Challenger Elementary School

Greeting CES Families,

I hope you had a wonderful weekend! September is full of learning, celebrations, and community events.

September is Attendance Awareness Month!

Upcoming Events:

September

8th - Student Council Elections - Results will be shared

9th - Grand-Eagle’s Lunch @ 10:25 – 11:45 (Pre-K – 2nd - See details below)

10th - Grand-Eagle’s Lunch @ 10:25 – 11:45 (3rd – 5th - See details below)

10th - Progress Reports Sent Home

11th - Annual Title 1 Meeting at 8:15 AM (See details below)

16th - CES PTA Open House & General PTA Meeting 5:30 - 7:00 (See details below)

22nd -26th - College & Career Week - more info to come

23rd - School Pictures

25th - Grissom High School Homecoming Parade (See details below)

Important Reminders:

• Independent Arrival: We kindly ask that parents no longer walk or escort scholars to class. Our dedicated staff will be stationed in the hallways to guide and support scholars to their classrooms.

• Morning Arrival: School opens at 7:30 a.m. For safety reasons, please do not drop off students before this time, as supervision is not available prior to 7:30 a.m.

• Start of Instruction: Learning begins promptly at 8:00 a.m. Please ensure your scholar arrives on time each day so they can start the day ready to learn and succeed.

• Join CES PTA: https://challenger.givebacks.com/shop

Together, we’re off to a magical start to a year of learning, growing, and Aiming High at Challenger Elementary!

Let’s Create Magic in 2025!

Love yall,

Sherita Joiner
Principal, Challenger Elementary School

#CESMAGIC2025

#AIMHIGH

Go Eagles!

We’re excited to welcome all grandparents and grand friends who support our students to join us for CES 2025 Grand Eagles Luncheon!

Come share a special meal and celebrate the important role you play in the lives of our CES Eagles.

• Tuesday, September 9 – PreK through 2nd Grade

• Wednesday, September 10 – 3rd through 5th Grade

Details:

• Adult lunch orders have been preordered.

• Students must eat lunch the school provided by the school.

• Each student will receive a special treat to share with their visiting grand(s).

• Please remember to check in at the front office before heading to the cafeteria.

• Parents may only attend if signed up to volunteer.

We can’t wait to celebrate with our Grand Eagles family!

Absences add up! Starting in Kindergarten, too many absences (excused and unexcused) can cause children to fall behind in school. Whitney Jefferson, our Social Worker, will share information on preventing excessive absences by increasing attendance.

• Absences Add Up: Just two absences per month equals nearly 20 days in a school year.
• Chronic Absenteeism: A leading cause of low academic achievement.
• Your Role: Encourage your scholar to be present, on time, and ready to learn each day!
• Together, we can make every day a day of growth.

Being designated as a Title I school means receiving federal funding, known as Title I dollars, to enhance the school's existing programs. These funds are allocated for the following purposes:

• Identifying students facing academic challenges and providing timely support to help them meet the state's demanding content standards.

• Purchasing supplemental staff, programs, materials, and supplies.

• Conducting parent and family engagement meetings, training sessions, and activities.

We can’t wait to welcome you to Challenger’s Open House on Tuesday, September 16!

Here’s what’s happening:
5:30–6:00pm: Visit PreK–2nd Grade classrooms
6:00–6:30pm: PTA Meeting in the cafeteria
6:30–7:00pm: Visit 3rd–5th Grade classrooms

This is your chance to:

• Attend our first PTA meeting
• Visit your child’s classroom
• Meet our amazing Platinum Sponsors
• Join the PTA and get involved
• Connect with teachers and families

Calling All CES Parents and Scholars!

We are thrilled to announce that GHS 2025 Homecoming Parade will take place September 25!

This is a wonderful opportunity to show our school spirit, celebrate community, and join in a proud annual tradition across our district.

