Blue Jay Buzz

In this issue you will find:

New Info

• Upcoming Dates
• Community Corner
• Updates and Other Info
• 8th Grade Families
• Update: Traffic Flow - Drop off and Pick up Safety
• Clubs and Activities
• PTO Upcoming Events

Old News

• Cellphones, Medication, Attendance, Tardiness to school

1/31/2025 Newsletter

1/24/2025 Newsletter

1/17/2025 Newsletter

1/10/2025 Newsletter

Mark T. Schwarz - Principal - mschwarz@dps109.org

Donnie Castans - Associate Principal - dcastans@dps109.org

Marcia Klita - Director for Student Services - mklita@dps109.org

Friday, 2/14 - No School (Teacher Institute Day)

Wednesday, 2/19 - Panorama Survey

Monday, 2/17 - No School (Presidents' Day)

Thursday, 3/20 & Friday, 31 - Parent-Teacher Conferences (more info to come)

Monday, 3/24 - Friday, 3/28 - Spring Break

Tuesday, 6/3 - 8th Grade Graduation @ DHS

Wednesday, 8/13 - Locker Day

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

Our Caruso Middle School bus drivers are more than just drivers—they are the first smiling faces our students see in the morning and the ones who ensure they get home safely each day. Their commitment to building relationships, creating a welcoming atmosphere, and keeping our students safe is truly incredible.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate all they do, from navigating the roads with care to making each ride a positive experience. Thank you for being such an essential part of our school community!

Congratulations to the 8th grade boys basketball team on their 35-17 victory last night to earn the Regional Title! Strong defensive performances from Jonah Baer and Brady Stein helped lead the team to another huge win and advance to the sectional final! Additionally, congratulations to Jonah Baer on receiving the sportsmanship award for showing great leadership and respect towards his opponents all tournament long! The boys will take on Homer Glen on Monday at 6:30 PM at Old Quarry Middle School.

National Junior Honor Societies first service project at Feed My Starving Children was a great success! We had an amazing time packing meals for the Philippines. Our next project will be at Bernie's Book Bank on Friday, February 21 from 4:00-5:30. If your child is in 7th grade and is interested in joining us please have them get a permission form from Ms. McCandless or Mr. Lombardi. Permission forms will be due by February 13.

TIPS FOR Smart Online Choices

Mark your calendars! Pizza Bowl & Baker's Showcase is scheduled for Sunday, February 23, 2025, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. in the Highland Park High School Cafeteria. Enjoy a delicious showcase of the finest pizzerias and bakeries in our community, along with student performances and exciting raffles—all for a great cause.

Tickets are $13 per person or $40 for a family of five (*$10 per additional person). All proceeds benefit the District 113 Educational Foundation, supporting innovative programs and opportunities that enrich the student experience at Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools.

For more information about the District 113 Educational Foundation, visit www.district113foundation.org.

As the temperatures drop and the days grow longer, it’s easy to feel rushed and impatient, especially at the end of the day. However, to ensure everyone's safety, we kindly ask all our families to respect and follow school procedures during arrival and dismissal. To help us all stay on track, we spoke with our School Resource Officer, Officer Maldonado, who shared some important reminders.

Here is the link to the video

Building students’ social-emotional learning (SEL) skills is important at Caruso. As a part of the learning process, we will be asking students in grades K-8 to reflect on skills related to social-emotional learning and the school environment. The survey will be administered to all students in grades K-8 between February 18 and February 28, 2025. Per policy, if you would like your child to opt out of taking the survey, please contact me no later than February 13.

As you review your child’s semester 1 report card, please be sure to pay close attention to the attendance information included at the bottom of the report card. If your child has already missed 10 or more days of school, they may be on pace to be considered chronically absent by the end of the school year.

• Chronic absenteeism is defined as absences totaling 10 percent or more of school days—including absences with or without valid cause—during the school year. If a child is absent for 17 days or more during the school year for excused or unexcused reasons, that child is considered chronically absent.

Our goal in District 109 is to work together to ensure the success of every child. As we are entering the second semester of the school year, we want to remind you that regular student attendance is vital to your child’s success. We are committed to working with you, our families, to achieve this goal by supporting your family with any concerns regarding student attendance. There are many people in our building ready to help address any challenges in getting to school regularly or on time. We can also help identify barriers to regular attendance and implement key resources to support your family in these efforts.

See below for the upcoming Spirit Days in February!

