The Bulldog, August 14, 2025
8.14.25
Principal's Message
Note from Mrs. Lockwood:
This has been another great week of teaching and learning at Clairemont! I hope everyone can attend our annual Back-to-School Picnic this Friday. It will be a great time to connect as a Clairemont community!
Thank you for honoring our arrival and dismissal procedures! Arriving and leaving each day is becoming a much smoother process. As a reminder, please update Pick Up Patrol with any dismissal changes for the day. You should also update to reflect when your child is checking out early for the day.
In addition, please send all attendance information (sick, early dismissal, doctor's appointment, etc.) to Ms. Brackins, our new school manager. Her email address is malika.brackins@csdecatur.net.
Starting this Friday, Community Circle is open to families! We invite you to attend Community Circle. It's a wonderful time to come together and celebrate our learning for the week. Community Circle begins at 8:15 a.m. We hope to see you there!
Clairemont families, as part of our continued commitment to student safety, Clairemont, along with all City Schools of Decatur campuses, will be implementing a new visitor check-in procedure in the coming weeks. We will share more details soon, but in the meantime, all families and visitors should begin bringing a state-issued photo ID or driver's license when arriving at the school. Your ID will be scanned upon entry as an added layer of safety to help keep our children and staff safe throughout the day. Thank you for your ongoing partnership and support as we work together to make this a joyful, safe, and successful year for all our students. As always, please reach out to me with any questions or concerns.
Are you interested in serving on the School Leadership Team (SLT)? Applications are due by Wednesday, August 27, 2025. Please look here for the SLT application. You will have the opportunity to vote at Curriculum Night on the 28th.
Curriculum Night will take place Thursday, August 28, from 5:30-7:00 p.m.. Before Curriculum Night begins, we will have a General PTA meeting, 5:30-6:00 p.m. and then begin Curriculum Night at 6:00 p.m.. Join our PTA, Clairemont instructional team, and your student’s teacher to get an overview of what the learning will look like this year. It’s a great way to see how we “learn together with our heads, hearts, and hands”!
Events at a glance:
- Friday, August 15: Parents are invited to Community Circle
- Friday, August 15: Back-to-School Pizza Picnic; 5:30-7:30
- Wednesday, August 20: Author Visit Book Orders Due
- Wednesday, August 20: PTA Meeting; 5:30-7:00
- Wednesday, August 27: CSD Early Release Day
- Thursday, August 28: Curriculum Night Open House
- Wednesday, September 3: Picture Day
- Thursday, September 4: Author Visit
- Friday, September 12: Principal's Coffee Chat; 8:35
Join us for a Pizza Picnic!
Event Information
Celebrate the start of a great school year with our annual Bulldog Back to School Picnic on Friday, August 15th from 5:30-7:30 at the Clairemont Elementary School Pavilion. This event will happen rain or shine!
The PTA will provide pizza and water for all to enjoy and we are asking families in each grade level to bring an item to help with the celebration as follows:
Kindergarten:
Kindergarten: paper plates and cups
1st Grade--whole fruits (like bananas, oranges, washed apples) or applesauce pouches
2nd Grade--individually wrapped, nut-free desserts (like packages of Oreos, snack cakes, or chocolate chip mini cookies)
Volunteers Needed for Pizza Picnic
PTA needs our help making the pizza picnic run smoothly! If you are available, please sign up for a shift to serve pizza and desserts or help sell spirit wear.
Author Visit Book Orders are Due August 20th
Our Solar System! is a light-hearted nonfiction picture book about the members of our solar system from the eyes of Comet, who's been traveling through the Solar System for eons.
Yee-haw! Strap in for one wild ride through our very own Solar System, guided by space-travelin’ buckaroo Comet himself, while you travel around meeting one impressive star, 8 unique planets, a handful of dwarf planets, and a bonanza of moons, asteroids, and comets . . .
With characteristic humor and charm, Stacy McAnulty channels the voice of Comet in this next celestial "autobiography" in the Our Universe series. Rich with kid-friendly facts and beautifully brought to life by Stevie Lewis, this is an equally charming and irresistible companion to the other books in this series, like Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years and Sun! One in a Billion.
Signed and autographed books will be available the day of her visit. Your student should have received a book order form in their red folder today. All book orders are due Wednesday, August 20th. If you have any questions, please reach out to whitney.derosa@csdecatur.net
District News
Families Invited to Webinar about CSD’s Balanced Assessment System
Families are invited to join a webinar on Wednesday, August 20 at 6 p.m. to discuss ELA standards, curriculum, and the CSD Balanced Assessment System, hosted by CSD's Teaching and Learning department.
