The Bulldog, August 7, 2025

Note from Mrs. Lockwood:

We are settling nicely into the school year! Thank you all for getting your students to school on time each day. As a reminder, doors open at 8:00. Students are considered tardy to school after 8:20. Families, please support the important work of teaching and learning by ensuring students arrive on time daily.

Our arrival and dismissal procedures are running smoothly. Thank you for your patience and kindness every morning and afternoon. Students are arriving and leaving every day safe and happy. I'm excited to share that we are at 99% utilization of Pick Up Patrol within the first 5 days of school! Let's increase our Annual Data update, which can be found in the Parent Portal. We are up 4% from last week. Currently, we are at 56%. Let's be the first school to reach 100% completion!

Curriculum Night will take place on Thursday, August 28, from 5:30 to 7:30. Join us for an evening with the Clairemont team to learn about what your child will be learning this school year. We're excited to partner with you for a great school year!

Clairemont is committed to ensuring every classroom is stocked and ready for students and teachers to have what they need to be engaged and successful. We do this by using our allocated state and local funding to fulfill classroom needs. Funding covers essential classroom supplies, any specialized materials needed for educational programming in different grade levels/subjects, individual or team requests for specific supplies, professional learning and general operating costs.

In addition to this, some staff at Clairemont have customarily shared supply wish lists with families via email or online. Please know that these are optional and individualized by the staff member. Wish lists should not be interpreted as an indication that classrooms at Clairemont or our programming lack supplies or funding. Instead, the lists reflect individual preferences for extra items. Any purchases made from these lists are considered gifts to staff and must follow state guidance and Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC) rules around gift-giving to public employees, including monetary limits.

If you have any questions about how supplies are funded or how you can support our classrooms, please contact me.

Please take a moment to review our 2025-2026 Student and Family Handbook. The handbook is linked here for your review.

Events at a glance:

• Friday, August 8: DHS home opener football game and mascot race; 7:00
• Friday, August 15: Parents are invited to Community Circle
• Friday, August 15: Back to School Pizza Picnic; 5:30-7:00
• Wednesday, August 20: Author Visit Book Orders Due
• Wednesday, August 27: CSD Early Release Day
• Thursday, August 28: Curriculum Night Open House
• Thursday, September 4: Author Visit

Read the August 7, 2025, issue of the district-wide newsletter, CSD Weekly here.

Last year, our very own Claire the Bulldog dove across the finish line to win the first-ever CSD Mascot Run. Who will break the tape and take home the trophy this year?

Come out to cheer for your school mascot on August 8 during the first DHS home game of the season. The game starts at 7 p.m., and the race will take place during half-time. 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!

Elementary Students get in for free with a paying adult!

PTA needs our help making the pizza picnic run smoothly! If you are available, please sign up for a shift to serve pizza and desserts or help sell spirit wear.

CLICK HERE to sign up!

Our Solar System! is a light-hearted nonfiction picture book about the members of our solar system from the eyes of Comet, who's been traveling through the Solar System for eons.

Yee-haw! Strap in for one wild ride through our very own Solar System, guided by space-travelin’ buckaroo Comet himself, while you travel around meeting one impressive star, 8 unique planets, a handful of dwarf planets, and a bonanza of moons, asteroids, and comets . . .

With characteristic humor and charm, Stacy McAnulty channels the voice of Comet in this next celestial "autobiography" in the Our Universe series. Rich with kid-friendly facts and beautifully brought to life by Stevie Lewis, this is an equally charming and irresistible companion to the other books in this series, like Earth! My First 4.54 Billion Years and Sun! One in a Billion.

Signed and autographed books will be available the day of her visit. Your student should have received a book order form in their red folder today. All book orders are due Wednesday, August 20th. If you have any questions, please reach out to whitney.derosa@csdecatur.net

1. Please fill out the Health Cards if you have not already filled them. They will be sent home with the students in Thursday folders.

2. Please send change of clothes that will be kept in students' lockers.

3. Please do not send any medication with the students in their backpacks.

4. If you have any questions regarding medications or health, please contact Nurse Manjit at manjit.sehdev@csdecatur.net

We've been doing lots of work, but there's still time to play! The first few weeks of school are about assessing our learners to discover how we can help them grow, but it's equally important that our students are making friends, learning routines, and having fun!

Hello, families!
The Clairemont Specials team invites you to join your student's Specials Class Dojo class.
On that page (each grade has a separate "class"), you'll find updates about Specials and the Dojo points that your student earns in PE, Art, Spanish, Music, Creativity, and Library.

