Principal

Marianne Rupprecht

Carter Lake Families,

We BELIEVE Carter Lake is a very special place for your child(ren)and for you! Our school is safe, caring and full of academic rigor.  If you have questions or concerns, please let us address them. Talk with your child’s teacher or directly with me. We look forward to creating a strong partnership with you this school year! Whether you are at Carter Lake for a few months, a few years  or, if we are even so fortunate as to have your family here from K-5  we truly love being part of your child’s educational journey.

Special Focus: Attendance Matters!

Student engagement and achievement are directly related to attendance, and every absence, even excused, makes it more difficult to be successful. Being absent two days a month in kindergarten has been shown to impact a student’s achievement in fifth grade  and their ability to graduate. We understand that some absences are unavoidable, and students should not come to school when they are sick. Reducing other non-essential absences is important to lessen the impact when your child must be out. Students who miss 18 or more days of school in a year are more likely to see adverse effects of the time missed, so if you need resources to improve your child’s attendance, talk to their teacher, or the Main Office.

Here are some highlights from the attendance handbook to have you thinking ahead and planning. 

• Tardy bell is at 8:10 a.m. Students should arrive between 7:55 and no later than 8:10am. This is breakfast time and school begins at 8:10 a.m. 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 2:20 p.m., 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.

As always, we appreciate your support.   

Marianne Rupprecht
Very Proud Principal, Carter Lake