California Trail Parent News

Athletic practices will not be on this calendar. Please refer to the calendars coaches have shared with parents and athletes.

Monday, 9/7: No School - Labor Day

Tuesday, 9/8:

Warhammer Club 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Cross Country Meet @ CT vs. It, MT & CST

Wednesday, 9/9:

Volleyball Game @ CT vs SFT 3:45 p.m.- 6:00 p.m.

Thursday, 9/10:

Warhammer Club 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

7th grade Football Game @ CT vs. PRT 3:45 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

8th grade Football Game @ PRT 3:45 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Friday, 9/11: Pep Assembly Schedule (After 7th hour students will go to there WIN time and return to WIN time after the parade.)

Saturday, 9/12:

Old Settler's Day Parade

ODAC Optional Cross Country Meet 5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Hello Bulldogs!

September is National Suicide Awareness Month. The topic of suicide is heavy and changing the narrative begins with open conversations. compassionate support and the belief that every life has value. Next week we will share ways to support ourselves and others, and we ask our students to join us in a daily theme to honor Suicide Awareness.

Theme Days:

Tuesday, Sept. 8th: Suicide Awareness – Wear purple &/or Teal

Wednesday, Sept. 9th: Find Your Joy – Wear comfy clothes that bring you joy

Thursday, Sept. 10th: Connection Matters – Wear your fav team jersey or shirt

Friday, Sept. 11th: CT Cares For Ourselves and For Others – Wear CT Spirit Wear

The cast list will be posted by 5:00 p.m. on 9/4/26

The crew list will be posted by 5:00 p.m. on 9/6/26

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Just a reminder that our district uses FastBridge and i-Ready to assess our students three times a year. This information helps us plan instruction and monitor student progress over the year(s). Fastbridge scores can be viewed on ParentVue, under Test History.

If your student falls into a high-risk category on a Fastbridge test, we will contact you and let you know our next steps. Our math teachers and reading interventionists will then look at individual student data and may decide they need to gather more information. This could include assessing their phonemic awareness/reading fluency/etc. or further math testing on specific skills/standards. This information will either show that the student has mastered the skill and doesn’t need additional small group instruction OR that they need more instruction in a specific skill area. The math data will be useful to providing support both during i-Ready lessons in math class and/or WIN. This is something we do for ALL students to make sure that we are meeting individual needs district-wide.

In elementary school, this looks like teachers pulling a small group of kids to a table in the classroom or pod area to work on a specific need. This looks different in middle school due to scheduling. Our building WIN time (listed academic intervention on their class schedule) is the time used for small group interventions. If a student doesn’t need academic intervention, they participate in their WIN class with a weekly set of whole group lessons in reading fluency and comprehension, technology skills, grade checks, math practice, and other topics.

If you have questions about how this process works or specific screeners/assessments we use, please contact me.

Sincerely,

Brandie England

Assistant Principal

You may have heard about our Dog Dime Store. It is one tool we use to help motivate students to follow our PBIS model of a Caring Community. We are always looking for donations for our store. If you would like to donate small gift cards or other random items that middle school students would love to purchase (snack food is always a hit), we would appreciate it!

Hello,

On Friday, October 9 at 7:00 p.m., the e-Communication Academy at Olathe Northwest will be hosting an 8th Grade Movie Screening Night at the Glenwood Arts Theatre.

This free event is designed specifically for current 8th-grade students and their families to get an inside look at what students can create as part of the e-Communication Academy. We will be screening some of the best student films and animations produced over the past few years, followed by a Q&A with current and former students.

Our goal is to give prospective students a chance to experience the work on the big screen, hear directly from students who have been part of the program, and see what opportunities are available to them when they enter high school.

We would greatly appreciate your help sharing this event with your 8th-grade students and families. If possible, please also forward the information to teachers in areas such as art, computers, yearbook, theater, journalism, or other classes connected to the creative and technical work we do in e-Comm. Those teachers often know exactly which students would be interested in an opportunity like this and can help encourage them to attend.

Admission is completely free, but we are asking families to RSVP so we can plan for attendance and reserve seats.

RSVP for the 8th Grade Movie Screening Night

Friday, October 9
7:00 p.m.
Glenwood Arts Theatre
Free Admission

We are also working on a poster for the event and hope to have that available to send out soon.

Thank you for helping us get this opportunity in front of students who may be a great fit for the e-Communication Academy. We would love to fill the theater and give as many 8th graders as possible the chance to see what they could be creating next year.

Gordon Lamb

e-Communication Academy
Olathe Northwest High School

Community challenges are best addressed together, and for several months, we’ve worked with various groups thoroughly focused on how to ensure children and teens travel safely on bicycles, electric scooters, and e-bikes.

The Olathe City Council has discussed several changes to ordinances to better reflect the growing number of electric scooters and e-bikes in our neighborhoods. At the April 21 City Council meeting, the governing body updated ordinances related to motor scooter devices.

We’re asking all parents and guardians to review the rules of the road with their children and teens.