Kindergarten link: https://www.classdojo.com/ul/p/addKid?target=class&class=CPPQR34

1st grade link: https://www.classdojo.com/ul/p/addKid?target=class&class=CRSSFJT

2nd grade link: https://www.classdojo.com/ul/p/addKid?target=class&class=CPBPS3E

Please feel free to message with any questions. Thank you!

Clairemont has a brand new school website to provide an enhanced online experience for all students, families, and staff. Check out and bookmark the new site HERE.

As with any move, some content may have inadvertently been misplaced, or a few links may be temporarily down during the migration to this new platform. If you encounter any issues, please email whitney.derosa@csdecatur.net or communications@csdecatur.net. Thank you for your patience and valuable feedback as we complete the final adjustments.

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.

Our students were challenged to READ, READ, READ this summer! If your student has completed any ONE of the available summer reading trackers, please have them bring it to Ms. D in the Media Center by Friday, August 15th. It's not too late to fill one out! Even if you didn't track as you went along, you can still fill out one of the sheets with some of the books you read over the summer. Click the link below if you need another form. There are options to track books, minutes, or reading activites. All students who turn in a completed form will be invited to a popsicle party at the end of the month AND they'll get to check out THREE books at a time all school year!!

CSD is pleased to continue offering credit card payments as a convenient payment method for school-related fees. In line with standard industry practices, CSD imposes a transaction fee to cover the processing costs charged by credit card companies for accepting these payments. During the 2024-25 school year, CSD capitalized on the increase in electronic check transactions ($0.35 per transaction) to reduce the Infinite Campus credit card processing fee from a flat rate of $4.00 to $2.50 per transaction.

However, credit card companies impose a fee of 3.5% or more on the total transaction amount for credit card payments rather than a flat fee. The difference has created a gap between the fees charged by CSD and the actual credit card processing costs incurred by the district, leaving the district to cover the additional expenses for each credit card transaction.

Effective July 1, CSD will shift to a retail merchant model for credit card processing. This change will involve moving from a $2.50 flat fee to a 3.5% percentage-based fee for all CSD credit card transactions. The transition means there will be a charge of $3.50 for every $100 credit card transaction. We encourage electronic checks, as these fees will remain $0.35.

The transition to a percentage-based fee supports the district's financial sustainability and aligns the fee structure with actual processing costs. It also allows CSD to maintain credit card payment options without diverting funds from other educational priorities.

◽Schedules ◽Grades ◽Lunch Money ◽Contact Information◽Test Scores ◽And More!

At the beginning of every school year, it is critical for families to use the Parent Portal for back-to-school readiness. Action needed:

• Complete the Annual Data Update (ADU). The ADU is how families verify or update critical communication and health information and do sign-offs for the handbook and code of conduct. From the Portal home screen, select More ⇒ Annual Data Update. More information about the Annual Data Update is available at https://www.csdecatur.net/adu, including a tracker showing which school is closest to hitting 100% submission! All new and returning parents must update student information via Infinite Campus.

• Apply for Free/Reduced-Price Meal Benefits. We encourage ALL families to apply. Families that previously received benefits must reapply every year. In the Portal, select More ⇒ Meal Benefits. More information about the meal benefit is available at https://www.csdecatur.net/nutrition.

• Add funds and set up balance alerts and auto-payment for meal account balances. In the Portal, select Food Service.

If you need help with the Portal, visit https://www.csdecatur.net/portalhelp or contact your school’s front office.

City Schools of Decatur will make accommodations for children with disabilities whose disability or special dietary need restricts their diet when that need is certified by a licensed physician. Milk intolerance is not considered a disability or food allergy. For modifications or substitutions to the school meals, the school’s Nurse or Nutrition Manager must have a written Medical Statement to Request Accommodations for Disabilities in the School Meal Programs Form on file that is signed by a licensed physician or licensed health care professional who is authorized to write medical prescriptions under State law.

The Accommodations form and the Milk Substitutions form are located here.

Welcome to another great year in City Schools of Decatur! Decatur Education Foundation is proud to be this community's - YOUR community's - local nonprofit dedicated to helping solve the problems that keep Decatur's kids from finding success. DEF hosts community events and generates resources from our community to support programs that provide opportunities, address unmet needs, and support educators and students in ALL of our CSD schools. But we can't do it without your help! Support our work by volunteering, attending our events, or making a donation in support of Decatur's kids. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to learn about upcoming events, and visit our website - www.decatureducationfoundation.org - to learn more about our work and how you can be a part of it! Our community. Our kids. Together, we make a difference.