Busy! Busy! Busy!

Good morning! Welcome to the last full week of school! Can you believe we only have one more Monday!? This week (and next week, too!) proves to be a busy one here at CES with lots of fun activities scheduled!
   
     May 14 Kindergarten will be heading to the zoo for a field trip! I know they will have lots of fun learning about all of the animals up close! I always love to hear stories the children tell up their return, they are always so excited! It is great to see them so excited about learning!
   
     May 15 is CES's annual FIELD DAY! Be sure your children dress in layers (in case it is cool in the morning) and wear tennis shoes! No flip flops or open-toed. There will be lots of running and playing and tennis shoes are the most appropriate, safe shoe to wear. Also, be sure to put sun-block on your children before they leave for the day and you may want to send some with them to reapply as the day progresses. DON'T FORGET PLENTY OF DRINKS TO HELP STAY HYDRATED, SUNGLASSES, AND HATS!!

     May 17 is Career Day! We will have lots of great guest speakers coming in to meet and talk to the students about different career choices. Please be sure to ask your child about guest speakers who visited that day as well as what their favorite career is!
 
    Next week: May 20, kicks of our end of year DIBELS and reading celebration! Children earned DIBELS Dollars every day and have saved them up throughout the last several weeks of school. They will be able to 'cash in' those dollars to attend a Popsicle and Play party!

• Monday, kindergarten will celebrate their reading accomplishments
• Tuesday, 1st grade will celebrate their reading accomplishments
• Wednesday, 2nd grade will celebrate their reading accomplishments

 CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL STUDENTS FOR THEIR WONDERFUL ACCOMPLISHMENTS!! THANK YOU, PARENTS, FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK AND SUPPORT!
 

HAPPY MONDAY!!

Good Monday morning!
     Today we begin DIBELS testing! We are so excited to see the growth and changes that have occurred over the year!
     Today is also the 2nd grade arts show! Second grade students will be showcasing their artistic abilities in art as well as in music! We look forward to great shows today and welcome friends and family of our 2nd grade students!

REMEMBER!! Tomorrow is Kindergarten Cap and Gown Picture Day!! We will begin early tomorrow morning so please be sure your child is on time (they should be every day!!) Also remember to send in money with your child. Payments will be given directly to the photographer and only students who have orders will be allowed to take pictures.

 Have a wonderful day!

Kindergarten Cap and Gown Pictures

Good Wednesday Morning!
   
 Kindergarten cap and gown pictures have been rescheduled! They will now be taken on Tuesday, April 30th! 

Special Olympics is May 2nd!! Be sure to come out and support our athletes!

April 29th is the 1st and 2nd grades' art and music show!

We look forward to seeing you at these events!

CES NEWS

DIBELS Testing Soon

All CES students will complete the state mandated DIBELS assessment between April 29^th and May 10^th.  Please complete your child’s reading homework nightly to help prepare for this assessment.  Each student has a chart to fill in encouraging them to actively participate in reading at school and complete assigned homework.  Teachers will direct students to fill in spaces as assignments are completed.

Kindergarten Registration for 2013-2014

Kindergarten registration for the 2013-2014 school year is the week of April 22 – 26.  All children five years of age on or before September 2, may register.  Please encourage family and friends with children that age, to register at CES any day that week between 8:00 and 3:00.

 K-4 Applications Now Available

CES will offer three K-4 classes next year.  The members of these classes are drawn by lottery the first week of May.  Applications are now available at CES in the front office.  Applications must be returned on or before April 30^th, to be entered in the drawing.  Children must be 4 years of age on or before September 1, to be eligible for the K-4 class.  The 54 names will be drawn on May 3^rd, at 9:00.

Celebrate the Arts

We are going to recognize the accomplishments of our students in art, music, and Spanish on the following days.  Musical presentations will be:

April 29 – Grade 2 – 1:20 or 1:55

May 2 – Grade 1 – 1:20 or 1:55

May 6 – Grade K – 1:20 or 1:55

Grade Pre – K   1:20

Art will be displayed for one week.

April 29 – May 3 – Grades 1 and 2

May 6 – May 10 – Grades K and Pre-K

CES Projects

Discovery Play Garden continuing to grow!

We are continuing to develop our Discovery Play Garden in the old Butterfly Garden area.  This past Saturday, we had a team of approximately 25 people working in the garden as part of the local churches’ Great Day of Service.  We are very grateful to the individuals who took time out of their Saturday to work at our school.  They planted flowers, mounted bird houses, cut weeds, repaired bicycles, and created a wonderful labyrinth for our students.  Please come by and see this area if you have not already done so.

CES Garden Club collecting cans!!

We have formed a Garden Club with a group of first grade students who would like to purchase flowers for the Discovery Play Garden.  These students are currently collecting aluminum cans to recycle for flower money.  Please send us your cans!!!