While the full rules may be found in the Olathe Traffic Ordinance, highlights include:

• All riders under 18 years old must wear a helmet when riding on an electric scooter or e-bike.
• Electric scooters cannot be ridden on the road unless the speed limit is 30 MPH or under and there’s no sidewalk.
• E-bikes may be ridden on roads with speed limits up to 40 MPH.
• Riders of bicycles or any motorized device must yield to pedestrians and warn them before passing (ring the bell, say “excuse me” or “on your left”, etc.)
• There is a 15 MPH limit for electric scooters and e-bikes on the sidewalk.
• The 15 MPH limit on sidewalks for electric scooters and e-bikes and the under-40 MPH street restriction which applies to e-bikes do not apply to standard bicycles. However, City Code requires safe operation for bicycles yielding to pedestrians on sidewalks and an audible signal before passing.
• It is illegal to ride a bicycle, e-bike, or electric scooter in a careless, reckless, or negligent manner or weaving in and out of traffic. Stay as close to the right side of the road as possible except when turning left.
• Parents may not authorize or knowingly permit their children to violate any Olathe bicycle, e-bike, or electric scooter regulations.
• It is important to note that the City of Olathe does not generally prohibit use of e-bikes or electric scooters on Olathe trails. County or private trails may have different rules.
• An electric scooter or e-bike must have proper lighting and be visible in order to ride at dusk or at night.
• Electric powered “bikes” that cannot be pedaled are actually motorcycles or motor-driven cycles and require a license to ride.
• If you get into an accident while riding on a bicycle, electric scooter, or e-bike where someone is injured or property is damaged, you must provide contact information to other parties involved and report the accident to the police.

While the ordinance can result in tickets for offences, the Olathe Police Department will first focus on education efforts.

For the safety of every rider, we strongly encourage everyone to wear a helmet while riding a bike, e-bike, scooter, electric scooter, or just about anything with wheels. Please, remember to look both ways before crossing or turning onto a street. Keep yourself and others safe by getting up to speed on the rules of the road.

Find more information to the relevant provisions of bicycles, low-power cycles, and miscellaneous vehicles and devices at https://olathe.municipal.codes/Code/10.01_Art15

This is directly from the Olathe City Website.

ATTENTION 8th GRADE PARENTS- We’re looking for a photo of your Bulldog "Before They Were Bulldogs" for the yearbook! This photo can be from infancy through about age 4—cute, silly, adorable, or just a favorite memory from when they were little!

The deadline to submit is Thursday, October 8th, but don't wait to submit. Send submissions to Mrs. Zugelder at CTMSyearbooksquad@gmail.com

We have our first SITE Council of the year on Monday, September 21st at 6 pm in the CTMS Library. All are invited.

Topics:

• CT Numbers
• School Improvement Goals
• Student Clubs (presented by student participants)
• Open Floor

We will have three other opportunities for our SITE Council.

• District SITE Council at SFT on November 4
• Feeder SITE Council at OE on February 22
• District SITE Council at OE on February 22

CT directories are available to purchase in InTouch for $10. The deadline to order is 9/18/26. Directories will be delivered in early October and passed out to students who ordered one. This is not a mandatory purchase.

On Wednesdays after school, Mrs. Van Nuland & Ms. Mochel will host Chat N Chew in room 214. This time allows students the opportunity to do homework and socialize without technology. Water and a snack are provided. If you are interested in your child attending, please fill out the google form below.

We are happy to be able to offer the Back Snack program to our Bulldogs through the generous support of our community partners. The Back Snack Program provides weekend meals (typically 2 breakfasts, 2 other meals) for students. Please reach out to Stephanie Beyer, CT Counselor, at sbeyerct@olatheschools.org if you feel this program would benefit your student. Participation in this program will be private and confidential.

We are collecting pop tabs to support Ronald McDonald House Charities and families receiving care at Children’s Mercy Hospital!

Those tiny aluminum pull-tabs on beverage cans add up quickly to make a huge difference, helping provide a comfortable "home-away-from-home" for families while their kids undergo treatment.

How to help:

• Save the pop tabs from your soda, sparkling water, or soup cans.
• Drop them off in the collection tub located in MPR/Lunch Room.
• Spread the word and keep collecting all year long!
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Every single tab counts—let’s see how full we can get our collection tub!

Visit the SchoolCafé website to create an account with a new username and password or download the mobile app. Make sure you have your student ID number ready when creating a new account.

Read instructions on how to set up a student SchoolCafé account (Spanish instructions PDF also available).

Watch a video on how to make a payment in SchoolCafé.

As a reminder, families must apply each year for free or reduced school meals, transportation, and student registration fees.

At California Trial we want to recognize our students who have served their community. Students who have completed community service hours between April 1, 2026-March 31, 2027, are eligible to earn the California Trail Volunteer Service Award.

Gold Level =100+ hours served in the community

Silver Level = 99-75 hours served in the community

Bronze Level = 74-50 hours served in the community

Students will receive their award at the EOY award ceremony.

The service tracking form is below and is due to Stephanie Beyer sbeyerct@olatheschools.org.

Students are also welcome to drop off a copy of their tracking form to Mrs. Beyer in the counseling office.

Completed hours are due on or before Monday April 5TH.

Doors will now open at 7:30 a.m. and students need to be picked up in the afternoon by 3:40 p.m.

• For safety and security, we cannot allow Door Dash/Uber Eats deliveries for lunch.

• No sticky drinks are allowed in the classrooms. Water bottles with lids are allowed.

• The Olathe Public Schools prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, disability, age, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity in its programs, activities or employment, and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups to its facilities as required by: Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Equal Access Act of 1984 and other relevant state and federal laws as amended. Inquiries regarding compliance with applicable civil rights statutes related to race, ethnicity, gender, age discrimination, sexual orientation, gender identity or equal access may be directed to Staff Counsel, 14160 S. Black Bob Road, Olathe, KS 66063-2000, phone 913-780-7000. All inquiries regarding compliance with applicable statutes regarding Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act may be directed to the Executive Director of Special Services, 14160 S. Black Bob Rd. Olathe, KS 66063-2000, phone (913) 780-7000. Interested persons including those with impaired vision or hearing, can also obtain information as to the existence and location of services, activities and facilities that are accessible to and usable by disabled persons by calling the Assistant Superintendent, Operations. (05/22)

Summer Office Hours

Monday-Thursday 8:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.

School Hours:

8:20 a.m.-3:20 a.m.

Location: 13775 West 133rd Street, Olathe, KS, USA
Phone: 913-780-7220