School News

Dear Castlemont Parents and Guardians,

Our staff is working full speed in preparation for our Phase 2 hybrid reopening that begins on Monday, March 22nd.  Please look over the following information.

Specific in-person start dates

Monday, March 22nd: Kindergarten - 2nd Grade Cohort A

Thursday, March 25th: Kindergarten - 2nd Grade Cohort B

Monday, March 29th: 3rd - 5th Grade Cohort A

Thursday, April 1st: 3rd - 5th Grade Cohort B

Consult the Reopening Handbook for in-person schedules and our campus map.

Please, please be on time

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of being on time for school in the morning and for pick up after school.  Grade level groups have their own entry gates, and start and end times are staggered-- all to limit exposure and to allow us to guide students to their classrooms. Gates will be locked promptly when the bell rings.  Any students arriving late must go to the office side gate on Castlemont Ave. to be checked in by office staff.  Children must be picked up promptly at the end of their in-person day.  Students will not be permitted to wait for parents in the office and will instead need to wait outside of the building (within the school fence). 

Preparing our students

By next Wednesday, your child's teacher will read the Castlemont Ready to Return eBook to their class.  Teachers will also share the ebook with you so you can read it with your child.  Social stories such as this one answer many questions and calm worries about what going back to school will look like.  

In addition to the eBook, our Student Leadership Team is producing two videos -- one a virtual campus tour and the other a look at recess.  Links to the videos will be shared next week.  

Students not ready to return in Phase 2 

If you filled out the form last week informing us that your child will not be returning to in-person learning at this time, we will be contacting you. ( If you have already contacted us with questions or confirmations we will not bother you with another call.) 

Students who are not participating in the in-person part of the school day will have less direct teacher time and more independent time. All students will participate daily in-person or online morning check-ins and an afternoon closing. Our grade level teacher teams will determine when additional check-ins will be scheduled and will reach out to families with this information by Friday, March 19th. 

Water bottles and Classroom Schedules

Please send your student to school with a refillable water bottle.  Part of our safety protocol requires us to prohibit use of our drinking fountains.

Teachers will share a sample of their daily classroom schedule with you by Friday, March 19th.

Coffee with the Principals

Our next community meetings will be on Friday, March 19th via Zoom. The meeting in English will be at 6:00pm and the meeting in Spanish will be at 7:00pm.  A Google form registration link will be sent out on Monday, March 15th.  I hope to see you there.

With so many things changing, you may have questions.  I welcome you to contact me at any time!

~ Kristen

Kristen Kimoto Prindle

kprindle [at] campbellusd.org

It's time to order your yearbook(s). This school year looked a little different, even historic. Now is your chance to purchase a yearbook for your child. Pre-orders will be accepted until April 8 for $22 each.

Order your yearbook online! There is an option available to have your yearbook personalized for an additional fee.

yearbook_20.21_order_forms_0.pdf

yearbook_20.21_order_forms_0.pdf (3.76 MB)

Hello Castlemont Families,

I hope this message finds you and your family well. It is hard to believe that it has been almost a year since we closed our buildings and moved to distance learning. With the recent improvements in our county's COVID-19 conditions, you will be receiving regular information from both our school site and from the district office regarding our Phase 2 reopening plan.  We can anticipate conditions and information to be fluid, and because of this, it will be especially important for our families to check email regularly and to log on to our website often.  New articles are published on Thursdays. You can expect to find an important email arriving in your mailbox today.

Here is the link to the Castlemont Reopening Plan Handbook.  

Please take care,

Kristen

The Castlemont Student Leadership Team is partnering with Notes for Support to express our deep gratitude to the healthcare workers for their service during this unprecedented time.  Notes for Support was created by a local high school student, Gina, who was inspired by the care and support she received during her medical hardship.  Using her expertise in coding, Gina built the Notes for Support website, so people all over the country can contribute by expressing their genuine appreciation to our frontline workers.  As of this moment, Gina has sent over 11,600 notes to 165 hospitals in 40 states.  Sending words of encouragement and comfort will go a long way, and as Gina stated, “There is something so powerful in receiving a physical note in a time of need--it shows that you’re not alone.”

 

To send thank you notes, please visit the Notes for Support website: https://www.notesforsupport.org/.  The SLT greatly appreciates your participation in this project and they will be keeping in touch with Gina to see how many notes Castlemont families can send out and where they were sent to! Thanks for your support!

To view our trailer and to learn more about the project, click on these links:

 

SLT Notes For Support Promotional Trailer

SLT Project-Notes For Support