The Bulldog, August 13, 2026

Note from Mrs. Lockwood:

This has been another great week of teaching and learning at Clairemont!

Thank you for honoring our arrival and dismissal procedures! Arriving and leaving each day are becoming much smoother processes. As a reminder, please update Pick Up Patrol with any dismissal changes for the day. You should also update Pick Up Patrol to reflect when your child is checking out early for the day.

Are you interested in serving on the School Leadership Team (SLT)? Applications are due by Tuesday, August 26, 2026. You may access the 26-27 SLT application here. You will have the opportunity to vote at Curriculum Night on Thursday, August 27 and at Community Crew on Friday, August 28.

Events at a glance:

• Friday, August 14: DHS Football Home Opener and Mascot Run

• Wednesday, August 19; 5:30: PTA Meeting on Zoom (Zoom link is on the school calendar)

• Friday, August 21; 5:30: Back to School Pizza Picnic

• Wednesday, August 26: CSD Early Release Day

• Thursday, August 27; 5:30-7:30: General PTA Meeting and Curriculum Night

• Friday, August 28; 8:15: First Community Crew of the year!

Daily school attendance is the cornerstone of student success. At Clairemont, we closely monitor attendance to understand how we can best support our students and families. Understanding that unforeseen circumstances arise, however, please partner with us to ensure our students are at school to the greatest extent possible. Our daily school-wide attendance goal is 98%. Let's work together to reach this goal and ultimately see our students succeed! If your student needs to be absent, please communicate with your homeroom teacher and our school manager, Mrs. Brackins (malika.brackins@csdecatur.net). Thank you for your continued partnership!

Our wonderful PTA is sponsoring a Pizza Picnic to celebrate the beginning of the school year. PTA is providing the pizza and water, but if any families are interested in supporting the picnic, the following items would be appreciated:

-Kindergarten: Paper plates and cups

-1st grade: Whole fruits such as bananas, apples, and clementines and pouches

-2nd grade: individually wrapped desserts such as snack cakes or Oreos.

If you are available to help set up, clean up, or serve pizza with the PTA please CLICK ON THIS LINK for the SignUp Genius.

This Wednesday, cheerleaders and football players from DHS visited our students to get them pumped up for the first home game this Friday. It was fun to see the big kids!

Join us for an evening with the Clairemont team to learn about what your child will be learning this school year. Please join us for a general PTA meeting followed by curriculum night. Childcare will be provided!

Join Clairemont Class Dojo to view school-wide and classroom updates!

Kindergarten Specials link: https://www.classdojo.com/ul/p/addKid?target=class&class=6a7dca9ad42bba3a635bb4ae

1st grade specials: https://www.classdojo.com/ul/p/addKid?target=class&class=6a738bd6b48a1985e61c3704

2nd grade specials: https://www.classdojo.com/ul/p/addKid?target=class&class=6a7dcc512624b5de5533f045

Last year, Soarin’ the Eagle flew across the finish line to win the second annual CSD Mascot Run for Glennwood Elementary. Who will break the tape and take home the trophy this year?

Come out to cheer on your school mascot on August 14 during the first DHS home game of the season. The game starts at 7 p.m., and the run will take place during halftime. Plus, long-time Decatur Bulldog Booster sponsor Keller Knapp Realty is giving away cowbells for fans, so get ready to make some noise for your school and your Decatur Bulldogs!

Lower and upper elementary students get free admission with a paying adult. Please note that DHS has a clear bag policy.

Decatur Holiday Marketplace is our PTA's largest fundraiser in its 35th year! Our school will transform into a magical artist market including paintings, glass art, jewelry, pottery, gourmet food items and much more. We will have professional food vendors and food trucks to keep you fueled for shopping and music! We had over 80 vendors last year!

We invite you and your family to join us here at the school for this wonderful community tradition. All proceeds from the event support learning initiatives for Clairemont students & teachers. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram for the latest updates. This year's Marketplace will be held at Clairemont Elementary School on Friday, December 11th from 5:30pm-9pm and Saturday, December 12th, from 10am-5pm.

Want to help with the Marketplace? We rely on all of our Clairemont parent volunteers and our Clairemont Bulldogs to put this fundraiser on its feet. It takes the whole CREW to pull off this wonderful tradition! Please email Marketplace Chairperson Melissa Godbee at decaturholidaymarketplace@gmail.com for more information or if you would like to be more involved with any of the preparations such as artists, bands, transformation, silent auction, raffle and sponsorships!

A HIGH PRIORITY NEED:

A CPA (Certified Public Accountant) to hold the raffle!

A RAFFLE CHAIR- to help with curation of the baskets

A SILENT AUCTION CHAIR

A SPONSORSHIP CHAIR

A Co-ARTIST CHAIR

Do you want to be a vendor?

Applications are open!

decaturholidaymarketplace.com

Application Dates:

Applications available online will open on August 15, 2026 and close September 30, 2026.

Summer time is reading time!! Ms. D is challenging students to complete this Summer Reading Bingo sheet by doing EVERY activity! Think you can do it? Hopefully this will be a fun way to keep reading and learning this summer. Turn in your completed bingo sheet by the second week of school to be invited to the popsicle party and be allowed to check out extra books! Click the link below if you need to download another copy.

Read this week's CSD Weekly for district-wide news and information.

Is your student interested in joining the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council for their age group? These councils are designed for two-way communication between students and the Office of the Superintendent. Students Advisory Council members attend monthly, after-school meetings at the Wilson Center to share their perspectives and experiences with the superintendent on a variety of issues.
Meeting dates are linked in the application below. The deadline to apply is Friday, September 11, 2026, and selected students will be notified by Friday, September 18. Learn more and apply for the Superintendent's Student Advisory Council here.

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.