Cougar Mews215 N. State St., Big Rapids, MichiganPhone: 231.796.6589 www.ccabr.org

Crossroads Charter Academy

Elementary NewsletterSeptember 21, 2012

Kendall SchroederElementary Principal

On the Calendar

Friday, September 21CCA Homecoming Football Game 7:00pm

Saturday, September 22Suicide Prevention Walk –Northend Riverside ParkRegistrations will begin at 9:00am

Tuesday, September 25Cross Country Club 3:30-4:30pm

Wednesday, September 26Kindergarten Field Trip-Schwallier’s Country BasketTae Kwon Do 4:00-5:00pm

Thursday, September 275/6 Girls Volleyball Practice 3:30-4:30pm

Friday, September 28PTO Treat Day $0.50 each

Saturday, September 29Cross Country Club Meet – Carson City 2:20pm

Munch a Lunch!Mon.... BBQ Pork Sandwich OR Chicken Patty

SandwichTues.... Pancake & Sausage OR Corn DogWed.... BBQ Chicken Quesadillas Bites OR Pizza

PocketThur. . . Macaroni & Cheese OR Egg Roll w/Sweet-

N-SourFri....... Personal Pan Pizza OR Cheeseburger

Healthy choice: Turkey WrapAlternative: Fruit & Veggie Bar

2nd grade is doing a canned food drive. You can put the food by Mrs. Robinson’s door.

We are doing this thru the month of September. We are doing this for people that don’t have food.

By: Marcus Harland Mrs. Robinson’s 2nd Grade

CCA Weekly Newsletter

Parents, in addition to weekly information that comes home to you from classroom teaches, the

elementary office prints a weekly, school-wide newsletter. Beginning next week we will send it home with the youngest sibling only. If your youngest child does not come home with a “Cougar Mews”, let the elementary office know. We don’t want to miss you!

The Wishing Tree

Outside of our elementary office, we have a wishing tree (bulletin Board). It has items that are needed for different classes. If you are able to supply an item, please bring that item to the office along with the tag from the tree so that it can get to the class that needed the item.

Box Tops & Soup Labels

It’s easier than ever to help support your school. Mrs. Nawrot’s 4th Grade is organizing the collection for CCA. They are ready to get started, so please send in your box tops and labels.

Crossroads Charter AcademyStudent Pick up and Drop off Protocols

September 19, 2012

Hello Parents!

We are very excited about the opening of our new parking lot at the corner of Marion and Spruce. While we realize this area is to be used throughout the day and evening for general parking, we would like the am / pm times of 7:40-8:00 AM and 2:45-3:30 PM to be mainly used as a pick up – drop off area. We will ask people to use the northern and southernmost areas of the new parking lot for actual parking and leave one row open for people to wait in their cars for picking up students at the end of the day. We know everyone has their favorite area and it may already be part of a daily routine, but we are confident if we can organize the process better, the time spent waiting in traffic can be reduced significantly. Here are the general protocols we want used:

Drop off-Because drop off in the morning does not create as bad a traffic bottleneck as the afternoon pick up, we feel there is more flexibility in morning drop off routine. Depending on congestion at the time you drop off, elementary parents can drop off at A, B, or C, and MS / HS parents can drop off at B, C, or D on the map. Parents with students in both buildings should use B or C. As a general rule for pick up and drop off times, we want the entrance on the new parking lot on Marion to be “entrance only” with everyone leaving the lot to Spruce. To lessen traffic congestion in the area towards Marion, we ask everyone to turn right while leaving the new parking area onto Spruce, and exit to the west towards Rose Street and then to either Pine or Madison. We do not want people using the alley for pick up or drop off due to it being very narrow and easily blocked should cars meet in the middle of the block.

Pick up- At the end of the day, the circle drive near the elementary drop off point A will be mainly for primary grades k-2. Grades three and four will be asked to use the new parking area, and grades 5-6 will be asked to use area C of the lower high school parking lot. Middle school and high school will be asked to use areas B or D. Again, people leaving the high school lot and new parking area on Spruce are asked to drive north to Rose Street when leaving. People arriving at 2:30 on the circle drive will be asked to park in the new parking lot. Also, we ask that parents do not park on the north side of Spruce alongside the elementary building. This narrows the usable portion of the road making it difficult for people exiting the lower parking area, or getting to the new parking area. Please go to the new designated areas to pick up or wait for your students to be brought over.

In both pick up and drop off, there will be adult crossing guards at each area. The crossing guards at the two areas on Spruce will be stopping traffic simultaneously, thus allowing students to cross Marion after traffic has time to clear. With traffic stopped at both areas of Spruce, no cars will be able to enter Marion until the crossing guards allow traffic to pass again. Students will wait at staging areas of the sidewalks and cross together quickly and safely with the help of CCA staff. It would be very much appreciated and also great modeling for our students if staff and parents would use the designated crosswalks during these heavy traffic periods.

If you have children in more than one grade level, you can have them all meet at any of the designated areas that work for your situation. If you find your routine is still taking a long time, please try a different recommended area to see if it helps lessen the time it takes to pick up or drop off your children.

This plan is likely to be adjusted as we see the new challenges in implementing our protocols. Again, we are confident if we work together we will be able to make your daily commute with your children less stressful and safer for us all!

Thank you,

Lynn Gullekson, SuperintendentCrossroads Charter Academygulleksonl@ccabr.orgPhone 1-231-796-9041 ext. 231