Welcome Back!

Welcome back to another school year! I hope you and your family have enjoyed a wonderful summer. We are looking forward to welcoming each of your children to Cavallini next week and beginning what I hope will be a wonderful school year together. Below, you will find important information to help you and your student prepare for the start of the year. This is also the first of our monthly newsletters, which will help keep you informed and up to date on all that is happening at Cavallini.

Starting today, you will be able to access your child’s full schedule by logging into Genesis (Genesis Parent Portable Link). Your username is your email address. If needed, there is an option to click "Forgot Password." Select "Tech Support" for assistance with any additional login difficulty.

Please know that a great deal of time and effort has been invested into student scheduling. We are extremely thoughtful about placing students in situations where they are most likely to find comfort and success. In fairness to all, the school cannot honor any requests for schedule changes at this time. Inevitably, some students will be excited about a specific teacher or happy to find multiple friends in some of their classes. Still, others may wish their schedule were different. Regardless, I encourage you to help your child to be positive about the beginning of school, as this is always the most effective approach.

All sixth and seventh grade students have been placed into one of two math courses. The courses appear on the student’s schedule as Math 6 or 7 or Math 6A or 7A. The latter course title (Math 6A/7A) represents an accelerated curriculum. While the textbook and resources used in the two courses are identical, the application and depth of concepts will be more rigorous in the accelerated placement. The students were placed using a comprehensive and varied criteria. This includes assessment of their ability and recent performance, their sixth grade teacher’s input, standardized test scores, and their overall marking period grades. If you have any questions about your child’s math placement or about the process used to make the determination, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are happy to discuss the placement in detail with you.

Families bringing forgotten lunches during the school day will be able to leave marked food in a container outside of each school building. Please ensure that you place your child’s lunch in the box labeled with his/her grade. Building staff will make sure the lunch is given to the student. The food must be clearly labeled with the student’s name and grade.

The PTO will begin their lunch program on September 8. Because September 3 is a minimum day, students will not be served lunch. All students will need to bring lunch on Friday, September 4. Please see the USR PTO Lunch Program email for more information.

It is essential that you notify the school when your child will be absent. We expect children every day and it is concerning when we can't account for their presence - just because you know they're not in school, we can't know that unless you tell us!

• Log on to the Genesis Parent Portal (https://genesisparents.usrschoolsk8.com)

• Click the "Notify Attendance Office" found directly under the "THIS WEEK" attendance and assignments summary on the Summary page

• Enter an attendance note (reason) describing why the student will be absent

• Click the "Submit to Office" button to finish

If you can't access your computer or a device, you may call 201-961-6403, but the primary way for notifying the school is online.

Consistent attendance at school, both in terms of arriving on time and being present throughout the year, is obviously an essential component of a high quality education. Repeated absences, whether excused or unexcused, deprive students from essential learning opportunities and may result in corrective actions, including retention. I encourage you to read BOE policy #5200 for complete details. Schools can have the best teachers and the greatest resources available, but a child cannot benefit from them if s/he is not in school. As a reminder, instruction begins promptly at 8:03am every day.

All students will be issued a chromebook at the beginning of the school year. As a district, we have adopted the following guidelines regarding issuing loaner chromebooks to students.

Students would not receive a loaner Chromebook if they:

• Left their Chromebook at home. In that case, they would complete their work using paper and pencil when appropriate and/or work with a classmate.

• Forgot to charge their Chromebook.

Loaners will be issued if:

• Is physically damaged (for example, a cracked screen or other damage).

• Has a technical issue (such as Wi-Fi, sound, the screen, or another hardware/software problem).

If you did not order school supplies through the PTO Toolbox initiative, and plan on doing some last minute shopping, be sure to check out our lists of recommended supplies by grade level.

The purpose of the Parent Advisory Committee is to provide parents and guardians with an opportunity to share their perspectives, contribute to the educational process, and collaborate with the principal to support the continued growth of our school community. The committee will serve as a forum to make recommendations, strengthen the partnership between home and school, discuss educational issues that impact our students, and consider a variety of perspectives in a thoughtful and respectful manner. Members will be expected to approach conversations objectively, keep the needs of all students at the forefront, and engage in productive dialogue without personal agendas.

Meeting agendas will be established in advance. If you are interested in participating, please click here to complete the interest form. In an effort to include a broad range of perspectives while keeping the committee small enough to encourage meaningful and productive conversation, it may not be possible to select every volunteer this year. Thank you to everyone who is interested in contributing your time, perspective, and partnership to our school community!

Picture Day for all Cavallini students is scheduled for Thursday, October 1st. More detailed information to follow!

Cavallini Middle School recognizes the importance of creating a safe, welcoming environment in which adolescents can be confident and thrive. Each year, we reflect upon the applicability and impact of our school's Code of Conduct and adopt optimizing updates. The Code of Conduct aims to set behavioral norms that will result in a safe and respectful learning environment. The expectations will be reviewed in school with all students and we ask families to have a discussion at home, as well. Students will be emailed an acknowledgment form to sign that they have read the Code of Conduct.

New Jersey recently enacted a new law that restricts student cell phone use throughout the school day. The law requires school districts to establish policies limiting student use of personal electronic communication devices from bell-to-bell. The purpose of this legislation is to reduce distractions, increase student engagement, and create learning environments where students can focus on instruction and meaningful interactions with their peers and teachers.

In accordance with the law and USR Board of Education policy, all USR students must now store and secure their personal communication devices (cell phones, smartwatches, etc.) “bell-to-bell” and during supervised after-school activities (clubs, sports, extra help, etc.). During the school day at Cavallini, devices must be stored securely in student lockers. Specific consequences regarding phone use are listed in the Student Code of Conduct.

Extra time will be devoted at the beginning of the school year to ensure that students are comfortable operating the locks on their lockers. In addition, students have access to a phone both in the Main Office and Student Services Office at all times. In the event that you need to contact your child, please call the main office at 201-961-6400.

Beginning this school year, the district will implement a Student Activity Fee to help support the many athletic teams, clubs, and extracurricular opportunities available to our middle school students. The Student Activity Fee was established to help offset rising program costs while allowing the district to continue offering a wide range of high-quality extracurricular experiences that enrich students' learning and school experience.

The Student Activity Fee is:

• Athletics: $100 per student, per sport (maximum of $500 per family per school year)

• Clubs: $50 per student for participation in all eligible clubs during the school year

• School Musical: $100 per student

• Rock Climbing Club: $100 per student

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Fees are due after a student has been selected for a team or officially joins an activity. Payments should be made by check payable to USR BOE.

Participation fees are non-refundable and support the continued operation of our extracurricular programs. Please note that payment of the Student Activity Fee provides the opportunity to participate but does not guarantee playing time, a specific role, or a particular level of participation.

Additional information, including frequently asked questions, is available on our Student Activity Fee webpage.

Cavallini Back-to-School Night is scheduled for Tuesday, September 15th, at 7:00 pm. This is a great opportunity to hear directly from your child’s teachers about the exciting year ahead. Back-to-School Night is an exclusively in-person event. We hope to see everyone in attendance

Please see the attached letter regarding free and reduced milk from the district.

August 2026-2027 Milk Letter

Salliann Ran

Principal

Cavallini Middle School

sran@usrschoolsk8.com

201-961-6410