The CPES BobChat
November 12, 2023
What Reminds Me to Be Grateful?
All too often, it is easy for me to forget about the blessings of life. This time of year helps me refocus on being grateful for the big and small things around me. There were some events from last week that reminded me to give thanks. 1. Tours of Our School Last Monday--We hosted 150 visitors of the ED Spaces Conference in Charlotte who came and walked through our school. I was reminded how fortunate we are to teach and learn in a beautiful, warm, bright, secure school. I wondered what schools are like now in war-torn countries. I remembered the open air classrooms in Guatemala that I visited a few summers ago. We are blessed to walk into a school building that was designed and built to provide an optimum learning environment for our children. 2. Sickness on Tuesday--Like many others, I've had the sinus "crud" for about a week and have lost my voice. On Tuesday, I needed to stay home so I could recover a little. Let the record show I'm not a very patient patient. I am reminded, though, that there are so many who have much more serious illnesses and diseases. We are fortunate to have the technology, remedies and medical personnel who help us recover so quickly. This week helped me remember the value of good health for all of us. 3. Professional Development This Week--All week, our teachers met together to acquire new strategies to deepen our children's thinking. They were eager to learn new methods to help improve our students' learning. Our staff (including teachers, assistants, secretaries, cafeteria workers, and custodians) work hard each day. They constantly seek ways that they can improve their skills to help children. I am so proud of them and we are blessed to have the staff we do at Cherry Park. They make such a difference. 4. Teacher Appreciation Snack Cart on Friday--City Hope Church came and delivered snacks throughout the building for our teachers. (See picture above.) I am always amazed and encouraged by the support of our parents and our community. Every act of kindness reminds our staff that their effort is valued and important. It tells us that others are with us and that we are not alone. I am grateful for your care and concern for our staff. This week, I hope to continue searching for ways I can give thanks. I hope you will join me in doing that and encourage our children to do the same. Know that I am so appreciative for all you do for our school and your child.
Strength and Blessings,
Mr. Maness
Toys for Happiness
Canned Food Drive for Hope of Rock Hill
Fifth Grade Parent Meeting
Makeup and Class Pictures on Tuesday, November 14
Carolina/Clemson Tailgate Teacher Appreciation
Spirit Wear Sale
Parents, please remember that the cutoff time determined by the district for signing out students early is 1:45 each day.
Notes and Reminders
1. Toys for Happiness Signups--Parent Smart has had the pleasure of coordinating the application site for Toys for Happiness in Rock Hill for many years. They are happy to partner once again with WRHI and several agencies throughout York County to assist families who may struggle to provide holiday gifts for their children. The holiday assistance program serves families with children up to age 14.
They will be registering families at the Sylvia Circle Family Learning Center the first three Fridays in November: Nov. 3rd, 10th, and 17th. See flyers below for more information.
Please let Parent Smart know if you have any questions.
If you'd like to volunteer or know more about Toys for Happiness, click here: https://www.wrhi.com/events/tfh
2. Canned Food Drive--We are hosting a food drive of non-perishable items the month of November that will benefit the Hope of Rock Hill food pantry. The class that brings in the most donations will win ice cream treats and the teacher will win a gift basket. Please bring in donations of non-perishable food items in jars, boxes and cans. We recommend sauces, soups, beans, oatmeal, rice and pasta as an example. Monetary donations are also accepted, $1 is equal to 1 can. Please make your check out to Hope. Inc or label your cash donations food drive in an envelope. Below is a sign up genius if you would like to volunteer your time counting cans for the classrooms. Thank you for helping to give back to those in need within our community.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D49A4A923AAFBC70-45656860-food
3. 5th Grade Parent Meeting--Are you interested in your student continuing in the Dual Language Immersion program in middle school? If so, please plan to attend a transition meeting on Tuesday, December 5th at 6 p.m. at Cherry Park. This is an opportunity for you to learn more about the DLI program components and expectations at both the middle and high school levels. We look forward to seeing you at this meeting.
4. Makeup Pictures on Tuesday--Makeup pictures and class pictures will be taken on Tuesday. Class picture orders (and makeup picture orders) must be prepaid. Forms were sent home earlier this week.
5. Carolina/Clemson Day on Friday--Yes, we know it is the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but students are encouraged to wear their favorite team wear on Friday to celebrate. Feel free to show your loyalties as well when you come through the car lines on Friday, too.
