Kutz Cougar Courier Times

• Friday, August 28- Supply Drop Off- 8:30-9:15 AM (students and parents are encouraged to attend)
• Friday, August 28- Kindergarten Orientation at 10:00-11:30 AM (students and parents are encouraged to attend)
• Sunday, August 30- H&S Chalk Walk- 12-4 PM (see below for more information)
• Monday, August 31- Only Kindergarten students attend
• Tuesday, September 1- K-5 students attend
• Friday, September 4- Grades 1-5 students attend (no kindergarten- placement day)
• Monday, September 7- No School- Labor Day
• Tuesday, September 8- Kindergarten students start in assigned homerooms
• Tuesday, September 8- Back to School Night- Grade 3 at 5:30 PM
• Tuesday, September 8- Back to School Night- Grade 4 at 6:15 PM
• Tuesday, September 8- Back to School Night- Grade 5 at 7:00 PM (Math BTSN at 7:30 PM)
• Monday, September 14- Back to School Night- Kindergarten at 5:30 PM
• Monday, September 14- Back to School Night- Grade 1 at 6:15 PM
• Monday, September 14- Back to School Night- Grade 2 at 7:00 PM
• Friday, September 18- Back to School Picnic- 5:00-6:30 PM (see below for more information)
• Monday, September 21- No School- Yom Kippur
• Friday, September 25- TENTATIVE 5th Grade Social (Time TBD)
• Wednesday, September 30- Early Dismissal at 12:10 PM (teacher in-service in the afternoon)
• Friday, October 2- Picture Day (Retakes 11/5)

• Kindergarten- Ashley Lere, Zandy Zucchero, Melissa Abert (Bolton)
• First Grade- Brittany Engel, Jessi Gallaway, and Michelle Jacobs
• Second Grade- Amy Kallelis, Catey McFadden, Diane Sheridan
• Third Grade- Alicia Fox, Michelle MacNeill, and Jen Townsend
• Fourth Grade- Jen Abato, John Waldron, and Tammy Zakuto
• Fifth Grade- Darrin Geist, Lori Gonsiewski, and Amy Jeffers

• Learning Support- Sarah Coyle, Bridget Giordano, Lauren Marcinkowski, Tracy Bradley (on leave until beginning of October)
• Autistic Support- Lisa Hood (pending board approval), Lizanne Schmidt (pending board approval), Katie Veneziale
• Art- Nicole Doubet
• Library- Kate Carroll
• Music- Kayla Marucci (general music), Kathryn Feliciani (band- grades 4 and 5 only), Lauren Herrschaft (strings- grades 3-5 only)
• Physical Education- Andy Durie and Jamie Koller
• QUEST- Adam Controy
• Counselor- Liz Niszczak
• Psychologist- Kelly Owens
• ELD- Paula Walpole
• Speech- Alisa Talke and Audra Glauser
• Reading Specialist- Tracy Jann
• PEN- Nicole Bartolacci
• Certified School Nurse- Jen Donovan

The parent portal opened on August 6th at 2 PM for families to view teacher assignments for the 2026-2027 school year for grades 1-5. As a reminder, your online student information must be completed prior to seeing the teacher assignments.

This is an exciting time for our students, teachers, and families as the children learn who their teacher will be for the upcoming school year. Our class placement process took place over the course of several weeks at the end of the school year considering input from classroom teachers, counselor, psychologist, reading specialists, special education teachers, specialists, administration, and parents. Please be assured that considerable time and attention went into creating well-balanced class groupings that considered the social, academic, and emotional needs of our students. We kindly ask all parents to respect the amount of hard work and thoughtfulness that our school team put into this process and not request changes to your child’s placement. All of our teachers are caring, capable, and highly qualified educators. We appreciate your collaboration as we support our students, helping them develop confidence and a positive outlook for the new school year. Thank you for your understanding, trust, and support.

Each year, all families are required to review and update information on their student(s) in our database. This annual update is critical for the dispensing of medication, reaching you in emergencies and urgent situations, and receiving important communications from CBSD and your school(s).

Updating your information is also required before you will be able to access student schedules and busing information when these details become available.

• To complete this process, log in at www.cbsd.org/parentportal. Once signed in, select "More" from the menu then "Annual Student Information Update."
• If you need help, you can contact parentportal@cbsd.org.

Thank you for completing this important process in advance. While the deadline is September 30, we hope you will update your information as soon as possible. We look forward to seeing you and your students soon!

Something exciting (and KIND!) is coming to Kutz this fall! We’re thrilled to introduce Raise Craze, a fundraiser that combines acts of kindness with fundraising in a way that truly embodies the spirit of our school. Stay tuned for more details on how our Cougars will be spreading kindness and making a difference this fall! Want to get involved? Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/cougarkindness

If your family is moving and/or your child(ren) will NOT return to Kutz for the 2026-2027 school year, please call the main office or email Mrs. Michele Ernst at mernst@cbsd.org. Thank you!

