Blue Jay Buzz

In this issue you will find:

New Info

• Upcoming Dates
• Community Corner
• Updates and Other Information
• Update: Traffic Flow - Drop off and Pick up Safety
• Clubs and Activities
• PTO Upcoming Events

Old News

• Cellphones, Medication, Attendance, Tardiness to school

2/14/2025 Newsletter

2/7/2025 Newsletter

1/31/2025 Newsletter

Mark T. Schwarz - Principal - mschwarz@dps109.org

Donnie Castans - Associate Principal - dcastans@dps109.org

Marcia Klita - Director for Student Services - mklita@dps109.org

Wednesday 2/26 - Panorama Survey (Make-up from last week)

Thursday 3/13 - Coffee @ Caruso 2-2:40PM RSVP by calling the main office

Thursday 3/20 & Friday 3/21 - Parent-Teacher Conferences (Click here for more info)

Monday 3/24 - Friday, 3/28 - Spring Break

Tuesday 6/3 - 8th Grade Graduation @ DHS

Wednesday 8/13 - Locker Day

Due to an emergency day used in August of this school year, we are using Monday, March 3 as an emergency make-up day.

The Caruso wrestling team competed in the Mid-Suburban Middle School Conference on February 17, earning an impressive 3rd place overall. Jake Pechter and Eli Katz claimed individual championships, while Besseggen Stowell made Caruso history by placing second—becoming our school’s first female All-Conference wrestler! Outstanding job, Blue Jays!

(Left to right: Jake Pechter 1st, Bessegen Stowell 2nd, Eli Katz 1st.)

It's wonderful to see our CMS Bluejay Community coming together to support Orphans of the Storm, a local animal shelter dedicated to providing care and finding loving homes for orphaned, abandoned, abused, or neglected dogs and cats. The CMS philanthropy club is hard at work helping to make a difference in the community.

How You Can Help:

• Feature Your Pet: Make the suggested $5 donation to have your pet's photo displayed on the Pet Wall of Fame, helping us achieve our goal of covering an entire hallway.

• Monetary Donations: Even if you don't have a pet, your financial support is invaluable. Donations provide crucial medical care, food, shelter, and a loving environment for animals awaiting their forever homes. You can donate online directly through the shelter's website. Be sure to put CMS in the dedication field.

• Donate here (suggested donation of $5 for a pet to be hung.)
  Donate Supplies: The shelter has an ongoing need for various items, including:

• Pet food (dry and canned for both dogs and cats)

• Twin-size blankets and comforters

• Bath-size towels

• Pet beds

• Dog and cat treats

• Cat litter

• Cleaning supplies (bleach, paper towels, laundry soap, etc.)

See Flyers for more information or email jgold@dps109.org for details

Parents/Guardians,

District 109 participates in a Consortium for Interdistrict Collaboration (CIC). The CIC is a group of educators from neighboring North Shore districts who discuss and explore instructional practices that make districts high-performing. As part of their work, they visit one another’s schools to observe, benchmark practices, celebrate successes, and offer recommendations for continuous improvement.

A visiting team will be in District 109 March 12-14, and we are looking for 15 parents/guardians to participate in a 40-minute focus group at Caruso Middle School on Wednesday, March 12th at 1:30PM. Any information provided in the focus group would not be associated with an individual name. It would simply help the team identify trends across our school settings.

If interested, please complete this 1 minute form no later than Wednesday, February 26th. If more than 15 parents/guardians express interest, we will select by lottery. A confirmation of your selection will be sent no later than Wednesday, March 5th. Thanks in advance for considering. We are really proud of our school and can’t wait to share it with other educators!

Caruso Bluejays Coed Softball

Love softball and having fun? Then join the Caruso Bluejays Coed Softball team! Our season kicks off in early April and runs through mid-May. Practices last one hour and take place either before or after school, with games scheduled 1-2 times per week. We play with a 14” ball, so no glove is needed. If you're interested, grab a packet from Mr. Fowler or Mrs. Spies and get ready to hit the field! All grades are welcome!

See below for the upcoming Spirit Days in February!

Mark your calendars! Pizza Bowl & Baker's Showcase is scheduled for Sunday, February 23, 2025, from 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. in the Highland Park High School Cafeteria. Enjoy a delicious showcase of the finest pizzerias and bakeries in our community, along with student performances and exciting raffles—all for a great cause.

Tickets are $13 per person or $40 for a family of five (*$10 per additional person). All proceeds benefit the District 113 Educational Foundation, supporting innovative programs and opportunities that enrich the student experience at Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools.

