Cherry Crest Chronicler
June 1, 2022
Cherry Crest Families,
June is upon us and, with it, brings the end of this school year. We have a lot going on in the final weeks of school and much planning for the 2022-23 school year. Thank you for taking a few moments to read the important dates and announcements in the parent newsletter below.
Have a great week!
Dusty Steere
Principal
IMPORTANT DATES
June 2 Classroom Time Capsule Presentations and Creation
June 3 Virtual Principal Chat @ 8:30 am Join Microsoft Teams Meeting
June 6 – 10 Spirit Week
June 7 Kindergarten Roundup @ 8:30 am
June 10 Field Day
June 15 G5 End of Year Party @ 12:15 – 2:00
June 15 Yearbooks distributed to students in class.
June 20 G5 Promotion Ceremony @ 1:15
June 21 Last day of school (dismissal at 10:00 am)
September 1 First day of School (Grades 1 – 5)
September 5 Labor Day (No School)
September 7 First day of School (Kindergarten)
Please remember to regularly visit the Cherry Crest & PTSA websites for the most current information.
https://bsd405.org/cherrycrest https://www.cherrycrest-ptsa.org/
Pride Month and Rainbow Day: June 1st. At Cherry Crest, we celebrate diversity and inclusivity. All year long, our assembly team has created “Windows and Mirrors” learning opportunities for students. Mirrors allow students to see themselves in their curriculum and school environment, while windows provide opportunities for new learning and new perspectives to support growth, empathy, and compassion for all. We’ve celebrated various cultures and heritages, holidays, neurodiversity acceptance, and now, in June, we celebrate and recognize the diverse LGBTQ+ community within Bellevue and beyond. For pride month, we focus on celebrating the uniqueness of all – showing pride for being our unique selves and celebrating unity as a community. Students will also learn the meaning of the colors of the pride flag. (Red: Life, Orange: Healing, Yellow: Sunlight, Green: Nature, Blue: Harmony, Purple: Spirit, Brown and Black: Diversity and Inclusion).
On Wednesday, June 1st, students are welcome to wear rainbow colors in support of LGBTQ+, pride, and unity.
Below are supportive resources you can use with your child to talk more about pride month at home:
Talking to Young Children about Pride Month
How to Talk about LGBTQ Pride Month with Your Child
How to Explain Pride Month to Your Child
20 Picture Books to Help you Raise Kind, Tolerant Kids (Today.Com)
Volunteer for Field Day. Cherry Crest Elementary is thrilled to announce the return of Field Day on Friday June 10th! After two years of virtual field day activities, students are eager to participate in all the outdoor games and activities during this fun-filled all-school end-of-year event. However, we need your help!!
It takes close to 100 volunteers before, during, and after this event to make Field Day run smoothly! Please sign up to volunteer and help us make this end of year event fun for all.
Note: Per BSD policy all volunteers need to submit a volunteer form (if you’ve already done it this year or previous years no need to resubmit!) Unfortunately, siblings who are not Cherry Crest students may not attend
Spirit Week and Field Day. During the week of June 6-10, Cherry Crest students and staff are invited to show their school spirit and dress according to daily themes. Our spirit week will culminate with Field Day on Friday 6/10.
Spirit Week Themes:
- Monday – Dress up or Dress Down Day: You can either come in your super comfy PJs or wear your fancy clothes
- Tuesday – Crazy Head Day: Come to school wearing your most creative hairstyle, hat, headwrap or decorated mask!
- Wednesday – Charger Pride: Wear Charger Spirit Gear and/or school colors (red/white/black combination)
- Thursday – Rainbow Day: A different color for each grade level: K – Red, 1 – Yellow, 2 – Blue, 3 – Orange, 4 – Purple, 5, – Green
- Friday – Sportswear Day: Don your fastest sneakers and wear your blue Walkathon shirt to enjoy Field Day!
Cherry Crest Yearbooks are coming soon. Yearbooks will be distributed to students in classrooms by teachers on Wednesday June 15 for all families that preordered a yearbook. There is a small supply of additional yearbooks which can be purchased after school in front of the school on Jun 15 and 17 for $25 (checks payable to Cherry Crest PTSA).
Kindergarten Roundup – Tuesday June 7th 8:30 – 10:15 AM. Kindergarten Roundup is an opportunity for rising kindergarten students to meet our kindergarten teachers in their future classrooms, get a tour of the school from a 4th grade tour guide, enjoy a read aloud and take a short ride on a school bus. Parents will hear from the principal and one of our kindergarten teachers as they share kindergarten information and answer questions. RSVP through the signup genius link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050545AFA62BA13-kindergarten
If you know of a family with a kindergarten aged child in 2022-23, please share this invitation with them and contact our Cherry Crest office manager, Connie Kramer, at [email protected].