Below are the board members for the upcoming year based on the voting results at the end of the 2025-2026 school year:

Co-Presidents: Chloe Raison and Jenn Costantini

Co-Treasurers: Amy Munn and Maureen Carroll

Secretary: Gina Pileggi

CBSD is proud to offer healthy meals every school day. Parents and guardians should note that their child(ren) may qualify for free or reduced-price meals in 2026-27. Applications for free and reduced-price meals for the 2026-27 school year will be accepted beginning Aug. 10, 2026. Families must apply every year, even if they were approved the previous year. Breakfast is available at no charge to students. Lunch prices begin at $2.85 depending on grade level. An email from the district will be sent on Aug. 10 with a link to the application. Learn more

The district welcomes CB families in need of before and/or after school childcare provided by Central Bucks School District to register in the program now for the 2026-27 school year.

• Families who are returning to the program should register here.
• Families who are new to the program should register here.

As you complete registration for the 2026-27 school year, we encourage you to review the program's fee schedule and our Frequently Asked Questions, which explain how fees are determined and provide additional information about program operations, staffing, and student support.

If you have additional questions after reviewing the FAQs and the program’s parent handbook, please contact the Community School Office at 267-893-5702 ext. 5705 or childcare@cbsd.org. We look forward to welcoming all our new and returning families to the program in 2026-27.

We have Kutz Spirit Wear available! Click the link below if you want to order Kutz spirit wear!

If your child is coming into school late, leaving early, has a dismissal change, or will be absent, please email your child's teacher(s) and our office staff. Please email all office staff members in case someone is absent- Michele Ernst at mernst@cbsd.org, Jenny Debuque at jdebuque@cbsd.org, and Hillary Ray at hray@cbsd.org You can also call the office at 267-893-3900.

Kutz is a "B" School

• Arrival begins at 8:30 AM
  
• Student day begins at 8:50 AM
• Student day ends at 3:30 PM
• Dismissal ends at 3:50 PM
• For early dismissal days- dismissal begins at 12:10 PM
• For 2 hour delay days- arrival begins at 10:30 and the student day begins at 10:50

The student directory for the 2025-2026 school year is on the Kutz website. Directions for how to find it on the website are included below. To access the website page that houses the directory, you need a "Page Passkey". The page passkey was sent via email on November 5. Click here to access it, too.

Directions for how to find the directory on the website:

1. Go to kutz.cbsd.org
2. On the menu on the right hand side, choose "Parents/Students".
3. Click "Parent Resources".
4. On the left-hand side, click "Student Directory".
5. Enter the page passkey listed above.
6. Then click the directory.

If you have any questions, please reach out to our office staff.

Click here for the Kutz Parent and Student Handbook for the 2025-2026 school year. This handbook provides a comprehensive summary of school and district policies and programs for students and their families. We hope you will find this to be a valuable resource.

VOLUNTEER Clearances/Paperwork

Central Bucks School District volunteers play a vital role in supporting students, staff, sports programs and other school activities. Thank you for your interest in volunteering!

PA Act 15 of 2015 requires volunteers to have clearances/background checks prior to volunteering in a public school. Clearances (and the FBI Volunteer Affidavit if applicable) are valid for 60 months (5 years) from the date of the clearance.

The PA Department of Education (PDE) recognizes differences between volunteers and visitors - click HERE for examples, and contact Human Resources with any questions.

The information below is intended for VOLUNTEERS. If you are compensated by CBSD by paycheck, parent fund, or student fund, you are NOT a volunteer and must complete employee paperwork.

• Click Raptor Volunteer Safe to register and create an account. NOTE: Each volunteer must create an individual Raptor account and all required clearances must be submitted with your application. (The App Garden program has been discontinued by the provider, but you may retrieve your clearances from App Garden through May 31, 2025 - click HERE for instructions).
  
  
• If you have a Volunteer Card issued with your previous App Garden account, you may continue to volunteer with that card through June 30, 2025, regardless of the expiration date printed on the card.
  
  
• All volunteers must create a Raptor account if you wish to volunteer after 6/30/2025.
  
  
• All communication about your account status will be sent to the email address on file in Raptor.

Mandated Reporter Information: Under Pennsylvania law, any person having direct contact with school children is considered a mandatory reporter and is required to report reasonable suspicion of child abuse.

All Central Bucks School District volunteers are mandated reporters. We recommend volunteers complete an online training course through the University of Pittsburgh's Child Welfare Resource Center, “Recognizing and Reporting Child Abuse: Mandated and Permissive Reporting in PA.” Click the link to take the course, then upload your certificate to your Raptor account: https://www.reportabusepa.pitt.edu/.

Click HERE for additional information and frequently asked questions.

Thank you for volunteering your time and service, and for understanding the importance of complying with these state regulations for the safety of our students.

HAVE QUESTIONS? Please email Human Resources.

Clearances expire five years after approval, so please check to make sure yours are still current.

Clearances are required for parents chaperoning field trips, volunteering for classroom parties, and supporting other classroom and school events.

Thank you for supporting our staff and students by volunteering your time!

Want to view our lunch menu? Need to add funds to your child's account? Looking for nutrition information? Need to apply for free and reduced breakfast/lunch? Click here to learn more about Food Services in Central Bucks.

Looking for more information on our Before and After School Programs? Click here to learn how to register your child.

Kutz School Wide Expectations: Practice Kindness, Act Respectfully, Work Responsibly, Stay Safe

Email: cadelberger@cbsd.org
Website: www.cbsd.org/kutz
Location: Kutz Elementary School, Turk Road, Doylestown, PA, USA
Phone: 267-893-3900
Twitter: @CBKutzElem