Letter to Caregivers

Dear CSUS Parents and Caregivers,

We hope you and your scholars enjoyed the sunshine this weekend and are ready to embark on a week of rich learning (and warmer temperatures)! There are many updates and reminders to share this week; please see below for information regarding

• In person learning update
  
• Semester 1 Grades
  
• Semester 2 Schedule reminders
  
• Listening conferences
  
• No Band lessons the week of March 8-12
  
• Upcoming Diversity Dialogue Event on March 10 - CSUS Community Care Clinic: Connection, Healing, and Reflection
  

In person learning update
This week, we celebrated a return to in-person learning for 109 6th, 7th, and 8th graders at CSUS. Many thanks to the teachers and staff who worked tirelessly in the last month to ensure we were able to welcome scholars at 840 Cambridge Street seamlessly and safely! Some important reminders for our in-person scholars and families as we head into next week

• Caregivers of in-person learners, please return all in-person learning forms if you have not done so already. We especially encourage families to complete and return the consent for testing form which enables your child to be surveillance tested 1x/week. Surveillance testing is a critical tool for keeping our community safe.
  
• Please also note Superintendent Salim’s email from March 2nd included information regarding updated guidance on quarantine procedures when cases of COVID-19 are found in schools.
  
• A reminder that school starts at 8:55 for all scholars on both in-person and remote learning days. We ask that scholars walking to school do not arrive at CSUS before 8:40.
  

Semester 1 grades
We identified some reporting problems with Grade 6 Semester 1 report cards when they were published last week. Thank you to the caregivers who emailed about this issue. It should now be resolved, and all grades for semester long classes should be visible as of yesterday. If you are experiencing difficulty viewing grades on your child’s Semester 1 report card, please email Ms. Robinson.

Semester 2 schedule
With the change in semester and schedule, we wanted to share the updated class times for Semester 2. These times apply to both in-person and remote learning scholars with the exception of Ms. Ives, Ms. Flanagan, and Ms. Rosso’s classes, whose class times may vary.

Monday - Tuesday - Thursday - Friday
Arrival	8:45-8:55AM
Period 1	8:55-10AM
Period 2	10:05-11:05AM
Period 3	11:10AM-12:10PM
Period 4 Lunch	12:15-1:15PM
Period 5 Cobra Den	1:20-1:50PM
Period 6	1:55-2:55PM
Period 7	N/A
Period 8	N/A

Wednesday
Arrival	8:45-8:55AM
Period 1 Cobra Den	8:55-9:10AM
Period 2	9:15-10AM
Period 3	10:05-10:50AM
Period 4	10:55-11:40AM*
Period 5	11:45AM-12:30PM
Period 6 Lunch	12:35-1:15PM
Period 7	1:20-2:05PM
Period 8	2:10-2:55PM

*Scholars with Spanish, French, Physical Education, or OLA class at this time have class from 10:55-11:55

Listening conferences
Cobra Den Leaders will reach out this week with options for how to connect and share feedback regarding your scholar’s transition into second semester. You will have the opportunity to meet with your child’s Den Leader or complete a feedback survey. If you would like to connect with a teacher that is not your child’s Den Leader, we encourage you to reach out to that teacher. You can contact all CSUS teachers and staff 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. If you need assistance finding an email address, please reach out to Ms. Sohn or Ms. Robinson. We look forward to hearing from you!

There will be no band lessons this week (March 8-12)

Wednesday March 10, 6:00 pm Diversity Dialogues - CSUS Community Care Clinic: Connection, Healing, and Reflection

We are excited to invite you to our first Diversity Dialogue event of the school year! We have been thinking of you deeply and want to hold you with compassion, knowing that caregivers are always doing and giving so much to others while their own needs often go unmet. We understand that making so many sacrifices has taken a tremendous toll on your lives, your relationships, along with many other uncounted consequences. Because of this we are happy to present a Community Care Clinic that will provide a much needed opportunity to mindfully focus on bonding and building connections at CSUS. This event is curated out of deep respect, love, and care for all of you. Here we will lay some groundwork for the foundation we will continuously build upon throughout the year. Feel free to enter our shared space exactly as you are and meet some new caregivers as well as reconnect with some familiar ones. Come out to laugh/learn/share/be uplifted/and cry if you need to! We center ourselves in support of you to make the rest of the school year the best of our school year.

About Our Guest:
Naqibah Al-Kaleem, a mother, business owner, community support person, healer, and member of the Building Equity Bridges community. Born in Massachusetts to parents from the east coast, north and south. I pull my wisdom from all points expanded between both poles. I am passionate about encouraging conditions that support healing and I look forward to being up to just that when I join together with all of you!

Please RSVP to this link!

As always, we thank you for entrusting us with your scholar’s learning. We understand that you have choices regarding your child’s education, and we appreciate you choosing CSUS.

Peace,
Manuel and Christen

Just Eats Grocery Boxes

Many of our families are missing our monthly school-based School Markets and so are we!! To help us out, our partners at Food For Free are offering food boxes for families at 4 of the school Market sites. We are offering these free boxes to our free lunch families and they will be available at lunch pick-up sites twice a month. We are trying to figure out our numbers for distribution, so we NEED FAMILIES TO SIGN UP! Sign up here >>

The boxes have fruits and veggies, as well as a grain (such as rice) and a protein (such as beans). They are heavy (approximately 30 pounds a piece) so you will need a car or a cart to bring them home. You can sign-up for the site closest to your house!

Note: These boxes are also distributed at Walden Square, Newtowne Court, Roosevelt Towers and 808-812 Memorial Drive. Please contact your Residential Service Provider if you would like to pick-up there.

Cambridge Families of Asian Descent Meets March 9

Tuesday, March 9 | Register here >>
Cambridge parents & caregivers of East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, or multi-racial Asian heritage are invited to a virtual get-together! In this affinity group, we will get to know each other, share our experiences around school, and exchange questions, thoughts & advice. Please register and you will be emailed a Zoom link half an hour before the event.

If you have questions, please contact Tina Lieu, Jenny Chung, and Nina Farouk here or Robin Harris at the Cambridge Public Schools’ Family Engagement Office.

NetPals STEM Exploration Club

Tuesdays | 3:15-4:15 PM | Register here >>
Starting March 23rd, join Ms. Montminy and Cambridge based scientists to explore science happening around you! Each week different scientists will run hands-on activity presentations and challenge the group to think about real world problems and applications. More details >>
For questions, please email Ms. Montminy.

Cambridge Families of Color Coalition  Member Recruitment

The Cambridge Families of Color Coalition is looking to recruit more members! If you are interested in learning more please see our flyer here (Spanish Translation), if you have any questions please connect with your Family Liaison!

What's Happening After School?
OST Opportunities Spring 2021 

Here's a slideshow of current and upcoming OST (Out-of-School-Time) opportunities. Here's a longer list of (newly updated) Middle School Opportunities for Spring 2021.

Cambridge Debate League

Tuesdays | 3-4PM | View Flyer >>
Interested in debate? Join the Cambridge Debate Team! *Available to any student in Grades 6-8th. Contact Megan Litten to request your virtual invitation. More details >>