Richmond Elementary E-News

Seeing all the smiles, the excitement of brand-new shoes, and hearing the joyful laughter from our kids made it such a wonderful first week of school. The energy and happiness they brought into our halls set the tone for an amazing year ahead!

We will begin i-Ready testing next week. Please see letter for details.

We all love our pets - but ask that you keep pets on the public sidewalk and do not bring dogs near entry/exit doors and drop off lanes. Thank you for your cooperation.

Curriculum Night will be Thursday, September 11th from 5:30-7:00 p.m See flyer below.

We love to celebrate birthdays at Richmond. Your child’s birthday will be announced on our morning announcements and your child will be able to choose a book from our birthday book cart. We do not allow in food for celebrations so please do not send them to school or drop them off, they will not be accepted. If you would like to send in non-edible treats (such as a pencil or non food item) that is ok.

If you have a change in transportation, such as your child regularly rides the bus, but you will be picking them up one day, please call the main office BY 10:00 a.m. at (331) 228-2800. We will take care of notifying the teacher.

Every day we start our mornings at Richmond with a morning meeting. We call our meetings CARE meetings. CARE stands for Creating A Respectful Environment. The purpose of these meetings is to build strong teacher to student and student to student relationships and have strong classroom communities. We want all of our students to feel connected to Richmond and our goal is to be responsive and proactive in meeting the needs of students and to build trust and positive relationships. Many of the skills learned in CARE meetings, students will be able to apply throughout life. We have a variety of themes such as gratitude, respecting differences, growth mindset, kindness and more. Your child’s classroom teacher will highlight in his/her newsletters more info about each month’s theme.

On September 16, Richmond Elementary will conduct our state-required annual Lockdown Drill with law enforcement personnel present. During this time, students will review and practice the classroom procedures. Parents/guardians may opt their child out of physical participation in this drill each year by emailing Lisa Simoncelli-Bulak at lisa.simoncelli-bulak@d303.org and Darlene Buffano at darlene.buffano@d303.org at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled date. Students who are opted out will receive an alternative school safety learning experience with a certified staff member.

District 303 attendance procedures were updated and approved at the June 9, 2025, Board Meeting. All district procedures are available in the CUSD 303 Student Handbook found in the Parent/Community tab in the Information column of the districtd303.org website.

Updates to the attendance procedures were made to bring consistency across all schools within the district and to clarify student attendance expectations. One example of an update is the removal of the pre-arranged absence procedure. This aligns with the definitions of excused and unexcused absences found in Section 2.2.

Families are encouraged to review the CUSD 303 Student Handbook to familiarize themselves with the districtwide procedures.

The TLC (Tiger Lunch Crew) program is a school-based, family, and community engagement initiative designed to strengthen connections between parents, students, and staff. Inspired by similar successful programs like WATCH D.O.G.S.®, TLC is focused on fostering a supportive and positive school environment where parents can actively participate in their child's school experience.

Our program allows parents and guardians to volunteer during lunch and recess shifts to help supervise and build meaningful connections with students.

The Tiger Lunch Crew (TLC) is open to all parents, guardians, and caregivers. Volunteers play an essential role in creating a nurturing school community and supporting teachers and staff. Through this program, we hope to bring more volunteers onto campus, demonstrating the power of family engagement in boosting student success and well-being.

If you would like please sign-up for any lunch shift, any day school is in session. We will have two volunteer slots available per lunch. After you sign up, just come to the main office with an ID so we can check you into our system on the day(s) you volunteer. Volunteering begins after Labor Day!

SIGN-UP LINK HERE

Join us Friday, August 22 from 4:00–8:00 PM at St. Charles East High School for an evening packed with Saints spirit!

Watch our teams in action with football, volleyball, soccer, swim, and tennis scrimmages. Band, cheer & dance performances. Carnival games & prizes for Future Saints. Raffle baskets, spirit wear, photo booth, dunk tank, face painting & more! Food trucks & concession stand on site. Come hungry!

Bring your family, friends, neighbors- everyone’s invited to kick off the school year and celebrate our amazing athletes and community. Let’s turn St. Charles orange & black!

#SaintsFest #SaintsPride #WeAreEast #FutureSaints

We’re excited to share a fun and creative opportunity for our elementary and middle school students this summer!

In partnership with District 303, the St. Charles Business Alliance is hosting a Water Bottle Design Contest inviting students to design a label for a 100% recyclable aluminum water bottle. The winning design will be printed on over 1,600 bottles and handed out during the 40th Anniversary of Scarecrow Weekend in fall 2025!

Who can participate?

All D303 elementary and middle school students are welcome to submit a design.

What are the judges looking for?

Designs will be evaluated based on:

• Creativity – Is the design unique and visually appealing?

• Relevance – Does it reflect the 40th Anniversary of Scarecrow Weekend?

• Execution – Is the artwork clean, clear, and high quality?

How do students submit their design?

All details, including the downloadable template and the submission form, can be found here:

Water Bottle Design Contest Info & Submission Link

Deadline to submit: August 20th

Students are welcome to start their designs over the summer, and art teachers may also be sharing this opportunity during the first week of school for those who’d like to participate then.

We can’t wait to see what our creative students come up with!