We hope you're enjoying a wonderful summer break!

Our CTL Leadership Team has had a productive summer working together to ensure a smooth start to the 2016-17 school year in our new location. In this newsletter, we are pleased to share the following information with you:

• Meet our 2016-17 CTL Team
  
• School Facility Updates
  
• Enroll in our New After-school Program
  
• Preparing for the First Day of School
• Volunteer Opportunities at CTL
• Donations of Pre-loved and New Items
• Online Summer Resources for Families
• Mark Your Calendars

Please note that RenWeb online enrollment will be sent out to families in mid August. This will include access to our comprehensive Student-Parent Handbook.

Finally, we are thrilled to announce CTL's full accreditation with the AdvancED Accreditation Commission. AdvancED is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that conducts rigorous, on-site external reviews of Pre-K-12 schools and school systems to ensure that all learners realize their full potential with a commitment to help schools improve.

We appreciate your support throughout the accreditation process, and we look forward to continuing to partner with you as we enter this new exciting phase together as a school community.

Happy Summer!

CTL Team

We are excited to announce our CTL Team for the 2016-17 school year! We welcome new additions to our team who will add new expertise to compliment the strengths of our existing team. We have also redefined some of our current staff roles to ensure CTL's continued positive growth. We are grateful for the contributions of our team members who are unable to return to CTL this year, and we wish them the best wherever they are in the world!

We look forward to introducing you to our CTL Team in person at our Meet the Teacher and Meet & Greet events on Monday, August 29. See the calendar events at the end of this newsletter for more information.

5-8 Math/Science & 5-6 Social Studies Teacher

We are thrilled to bring back Ms. Lori Williams who proved to be such a capable and successful addition to our team last year. Ms. Williams is currently part of the STEM Master's program at Texas A&M University and a passionate math/science educator. She will bring the latest innovations in STEM research and skills to our school. Her new ideas and enthusiasm will be a complement to our existing team.

Email: lwilliams@centerforteachingandlearning.com

Pre-K-8 Physical Education & 5-8 Drama Teacher

We are excited to announce the addition of Trisha Brandimarte to our CTL Team. Trisha earned her B. S. degree in Psychology and Political Science from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where she competed for four years as a Division I field hockey player and received the Lehigh University Scholar Athlete Award. She has also served as a coach for the United States Field Hockey Future Program and served as Regional Director and head coach for the Garden State Games in New Jersey. Trisha joins CTL from Creekside Forest Elementary in Tomball where she was an assistant physical education teacher. In her spare time Trisha enjoys running, yoga, practicing mindfulness meditation and serving as a member of the board for Class Acts Productions in The Woodlands where she volunteers as Cast Supervision Committee Chair and Set Design/Props Committee Chair.

Email: tbrandimarte@centerforteachingandlearning.com

Pre-K-8 Music Teacher

We are happy to introduce you to Diane Engle. Diane has a Masters of Music Education degree and is a Kodály certified educator. She has taught general music at the elementary level, choir at the middle and high school levels and Kodály music education graduate level courses in the Southeast Texas Kodály Certification Program in Houston and at the Kodály Institute of Houston at the University of Houston's Moore School of Music. Diane has served as the Assistant Director of Tomball ISD's District Children's Choir and as Chairperson of district Honor Choirs in Louisiana and Texas. She has presented at Texas and Louisiana state music teachers' conferences and has presented music teacher workshops in school districts across Texas. We look forward to Diane sharing her passion for music with our CTL students.

Email: dengle@centerforteachingandlearning.com

Head of School

We are delighted to announce Ms. Chamberlain's transition to the role of Head of School. Ms. Chamberlain has made valuable contributions to CTL in her role as Principal. Her skills as a lead administrator will continue to be utilized in her role as Head of School as she oversees all aspects of Operations and Human Resources to ensure compliance and continued growth of CTL.

Email: jchamberlain@centerforteachingandlearning.com

Principal

Following Ms. Chamberlain's transition, Ms. Lewis will step into the role of Principal and continue as Admissions Director. Ms. Lewis' unique background as a teacher and leader in international private and public school settings has already contributed greatly to helping us actualize our school vision and mission. We are confident she will continue to serve as a critical member of our leadership team in this new role.

Email: plewis@centerforteachingandlearning.com

Despite weather delays this summer, we are nearing completion of our new school facility in preparation for the 2016-17 school year.

Members of our CTL Team have visited the site daily this summer to check on progress. We have enjoyed seeing the quick transformation, particularly these last few weeks.

With the preliminary Fire Marshall inspection complete, our fencing, landscaping, and playground projects are now underway. We anticipate final approval from the Fire Marshall soon to ensure our move in date during the beginning of August.

We are excited to announce our new After-School Program! Some of our programs will run throughout the year, whilst others may be limited to one or two trimesters. A trimester program runs for approximately 9-12 weeks.

Please note that the proposed options below are designed to assist with forward planning for next year. Specific dates and times are subject to change, based on family interest and student enrollment. A finalized timetable will be available in early September.

Who: Open to all grade levels; offerings based on availability and student interest

When: Monday

Celebrating 20 Years of Kids Learning by Doing! Nutty Scientists popular hands-on activities combine fun with interactive learning opportunities. Each class contains an educational theme that keeps children engaged! Our nutty scientists are specially trained to simultaneously entertain and educate. Workshops and experiments are tailored to students from 3-16 years of age.

