Cherry Crest Chronicler
September 30
Hello Charger Families!
October is upon us and there is a lot happening at Cherry Crest – not only in the classroom but also in our Comm(Unity). I’ve included a few highlights here but please check out the rest of the newsletter for all the details.
- Wednesday October 2nd is “Walk or Bike to School Day”. We invite our school neighbors to set aside the car keys and get moving with their sneakers and/or bike helmets. A great chance to get fresh air, try a new routine, and reduce traffic. http://www.walkbiketoschool.org/
- Cherry Crest is participating in Bellevue SchoolPool during the Month of October encouraging families and students to use the bus, carpool, walk and bike to school. Log at least one trip on the student calendar, turn it in to school and earn money for our school (up to $2000). Cherry Crest School Pool Informational Flyer
- Friday October 4th is the Cherry Crest Walkathon. The Walkathon is one of PTSA’s primary fundraisers and one of our largest Comm(Unity) events. This year is the 50th anniversary celebration and it’s going to be a blast. There are a couple of important action items that all families need to complete:
- For the safety of your child we need either an electronic or a paper version of the permission slip. The online form is here.
- Here are some more links to information about all the exciting happenings at the walkathon.
- Day of activities: http://www.cherrycrest-ptsa.org/walk-a-thon/
- Donation: http://tiny.cc/Walkathon2019Donate.
- Volunteer for the event: http://tiny.cc/Walkathon2019Volunteer
- Early Release Conference Days & a No School Day. School gets out at 12:15 pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday October 14,15 & 16. These early release days provide time for teachers to conduct parent conferences. Look to your child’s teacher for exact days/times for your parent – teacher conference. Also know that students don’t attend school on Friday October 11th as teachers engage in statewide professional development.
Dusty Steere, Principal Cherry Crest Elementary
IMPORTANT DATES
October 1 School Picture Day
October 2 Walk to School Day
October 4 Walkathon 2:30 – 6:00
October 11 No school for students – Teacher Professional Learning Day
October 14, 15,16 Early Release for students @ 12:15 (conferencing days)
October 18 Principal Chat @ 8:15 am
October 23 Unity Day
October 25 Cherry Crest Fall Festival (details)
Please remember to regularly visit the Cherry Crest & PTSA websites for the most current information.
https://bsd405.org/cherrycrest http://www.cherrycrest.my-ptsa.org
More Walkathon Details.
A few families have asked why students are not walking during lunch recess as part of our annual Walkathon. We received guidance from PTSA and BSD indicating that organizations should not have access students during instructional minutes for the purpose of raising or soliciting money. Even though students are not technically earning money for each lap they walk, we determined not to mark any laps on shirt backs during the school day. Students are still welcome to “practice” walking during recess but our actual lap recording will begin after school.
Thank you for supporting all the wonderful PTSA sponsored events and activities at our school that help build our comm(UNITY) and enhance your students education. Walkathon donations can be made online here: http://tiny.cc/Walkathon2019Donate
Cherry Crest Puzzle Club: A New After School Club Activity to Challenge your Mind! With support from the Bellevue Schools Foundation and the passion of a Cherry Crest parent volunteer, we are pleased to offer Puzzle Club for interested 3rd – 5th grade students as an after school activity on Wednesday afternoons. Students will work collaboratively in small groups to solve brain-bending, parent-stumping puzzles including logic grids, classic riddles, mathdoku, and many more. Fundamental theoretical concepts of logic such as AND/OR, IF/ELSE, deductive/inductive reasoning, and mutual exclusion will be introduced along the way. Puzzle Club is a fun, positive, and inclusive after school experience open to Cherry Crest 3rd – 5th grade students. The club will run after school on Wednesday afternoons from 12:15 – 1:30 in room 105. As space is limited, it is necessary to register for this opportunity by October 10th. Eligible families will receive an email invitation to the club with additional details prior to the club starting on October 23rd. Application for Cherry Crest Puzzle Club.
If you have any questions about the Puzzle Club, contact Crystal Coldiron (substitute ITCL) at [email protected].
Principal Chat Friday October 18th 8:15 – 9:15 am. At Cherry Crest, we believe relationships are the foundational precursor to learning. In addition to building relationships with your children, I am also striving to build relationships with families. While I have a number of ideas and topics I’d like to share, I’m interested in hearing from parents about topics or questions you would like to see addressed. Please share your ideas in this brief survey.
Wednesday, October 23rd is Unity day. This is a day where we encourage students to stand together against bullying and be united for kindness, inclusion and acceptance. The official color for unity day is orange and all students & staff are encouraged to wear orange to school. As as schoolwide project, we are creating a Unity Tree where each student will write on a leaf how they can stand up against bullying and how they can show kindness and acceptance of others. All of the leaves will be added to a tree in Charger Stadium standing as a powerful symbol reminding everyone that bullying can be prevented when we all come together – united for kindness, acceptance and inclusion. Questions, contact school counselor Marissa Krauskopf.
