Tuesday

Sept. 18

7:00 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

Early Learner Gatherings

Lucia/Tulie/Sarah/Ruth Ann/Katlyn (in art room)

Beth/Katie (in Beth’s room)

Wednesday

Sept. 19

12:15-12:45 p.m.

Lunch-A-Month (12:05-12:45 for middle school) - Parents Welcome

(taquitos, chips & salsa, popsicle, lemonade)

Thursday

Sept. 20

7:00 p.m.

7:30 p.m.

Middle & Upper Elementary Gatherings

Autumn/Gretchen (in Gretchen’s room)

Kim/Betsy (in Kim’s room)

Friday

Sept. 21

10:00 a.m.

Class Name Skits – Basketball Court – Parents Welcome

Tuesday

Sept. 25

9:00 a.m.

Student Pictures for Early Learner/Elementary Students

Wednesday

Sept. 26

9:00 a.m.

Student Pictures for Middle School Students & Siblings

Wednesday

Sept. 26

12:15-12:45 p.m.

Pizza Day (12:05-12:45 for Middle School) - Parents Welcome

No pizza day for Seminar students.

Thursday

Sept. 27

7:00 p.m.

Middle School Gatherings (in Emilie’s room)

Monday

Oct. 1

No classes. Staff In-Service Day.

Wednesday

Oct. 3

12:15-12:45 p.m.

Lunch-A-Month (12:05-12:45 for middle school) - Parents Welcome

(pasta with marinara sauce, bread, cookie, lemonade)

Tuesday-Thursday

Oct. 9-11

Fall Festival Trips (Watch for more information at Gatherings and from your child’s teacher.)

Friday

Oct. 12

School Closed – No Classes.

Class Name Skits

Fri., Sept. 21

10:00 a.m. on the basketball court

Parents - Join the fun on Friday, September 21, at 10:00 a.m. as each class performs a brief skit revealing their class name for the year. The skits will take place on the basketball court adjoining the new elementary building. The classes will perform their skits in the following order: Lucia, Tulie/Sarah, Ruth Ann/Katlyn, Katie, Beth, Autumn, Gretchen, Kim, Betsy, Katrina, Linda, Emilie, and Seminar. Class names are a big secret, so please do not ask your child to reveal anything before the skit!

Student Pictures

Sept. 25   EL & Elem.

Sept. 26   Middle School & Siblings         
       

Clothing for portraits can be dressy or casual. Small prints, plaids or solids work well. T-shirts with pictures or writing generally take attention away from the face. Most colors of clothing work well, although large areas of black and white do not work well. We can do a sibling/family group portrait if you let the school office know in advance.

Middle School Garden Friday Group Bulb Sale

Order Deadline: Oct. 5

Last year the Middle School Garden Friday Group raised $1000 for campus landscaping and class gardens. The fruits of the students’ labor will be visible soon. Please help our students raise $2000 this year for their landscaping projects while making your yard or the yard of someone you love beautiful. We are selling fall planted bulbs that bloom in late winter and spring. Please order from the Garden Friday Group students, from the order form on the bulletin board in the main office, or from Anna Beebe. The deadline for orders is October 5.

Family Packets

Family packets were disseminated last week via the youngest child in each family. The packets included a family handbook, family directory, computer usage agreement, and the most recent class list. If you did not receive your packet, please contact the main office at 563-5036.

CS Teachers Receive Grants

 
We are pleased to announce that CS received two grants this summer. CS drama teacher Lisa will be producing and directing a middle school performance of "Once Upon a Starfish" with the aid of a program grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts. Lower elementary teachers Beth and Katie will be implementing a program called "Home and Back with Books" with their students, funded by a Store Grant from Target. Our thanks to both of these organizations for their contributions to Community School!

Caribbean Music Fest

If you or someone you know would be willing to purchase ad space in our Caribbean Music Fest program, please return the attached form or pick up an extra form in the office.. Business-card-sized ads are $45. Ads could also be used to commemorate a special event or recognize that special student! If you have any questions, please contact Carissa.

New Student Welcome

Welcome to Scott (Kim’s class) and his parents Lee Ann and David  You may contact the office for their address to add to your family address list.

New Spam Filter in Use at CS

Due to the overwhelming amount of spam on our school e-mail accounts, we have installed a new spam filter on the CS computer network. As we adjust to this new filter, please don’t assume that your e-mails are being ignored! If you don’t receive a reply, please call us to verify that your e-mail was received. Thank you for your patience!

