Blue Jay Buzz

In this issue you will find:

New Info

• Upcoming Dates
• Community Corner
• 8th Grade Families
• Updates and Other Info
• Update: Traffic Flow - Drop off and Pick up Safety
• Clubs and Activities
• PTO Upcoming Events

Old News

• Cellphones, Medication, Attendance, Tardiness to school

12/19/2024 Newsletter

12/6/2024 Newsletter

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

Donnie Castans - Associate Principal - dcastans@dps109.org

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

Friday, 1/17 Quarter 2 Ends

Friday, 1/24 Report Cards Posted

Monday, 1/20 No School, Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Tuesday, 1/21 and Friday 1/24 MAP Testing

Thursday, 1/23 Coffee @ Caruso 8-8:40AM RVSP by calling Main Office

Wednesday, 1/29 -Panorama SEL Survey

Tuesday, 6/3 - 8th Grade Graduation @ DHS

Meet CJ, our spirited Blue Jay mascot, who flaps its wings with pride at every pep rally and special event! Named after Charles J. Caruso, the first principal of Caruso Middle School. Over the years,countless Caruso students have stepped into CJ's vibrant blue feathers and entertained their peers.

In alignment with Illinois standards in health, 8th grade students at Caruso Middle School will be participating in a class, facilitated by Candor Health, called Teen Sexual Health. The class will be held on 2/7/25 and 2/8/25 and is hosted in a live virtual format.

Students will use their Chromebook and headphones to individually join a Zoom call with Candor Health facilitators from our classrooms. PE/Health teachers will be present throughout the class to provide students with needed support. The live virtual format is recommended, as it allows students to use a private chat feature to ask questions they may prefer not to ask in front of their peers.

The following topics are covered in this Candor Health session: consent, definitions of orientation/expression/ identity, anatomy, forms of sexual contact, pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

If interested, parents can access Candor Health’s School Program Overview for Parents webinar at https://candorhealthed.org/school-program-overviews-for-parents/. The password for the video your parents will view is Premier25. If you would prefer to opt your child out of this program, please email your child’s PE teacher and me at mschwarz@dps109.org no later than January 17, 2025.

District 113 has announced a significant milestone in its ongoing efforts to enhance the educational experience at District 113. On Tuesday, November 19, the District 113 Bell Schedule Committee presented its recommended bell schedule, as approved by the Superintendent, to the Board of Education. The new bell schedule is the result of extensive research, student and staff input, and required by the Collective Bargaining Agreement. The schedule will be implemented at both Deerfield and Highland Park High Schools starting in the 2025-2026 school year. The new schedule aims to align the schedules of both high schools, fostering greater collaboration, academic programming and support alignment, and resource sharing across the district. The committee has carefully considered feedback from students, staff, and parents to create the schedule.

See below for the upcoming Spirit Days in January!

MAP testing is scheduled for Tuesday, January 21st, and Friday, January 24th. Whenever possible, please try to schedule any appointments outside of these dates. Thank you for your cooperation!

Building students’ social-emotional learning (SEL) skills is important at Caruso. As a part of the learning process, we will be asking students in grades K-8 to reflect on skills related to social-emotional learning and the school environment. The survey will be administered to all students in grades K-8 between January 13 and January 31, 2025, and it should take no more than 20 minutes to complete. Per policy, if you would like your child to opt out of taking the survey, please contact me no later than January 13 .

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

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.

Check the Canva below for tips about AI.

Drop Off and Pick-up

• Please use only the right lane to drop off your students in the morning. The left lane is for through traffic.
• Do not stop on the crosswalk to drop off students. This becomes a safety concern for our students walking to school.

Parking and Traffic Guidelines

Please be mindful of the surrounding residences when parking. This includes:

• Avoiding blocking driveways or fire hydrants.
• Parking close to the curb to ensure that school buses and emergency vehicles, such as ambulances, can easily pass through.

Additionally, U-turns at the end of Montgomery Road. are not permitted to avoid entering the Caruso Circle around the school. This area experiences heavy foot traffic, especially during dismissal times, so please proceed with caution and be considerate.

Please note that school buses are on a tight schedule, so your cooperation is greatly appreciated.

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.

If arriving between 7:30 and 7:45, students should enter at the north side of the building at the Athletics Entrance. Students will wait until 7:45 to head to class. If a student needs to see a teacher before school, they will need to present a pass/note/email from the teacher to do so.

After 7:45, students should utilize the following entrances:

All students riding the bus: Athletics Entrance (north side of building)

6th Grade - Front Door (south side of building)

7th Grade - 7th Grade Door, north side of building (walk down sidewalk towards building)

8th Grade - 8th Grade Door, west side of building

Students should enter and exit vehicles only on the passenger side and on to the sidewalk or grass, and once you drop off, please keep moving.

Respect the staff working and please follow their directions. They are doing all they can to keep all students and staff safe.

When the weather is beautiful, we have many students who walk or ride their bikes to school. When the weather is less than ideal, many more students are driven. Please ensure that you leave home early enough to account for the increased volume of traffic. It is expected that students are in class at 8:00 AM ready to learn.

Students entering after 8:00 AM must do so through the main office and will receive a tardy pass.

If you are picking up your student during the school day, please buzz the front door and we will call your student down for dismissal.

Please help us be good neighbors, and do not turn around in driveways in the neighborhood.

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