CFK Leopard Tales

If you arrive at school after 7:40am and there is no adult on duty in the carpool loop, you need to park your vehicle and walk your child into the front office for their supervision and safety. Thank you in advance for your support in this matter.

• Tardies begin at 7:40am. An adult will need to sign the student in at this time.
  

• Excessive tardies will be reviewed under the choice option for attendance to a magnet program.

Please see important attendance information below:

Attendance Phase I:

Attendance & Tardies/Early Dismissals- This phase begins with 6 absences (verified or unverified) or 6 tardies/early dismissals.

Attendance Phase II:

Attendance & Tardies/Early Dismissals- This phase begins with 11 absences (verified or unverified) or 11 tardies/early dismissals.

Attendance Phase III:

Attendance & Tardies/Early Dismissals- This phase begins with the violation of the Attendance Improvement Plan (ex: exceeding the listed further tardies/absences/early dismissals allowed in the AIP for the rest of the school year).

**** State law requires students in kindergarten through 12th grade to attend school a minimum of 170 of the school year’s 180 days to receive credit for the academic year.

• Students can be absent for no more than 10 days per school year.

• A note from a parent/guardian or certified medical practitioner must be submitted to the school immediately or within 5 days upon the return of the student. Failure to provide notes within 5 day time frame may result in an absence being considered as Unverified.

• Richland School District 2 Attendance Information

*** You should receive an automated email or message from Parent Square the day of your child's absence. You can respond directly to this message in Parent Square providing the excuse information. If you have a medical note, please email and/or send in all medical notes to our Attendance Secretary, Mrs. Carter, at tacarter@richland2.org upon your return.

Thank you.

Please note that students who are NOT in our aftercare program or special after school programs, should be picked up no later than 2:50pm every day. Excessive late pickups will be reviewed under the choice option for attendance to a magnet program.

Thank you in advance for your support in this matter.

Spring Semester tuition has already been posted.

25-26 Aftercare Payment Schedule

Payments are made online through Parent Portal or you may pay by cash or check (made out to CFK) here in the office.

Payment is due Monday each week. Accounts must be kept current in order for your child(ren) to remain in the aftercare program. Payment is still required the weeks your child does not attend aftercare. Payment will hold their place in our program.

Aftercare Parents, if there is a change in transportation this must be coordinated with the office before 2 pm.

For additional information, please see our Aftercare Handbook.

We would love to invite you to become a part of the CFK and CFK North Family! Please complete this form for your group, business, or organization to establish a partnership with Center for Knowledge and Center for Knowledge North. Thank you in advance for your willingness to support and become a valued member of our school community.

As a reminder, we encourage you to check your Parent Portal accounts periodically to stay updated on any new fees and ensure timely payment.

Please remember that if you are paying the entire amount for this year's Field Studies and have not already done so, this payment was due on December 12, 2025.

If you are choosing to pay in two installments, the first half of the payment was due on December 12, 2025 and the second half is due by February 12, 2026.

If you are choosing to pay in three installments, the due dates for each installment are listed below:

December 12, 2025

February 12, 2026

April 13, 2026

• Remember all students will take their IDs home and return to school with it each day.

• Student IDs are expected to be worn for the entire duration of the school day each day from the time students arrive on campus until the end of the school day.

• IDs are not required during aftercare.

• As of Tuesday, September 2, 2025, any student who does not have an ID will be sent to the office at the conclusion of the Morning Announcements. At that time:

  • A temporary 1 day ID will be issued. The student's Parent Portal account will be charged $1.00.

  • After 5 consecutive days with a temporary ID, a new permanent ID will be created and issued to the child. The student’s Parent Portal account will be charged $5.00.

• Note: The bead on the lanyard should be worn behind the student’s neck to avoid risk of choking. This bead will allow you to adjust the length of the lanyard based on the size of the child.

**** A helpful tip is to encourage your child to place their ID in their bookbag as soon as they get home each day, so it’s ready for the next morning and less likely to be forgotten.

Thank you for your support in helping us keep things running smoothly for our students.

Please remember to respect the privacy of all students and families.

You’re welcome to take photos or videos of your own child, but we ask that you avoid photographing or posting images of other students on social media.

Thank you for helping us protect every student’s privacy.

Happy February to all our CFK Families! We have lots of upcoming fun activities and events in the next few months that we are looking forward to sharing with you all!

• A BIG Thank you to all of our volunteers who bundled up and braved the chilly morning to give our teachers a little well-deserved break and handled car rider duty this am! We are so appreciative of all of you and your willingness to help!

Wed, January 28th Morning Volunteers: Eleshia Prows, Felecia Hollaway, Albert Ticer, Lyn Smith, Bernie Ochoa, Diana Daniels, Chris Cruz, Sorin Simion, Keneitra Clark, Jessica Simpson and Kelley Byars

Click HERE to purchase Lollipop Grams.