• PARADE STAGING - Meet @ 4:15pm at Chaffee Elementary
• PARADE STARTS @ 5pm
• FOOD TRUCK RALLY following the parade at Grissom
• Event Ends at 7:30pm

Action Required:

• All participants will be required to fill out an online waiver https://forms.gle/gAzqnAAziGc5oa4V8
• NO DROP OFFS - Parents/Guardians must remain with students at all times
• Wear CES spirit wear

Let’s come together to represent CES with pride and unity!

Arrival- 7:30am - 8:00am

• Please have scholar(s) exit from the passenger side of your vehicle.
• Scholars must be escorted when using the crosswalk.

Dismissal- 2:30pm

• Challenger Elementary dismisses daily at 2:30 p.m.
  To ensure a safe and efficient process, no checkouts are allowed after 2:00 p.m.
  Please plan accordingly. Thank you for your support!
• Every scholar has received a car rider number.
• Place names/numbers so they are visible.
• Please be patient and understanding daily.

All scholars must use one of the following transportation methods:

1. AlphaBest After School Program: Parents must enroll scholars in advance. Please inform your scholar’s teacher upon registration.
2. Bus Riders: Students assigned to a bus route may utilize HCS transportation.
3. Car Line – Before & After School: Drivers must use Lane 1 (closest to the school building) or Lane 3. Remain in your vehicle and follow staff directions during arrival and dismissal.
4. Gym Door Pickup – After School Only: Families parking near the track may walk to the gym door to pick up scholars. **Students will not be allowed to cross the parking lot or street alone—you must walk up to retrieve them.
5. Pre-K Families – Before & After School: Park in the parking lot and walk your scholar to/from the front entrance. **All Pre-K students must be signed in and out daily.
6. Van Riders: Parents must enroll scholars with a licensed van service. Inform your scholar’s teacher of provider and schedule.
7. Walkers: Only students who live within walking distance qualify. **If you drive to campus, your child is not considered a walker. Use the car line or park and walk your child across the crosswalk.

Arrival and dismissal can be busy! We sincerely thank you for your patience and support as we guide all scholars through these important transitions.

Your partnership is key in helping us maintain a safe campus and ensuring traffic flows smoothly. Each day will become more efficient—especially for our new Eagles—as everyone becomes familiar with the process.

We will have attendance meetings over the next few weeks to address students with critical absences. Please know that all absences count towards our school's state report card, whether excused or unexcused. We have many students reaching a critical number of absences. Please be sure your scholar(s) are at school daily. If your child is absent, please upload excuses and/or send excuses to the front office or email them to Danna.Freeman@hsv-k12.org and Kendra.Humphrey@hsv-k12.org.

Dear Huntsville City Schools Families,

We are excited to announce a new feature in the Huntsville City Schools Parent Portal! Parents and guardians now have the ability to upload attendance excuse documents directly through the portal. This enhancement makes it easier and more convenient to submit excuses for student absences without needing to send paper copies to the school.

Parent Portal Access

HCS has pushed out Parent Portal accounts for all custodial contacts. If you did not create your own account, your login will be your current email address on record with the school. You may use the "Forgot Password" link to set or reset your password.

If you find that you do not have an account, please contact your child's school. Be ready to provide your photo ID to update your email address.

How to Upload an Attendance Excuse:

1. Select Forms from the left side of the screen in the Parent Portal.
2. Select Attendance Document Upload on the General Forms tab.
3. Select Sign In button (Follow on screen instructions).
4. Select the Add Document button.
5. Select Browse to choose your document and then select Upload.
6. Select Submit to complete the process.

We encourage all families to take advantage of this feature to ensure timely and accurate attendance records. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact your child’s school.

Thank you for your continued support in keeping our students on track for success!

Bus route information for the 2025-26 school year are visible in the PowerSchool Parent Portal. Information about how to access the PowerSchool Parent Portal is available on the Grades Online page of the HCS website.

Routes will then be frozen through August 18, 2025 - no changes to routes, stops, or stop times will occur during this period.

For all routine questions regarding bus routes, please use the School Bus Transportation Comment Form. This will ensure a member of the transportation team will follow up regarding any questions or concerns within 48 hours.

