Carter Lake family,
We have had a year like no other, a truly Eras tour of our own. This year students celebrated October Principal Appreciation Month with the book "Our School is a Family" by Shannon Olsen. The staff and students presented a collection of pictures and sentiments about all the parts of Carter Lake that are so special. We have a very special school and this was such a very terrific gift. The true treasure is the students, families and staff that come together to create a strong, safe learning environment.
Safety and our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support (PBIS) systems remain top rated in the district. Student perception data as part of the Panorama survey and Center for Educational Effectiveness continues to show that students feel safe at school, that they have adults at school that care for them and can help them. To continue building our social, emotional program we added the Inner Explorer mindfulness videos as part of our morning routine. Many of you know the "shark fin" and if you haven't heard, just ask your student. Calming strategies are presented and practiced so that student are able to employ them when needed. This has led to universal language geared to maintaining calm.
We offer a Multi-Tiered Systems of Support process to support students that may need additional care in either or both behavioral and academic areas. This process begins with a leadership analyzing school-wide data for all students. We monitor progress of students already identified for intervention and then watch for other students that may need support throughout the year. Families participate at individual student meetings and can initiate this process as well. Our academic district and state testing data consistently reflects higher than both the district and state average. Teachers and students are working hard learning each day. 100% of families participated in our spring conferences. Thank you for your continued support and partnership!
Student listening and family listening sessions continued this year. Listening to your voice to see how we can continue the things we do well and improve as well. We learned that families begin looking at schools in the area well before moving to JBLM. What resulted was a video project that got underway. A couple families helped with video equipment, filming and editing in order to showcase the academics and social emotional supports here at the school. We got to share how lucky we are serve students with an academic program rich with MLL, Highly Capable, special education and intervention support. Our school counselor, school behavioral health and Military Family and Life Counselors support students each day with friendship, deployment and social groups. We will continue to build upon this series and post to our school website as we go. Our family engagement committee also led classroom activities so that families could join us to see the work we do and have several opportunities to share and highlight the cultures that are brought together within the classroom communities. Classrooms embarked on a journey deepening their writing skills as teachers honed their craft leading writing workshop.
Month of the Military Child, celebrated your students with a daily student reading what makes their experience so special and how they show their bravery and resiliency each day. We wore purple each Friday and the USO brought popsicles on a sunny afternoon. The JBLM Rock Band performed for students and a surprise 62nd Airlift Wing flyover made not one, but two passes overhead at 800ft as students gathered to watch and cheer on. Our students are brave and courageous and it was wonderful to celebrate each of them for an entire month.
Whether you family is at Carter Lake for a short time or an extended stay, we look forward to supporting you and growing the school to make it the most Eras-like experience for students! Thank you for another terrific year!
~Proud Principal
Marianne Rupprecht
MAY - SOARing ALL Year!!
May 9 3pm PTO meeting
May 15 Late Start; Gr 1 WA St Traveling Farm here at CL
May 16 (English) 21 (Spanish) at 6pm Kinder Family Orientation at CPHS
May 22 Late Start; 4:30pm Community Listening Session
May 23 Kinder Field Trip JBLM Children's Museum
May 24 and 27 No School (Snow make-up day and Memorial Day)
May 28 Gr 2 Field Trip Olympia Children's Museum
May 29 Late Start
May 30 Gr 4 Field Trip WA State History Museum; 4:30-6pm PTO/ASB Family Dance
May 31 SOAR Assemblies
JUNE
Jun 4 Student Listening Session; Gr 3 Field Trip Pt Defiance Zoo
Jun 6-7 Camp Eagle
Jun 10 Field Day
June 11 Kinder celebration scheduled for AM and 5th grade celebration 1:30pm
June 12 Last Day of School/Early Release Day
Important information about attendance guidance:
- Tardy bell is at 8:10am. Students should arrive between 7:55 and no later than 8:10am. This is breakfast time and school begins at 8:10am. Our top goal this year is to reduce the number of students arriving after the tardy bell at 8:10am. Students arriving more than 30 minutes late will constitute a half-day absence.
- Please write a note to the teacher for end-of-day changes or call the office early in the day. Dismissal is at 2:40pm and is a busy time for teachers and students. If you have an appointment or need to pick up students early, please stop in the office prior to 2:20pm, otherwise wait for students outside as classes are busy getting ready for dismissal. If a student is picked up prior to 30 minutes early, this also constitutes a half-day absence
- Plan vacation around summer, winter and spring break
- Planned absence form – If you have an emergency or plan for your student to be absent, we have a process for this. Our office and counselor can help you complete a planned absence form.
- Tardy, excused/unexcused conferences and attendance contracts – We are required to hold a conference with families that meet the criteria outlined by district policy at 5 excused absences within a month and 3 unexcused within a month. We will also hold a conference after 5 tardy days.