Lunch Room News. School Food Share is a cooperative program between Bellevue Schools and HopeLink Food Bank. This program is intended to recover edible food from school cafeterias to distribute to local food banks.
Each day, students are invited to donate any whole or packaged food from school meals (unopened milk, yogurts, applesauce, string cheese, muffins, etc.) that they don’t care to eat. The food is collected and stored for parent volunteers to pick up twice a week and transported to Hopelink. We always encourage kids to eat as much as they’d like, and then donate anything that is leftover and unopened.
Last year , BSD schools collected 27,000 lbs which included enough milk cartons when stacked to reach higher than Mt. Hood. Do you want to help? Commitment is 1 hour a week, sometimes every other week. Please contact Elena Razmpoosh: [email protected]
On a related note, students who bringing their lunches from home are also asked to pack their own utensils (fork, spoon, etc). We have a limited supply of plastic sporks and are working to reduce waste and protect our environment. Thank you from our lunchroom teachers, kitchen staff and Mother Earth.
Internet Safety Class for Parents on Tuesday November 12th. The Cherry Crest PTSA has once again arranged for Internet Safety expert, Stefanie Thomas Hanley, to speak with 5th grade students at Cherry Crest November 7th. In addition, she will be presenting to all parents at the November PTSA meeting on November 12th from 6:30 – 8:00 pm. Ms Thomas highlights common risks and pitfalls that kids are likely to encounter while using the internet, social media and online games, and discussed ways to avoid and/or safely participate in those activities. She is an outstanding presenter and I encourage all parents to attend this valuable session, which is sure to be eye-opening and helpful in facilitating conversations with your kids at home.
Stefanie Thomas Hanley is an internet safety expert that has worked with law enforcement for the past 9 years regarding the exploitation of children online. She uses this experience to educate parents and children about internet safety and has reached over 30,000 in the greater Seattle area. The parent presentation covers: cyberbullying, social networking, online gaming, screen addiction and internet & cell phone safety tips.”
Cherry Crest to participate in Bellevue School Pool. You may have heard of a program called Bellevue SchoolPool that piloted in eight schools last year. The program is a collaboration between King County Metro, the City of Bellevue, and TransManage which strives to reduce the congestion associated with pick-up and drop-off traffic at schools like ours.
SchoolPool encourages our students to carpool with other families, walk or ride their bikes to school, or take the bus. We hope that you’ll support your student in trying a new way of getting to school. You can get involved by starting a ‘walking school bus’, in which a parent walks with a group of students for a portion or the entire distance to school; or a ‘bike train’, in which students ride with a parent all or part of the way to school. If you’re interested in finding a carpool, SchoolPool has resources available including Pogo and RideshareOnline.com.
During the months of October and May all students will receive a paper calendar and are asked to write down any walking, biking, carpooling or bus trips they take to or from school. For each calendar that is turned into the office at the end of the month our school will earn money for PTSA projects.
If you have any questions about the program please reach out to Erin Stedman at our school or the Bellevue SchoolPool team at [email protected].
Student Survey News, Fall 2019. This fall we will be doing the Panorama student perception survey, to collect information on school climate and to provide teachers with feedback from students. The survey is run through Panorama Education (http://www.panoramaed.com) and is given to all students in grades 3-12 in the district. This is the fourth year we are doing the survey.
The purpose of the survey is to help increase student voice in our district. It gives us an indication of where our strengths are and where we can do better. Here is some additional information about the survey:
- The survey is confidential. Staff will not see how an individual student answers a survey.
- It takes students about 15-20 minutes to complete the survey.
- Students fill out a section on school climate, and then fill out a teacher survey for two of their teachers. Elementary students fill out the survey on their main classroom teacher and on one of their special subjects teachers (art, music, PE, library). Secondary students fill out the survey on two of their teachers, chosen randomly.
- The survey will be given in late October/early November.
- Results will be out in mid-November. Teacher-level reports are only be available to the individual teachers themselves. Principals and district staff will receive summary data for schools and the district as a whole.
If you have any questions about the survey, please contact Naomi Calvo, Director of Research, Evaluation & Assessment, at [email protected] or 425-456-4274.
Upcoming Child Protection Unit for Students in Grades K-2: At Cherry Crest and in the Bellevue School District, we are committed to ensuring that all students are safe. All kindergarten, first, and second grade students in Bellevue participate in the Second Step Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) curriculum. The Second Step program teaches children important skills for getting along with others and doing well in school. It also helps our school be a safe and supportive place where everyone can learn. To make our school even more safe and supportive, we use the Second Step Child Protection Unit. Please see the hyperlinked letter for more information.
Cherry Crest Elementary prepares all students to become life-long learners through inquiry, collaboration, and discovery. Each student will feel a sense of belonging in our Comm(UNITY) while learning social-emotional and academic skills to be successful in an ever-changing and diverse society.