• All visitors must enter through the front entrance. You must have your driver's license when entering the building to checkout your scholar(s)
• School starts promptly at 8am daily. Most classes start reading instruction at 8am so it is imperative that your child is at school on time each day.
  
• Please have your child bring a water bottle, laptop, and charger daily.
• Please consider joining CES PTA today!
• Check Outs: Please remember that student check outs must happen BEFORE 2:00 PM.
• Student Item Drop-Off: If you are dropping off items to students, such as lunchboxes, water bottles, etc, please make sure the item is labeled with the child's name and teacher.
  

Lunch Visitor Guidelines:

We love welcoming families to join us for lunch! Lunch visitors are welcome on any day that students eat in the cafeteria. However, due to space limitations, we are unable to accommodate visitors on days when students eat in their classrooms for special events.

Visitor Expectations:

• All visitors must check in at the front office and go directly to the lunchroom.
• Visitors are not permitted to visit classrooms before or after lunch.
• At the end of lunch, please say goodbye in the lunchroom and check out at the front office.
• Visitors must be listed as an approved contact in PowerSchool in order to eat lunch with a student.

Important Medication Requirements:

All medications administered at school require yearly updated paperwork from your student's physician, which must be turned in by the parent/guardian along with the medication. Students cannot carry any medications, including over-the-counter medications, unless proper physician paperwork has been completed and submitted to the nurse.

For Returning Students: If your student had an Individualized Health Care Plan (IHP) last year, you only need to bring updated physician paperwork and the medication. Nurse Banks has already updated your student's IHP.

For New Students: Parents of new students requiring medication will need to complete additional paperwork during the drop-off appointment. All forms are available in Nurse Banks' Office.

Critical Prescription Requirements:

• The Parent Provider Authorization Form (PPA) from the physician must match the prescription label exactly
• Example: If your student needs an EpiPen that can be administered twice, both the PPA and prescription label must specify this
• EpiPen prescriptions cannot read "As Directed"
• Daily medications cannot read "After lunch" - they must specify an exact time on both the PPA and prescription label

Over-the-Counter Medications:

• Can only remain in the clinic for 2 weeks per semester unless you have a doctor's order
• Must be age and weight appropriate or they will not be accepted

All required paperwork is available in Nurse Banks' Office.

If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Nurse Banks at Heather.Banks@hsv-k12.org.

Thank you for helping ensure your student's health and safety at school.

The school year has started and an important part of Challenger Elementary School is our PTA!

PTA supports critical academic needs, is an active voice on decisions that impact your child’s health, safety and quality of education, and builds a stronger, more inclusive school community.

There is no wrong or right way to be involved – anything you can give, whether it’s time or money, will support your child’s potential. We invite you to join because we can do more together than apart. It only takes 5 minutes!

Each class that achieves 100% membership will earn a special treat. https://challenger.givebacks.com/store

• Grades, Classwork, Assignments, & Dismissal Changes: Contact your child's teacher first
• Attendance: Danna.Freeman@hsv-k12.org and Kendra.Humphrey@hsv-k12.org
• Registration: Danna Freeman at Danna.Freeman@hsv-k12.org
• School Nurse: Heather Banks at Heather.Banks@hsv-k12.org
• Librarian: Kimberly Loomis at Kimberly.Loomis@hsv-k12.org
• IT Support: If your student has difficulty with the internet or digital learning platform, please reach out to HCS IT Department at helpdesk@hsv-k12.org or 256-428-6900.
• School Fees & Finances: Danna Freeman at Danna.Freeman@hsv-k12.org
• School Counselor: Vicki Watson at Vicki.Watson@hsv-k12.org
• Cafeteria Manager: LaCresha Donegan at Lacresha.Donegan@hsv-k12.org

Every Wednesday, your scholar(s) will bring home their Wednesday Folder containing the previous week's completed assignments, grades, newsletters, upcoming school events, and important notes for your attention. It is imperative that you thoroughly review the contents of the folder to stay informed and abreast of your scholar's academic progress. In the event that the folder is not received, we kindly ask that you reach out to the respective teacher for assistance