12:00 Dismissal

Good morning! We have just received word that due to the impending inclement weather, Chilton County Schools will be dismissing at 12:00. That means car riders will begin to dismiss at 11:30 here at CES!
     We thank you for your cooperation and flexibility!
     STAY SAFE!

Possible Severe Weather Threat

Good morning!
     I know many of you are concerned with the possibility of severe weather moving into our area later today and are asking if our school is closing early as a result. At this time, we have no information that our school will be closing early. If the decision is made to dismiss early, you will receive a call from our superintendent informing you.
     As we receive information we will post it here to keep you updated!
Have a great day and stay safe!

Monday Memo

Good BEAUTIFUL morning!! I can't think of a better way to start a week than with this incredibly gorgeous day!
 Below I have added our list of upcoming events with the addition of two more activities:
April 29-Art Show and April 29 through May 3rd: 1st and 2nd grades Art Display

APRIL
April 2-19                EL Testing
April 22-26              KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
April 24                   Progress Reports
April 25                   Kindergarten Cap and Gown Pictures
April 29                   Art Show
April 29-May 3        2nd and 1st grades Art Display
April 29-May 10     DIBELS Testing

 MAY
May 9                    1st grade to DeSoto Caverns
May 12                  Mother's Day
May 15                  Field Day
May 23                  LAST DAY FOR STUDENTS


 As always, thank you for entrusting your children with us every day. We enjoy every moment with have with them!

School Calendar

For those of you who prefer the calendar format with all of our scheduled events listed, I have embedded a copy for your viewing pleasure.  :-)



If you have anything you would like to add to our calendar, please contact me at rbaker@chilton.k12.al.us.

Welcome Back!

Good morning and welcome back from Spring Break! I hope everyone had a nice restful time and is ready to start the countdown to SUMMER!! Can you believe we only have 7 weeks left in our school year? It has been an amazing year thus far and I anticipate even greater things between now and May 23! The beautiful weather (maybe not today) over the past several days has really given everyone spring fever. Now is a good time to give children reminders to make good behavior choices. We are reviewing and reminding students of the high expectations we have of them both academically and behaviorally. We appreciate your support and reinforcement at home! Below are some important dates to remember!!!

 APRIL
April 2-19                 EL Testing
April 5th                    IDent-A-Kid
April 22-26               KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
April 24                     Progress Reports
April 25                     Kindergarten Cap and Gown Pictures
April 29-May 10        DIBELS Testing
 MAY
May 9                       1st grade to DeSoto Caverns
May 12                     Mother's Day
May 15                     Field Day
May 23                     LAST DAY FOR STUDENTS

 We love having visitors at CES! We do; however, require everyone to come to the front of the school and sign in at the office. Please do not go to any other door and knock to attempt to gain entrance to the school. This is for your child's safety as well as that of the staff, and faculty. We appreciate your understanding and help with this. We hope you all have a wonderful week and, as always, should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your child's teacher or a member of the office staff.

T.I.G.E.R. TRAILS after school program would like to announce that we will be opening 5 computers in the computer lab for parent use. If you do not have access to the internet from home but need to, please come to CES to use ours. Sign in at our check out desk, receive a visitor's sticker and proceed to the computer lab to use the computer!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

     Happy Friday! I know it's a little cold today but it IS the second day of spring and the Friday before Spring Break so there is much for which we should be happy!

     When we return from Spring Break we will have approximately 8 weeks left in the school year. We have many events taking place between now and the end of school (can you believe we are almost at the end of the year?!?) so I am including a link to our Google Calendar. This will give you the opportunity to review our events and set up reminders for scheduled activities. I will continue to post important dates on our blog as well.

Calendar

If you have any difficulties opening the link, please let me know.
     Have a wonderful and safe Spring Break! See you in APRIL!!!

Thursday

1. Wow, what a busy day today at CES! I am SO thankful to the faculty and staff for their patience and flexibility with the picture schedules this morning. I am also very thankful and proud of our children who behaved remarkably well while waiting. Everyone's picture was taken and there was minimal disruption to the regular flow of our day. Thanks for a job well done!
   
   
   
   THINGS TO REMEMBER:
   1.                 Please be mindful of your child's absences and/or tardies. If you check in your child after 8:00 (even if it's only 8:01) he or she IS tardy. Additionally, if your child checks out prior to 2:30 (even if it's 2:29) he or she IS tardy. As a courtesy, I will call or send home a letter letting you know what we have in our system so you can make necessary changes to stay out of Truancy Court. You only have 6 parent notes (for the entire year) that can be used to excuse your child's absence or tardy. Any parent notes sent after the 6th has been received will result in an unexcused absence or tardy.  
   
   
   2.                 If your child is diagnosed with the flu-he or she MUST stay out of school for 3 days, minimum, and can only come back after 3 days if he or she has been fever free for 24 hours. 
   
