We hope that everyone has had a great summer and is excited for the new year ahead! It promises to be another great year where we will be focused on engaging our students and building positive relationships! I have included some important links below that will be helpful in the first days of school. We also have LOTS of important information related to beginning of year expectations and procedures in this week's newsletter, so please read carefully!

I will be sending an email to students before Tuesday to officially welcome them back with last minute reminders for the first day/week.

Campus Black & Gold Calendar

CMS Bell Schedule

CCS System Calendar

We are excited to inform you about an important update about our School Nutrition program. Starting this year all students at Calhoun City Schools will have access to free meals through the Community Eligibility Program.

The Community Eligibility Program ensures that every student receives a nutritious breakfast and lunch at no cost, removing any financial barriers to access. Families will no longer need to complete an application for school meal benefits, because all students will be eating for free. This program allows us to provide 1- Breakfast and 1-Lunch to students at no charge. Additional meals and a la carte items (extras), will still be available for purchase if a student has money in their account or has cash and/or check at the time of purchase. There will be a no charge policy in place, because all students will have access to meals. This initiative reflects our commitment to promoting health and well-being among our students by providing consistent access to wholesome meals.

We encourage you to review the updated section on meal services in our student handbook. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please do not hesitate to reach out to our School Nutrition Director, Kim Kiker at (706) 602-6613 or by email at kikerk@calhounschools.org.

Thank you for your support as we continue to prioritize the nutritional needs and educational success of every student at Calhoun City Schools.

Our dress code is designed to promote an environment that is both safe and conducive to learning.  To that end students and visitors should adhere to the following dress code standards:

1. Shoes must be worn at all times.

2. Blankets, stuffed animals, toys, etc. are not permitted.

3. Shorts, skirts, and dresses must be no shorter than mid-thigh length.

4. Pants, shorts, and skirts should not be worn in a “slacking” manner, and should be worn at the waist.

5. Shirts must cover the shoulders, chest, midriff, back, and undergarments. Shirts should not be see-through. *See through or sheer garments are only permitted if worn over the top of school-appropriate clothing.  

6. Caps, hats, head scarves, bonnets, hoods, combs/brushes, sunglasses, etc. may not be worn inside of school buildings unless a student has administrative permission or it is a designated dress up day. Approved religious attire is permitted.

7. Leggings, yoga pants, and similar athletic clothing should not be see-through and shirts worn with these types of pants should not expose the midriff area. One piece bodysuit/unitard clothing is not permitted.

8. Pajamas/pajama pants and bedroom slippers are not allowed unless it is a designated dress up day, this includes wearing pajama pants with a regular top/shirt.

9. Any tears/rips/frays that expose skin in pants/jeans should meet the shorts/skirt length criteria and not be above mid-thigh.

10. No clothing should promote drugs, weapons, or alcoholic beverages.

11. Clothing should not contain images that are profane, sexual in nature, gang related, or are racially offensive.      

12. Visible body piercings are limited to the ears and a single stud nose piercing (no facial hoops/facial bars allowed for safety reasons)

13. Anything that has the potential to cause distractions or disruptions to the learning environment is not allowed, including clothing that promotes a political party and/or candidate, political or social philosophy, and/or cause or crusade as shared in Board Policy KJ.

CMS continues to have high expectations for all of our students regarding student behavior and school wide expectations. We have shared the updated discipline consequences linked below based on our procedures related to our Focus Five areas: student incivility, skipping, fighting, inappropriate/abusive language code, and e-cigarettes/vaping.

CMS Focus 5

Mrs. Greeson is excited to welcome students and families back to CMS this year as she will be everyone's first stop when they visit CMS. We wanted to send a few attendance office updates and reminders (full details are located in the student handbook) to assist Mrs. Greeson with her daily responsibilities.

When a student is absent- Parents should continue to send excuses when a student is absent- this can be a note or email to- cmsattendance@calhounschools.org

Food/item drop off procedures- Any items being dropped off to a student should be done through the attendance office. Parents should not drive on campus and drop items off to students around the cafeteria during lunch. Outside food is only allowed at lunch through the attendance office, in an unmarked bag, where the student can stop by and pick up on their way to lunch. We will not interrupt class to call students to the office for pick ups. Parents will need to write the students name on the item(s) and leave the item(s0 in the designated area in the main office.

Visitors- All visitors at CMS should enter through the CMS attendance office to check in and get a pass. No visitors should be on campus without going through main office.

We appreciate everyone's cooperation on these safety items.

Cell phones will be taken up at the beginning of each class period. This is a shared expectation for Middle and High school students at the Campus. Each teacher has protective cubbies for student cell phones. Students are expected to place cell phones in cubbies at the beginning of each class. Students may use cell phones during arrival/dismissal, class transitions, and lunch. 

