger play area and to allow SWS staff to walk their students to CHM@L without having to cross the parking lot.  The Department of General Services is going to purchase new playground equipment for our school.  I am waiting to hear about the money that will be available for new playground equipment and a timeframe for the work on the new play equipment.  I am sure that we will have to close the playground for approximately three weeks for this to happen; I will let you know when I know more.

NEW PARENT ORIENTATION #3

Parents of new three-year-old students are expected to attend the mandatory New Parent Orientation on Wednesday, September 5 at 6pm in room 107.  NPO attendance is a requirement for admission to our specialized program.  If you attended one of the two previous NPO’s then you do not have to attend this one.  

Take care,

Brandon Eatman, Principal