Important Dates 

September 22 -  PTA Annual Fall Festival at the Upper Field, 12-4 pm

September 24 - PTA Food Service begins

September 25  - Kindergarten Back-to-School Night, 6:30 pm

October 5 - Picture Day

October 8 - Columbus Day,  school closed

October 31 - Halloween Parade

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CET Newsletter September 21, 2018

http://www.chufsd.org/schools/carrie_e_tompkins_es

Message from the Principal, Mrs. Kelly Maloney

Dear CET Families,

It was great to see all of you at our Back to School Nights this week!  I hope that you walked away with a thorough understanding of what new adventures are in store for your child(ren) this year!  I am sure that you were presented with a lot of information. Remember you can always check out our CET website for important resources and forms. Our website links you directly to the CET PTA website as well as teacher class pages.  I encourage you to visit Mrs. Lynch’s web page; she has lots of helpful math resources posted.

Our Kindergarten Back to School Night is Tuesday, September 25. Parents will have the chance to meet the special area teachers (art, library, music, physical education), our Spanish teacher, and hear from their child’s kindergarten teacher.

I recently read an article in the Journal News titled “How to Creatively Ask Your Kids About School” and thought I would share some of their suggestions that replace “What did you do today?”  Here goes: What questions did you ask today? Did anyone do something kind for you today? What challenged you today?  What made you proud of yourself today? Tell me something that made you happy...mad...sad...upset. If your child is not interested in talking about their day, maybe ask them to draw a picture of something they did during the day.  

I encourage you all to join the CET PTA and SEPTA. Both organizations go above and beyond to support our students, staff, and faculty throughout the year. You know the saying, “It takes a village….”  

I hope to see you at the Fall Festival tomorrow!

Best,

Kelly

News from the Assistant Principal, Mrs. Kerri Bianchi

Our CET students participated in a very special assembly on Thursday, September 13 th with Magic Jim.
Magic Jim has visited CET in the past and provides students with an interactive assembly on Bully
Proofing Our School through magic. During the assembly the students were encouraged to be “people
of good character” and learned the appropriate steps to take if they ever encounter a bully. Our
students were taught to say “NO” to the bully as a first strategy. If saying NO does not work they were
encouraged to “GO” away from the bully and find a group of friends to be with. Finally, the students
were empowered to “TELL” an adult if no other strategies were successful. Since our assembly we have
actually heard students repeating and practicing the “NO. GO. TELL.” strategy as a means to advocate
for themselves and others. We are very fortunate to have this type of assembly in conjunction with our
Olweus bullying prevention rules and our Second Step curriculum to enhance Character Education at
CET. We hope that you can find the time to ask your children about their experience with Magic Jim and
remind you to please review, sign and return the Tiger Cub contract to school. As always thank you for
your continued support in helping to develop empathy and good character in our students.

News from  Lauren Fitzgerald, School Psychologist 

Teaching Children about a Growth Mindset

When looking back at some past articles, I came across the ones that I wrote about Mindfulness. Part of
being mindful is about having a growth mindset as opposed to a fixed mindset. If you have a fixed
mindset, you believe that your qualities are fixed and cannot be changed. This often does not work well
in a learning environment where students are encouraged to take chances and if they make mistakes to
try again. When you have a growth mindset, you believe that you can change overtime from engaging in
different experiences. This mindset allows for you to take more chances and have a more optimistic
view of the world. More and more I find myself observing growth mindset being taught at CET. Many of
our third and fourth grade teachers have introduced this idea to their classes and it has become a
normal part of their class environment. To help encourage your child to have more of a growth mindset
focus on the following ideas:
 Acknowledge and accept your weaknesses
 View challenges as opportunities
 Focus on the process as opposed to only thinking about the end result
 Keep in mind that the brain has the ability to change throughout one’s life
Two resources that are helpful to introduce your children to the idea of a growth mindset are the book,
Beautiful Oops by Barney Saltzberg and the growth mindset blog on the Big Life Journal website (https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog)

News from the CET PTA

Fall S.T.E.A.M. Ahead for the official start of Fall happening tomorrow, September 22 from 12-4 pm. Meteorologists are on our side predicting a mild day for this outside event (CET Upper Field) filled with S.T.E.A.M. themed crafts, activities, demonstrations, performances and more! Bring the whole family, buy lunch while you’re there, and enjoy all the offerings organized by the PTA and local businesses and organizations. Fall S.T.E.A.M. Ahead is a fundraiser that helps us support education for all CET students. We hope you'll come and spend generously. But, if this isn't in your budget right now, please know that PTA events are for everyone in the CET community. There will be plenty to enjoy at no cost.

  Since math is on our minds, here are some important numbers. 569 students are enrolled at CET – we want them ALL to benefit from PTA Support Grants, services, advocacy and community building events. Aiming for 100% membership from CET families and teachers to make that happen. Your Voice + Financial Contributions = 1 Amazing Elementary School!

Find all the information you need about membership, volunteer opportunities, events and programs at www.CETPTA.com . Email any time with questions or thoughts – cetpta@gmail.com

ARRIVAL AND DISMISSAL PROCEDURES

School will begin at 8:00 a.m and end at 2:25 p.m., with the first buses departing school at 2:35 p.m.

• All doors will be locked after morning arrival (8:10 a.m.) and remain locked all day.
• Visitors must enter through the front doors. A video intercom will be used to allow visitors access to the building. Visitors should be prepared to show photo ID.
• Students who are dropped off must be dropped off at the back of the building between 8:00-8:10 a.m. After 8:15 a.m., all students arriving must be dropped off at the front of the building.
• Students who are picked up at the end of the day will need to be signed out in the library between 2:25-2:40 p.m.

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 Updating You and Your Child’s Information in the K12 Alerts System 

To be sure we have the most up-to-date information for you and your child, you may access K12 Alerts by either logging on to the CET Homepage where you will find “Parent Portal/K12Alerts” or by accessing the Croton-Harmon School District’s Homepage and clicking on “Parent and Resident Portal/K12Alerts”. Once you log in to the K-12 Alert System, you will be able to make any necessary changes to your or your child’s information .

If you have any questions please contact Denise Cuomo, 914-271-4793, ext. 4200.