We will share examples of how the standards have changed, information on cursive writing, and the new curriculum. We will also review how our Balanced Assessment System works, featuring interim assessments, STAR, and student reports. This is a great opportunity to learn more about what your child will be learning this year and how you can support them at home. Join webinar here. You will receive your student's most recent STAR testing reports in next week's Thursday folders.
Students Invited to Apply for Superintendent's Student Advisory Council
Superintendent Dr. Whitaker invites student leaders and interested students to apply for the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council. Councils are divided into age groups and invite student members to share their perspectives and experiences with the Superintendent on a variety of issues, offering a two-way system of communication between students and the Office of the Superintendent.
Students are also asked to attend each meeting (see dates below) at the Wilson Center after school in the Superintendent's Office. The deadline to apply is Friday, August 22, at 5 p.m. Selected students will be notified by Friday, August 29, 2025. Apply for the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council here.
Clinic Reminders
1. Please fill out the Health Cards if you have not already filled them. They will be sent home with the students in Thursday folders.
2. Please send change of clothes that will be kept in students' lockers.
3. Please do not send any medication with the students in their backpacks.
4. If you have any questions regarding medications or health, please contact Nurse Manjit at manjit.sehdev@csdecatur.net
Highlights of the Week
Last Friday was a big day! We had our first Flash Mob of the year at Community Circle. Ms. Fowler's class got the whole school excited with a dance led by Coach Jolly! Then Friday evening, Claire the Bulldog put on a very good showing at the annual mascot race, coming in a photo-finish second place falling only to the Glenwood Eagle. Great job, Claire! We will try to re-claim victory next year!
Kids Say the Cutest Things!
At their first counseling lesson of the year, kindergarteners were asked, "What is a counselor?"
Kindergartener: "A feelings doctor" 😂
Another kindergartener this week: "My mom said I get to come to school EVERY DAY and I'm so excited!" 🥰
Clairemont's Fall Musical
This year, we are excited to enter the world of imagination with Willy Wonka Kids! Save the date for auditions coming up next month and the musical presentation on Thursday, November 20th at 6:00.
Auditions will take place on Monday and Tuesday, September 15 and 16. Auditions will be after school from 2:45-4:00 p.m. on both days. We ask that students with last names beginning with A-L plan to audition on Monday, and last names beginning with M-Z audition on Tuesday. If you have a conflict with your assigned day, please let Mrs. Nelson or Ms. DeRosa know.
Stay tuned for more details about audition materials and rehearsal schedule coming soon!
Class Dojo for Specials
Hello, families!
The Clairemont Specials team invites you to join your student's Specials Class Dojo class.
On that page (each grade has a separate "class"), you'll find updates about Specials and the Dojo points that your student earns in PE, Art, Spanish, Music, Creativity, and Library.
Kindergarten link: https://www.classdojo.com/ul/p/addKid?target=class&class=CPPQR34
1st grade link: https://www.classdojo.com/ul/p/addKid?target=class&class=CRSSFJT
2nd grade link: https://www.classdojo.com/ul/p/addKid?target=class&class=CPBPS3E
Please feel free to message with any questions. Thank you!
PTA News
Join us for the first PTA meeting of the year to learn about our work to support our Clairemont students and teachers. Everyone is welcome! The meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 20, at 5:30 pm, via Zoom. Click the image above to enter the meeting, or find the link in the school calendar entry.
Signing up as a member allows you to fully access our website and add your bulldog to the directory along with classes and groups/clubs. This membership supports our school and the National and State PTA by paying annual dues that help us operate. We use PTA funds to support teacher grants and school events. A portion of the $10 serves as dues paid to the National and State Parent Teacher Association which is our governing organization.
Summer Reading Deadline Extended
Our students were challenged to READ, READ, READ this summer! If your student has completed any ONE of the available summer reading trackers, please have them bring it to Ms. D in the Media Center by Friday, August 22nd. It's not too late to fill one out! Even if you didn't track as you went along, you can still fill out one of the sheets with some of the books you read over the summer. Click the link below if you need another form. There are options to track books, minutes, or reading activities. All students who turn in a completed form will be invited to a popsicle party at the end of the month AND they'll get to check out THREE books at a time all school year!!