5th grade Promotion Ceremony on June 20th. As the school year draws to a close, Cherry Crest teachers and G5 parents have collaborated to honor and recognize our 5th grade students on Monday 6/20 at 1:15 pm in the Cherry Crest cafe and gym. Parents and families are invited to attend the promotion ceremony in the Cherry Crest cafe and gym at 1:15 pm. The promotion will be followed by a cookie reception in the undercover area from 2:30 – 3:15 pm. G5 families can look for additional details coming soon.
Last Day of School shortened schedule. June 21, 2022 is a two-hour day for students. All schools start at their regular times and dismiss two hours later. Please see this link for the 2-Hour Day Start and End Times: BSD 2 Hour Schedule for 6-21-22.xlsx.
End of Year Gifts. Every year when the school comes to a close, we see grateful and thoughtful parents and community members looking for ways to express appreciation to our teachers and other employees by giving gifts to the individuals they know in the school house. Often parents, especially if their work experience has been in the private sector, are not aware that gifts to publicly-paid employees are discouraged by school board policy. Therefore, we ask that if you would like to give a gift to a staff member this holiday season, the value of the gift should not be elaborate or unduly expensive as outlined in Bellevue School Board Policy 5255. If you wish to provide more than a small token of gratitude to an individual teacher or staff member, you can make donations to a specific classroom, donate to Cherry Crest School or a specific program within our school, and/or make a contribution to the Bellevue Schools Foundation, the PTSA or other charity in recognition of a teacher’s work. If you should have any questions about the above mentioned policy or need to brainstorm ideas for how to honor an individual teacher, please don’t hesitate to contact me! Thank you!
Check Lost and Found for Missing Items. Lost and Found is filling up again! Please stop by to see if your child’s belongings are there. All unclaimed items will be donated at the end of the school year! The racks are located by the elevator and art room.
Safety Closet Inventory: Volunteers Needed! We are in need of 2-4 parents/older student volunteers interested in helping our safety team with a full inventory of the Cherry Crest Emergency Supply closet. We haven’t done this in years and will spend time on June 22nd doing so to ensure a positive and safe start to our new schoolyear. If you’re interested in supporting us, please contact, Assistant Principal, Erin Stedman ([email protected]). Thank you! Inventory Hours: 5/22 @ 9 am – 3 pm
Register for School. Bellevue School District has a simple and secure process for enrolling students for the 2022-23 school year. https://bsd405.org/schools/enrollment.
We appreciate you sharing this link with any friends or neighbors with rising elementary aged children.
Opt in Text Messages from BSD. Did you know you can receive important alerts from BSD via text? Just text “Y” or “YES” to BSD’s short code number – 67587 – to receive text messages. If you ever want to opt-out, text the same number or reply to one of our messages with “Stop.” We recommend saving the short code number in your contacts to avoid third-party blocking systems with interfering with your receipt of important messages and updates from the district. The Bellevue School District utilizes SchoolMessenger to deliver text messages.
District-Wide Travel Survey Spring 2022. The City of Bellevue is seeking travel data on how students travel to and from school and we need your help in distributing this survey to the parents at your school. This annual survey will help us evaluate our strategies for the Bellevue SchoolPool program, which aims to reduce drop-off and pick-up congestion at schools.
Please complete this survey link. The short, five-question survey for each school-aged child, is live until Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Thank you in advance from The Bellevue SchoolPool Team.
Summer Camp Opportunity for Students. A former Cherry Crest is giving back to our Community and offering spots at the “Pop Star Learning Academy”.
PSLA is excited to be offering 4 weeks of summer camp for students entering 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade in the 2022-2023 school year. PSLA offers a wide variety of themes, ranging from theatre to STEM to olympics, and everything in between. We have designed this camp to be 100% outdoor and fun for everyone. This is PSLA’s third year and we are extremely grateful to be able to serve the Cherry Crest community.
This year, we have a maximum of 12 campers per week, with 2 counselors.
When: 9am-1pm
Sessions: [06/27-7/01], [07/05-07/08], [07/11-07/15], [07/18-07/22]
Where: Cherry Crest Undercover Area
Cost: $100/week ($80 for week of 07/05-07/08)
To register, please visit my website: https://www.thepsla.com/
For any questions, please email Aarna [email protected]
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.