Coulston Elementary School

ILEARN…Yes we are still testing!!!

ILEARN testing continues through this week. We will continue testing through May 8. Thank you parents for making sure your child has been at school on time and ready to test. It has helped make a great start to the testing seasons!! Remember that ILEARN is an important assessment that helps measure student progress and guides our instruction. We encourage all students to do their best and approach testing with confidence. Parent reports will be sent home with report cards at the end of the year.

You can help your child be successful by:

• Make sure they get a good night’s sleep each evening

• Providing a healthy breakfast each morning

• Making sure they arrive at school on time

• Encouraging a positive attitude and reminding them to take their time

• Avoiding scheduling appointments during testing days when possible

We appreciate your support in helping create a calm and encouraging environment for your child. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out.

Memories With Mom

We had a fantastic turnout and such a wonderful time! A huge thank you to our PTO and all of our incredible volunteers for making this annual event such a success. Our moms and families truly enjoyed a special and memorable evening together.

This event wraps up our PTO activities for the year. We appreciate your support, which made each event so meaningful!!! We’re already looking ahead with excitement to the 2026–2027 school year and hope you’ll consider joining our PTO.

Help Us Celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week-May 4-8

Teacher Appreciation Week is next week, May 4–8! This is a wonderful opportunity to show our teachers how much we value their hard work and dedication to our students.Please see below for our weekly theme and ways you can help celebrate and show appreciation for our amazing teachers and staff. Thank you for your continued support!

Toys and Fidgets

We want to remind families that toys and personal fidgets should not be brought to school. While we understand that students enjoy these items, many have been used as toys and have become a distraction to learning.

Our school provides appropriate fidgets for students who need them in the classroom, so there is no need to send them from home. In particular, Needoh-type fidgets are not allowed, as they have been known to burst and cause damage to carpets and classroom materials.

Thank you for your support in helping us maintain a focused and safe learning environment for all students.

Elementary Track Meet-Save the Date

The city-wide Elementary Track Meet will be held on Wednesday, May 6th at Shelbyville High School at 5:30. Our 4th and 5th grade boys’ and girls’ teams have been working hard to prepare, and we’re excited for this event! Admission for the event is $5.00 for 12 and over. Please contact Mr. Brown, Mrs. Deaton, or Miss Clark with any questions.

Reminder: No Cell Phones or Smart Watches at School

This is a friendly reminder for parents that, to support a safe and focused learning environment, students are not permitted to use cell phones, smart watches, or other electronic devices during the school day. If a device is brought to school, it should be turned off and kept in a backpack at all times.

This expectation applies during class time, recess, after-school activities, and on the bus. This guideline is part of the school district’s handbook policy and aligns with Indiana state law, which allows schools to limit student use of electronic devices during the school day. Thanks for your support.

• May 6-Elementary Track Meet @ 5:00

• May 7-Dental Safari

• May 15-Kindergarten Celebration @ 8:30

• May 19-5th Grade Celebration @ 8:30

• May 20-Awards Day Grades 1-4

1st-8:30 2nd-9:15 3rd-10:00 4th-10:45

• May 22-Field Day

• May 22-Students Last Day

Mrs. Reed, our school social worker, is available to support students and families with social, emotional, behavioral, and school-related needs. She works with students individually and in small groups, helps connect families with school and community resources, and supports students in developing positive coping, problem-solving, and relationship skills. Please reach out to the school office if you would like to connect with Mrs. Reed or learn more about available supports.

Please take some time to look at home—under beds, on counters, in backpacks, and around the house for any library books. We currently have several overdue books, and students are not able to check out new books until their previous books are returned. It’s everyone’s responsibility to take good care of our CES library books. We appreciate your help in keeping our collection in great shape so all students can continue to enjoy the joy and skill of reading.

Please make arrangements to pick up any medications your student has in the clinic no later than 3:15 PM on the last day of school, Friday, May 22nd.

Prescription medications: Any unclaimed prescriptions will be properly disposed of at the Shelby County Jail.

Over-the-counter (OTC) medications: If these are not picked up and do not expire before the next school year, parents may choose to keep them on file for their child. However, a new consent form must be signed for the 2026–2027 school year.

Cell Phones – Indiana law now prohibits cell phones in the classroom and at school. Please keep this in mind if your child brings a phone to school.

Attendance – A new law requires interventions and parent conferences after 5 unexcused absences in a 10-week period. More information will be sent home this week.

Dress Code – Students must wear shoes with a back. No slides, backless sandals or flip flops, or shoes without backs are allowed for safety reasons. Please remember that bike shorts, short crop tops, etc are not allowed.

Tardies– Just a reminder that the tardy bell rings at 7:45. Students arriving after this time will be marked tardy.

Tardy students must be signed in by a parent or guardian. Students may not sign themselves in or be dropped off without an adult if they arrive after the tardy bell.

Please help make sure your child arrives on time so they do not miss important instructional minutes at the beginning of the day when routines, breakfast, and the tone for learning are being set.

Transportation Changes – Must be called in by 1:00 PM. After this time, changes cannot be accommodated. Just a reminder that students being picked up after 2:00, need to be picked up in the car rider line.

We would also like to remind families how important regular school attendance is for student learning and success. Our school goal is to maintain an attendance rate of 95% or higher, and we appreciate your partnership in helping us reach this goal.

We are currently working on a school-wide incentive to encourage and celebrate strong attendance, and we look forward to sharing more details soon. Thank you for your continued support in making attendance a priority.

Lunch Information

We encourage all families to complete the Free & Reduced Lunch Form each year. Even if you qualified last year. This ensures eligible families receive meal assistance. You can sign up at this site: SCS Free and Reduced Lunch Form

Healthy Snacks – We appreciate your help in following the SCS Wellness Policy! Students enjoy a daily healthy snack at school, helping us meet our Healthy Snacks guidelines.

Transportation

Bus route information is available at scs.shelbycs.org/page/transportation. Scroll down to find the INFOFINDER link. If you need to make a change to your child’s transportation, please complete a Change of Transportation form at school. Changes take 48 hours to process. Call the office with any questions.

Car Rider Line

Here are a few car rider reminders to keep things running smoothly:

• Drop-off begins at 7:25 AM

• Pick-up is at 2:15 PM (1:45 PM on Wednesdays)

• Students should exit the car on the side closest to the sidewalk

• Please stay in your vehicle—do not park and get out

• Give hugs, kisses, and goodbyes before pulling forward in the line

• The car rider door closes at 7:45 AM. After this time, students must be dropped off and signed in at the front office.
  Thanks for helping us keep arrival and dismissal safe and efficient!