Cheetah Chatter Parent Update

CORE VALUES of CDES: Community, Relationships, Equity, Excellence

OUR MISSION STATEMENT: Our mission is to work together to support students as they grow in the areas of academics, socio-emotional awareness and mental health. We will strive to prioritize community, relationships, equity, and excellence for all students.

American Education Week This Week!

Chapel Families,

We hope you enjoyed the long Waterfowl Festival weekend, and were able to enjoy time with friends and family! Our TCPS Thanksgiving Break will be here before you know it (November 26th-30th), but we wanted to remind Chapel families of a few reminders and upcoming events.

Reminders/Upcoming Events

This week is American Education Week! We will be having a spirit week to celebrate. We would also like to celebrate that Chapel District Elementary School was named a 2025 Best of the Best Public School Finalist for APG Chesapeake's upcoming event! Mrs. Kim Gibbons-Neff (CDES & WMES Speech Language Pathologist) was also named a finalist!
EHS is hosting an Audition Info Night 11/19 at 6:00 p.m. in the EHS Auditorium for any parents of students interested in auditioning for the upcoming musical The Wizard of Oz! This is the first time they are offering roles to elementary students.
We are continuing to collect food items for our Chapel Kids Care Food Drive through 11/21. These items go directly back to Chapel families in need.
As part of our school improvement work, we are looking to decrease student screen time throughout the school day. We are looking for items from our Amazon Wish List to help with this initiative!
PTO's Brick Fundraiser has been EXTENDED! thatsmybrick.com/ChapelDESPTO
We will be practicing an off-site evacuation drill this week to the CVFD. This is a drill and we would utilize the CVFD if we ever needed to evacuate from the school building.

Upcoming Dates

11/19- Fall Picture Re-takes
11/26-11/30- TCPS Thanksgiving Break- Schools Closed
12/3- PTO Grade-level tree ornaments due
12/9- CDES Winter Concert @ EHS 6:00 p.m. (K-5th)
12/20-1/2- TCPS Winter Break- Schools Closed

Thank you again for your partnership as we are building and living our Chapel legacy this year!

Sincerely,

Dr. Kari M. Clow

CDES Principal

Congratulations to Ms. Nichole Schomborg, ACME/TCPS Education Foundation Teacher of the Month!

Congratulations to Ms. Schomborg, 2nd grade teacher at Chapel District, for being named ACME/TCPS Education Foundation Teacher of the Month!

Nichole Schomborg is a true professional who exemplifies excellence in teaching every day. She maintains impeccable attendance and consistently sets high expectations for herself and her students. Through her dedication and skillful instruction, Nichole’s students grow academically and personally. Her commitment extends beyond the classroom as she works closely with CDES families.We deeply appreciate Nichole’s hard work, professionalism, and unwavering dedication to her students and to Chapel District Elementary School. Thank you, Ms. Schomborg!

FREE UMD TERPS BASKETBALL TICKETS!

UMD has offered Chapel students/families the opportunity to get free tickets to two upcoming basketball games! CLICK HERE- Claim Link. Deadline to Claim: Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 9 PM

Each person can claim up to two free tickets to our Women's Basketball game on November 23rd and our Men's Basketball game on December 28th. Tickets will be distributed no later than 24-48 hours before the games to anyone who claims them.

Maryland Athletics cares deeply about our community schools and hope that your kids/parents take us up on this offer. We are also hoping to schedule a school spirit night as well!

CDES Celebrates Veterans Day!

What a special day at Chapel District Elementary School! We were able to honor and celebrate our veterans right on Veterans Day during our annual program. Students sang patriotic songs, read thank you letters to veterans, and presented crafts and letters to our veterans in attendance. Students were also treated to guest speakers Chief Master Sergeant Sheron L. Mason and Sergeant First Class (Retired) Kevon R. Condon and learned a lot about careers in the military! In closing, our School Service Project was introduced, Operation Carepacks, which will support Chapel parent and Army Master Sergeant Tod Sackett and team while they are deployed. We are so proud of our students and staff for honoring our veterans and we thank our service men and women for securing our freedoms!

A special thank you to-

Mrs. Mandy Leffler- for creating our slideshow and teaching our students patriotic songs
VFW Women’s Auxiliary for the pencils and red poppies
VFW Post 5118 members and representative William Callahan
Other veterans in attendance
CDES for the student flags
The Sackett Family

Be A Part of The Chapel Cheetah Legacy- "That's My Brick!" Fundraiser- DEADLINE EXTENDED!

Calling all Chapel Cheetah students, parents, families, alumni, and community! Would you like to be a part of our new school's renovation and our Chapel legacy? Consider participating in our "That's My Brick" CDES PTO fundraiser and have your custom brick part of our new playground pathway! All funds raised will go directly to our new playground equipment! Flyers will go home with students this week OR you may order online at: thatsmybrick.com/ChapelDESPTO

Help Us Cut Down On Screen Time for Our Chapel Students!

Chapel teachers are attempting to limit the use of iPads when students arrive in the morning and during indoor recess time. We feel that our students get plenty of screen time, so we're hoping to facilitate positive peer interactions by engaging students in constructive play during these less-structured times of the day. If you would like to help us in this endeavor, please check out the Amazon Wishlist linked here to donate the items requested. All items will be sent directly to CDES. Thank you for helping!

Amazon Wish List- SCREEN FREE Activities!

Order CDES Spirit Wear HERE!

CDES Family Handbook 25-26

Please see the map above to outline the new car rider traffic pattern. Families will enter through the same car rider entrance, will utilize the same double-lanes, will merge at the orange cones, and then will enter a single-lane drop off area from in front of the new Critchlow Adkins entrance to the curb closest to the gym. We will temporarily have students entering through a side entrance into the main hallway for arrival and dismissal. There will be lots of Chapel staff on site the first few weeks to assist families in getting the hang of our new car rider line!

The Talbot County Sheriff's Office has been assisting with traffic on Cordova Road and would like to remind families coming from the Easton direction of Cordova Road to NOT turn left off of Cordova Road. Instead, they recommend driving past CDES and using the turn around on Old Cordova Road to then be in the right lane to turn into the car rider lane.

TCPS 25-26 School Calendar (English)

TCPS 25-26 School Calendar (Spanish)

Below is some general information about the CDES building's past and where we are headed for a beautiful new PK-5 school!

Will be a full renovation (46,070 SF)
9,600 SF addition (new CACC site)
Design Capacity- 431, Grades PK-5
Estimated Cost of Project: Construction and site work estimated $25 million, Total Project cost closer to $30 million (60% paid locally- $17M, 40% paid by state)- $13M
Phase 1 of the project is complete and includes the new Critchlow Adkins Childcare Center.
Phase 2 is currently underway, which includes the kitchen, cafeteria, gym, PK & K classrooms, and the addition of a classroom on that wing.
Phase 3 will take place this fall and will include the renovation of the existing spaces of the building (existing front hall, front office, building of new media center, etc.)
More information to come in the fall regarding specific school day logistics and safety protocols specific to Phase 3.
There will be significant impacts to the car rider loop and bus loop.
Parking will continue to be VERY limited at the school, which may impact larger events we typically have.