For more information about the District 113 Educational Foundation, visit www.district113foundation.org.

As the temperatures drop and the days grow longer, it’s easy to feel rushed and impatient, especially at the end of the day. However, to ensure everyone's safety, we kindly ask all our families to respect and follow school procedures during arrival and dismissal. To help us all stay on track, we spoke with our School Resource Officer, Officer Maldonado, who shared some important reminders.

Here is the link to the video

As you review your child’s semester 1 report card, please be sure to pay close attention to the attendance information included at the bottom of the report card. If your child has already missed 10 or more days of school, they may be on pace to be considered chronically absent by the end of the school year.

• Chronic absenteeism is defined as absences totaling 10 percent or more of school days—including absences with or without valid cause—during the school year. If a child is absent for 17 days or more during the school year for excused or unexcused reasons, that child is considered chronically absent.

Our goal in District 109 is to work together to ensure the success of every child. As we are entering the second semester of the school year, we want to remind you that regular student attendance is vital to your child’s success. We are committed to working with you, our families, to achieve this goal by supporting your family with any concerns regarding student attendance. There are many people in our building ready to help address any challenges in getting to school regularly or on time. We can also help identify barriers to regular attendance and implement key resources to support your family in these efforts.

Join us for coffee @ Caruso; a way for the adults in our students' lives to build stronger connections with us at Caruso. Space is limited to 25 people per event. Please RSVP by calling the Caruso Main Office at 847-945-8430. Thanks to the PTO for Sponsoring Coffee.

If you have any cool pictures you would like to see in the yearbook, please email to ecadkin@dps109.org or hmatan@dps109.org, or you can upload them to this link.

Thank you,

Hayley Matan and Eliza Cadkin

Cell phones will be off and away in lockers from 8:00 am - 3:00 pm every day (8:00 am - 2:00 pm on early release Wednesdays). Here's the why: This will help our students focus on their learning, build relationships with those around them, and hopefully disconnect from the anxiety that comes from even just having a phone in the pocket, wondering what notifications they are missing.

If students are using their phones during the school day, they will be instructed to bring their phone to the main office. There will be a progressive response when this occurs that resets each semester:

First and Second Occurrence: Email home and student picks up phone at the end of the school day.

Third Occurrence: Parent/guardian must come pick the phone up from school. Student will serve a lunch reflection.

Fourth Occurrence +: Parent/guardian must come pick the phone up from school. Student will also drop phone off at office each morning. Student will serve an after-school reflection.

MUST be wired and are not used during passing periods.

A student who fails to meet the expectations will be asked to comply with them and may be subject to a verbal warning or behavior check in.

Backpacks must be kept in students’ lockers throughout the school day unless it is a documented accommodation. They will not be traveling from class to class. Here's the why: We do not have room in our classrooms to safely store backpacks without having a tripping/fire hazard, and—by keeping backpacks in lockers—we have a wonderful opportunity to teach and reinforce important executive functioning skills with material organization, case-its, and other organizational tools.

We ask that you try to limit student deliveries during the school day. We will not be allowing and/or accepting any DoorDash or similar delivery options for any student under any circumstances. All deliveries will be refused. Families are welcome to drop off lunches themselves. We have extra Chromebooks, chargers, and copies of books here at Caruso, so it is not necessary to drop what you're doing and run these items to school. If something is truly needed during the day, we ask that you bring it in to the front entrance, label it with your student's name and grade, and leave it on the Drop Off table in the vestibule. We will then bring it into the office for your student to pick it up. Please note, students are not permitted to order their own lunches during the school day. If you order/bring lunch for your student, please do not provide food for other students.

Please do not send any medication, over-the-counter pain pills (Tylenol/Advil/aspirin), or cough drops with your students. State law prohibits students from taking medication at school outside of the nurse's office with a doctors' note on file. We will confiscate any meds found outside of the nurse's office. Contact our school nurse Ms. Gwen Dowell gdowell@dps109.org

If your student will not be in school, please report the absence to the health office by phone (847) 945-8430 x6103) or email (carusoattendance@dps109.org) before 8:00 am. If you do not contact our school nurse by this time, she will contact you at home or at work to ascertain your child’s whereabouts. Children must be fever free for 24 hours before returning to school. Students will only be dismissed to a parent or legal guardian, or to emergency contacts designated in Family Access.

PTO Facebook Page

Email: cmsoffice@dps109.org
Website: https://www.dps109.org/Page/9
Location: 1801 Montgomery Road, Deerfield, IL, USA