   
   3.                 Cookie Dough pick up today from 3-5. We appreciate your support of our PTO fundraiser
   
   
   4.                 Spring Break March 24-29
   
   
   
   

Monday Madness

Good morning! I hope everyone had time to enjoy the beautiful weekend and that you are now ready to get into this busy week!
     As usual, we have many things happening at CES!

• Thursday March 21st: Spring Picture Day! 

• Thursday March 21st: COOKIE DOUGH ORDER PICK UP from 3-5

• Friday March 22nd: Crowning of the CES King and Queen! (Winners will be notified Thursday evening)
• Monday March 25-29: SPRING BREAK!!!!

• Be looking for information about our annual Art/Library Media/Music night! We are working on a schedule for that event and it should be out soon!

**Please remember: if your child is running fever he/she MUST be kept home. Children must be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school. 

Also, many of you have been to school over the past week may have noticed a new entrance into our building. As an added safety measure, we have installed locked doors and created a waiting area for parents. The area extends from the outside entrance by the office window and goes to the edge of the Red Module. All visitors will be asked to sign in and wait until the doors are unlocked from a remote location. We, as always, require a PICTURE ID when checking out a child during the day OR during after school programming. 

T.I.G.E.R. TRAILS ARTISTS HONORED

     Last night, several students from the T.I.G.E.R. TRAILS after school program were honored at a "Meet the Artists" reception hosted by The Chilton County Arts Council (CACC). Students enrolled in the after school program participated in an enrichment activity with the CCAC last year and since then, the completed works of art have been on display at various locations throughout the county. Students were honored last night and told how their art work, which had been on display in the halls of the hospital, had brought happiness and joy to patients and staff during times they needed a boost. Students had the option of taking the art work home or allowing Jeff State's library to put it on display. While some of the students did elect to take it home, many opted for allowing the college to hang it in the library. We are so proud of our students!!!

Still Life-Fruit

Artists and T.I.G.E.R. TRAILS Program Directors

What Fun!

 Math/Science Day was a wonderful success and we owe it to you and the teachers who worked so hard to prepare. Without your support and attendance, it wouldn't have been nearly as fun! I had the opportunity to observe activities in several classrooms and it was obvious how excited and happy the children were to have you participate. What a wonderful way to spend your day and build memories with your children! We would also like to congratulate all of our guests whose names were drawn to win a math game! There were some great games (there is a photo below) and we hope you enjoy playing and learning with your children.

 Parents playing Plus 9 or 10 in Mrs. Hughes's room.

                                                          Davion working hard to balance his mobile.                                                                                                                                              

Looking Good! Keep up the good work!

Parents helping to build mobiles, make sure they balance!

Above are some of the games from which guests could choose. 

We always enjoy having families come and spend time with their children learning what goes on during their busy, busy days. Yesterday is just one more reminder of why I love being at CES!!!

   

Math/Science Day

     We are looking forward to having many friends and family members of our students here today taking part in our annual Math/Science Day (I will post pictures later today)! I know when I left last night around 6:00 there were still many teachers here organizing and and getting ready, they want everyone to have a wonderful time!  I really do appreciate the faculty and staff here at CES!! They always work hard for the children and community, there's not a better group of professional educators anywhere!
     Don't forget that each person who attends today as a guest of one of our students will have his or her name placed in a drawing to win one of the math games purchased from the Parent/Teacher Store! These are great games!! Good luck!
     Also, today is ice cream day! Ice cream will be sold for $1 during students' break times and all proceeds go to Relay for Life! I have had many children happily waving their $1 at me this morning so I expect we will have quite a few students enjoying ice cream today! Thank you to everyone who participates in our activities!
     A date to remember, April 5th Ident-A-Kid will be here to provide safety information and ID cards for your children. We will send home additional information, including the cost, at a later time. Please consider taking part in this opportunity. I have participated with my son for years and am thankful to have all emergency information in one place should we ever need it.
     I hope everyone enjoys this beautiful, sunny Thursday! See you later at CES!

Welcome!

     Good morning and welcome to the official Tiger Tales blog!  Please check here often to stay informed of all up and coming events for Clanton Elementary School and the T.I.G.E.R. TRAILS after school program!  
     We have lots of exciting things happening in the next few days and look forward to seeing you at these events. Thursday March 14th is going to be a very busy day! We will be having our annual Math/Science day and invite family and friends to come participate in exciting math and science activities with their child's class. Guests of second grade students should come between 9:00-10:15, guests of Kindergarten students should come between 12:30-1:45, and guests of first grade students should come between 1:15-2:25.
Then that evening come celebrate with artists from our T.I.G.E.R. TRAILS after school program who are being honored by the Chilton County Arts Council at an artists' reception being held in the Clanton Conference and Performing Arts Center at 6:00. Students from the T.I.G.E.R. TRAILS after school program participated in painting enrichment activities with members of the Chilton County Arts Council last year and their art work has been on display in facilities all over the county. The culmination of that traveling art show will be at this reception honoring those participants. We hope you can attend!