Welcome to the 2015-2016 school year! We are so happy that
you are part of our school community. Our mission is, “Collaborating to ensure
academic, social, and emotional growth for every student, every day.” We look
forward to collaborating with you to meet the unique needs of your student this
year.
We have a few new faces at Canyon Lake this year, but the
majority of our staff will be returning; all of our staff members are working
diligently to prepare for the upcoming school year.
Canyon Lake Elementary School will again be operating out of a split campus. Our K-3 students will be housed in Canyon Lake West and accompanying annexes; fourth and fifth grade students, and preschool, will be housed in the Canyon Lake East building and annexes (formerly Kibben Kuster).
For this school year, we will continue to operate out of two offices. We are asking that all visitors report to either the Canyon Lake West or Canyon Lake East office to obtain a visitor pass; please do not enter the building through the gym doors. We believe that this is a safer, more secure arrangement.
Busing, start and end times:
·
First Day
of School: The first day of school is Monday, August 24th. School
will again start at 8:05 a.m. and end at 2:55 p.m.
·
Busing:
Special Education buses will drop off and pick up at Canyon Lake East, while
all other buses will use the bus run on the south side of Canyon Lake West. For
the safety of our students, we ask that families do not use the bus run either before or after school. Busing is
provided for students living more than 2.5 miles from school. Buses will run
beginning Monday, August 24th. For further information, contact our
Transportation Department at 355-3707.
·
Kindergarten
Small Group Classes: Kindergarten students will begin the school year in
small groups, meaning your student will come for their first day either MONDAY, TUESDAY, WEDNESDAY, OR THURSDAY.
Small groups are a special time kindergarten students have with their teacher
to help in the adjustment to the school schedule. You will be notified on or
before Wednesday August 19th, which day your student will attend. All students will attend on Friday, August 28th.
·
Early
Release Days: This year, we will be continuing “Early Release Wednesdays”
as we work to become a school- and district-wide professional learning
community. Most Wednesdays, we will release at 1:20 p.m. so that teachers can
engage in the collaborative work of ensuring academic, social, and emotional
growth for all of our students. Our first Early Release Wednesday falls on
September 2nd.
Food Service:
·
Our breakfast and lunch programs will begin on
the first day of school.
·
Free/reduced applications will be included in
your Tuesday folder; we strongly encourage ALL of our families to apply.
PBIS:
Canyon Lake is continuing as a PBIS school this year!
PBIS stands for: Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports. PBIS is an
approach that uses universal strategies for helping all students achieve
important social learning goals. When good teaching and good behavior come
together, our students will excel. As part of the PBIS program, we have
established several clear rules for the behavior we expect in all areas of our
school. Further, we will actively teach, model, and reinforce our school-wide
expectations: Be Safe, Be Respectful, Be Responsible.
Character education will be a regular
part of our instructional day. We will explicitly teach expectations to
students and acknowledge them for their great behavior. Last year, Canyon Lake staff members verbally
recognized students over 102,000 times for exhibiting positive behaviors! We
believe that by helping students practice good behavior, we will build a school
community where all students have an environment where they can succeed and
grow.
Communication and input:
We actively seek input from families on how we can provide
the best possible school experience for you and your student; we take your
input to heart, and have begun implementing several suggestions that we
received. We’ll be working on additional projects over the course of the year.
Speaking of communication, we will be utilizing Tuesday
folders again this year to send home important documents and student work. We
encourage you to keep up to date with all of the great things happening at
Canyon Lake by:
·
Signing up for our text messaging system. Text “Join”
to 56360.
·
Following us on Twitter (@canyonlakeelem)
·
Bookmarking our school website.
As always, we welcome your feedback on how we can improve.
This is going to be a great school year. We look forward to
seeing you at our “Meet the Teacher” Open House on Thursday, August 20th
(5-7 p.m.).
