Good afternoon CSUS families and caregivers,
Welcome and Welcome Back to Cambridge Street! We had a wonderful first week at CSUS. We began on September 5th with a whole school assembly to celebrate our community and the start of the year. We shared some expectations and reminders and tasked scholars with developing our school-wide Social Contract. Scholar representatives from the 6th, 7th, and 8th grades used submissions from each grade level to create this year’s Social Contract, which they shared at a second whole school assembly on Friday.
We ended Friday’s assembly by encouraging advisories to submit entries to our new slogan contest! I am looking forward to sharing updates in a future Tuesday letter.
In these early weeks classrooms are busy setting norms and building community. In 6th grade English, scholars engaged in a read aloud about belonging to generate thinking about how to create community in their shared learning spaces. In 7th grade Social Studies, scholars made connections to poetry and stories about identity. In 8th grade science, scholars explored the brain science behind learning, and chose strategies they wanted to apply to support their learning this year.
We are looking forward to getting to know you and your scholars better in the coming weeks. Teaching teams will continue sending out welcome letters via email, and all communications will also be posted on our website by the end of this week.
Your scholar’s advisor will contact you later this month to schedule a Listening Conference. We also hope you will join us for our
Back to School Night on September 28. You should be receiving messages and information directly from your scholars’ teachers and/or teaching team via Parent Square, and we are also always happy to hear from you - you can reach any member of CSUS via email. Most email addresses are a combination of the individual’s first initial and last name @cpsd.us. For example, you can reach Christen Sohn at
[email protected]. If you need assistance finding an email address, please reach out to Ms. Sohn or Ms. Sammy.
Important reminders
Allergies - Cambridge Street is a nut-aware school. To ensure the safety of our community, scholars must bring nut-free snacks if they are eating food in class. Due to asthma and other allergies in our community, we also ask scholars to refrain from using perfumes, colognes, or other strong-scented substances (lotions, nail polish, etc.) at school.
Chromebooks - Each year, CSUS scholars receive a school-issued Chromebook laptop for use during the school day. The Chromebooks are on loan to students and remain the property of CPS. Scholars require their school-issued laptop to engage in assignments and support their learning throughout the school day.
Scholars must have a signed Acceptable Use Policy and Device Agreement before they are allowed to use a district Chromebook. Scholars without a signed Acceptable Use Policy and Device Agreement in order to use school Chromebooks this week. Here are instructions for where and how to find and complete these forms.
Scooters and bikes - Thank you to our scholars who support our environment by walking, biking, and scooting to school! Scholars traveling via bike and scooter must bring equipment to lock up their wheels; bikes and scooters should not be brought inside the school building unless it is possible to fold and store them in a locker.
Important upcoming dates
September 15-17: Rosh Hashanah.
School is in session on these days. Scholars reported absent for religious reasons will be excused. Happy New Year to those who celebrate.
September 15-October 15: Hispanic Heritage Month
September 20: Early Release Day, CSUS dismisses at 12:55PM
September 25: Yom Kippur - No School
September 28: Back to School Night | 6-7:30PM
October 9: Indigenous People’s Day - No School
Finally for those families in our community who are celebrating today, the Cambridge Street Upper School would like to wish you all a happy Ethiopian New Year!
Thank you for entrusting us with your scholars’ education. We are looking forward to a joyful and enriching year with you and your children.
Go Cobras!
Christen
Head of School
Cambridge Street Upper School