Needed for Class

Tulie and Sarah’s Early Learner class would love to have the following items: Duplo building blocks and wooden Brio or Brio compatible trains and tracks. If you have these items and your children no longer play with them, and you are willing to permanently donate these items to CS, please contact Tulie or Sarah. Thank you!

Bricks, Boxwoods and Benches

Our Bricks, Boxwoods and Benches program continues. We have two benches on campus that have been purchased by community members: one in honor of loving grandparents of CS alumni and a second purchased with funds raised by last year’s Seminar class and lower elementary students through Lunch-a-Month. Our engraved bricks are a special way to honor loved ones, favorite teachers, or even give advice. Have you seen the brick that says "Eat your Vegetables"? Order forms are available in the office.

Spotlight on Boxtops for Education

During the month of October, Oriental Trading Company is offering a special promotion if orders are made through the Boxtops web site portal.    Four percent of all purchases will be given back to Community School if you order on line by going to http://www.boxtops4education.com/marketplace/otc/. Additionally, you can get free shipping on orders over $60 by using a special promo code (RT1XY06).

Recycling Laser Cartridges, Ink Jet Cartridges and Cell Phones for our Technology Program

Thank you so much for your support!

Thanks to everyone who has supported us in the past and thank you for your continued support. Collection boxes for phones and ink jet cartridges will be just inside the office door and there will be a plastic bin outside the office for laser cartridges. If your company has high volume, you may request a postage-paid box from Lelia. When it is full, all you have to do is call for pick-up. No hauling the cartridges around!

Please be aware that only specific items are accepted for recycling. We cannot use re-manufactured laser cartridges and only certain phones and ink jet cartridges. Please take a moment to check the list to make sure that your items can be recycled. If your items are not on the list we ask that you help us out by properly disposing of them yourself. The list is available at http://www.fundingfactory.com at the bottom of the page (Qualifying Lists).

School Safety Reminders

1)     Parents: Please DRIVE SLOWLY on the CS campus. We have 150 students and 30 staff members arriving daily from 8:15 to 8:45. Parking spaces are at a premium, so please park as close to the next vehicle as possible. The safety of everyone arriving and departing Community School is VERY important.

2)     For the safety of our students and their siblings, the playground is closed during dismissal (3:10 until 3:30 p.m.).

Room Parents Needed

Room parents perform a variety of tasks depending on the level they serve. We still need room parent volunteers for the following teachers: Katrina, Linda, and Emilie. If you need more information about tasks and time commitment before you can decide if this is something you could do, please contact your child's teacher directly.

CS Families in the News

Karen Kantor identified as a volunteer for the Roanoke SPCA and involved with dog transports (Cave Spring Connection, Aug 31); CS grandparent J. Hayden Hollingsworth (RT, Op Ed, Sept 1); Letters from Cairo by current parent Pauline Kaldas (RT, Book review, Sept 2); current parent Les Epstein (RT, Extra Arts & Culture, Sept 16); current parent Kathy Cohen (RT, Extra, Sept. 14). Correction to last week’s “CS Families in the News”: AJ Beard is not a Community School alumnus. We apologize for the error.

Before School Care

Before School Care (BSC) for all children will be in Cherry’s room (old Boxwoods House first floor, front classroom) from 7:00 to 8:15 a.m. Parents, we ask that you please walk your students to Before School. No staff will be on duty outside between 7:00 and 8:15 a.m. Parents will be billed monthly for Before and After School services.

Pick-Up and

After School Program

Between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m., you can reach After School by calling 400-1922.

1)     Parents, we would like your input as we plan our after school snacks. Please write suggestions for healthy snacks and foods that your child likes and place them in Anna Beebe’s or Lynn Owens’ box in the office. We are striving to serve two healthy choices from two different food groups each day. We want them to be healthy and foods the children like! Thank you.

2)     School dismissal is from 3:15 -3:45 p.m. There are about 120 students who are picked up at that time. Any students here from 3:45 p.m. on will be counted in our After School Program. To avoid an unwanted ASP charge, you must arrive during the dismissal time. Students MUST be supervised at all times, either by their classroom teachers or by our After School Program staff.

Quick Notes

Save paper and time! Request an e-mail copy of Quick Notes by e-mailing leliac@communityschool.net. Quick Notes will also be posted on our school website by 5:00 pm. each Tuesday.