Who: Open to grades K-8; offerings based on availability and student interest

When: Tuesday

Woodlands Robotics is a group of local technology teachers with professional backgrounds that partner with local businesses and organizations to provide high quality educational programs for children and adults. Coordinating with organizations like NASA, the University of Houston, Texas Torque, TexLUG, TCEA, and FIRST we are able to bring advanced experiences to our local community.

Who: Open to grades K-8; offerings based on availability and student interest

When: Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursdays

¡Hola a todos! We are muy excited to anunciar an after-school pilot programa at CTL for Spanish starting this trimestre! Did you get most of that? Aside from Spanish having so many easy-to-recognize cognates with English terms, we are regularly exposed to Spanish in pop culture and other ways. In practice, this means that your child already has a wealth of knowledge that can be built on immediately when learning Spanish as a second language!

Our program will meet one or two days a week after school, depending on enrollment. We will be immersed in Spanish conversation, games, songs, and movement as we learn through playful and creative activities. This is a great opportunity for your child to be exposed to the sounds of the language early in life, to gain a love of language learning, and to absorb an appreciation for different cultures. All students in grades K-8 are encouraged to enroll. ¡Hasta pronto!

Who: Open to grades 5-8; offerings based on availability and student interest

When: Monday, Wednesday and Thursdays

Coach Brandimarte is excited to introduce the new CTL Athletics After-school Program with offerings such as Cross Country, Volleyball, Basketball, and Soccer to students in grades 5-8, based on student interest.

Who: Open to grades Pre-K-8; based on availability and parent interest

When: Monday-Thursday 3:00-5:00 p.m. and Friday 1:00-5:00 p.m.

Depending on parent interest, CTL will provide on-site after-school care or assist in coordinating with local after-school care providers. Please contact Ms. Paige Lewis at plewis@centerforteachingandlearning.com if you are interested.

Want to get a jump start to the school year? Did you know that your school fees cover all general classroom supplies including pencils, paper, books, etc. All you need to purchase are personal organizational items, snack/lunch items, and a backpack.

Full details of what to bring to school will be available in our new Student-Parent Handbook to be accessed through our RenWeb online enrollment portal during the final enrollment process in mid August.

We recognize that many families wish to make connections with new classmates prior to the start of the school year. Therefore, class lists will be available on RenWeb following our RenWeb online enrollment in mid August. This will allow parents the opportunity to reach out to their children's new classmates prior to the first day of school.

Informal tours for families will also be available in mid August upon request. Although our classrooms may not be set up by the designated dates, we want to provide families with the opportunity to see our progress at the new campus.

Please note that your new classroom teacher may not be able to join us during your tour; however, you will be able to meet your Principal Ms. Paige Lewis and our President & Founder Dr. Linda Ellis.

Please email Ms. Paige Lewis at plewis@centerforteachingandlearning.com to arrange your tour or if you have any further questions.

Interested in developing our new school playgrounds, library or student gardens? Please contact Ms. Paige Lewis at plewis@centerforteachingandlearning.com. All assistance is most appreciated, and the playgrounds and garden project will be starting soon! Other projects such as the library and community room will be likely to start in mid to late August.

Volunteer opportunities will also be available throughout the year. CTL will host Worker Bee Wednesdays each Wednesday from 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. All parents are also welcome to attend our monthly Parent Council Meetings one Wednesday each month from 8:30 - 9:30 a.m. Dates are available on the CTL Events Calendar.

More details on parent involvement at CTL will be available in the Student-Parent Handbook which can be accessed online during the RenWeb online enrollment process in mid August. You can also contact Ms. Paige Lewis for further details.

Want to donate some furniture, outdoor equipment/structures, books or resources that your family has outgrown? Many families have expressed the desire to donate pre-loved or new items for our new school. As a non-profit we can also provide receipts for all donations.

Donation items could include refrigerators, sofas, lounge chairs, office desks and chairs, lamps, filing cabinets, coffee tables, bookshelves of all shapes and sizes, books of all genres for all ages, educational posters, DVD's, CD's, and social studies and geography artifacts or objects.

Younger grades would benefit from headphones and old iPods for listening stations, sand pits or water tables, toys such as cars, sensory items, dolls, Legos, dinosaurs, plastic food and kitchen sets, doctor sets and other learning resources for 4-5 year olds. Small bicycles, bean bags, indoor tents, tunnels or parachute cloths, doll houses and play centers would also be most appreciated.

Although we plan to gradually develop our resources for the science lab, any donations would be most welcome! We would love a class set of lab coats/shirts, several student microscopes, books and posters related to natural sciences, games, puzzles, experiment kits, and models of the human body.

Our garden club would also welcome donations of timber, rubber tires, plants, shovels, spades, hoses, wheelbarrows, dirt, bird houses, wind chimes, and volunteers to help peg out the area! Also, we would love any new additions to be donated for our playground areas!

If you would like to donate pre-loved or new items, please ensure the items are clean and safe for use with children. Next, send a picture of the item to Ms. Lewis at plewis@centerforteachingandlearning.com. She will be able to coordinate the pick-up or drop-off of your donated items.

Thank you for your ongoing support and generosity!

CTL Team

Check out these resources for ideas on how you can continue to support your child's learning during the summer months.