6. CPES Spirit Wear Store--The online Spirit Wear store is now open and will remain open through Dec. 1. All orders will be delivered to school by Dec. 19th. We will not be able to accept late orders and we are not able to offer returns or exchanges.
Here is the link for the CPES Online Store: https://metroprint.printavo.com/merch/cherry-park-elementary
It will open again in the spring.
7. November Teacher Appreciation--In honor of the upcoming Clemson/Carolina game, we are having our annual cookout tailgate for the teachers and staff on Friday, November 17th. In addition, the teacher whose class brings in the most food for the Hope of Rock Hill's food drive will win a themed gift basket along with a class ice cream celebration. There are opportunities for parents to bring in food and drink items and also to volunteer setting up, replenishing food and cleaning up on November 17th. Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up. All donated food and drink items should be dropped off to the front desk no later than Wednesday November 15th. Thank you in advance for helping to show our CPES teachers and staff how much we appreciate all they do for our little ones!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D49A4A923AAFBC70-45518270-november#/
8. Signing Out Students Early--Parents, please remember that students must be signed out by 1:45 each day. This was determined by the district so that we can safely and securely dismiss all of our students. We begin preparing for the end of the day starting at 1:45 and it is hard to securely get all students where they need to go after school while also retrieving a student to go to the office. Even with a doctor's appointment, please sign out students before 1:45.
School Calendar
November 13--5:30 School Improvement Council; 6:30 PTO
November 14--Makeup Pictures and Class Pictures
November 17--Carolina/Clemson Day (Wear your favorite team's colors)
November 21--Second Graders Attend Winthrop Women's Basketball Game
November 22-24--Thanksgiving Break
December 1--Last Day to Order Spirit Wear
December 5--6:00 Fifth Grade Parent Meeting about Middle School Immersion Program (CPES Cafeteria)
December 23-January 8--Winter Break
January 8--Teacher Workday
January 9--First Day Back for Students
Parent Organizations
Parent Teacher Organization--This group has three main goals: Raising funds for the school, appreciating the staff and securing volunteers as needed. The Cherry Park PTO is a 501c3 tax deductible organization. Meetings are held at Cherry Park on the second Monday of each month at 6:30 PM (right after the SIC meetings.) All parents are invited to attend. All financial records are distributed and updated at each month's meeting. Officers this year are Amanda Winters (President), Emmanuel Daniel (Vice-President), Celia Kerr (Secretary) and Michelle Dawkins (Treasurer). We appreciate all of our sponsors (above) who contributed to our Bobcat Dash this year.
Previous Newsletters for 23-24 School Year
"Is It about the Grade or the Learning?" November 5, 2023 https://www.smore.com/4hkq0
"Who Made a Difference at the Bobcat Dash?" October 29, 2023 https://www.smore.com/wcqun
"What Do You Need to Know about Bobcat Dash?" October 22, 2023 https://www.smore.com/f19ry
"What Special Events are Coming Up?" October 15, 2023 https://www.smore.com/brvz5
"What's It Really Like at CPES?" October 8, 2023 https://www.smore.com/a7chr
"How Do We Respond to Safety Situations? Part 2" October 1, 2023 https://www.smore.com/k9uet
"How Do We Respond to Safety Situations? Part 1" September 24, 2023 https://www.smore.com/n4c67
"How Can I Volunteer at CPES?" September 17, 2023 https://www.smore.com/7v8ky
"What CRAzy Model Do We Use for Math Instruction?" September 10, 2023 https://www.smore.com/kfbg7
"What Do We Need to Know about Arrival?" September 3, 2023 https://www.smore.com/fc0kd
"Did You Know that a Bobcat 'ROARS?"' August 27, 2023 https://www.smore.com/0g7qv
"What Do We Need to Remember as We Start Back" August 20, 2023 https://www.smore.com/yrt38
"Techno
logy Forms and Fees"--August 25, 2023 https://www.smore.com/72qcg
"How Can We Work Together to Keep Everyone Safe?" August 13, 2023 https://www.smore.com/6cbtm
"How Can Checklists Help You Start a New Year?" August 6, 2023 https://www.smore.com/0jyx61
"Who Are the Newest Hires and What Are the Latest Changes with Technology?" July 30, 2023 https://www.smore.com/z6qnp
"What's the Latest News at Cherry Park" July 16, 2023 https://www.smore.com/w9pth
"Challenger Be Great Academy Update" June 23, 2023 https://www.smore.com/8hqka
"What Staffing Changes Have Been Made at CPES?" June 18, 2023 https://www.smore.com/e0vr2