School News

One of the most important decision-making groups at Castlemont is our elected School Site Council. The Council is composed of five parent and community members and five representatives from the school’s staff. The Council reviews the school plan annually, establishes a budget, makes modifications as necessary, and assists in the evaluation of the school’s programs. Members are elected by the groups that they represent. Parent and community representatives and alternates are elected for a two-year term and may stand for re-election upon the completion of each term.  If you are interested in running for the Council, please submit your name, with a short biography, to the front office by Thursday, May 5. The voting ballot will be sent home on Monday, May 9 and returned to the front office by Monday, May 16.  The elected council member will be notified and his/her name posted in the front office on Friday, May 20.

There is currently one seat to be filled. The candidate receiving the most votes will serve on the Council as a parent/community representative. Write-in candidates receiving votes have an equal opportunity to be elected or serve as alternates on the Council. We meet 6 times throughout the year on Mondays at 3:00 p.m.

Show your Spirit!

On Friday, May 6, unite with the best grade in the school and wear the same color as your classmates!

• Kinders wear yellow 
• 1st wears green
• 2nd wears purple
• 3rd wears orange
• 4th wears teal
• 5th wears white

At a March 17 Study Session, the Campbell Union School District Governing Board began discussions about proposed changes at three of its schools: Rosemary Elementary School, Campbell Middle School, and Village School, the district’s parent participation school.

Main components of the proposal include:

1. Rosemary Elementary School: add a fifth grade class to the preschool-through-grade-four school in August 2016 with a possibility of expanding to a Preschool through 8th grade site in the future.
2. Campbell Middle School: Expand the grade 5-8 middle school to Preschool through 8th grade, possibly in the 2017/18 school year. (This proposal could include merging Village School and Campbell Middle School, but is not dependent upon it.)
3. Village School: If the school merges with Campbell Middle, the current Village School campus would convert to a preschool site. If the two schools do not merge, Village School will remain as is and planning for converting Campbell Middle School to a preschool-through-eighth-grade campus would continue.

One of the proposed changes was approved on March 31st: Rosemary School will have a 5th grade starting in the new school year. Discussions about the rest of the proposed changes will continue throughout the year.

“This proposal is a starting point. We are at the very beginning of the conversation,” said District Superintendent Eric Andrew. “Having ample opportunity for discussion is an integral part of the process.”

Andrew said the proposal stems from the District’s Strategic Planning, input from stakeholders, and the goal of ensuring that every school in the Campbell Union School District is a School of Choice. 

“We want each school to be as desirable as the next, so parents are confident that their children are receiving a top quality education in a top quality educational setting no matter which is their neighborhood school, ” he said.

The Superintendent and Board have had multiple meetings with staff, families and other community stakeholders since mid-March, and more are expected.

“We will discuss the District Reorganization proposal at each board meeting until we finalize the plan and identify methods to monitor the implementation of the plan,” Andrew said.

“Change can be uncomfortable, he added, “but it also can bring about wonderful outcomes for our students.”

If you have questions or want to be part of the discussions, please contact the school principal or ask_us [at] campbellusd.org (Email the District)

The Jog-a-thon is quickly approaching and if you have not had a chance to take a look at the winning shirt design, it is still posted in the school library.  In the next Monday Folder you will find a donation request for the t-shirts to help off set the cost of supplying one shirt to every student at Castlemont.  The suggested donation is $5 or more.  For each student who turns in a donation of $5 or above, they will receive a small prize and have their name in a drawing for Baskin Robbins ice cream.  Next week, please be on the look out for the volunteer opportunities available the day of the event. It takes lots of parent help to have the day be fun and exciting for the kids and they really appreciate all that the parents do! If you have any questions contact Emily Loek at eloek [at] yahoo.com.