• Our Book-vending machine is now restocked and resuming as usual each week. We love watching the students pick their books! It is something all the students look forward to when their birthday comes around (or when we work in the summer birthdays). Remember you can always donate towards the Book Vending Machine fund on our PTA storefront.

• Remember you can always sign up to become a PTA member and support the PTA. Reach out to cfkpta@gmail.com with any questions. Givebacks

• Show your school spirit- School t-shirts (short and long sleeve) are available for purchase online. Please visit our CFK Storefront to purchase spirit wear. CFK Storefront Remember, spirit wear can be worn on uniform days.

• Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions about PTA or if you would like to get more involved; please email cfkpta@gmail.com

Please join us for Family Math and Core Knowledge Showcase Night!

When: February 12th, 2026 from 6:00-7:30pm

Who: For CFK and CFKN students

Where: Hosted at Center for Knowledge North (1043 Muller Rd., Blythewood, SC 29016)

Purpose: Come explore, discover, and have fun engaging in math missions and a showcase of student work from our Core Knowledge curriculum.

Please complete this form if you are able to attend so we know how many materials to order for the event.

Hope to see you there!

Check out Mrs. Minkel's Counselor's Corner Website for more information and resources!

It is time to express Congratulations and Love to your favorite 5th grader in the 2025-2026 CFK Yearbook!

Step 1: Please use this Google Form to submit your Yearbook Tribute.

Step 2: Please click on the following link to upload your photos. https://plicbooks.com/go/A7CL3Z

Instructions and specifications for Photos:
1) Submit two photos, preferably a baby/toddler photo and a recent photo. It is preferred that photos are uploaded in the link provided above, but original, high quality photos can be accepted and will be returned. All original, hard copy photos should be sent to the front office in an envelope addressed to the attention of Mrs. Carter. DEADLINE MARCH 1, 2026.

Please Prepare Your Files for Upload:
1) Make sure both photos are clear and school-appropriate.
2) Electronic images should be high quality and either .jpg, .png, or .jpeg If taken on a phone, please avoid heavily zoomed photos. No word documents accepted for pictures. You may rename your files with your child’s name (Example: Jordan_Smith_Then.jpg and Jordan_Smith_Now.jpg).

3) Pictures which have been cut-out by hand, cropped (odd shapes), or are creased cannot be accepted. Pictures printed on standard printer paper (non-photo paper) also cannot be accepted.

4) Tribute messages should be brief, around two or three sentences. Please send all messages in this Google Form.

DEADLINE IS MARCH 1, 2026.

**Unsure if you have already purchased? Log into Parent Portal, under Student Fees and click Paid. Here you will see everything you have Paid for this school year. Have questions, email or message Mrs. Carter tacarter@richland2.org.

CFK students participated in the Think Move Chess Competition on December 13th and won the first, second, and third positions. Congratulations to our winning students!

First place- Akshit Swain

Second place- Ishita Mishra

Third place - Aadith Bannenahally

Please see the CFK breakfast and lunch menus below.

CFK Breakfast and Lunch Menus

Please see the R2 Student Information Update website for any Directory Information or directions for changing/updating your preferences in Parent Portal.

Families, please keep in mind the implementation of Free to Focus. In addition to the abundance of communication that has been shared districtwide via ParentSquare, there is also an FAQ section on R2's Free to Focus Webpage.

Thank you so much for your support!

Our school website can be located at https://www.cfk.richland2.org/. Just hover over and click on the header words "Our School," "Academics," and "Families" in the top banner area of the website to access important school information.

February

5: Kid's Heart Challenge Kick-Off

12: CFK/CFKN Family Math Night and Core Knowledge Showcase @CFK North- 6pm-7:30pm

13: Early Dismissal @11:00am

16: President's Day Holiday- No School

18: Roman Day- 3rd Grade

19: Jr. Beta Club Meeting at CFK- 2:50pm

20: Leopard Ball @EL Wright

March

3: Erin Soderberg Downing Author Visit

4: SC Aquarium Field Study- 1st Grade

6: Historic Columbia Traveling Trunk Visits CFK- 2nd Grade

9: Roper Mountain Field Study- 4th Grade

11: End of the 3rd Quarter

12: Early Dismissal @11:00 AM

13: Staff Workday/Student Holiday

17: CFK/CFKN Arts Night 5:00-8:00 PM @ CFK

19: Report Cards go Home

19: Jr. Beta Club Meeting (Combined CFK & CFKN) @ CFK 6:00-7:30 PM

27: Spring Picture Day

Center for Knowledge

3006 Appleby Lane

Columbia, SC 29223

Phone: 803.691.2966 Fax: 803.699.2967

Website

Facebook

Principal: Jessica Agee - jagee@richland2.org

Assistant Principal: Jessica Holley - jholley@richland2.org

Office Manager: Tammy Carter - tacarter@richland2.org