The Bulldog 3.13.25

Note from Mrs. Lockwood

The weather is finally warming up and spring seems to be around the corner!

Tomorrow is our annual talent show. We have some amazing talented Clairemont Bulldogs. Families are invited to attend the talent show tomorrow, Friday, March 14, at 1:20 p.m.. We hope to see you there!

Second-grade families, mark your calendars for the rising third-grade parent night at Talley Street Upper Elementary School on Wednesday, April 16, at 6 p.m.

Finally, please check the lost and found table in the front of the school tomorrow morning. We have quite a few unclaimed items! All items remaining after the end of the school day tomorrow will be donated over the weekend.

Events at a glance:

• Thursday, March 13: Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A; 5-7 p.m.
• Friday, March 14: Talent Show; 1:20 p.m.
• Saturday, March 15: Tour DeCatur
• Wednesday, March 19: PTA Meeting; 5:30-7 p.m.
• Friday, March 21: Walk & Roll
• Friday, March 21: Deadline to purchase yearbook ads/dedications
• Wednesday, March 26: CSD Early Release Day

It's almost yearbook time! Families can begin ordering yearbooks today and uploading their dedications/ads tomorrow. Your student also received a flyer with this information in their Thursday folder today. The deadline to order a yearbook is April 15th, but the deadline to purchase an ad or dedication is next Friday, March 21st, so act quickly!

Yearbooks cost $15 each

Deadline to purchase yearbooks: 4/15

Ads/dedications:

1/8 page for $15

1/4 page for $25

You must purchase the yearbook first to have access to the platform to create an ad/dedication.

Deadline for ads/dedications: 3/21

To purchase a yearbook and make a dedication, please visit www.yearbookordercenter.com and enter our school code: 17410. Please email Ms. Castillo at stephanie.castillo@csdecatur.net if you have any questions.

Dear Clairemont Family & Friends,

We would love to see our Clairemont CREW show up and show out for one of Decatur’s largest community running events, Tour deCatur 2025! Families and friends of all CSD schools are invited to support or participate in the 5K Road Race, 1 Mile Fun Run and/or the adorable Tot Trot, Saturday, March 15th at Decatur High School. Registration is OPEN, so sign up now!

For more information regarding, registration, location, running events & times, please visit www.tourdecatur.com. If paying the registration fee is a barrier for your family to participate, please email Coach Jolly for Tour deCatur scholarships at ajolly@csdecatur.net.

The Georgia Kindergarten Inventory of Developing Skills 2.0 (GKIDS 2.0) is a yearlong, progression-based formative assessment. GKIDS 2.0 is aligned to Georgia's state content standards for kindergarten and is organized around big ideas and learning progressions.

The GKIDS 2.0 Individual Student Report (ISR) provides information on your child’s overall performance in kindergarten. An ISR detailing your child’s midyear progress was sent home in today’s communication folder.

Please contact your child’s teacher with questions about their progress. For additional information about GKIDS 2.0, please see the attached parent flyer.

The talent show will be at 1:20 p.m. in the auditorium on Friday, March 14. All families are invited!

If you have any questions, please direct them to Ms. Nelson or Ms. DeRosa. We can't wait to see your talented students!

Dr. P and Ms. Gilbert led kindergarten students through their new expedition kick-off this week! They will get to become junior entomologists as they learn everything they can about the insects around us. Students got to learn about bioluminescence and insect body parts then construct their own insects out of play dough!

The City of Decatur offers the Animal Crackers program at all K-2 school sites and the Whiz Kids program at all 3-5 school sites. Enrollment for incoming students is done through a lottery process, which opened on February 20 and closes on April 18, 2025. The lottery spin will be April 25, 2025. Full details on registering for the afterschool lottery are on the City of Decatur website at How to Register for 25-26 Lottery on the Forms and Documents page. Contact the Out-of-School Time Division for more information at dprd@decaturga.com or 404-377-0494.

Families can find various afterschool options for students for the 2025-26 school year on the CSD website.

Stay up-to-date with all the Clairemont PTA news and see pictures of our fun events by following the PTA on Facebook and Instagram. You can find all things Clairemont PTA, as well as the form to join, at the Clairemont PTA website.

Talley Upper Elementary's TigerFest is just two weeks away and they are looking for stellar volunteers! This is Talley PTO's premier event and a key measure of their investment in Talley. The easiest way you can help us is to check out the event page for links to volunteer, tickets, the auction, and our live music line up: Bit.ly/tigerfest25

Please consider volunteering while your kids are enjoying the carnival games and bouncing with friends.

Sign up to help:
Adult Volunteers: https://signup.com/go/jHGzOmx
BHMS/DHS Volunteers: https://signup.com/go/yYyGbpW

Click on the photo above for more information.

CSD teachers and students are exhibiting their artwork April 1-3 from 4-7 p.m. at the Solarium. Special thanks to the Decatur Education Foundation, Decatur Arts Alliance, and The Solarium for their funding and support.

The 2025-2026 CSD enrollment opens on Monday, March 3, for rising Kindergarten students or students new to CSD. Registration may be completed entirely online. Find more registration information here.

New Families: See CSD's Key Contacts & Resources for Families, available in multiple languages.

REMINDER: If your currently enrolled student has a sibling who will be new to CSD for the 2025-2026 school year, you must register this new sibling via the Parent Portal.

1. Select "More" from the menu in the Parent Portal.

2. Select "Annual Data Update."

3. Select "2025-2026 New Student Registration."

As part of the enrollment process, you will also need to email residency documentation to CSD's district enrollment specialist, Patrice Moore, at pmoore@csdecatur.net, as the Parent Portal will not allow you to change or upload this field. Information about required residency proof documents is available on the CSD website. Please contact pmoore@csdecatur.net or 404-371-3601 x1063 for assistance.

To maintain the health and wellness of school-aged children and adolescents, the state of Georgia requires that students receive vaccinations for vaccine-preventable diseases before and while attending school.

The CSD School Health Team continuously assesses the immunization status of all CSD students. Parents/guardians of students with expired immunization certificates, Form #3231, or invalid immunization documentation will receive a notification from the school clinic team requesting that the student obtain the required vaccinations for school attendance. A medical exemption on Form #3231 with a current expiration date should be noted, if applicable. See the Georgia Department of Health's child and adolescent vaccination schedule.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, a valid immunization certificate, Form #3231, or a notarized Affidavit of Religious Exemption, Form 2208, is required for school attendance. If a certificate marked with a "Date of Expiration" expires on the date indicated, a current certificate must be submitted within 30 days of expiration.

Adherence to this guidance is crucial. Being adequately vaccinated safeguards the health and well-being of individual students and contributes to the school community's overall safety and vitality. Additionally, ensuring students are immunized creates a protective barrier that minimizes the risks of outbreaks within the school population. Please contact your child’s school clinic team with any questions.

To help prevent the spread of COVID-19, support strong school attendance, and encourage safe in-person learning, the U.S. Department of Education, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is offering free, rapid, at-home COVID-19 tests to school districts for distribution to students, staff, and families. Starting this week, free COVID-19 test kits will be available in school clinics for pickup from the school nurse.

Everyone is invited for a Holi celebration this Saturday!