Principal

Marianne Rupprecht

Carter Lake Families,

Here at Carter Lake, we are always excited to celebrate our successes, and we are very proud to share how our extra focus on math – and new materials and curriculum – this year is evident in student learning.

Our school performance on the Winter STAR Math test showed higher than typical growth, and higher proficiency and growth compared to the district average. Way to go, Eagles! We loved celebrating this with you all at parent-teacher conferences!

We are also always looking for ways to improve our school, and right now, a key area of focus is safety at drop-off and pick-up. We need your help! We have tightened up our dismissal times so families with multiple students can get in and out quickly. If you drive into the bus loop:

· The far right side, near the cones, marked with the 'bus only' sign, is not for vehicles at any point of the day before/after school.

· The center lane must keep moving. Never stop or park to get out of your vehicle here.

· If you prefer using this side, you must walk with your student to the fence gate. Don't let students out of the car to walk in front/behind cars or even up the sidewalk on their own. If you'd like to drop off/pick up your student from the car, use our car loop by the flag pole.

If you drive into the car loop:

• We unload and load about 6-8 cars at a time; to make this go quick, pull all the way forward. If you have students in different classes, just pull forward and we will bring them to you.
• There is only one lane in, so please be patient rather than moving forward in the wrong direction bypassing the line.

Thank you for your support with this!

Marianne Rupprecht Principal

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. 

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.