If you have any cool pictures you would like to see in the yearbook, please email to ecadkin@dps109.org or hmatan@dps109.org, or you can upload them to this link.

Thank you,

Hayley Matan and Eliza Cadkin

Join us for coffee @ Caruso; a way for the adults in our students' lives to build stronger connections with us at Caruso. Space is limited to 25 people per event. Please RSVP by calling the Caruso Main Office at 847-945-8430. Thanks to the PTO for Sponsoring Coffee.

Cell phones will be off and away in lockers from 8:00 am - 3:00 pm every day (8:00 am - 2:00 pm on early release Wednesdays). Here's the why: This will help our students focus on their learning, build relationships with those around them, and hopefully disconnect from the anxiety that comes from even just having a phone in the pocket, wondering what notifications they are missing.

If students are using their phones during the school day, they will be instructed to bring their phone to the main office. There will be a progressive response when this occurs that resets each semester:

First and Second Occurrence: Email home and student picks up phone at the end of the school day.

Third Occurrence: Parent/guardian must come pick the phone up from school. Student will serve a lunch reflection.

Fourth Occurrence +: Parent/guardian must come pick the phone up from school. Student will also drop phone off at office each morning. Student will serve an after-school reflection.

MUST be wired and are not used during passing periods.

A student who fails to meet the expectations will be asked to comply with them and may be subject to a verbal warning or behavior check in.

Backpacks must be kept in students’ lockers throughout the school day unless it is a documented accommodation. They will not be traveling from class to class. Here's the why: We do not have room in our classrooms to safely store backpacks without having a tripping/fire hazard, and—by keeping backpacks in lockers—we have a wonderful opportunity to teach and reinforce important executive functioning skills with material organization, case-its, and other organizational tools.

We ask that you try to limit student deliveries during the school day. We will not be allowing and/or accepting any DoorDash or similar delivery options for any student under any circumstances. All deliveries will be refused. Families are welcome to drop off lunches themselves. We have extra Chromebooks, chargers, and copies of books here at Caruso, so it is not necessary to drop what you're doing and run these items to school. If something is truly needed during the day, we ask that you bring it in to the front entrance, label it with your student's name and grade, and leave it on the Drop Off table in the vestibule. We will then bring it into the office for your student to pick it up. Please note, students are not permitted to order their own lunches during the school day. If you order/bring lunch for your student, please do not provide food for other students.

If arriving between 7:30 and 7:45, students should enter at the north side of the building at the Athletics Entrance. Students will wait until 7:45 to head to class. If a student needs to see a teacher before school, they will need to present a pass/note/email from the teacher to do so.

After 7:45, students should utilize the following entrances:

All students riding the bus: Athletics Entrance (north side of building)

6th Grade - Front Door (south side of building)

7th Grade - 7th Grade Door, north side of building (walk down sidewalk towards building)

8th Grade - 8th Grade Door, west side of building

Students should enter and exit vehicles only on the passenger side and on to the sidewalk or grass, and once you drop off, please keep moving.

Respect the staff working and please follow their directions. They are doing all they can to keep all students and staff safe.

When the weather is beautiful, we have many students who walk or ride their bikes to school. When the weather is less than ideal, many more students are driven. Please ensure that you leave home early enough to account for the increased volume of traffic. It is expected that students are in class at 8:00 AM ready to learn.

Students entering after 8:00 AM must do so through the main office and will receive a tardy pass.

If you are picking up your student during the school day, please buzz the front door and we will call your student down for dismissal.

Please help us be good neighbors, and do not turn around in driveways in the neighborhood.

Please do not send any medication, over-the-counter pain pills (Tylenol/Advil/aspirin), or cough drops with your students. State law prohibits students from taking medication at school outside of the nurse's office with a doctors' note on file. We will confiscate any meds found outside of the nurse's office. Contact our school nurse Ms. Gwen Dowell gdowell@dps109.org

If your student will not be in school, please report the absence to the health office by phone (847) 945-8430 x6103) or email (carusoattendance@dps109.org) before 8:00 am. If you do not contact our school nurse by this time, she will contact you at home or at work to ascertain your child’s whereabouts. Children must be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school. Students will only be dismissed to a parent or legal guardian, or to emergency contacts designated in Family Access.

PTO Facebook Page

Email: cmsoffice@dps109.org
Website: https://www.dps109.org/Page/9
Location: 1801 Montgomery Road, Deerfield, IL, USA