REQUIRED STUDENT VACCINE FORMS: All 7th and 11th-grade students must submit an updated 3231 vaccine form to the school nurse by September 20, 2024, as required by Georgia state law. Ensure your child's vaccines are current by scheduling an appointment with their doctor or the local health department at (706) 624-1444.

For any questions, please contact CMS school nurse Lisha Nichelson at nichelsonl@calhounschools.org or 706-602-6774.

In order to be included in the daily count, students must be present at school for a portion of the school day equal to or greater than one-half of the school day as measured from the morning tardy time (8:50 AM) to the first dismissal time (3:30 PM). This means that a student must get to school before 12:00 PM or leave after 12:00 PM in order to be counted as present for that day.

EARLY CHECKOUTS:

• Are considered tardies and treated as tardies.

• A note/email to check out early must be sent from home and turned in to the attendance office before 1st block (9:15AM) with the name and phone number of the parent. Parent number in Infinite Campus may be called to verify.

• Emails will only be accepted from the parent email on file for early checkouts related to an emergency. Parent number in Infinite Campus may be called to verify. A parent/guardian must be contacted to verify the checkout request. A doctor’s note or parent note explaining the emergency must be submitted the next day the student returns or it will be considered unexcused.

• Checkouts after 2:30 PM will be highly discouraged.

Tardies and Early Dismissals: Students are expected to be punctual to school and to class. Students are considered tardy to school in the morning when they are not seated in homeroom at 8:50 AM. When late for school, a student must report to the attendance office before going to class in order to obtain an admission slip. Any student who is tardy and/or checks out early more than 10 times (regardless of excuse) during a school year will not be eligible to receive a perfect attendance certificate. Ten or more unexcused tardies will be considered a discipline issue.  After a student has been tardy/ checked-out early from school fifteen days, the parent/guardian may be notified by mail or contacted by the school social worker. Once a student has reached 20 unexcused tardies/early check outs, a referral may be made to juvenile court taking into consideration the student’s attendance history. 

Being Counted Present: In order to be included in the daily count, students must be present at school for a portion of the school day equal to or greater than one-half of the school day as measured from the morning tardy time (8:50 AM) to the first dismissal time (3:30 PM). This means that a student must get to school before 12:00 PM or leave after 12:00 PM in order to be counted as present for that day. A student who spends the majority of the day in the nurse’s office or in a non-participatory setting will not be counted present.

Leaving Campus: Regardless of how a student arrived to school, upon arrival, a student may not leave campus for any reason without the permission of an administrator. All students leaving school must be properly signed out in the Attendance Office. Leaving campus without proper check out will result in disciplinary action.

Please note that all students are responsible for their assigned chromebook during the school year. Each student is assigned a device/charger/case that they can take back and forth from school to home. Students are responsible for their chromebook, charger, and chromebook carrying case. Students will be placed on the unclear list for any damaged/missing items during the school year. Students and parents acknowledge and will sign-off on our student device policy acknowledgement form that is being sent home via homeroom on the first day of school for all families. This form should be returned to the homeroom teacher.

Pricing for items is below~

• Lost Chromebook/Complete Replacement- $100-$250 (depending on age of device)

• Damaged Screen- $40

• Keyboard- $60

• Damaged/Lost Case- $15

• Missing keys- $5 each

• Lost Charger- Families must order a compatible charger to replace (links to examples below)

As we start the new school year, we are already seeing an issue with students losing their school issued chromebook charger. In an effort to make it easier on parents/students, we are sharing a link to a charger that can be purchased online directly by families that is compatible to our devices.

Charger Ordering Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01KLYPFT0/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_7?smid=AITSZY694T5YM&psc=1

There are other options online. The only requirements are that it is USB-C and 65 Watts.

2024-2025 Calhoun Athletic Handbook - This year's athletic handbook can be found on the athletic website.

Student/Parent Handbook Sign-off- The last two pages of the athletic handbook include the athletic code of conduct for students and parents. We are asking all students and parents to sign-off on the athletic code of conduct using the Google Form linked below (one for parents and one for students) so that we can streamline collecting forms from each athlete and family. Athletic Handbook Sign Off FY25

Student athletes and families will need to review the handbook and sign off on all pre-participation documents using Rank One- https://www.rankone.com/content/Parent/Parent

As we start a new school year, we want to share important links with our families related to family engagement. Linked below, are updated copies of our School Improvement Plan and Parent/Student/School Compacts. CMS will continue to keep open communication with our families and work to find ways to connect our families to what we are doing throughout the year.

Families can contact our school's Family Engagement Coordinator, Cynthia Sanchez, for any needs during the year- sanchezc@calhounschools.org / 706-602-6684

• CHS Parent/Student Compact / En Espanol

• CHS School Improvement Plan