May 17, 2018

Dear Cedar Creek Family,

As the school year comes to a close, several committees are having their "last" meetings. Last Wednesday, our Campus Leadership Team (CLT) met for several hours at Mrs. York's house for our annual CLT retreat.   We developed our 2018-19 CCE Campus Improvement Plan (CIP).  Our improvement plan thoughtfully supports the district's strategic plan.  As a staff, we appreciate the time and thoughtful feedback our parent members contributed to the process.  Our CIP reflects the important goals around Social Emotional Learning, Innovation, Written and Oral Communication and Community Engagement. As educators, we will seek professional development and training to support our district and campus goals.  

During both our CLT and staff meetings, we have discussed ways to continue to promote opportunities for social emotional learning experiences for our students.  At CCE, students build a community with their classes and as a school. Our students begin learning about communities in kindergarten.  This year, all grade-levels have conducted class meetings with their students.  This has been a very successful time for students and teachers to connect about a variety of meaningful topics.  Due to the current schedule, some students have their class meetings in the morning, while others have them at various times of the day.  We would like to commit time as a school to allow every child to begin their day, Monday – Thursday, with a morning meeting in their classroom.  This special time will allow for teachers to foster community in a smaller environment. 

While we believe time to build communities in the classroom is important, we also value the strong CCE community time.  Each Friday, we will have a campus-wide assembly to celebrate our entire CCE community.  This summer, a committee will discuss ways to create meaningful experiences during these special Friday gatherings.  By having important announcements and school-wide celebrations on Fridays, all of us can look forward to that time together.  In conjunction with our Booster Club, Friday assembly ideas are already being suggested.  A variety of stakeholders have thoughtfully discussed ways for more robust social emotional learning in both the classroom and the large campus environment. It's important to note that we continue to welcome everyone to spend time at CCE during lunch, volunteer opportunities, morning drop-offs, and at our Friday assemblies.  Adult supervision will still be available for students beginning at 7:15 a.m. in the cafeteria.  More details about the specific procedures will be shared in August. 

In addition to social emotional learning, school safety was also discussed at CLT.  As many of you know, CCE will be closed beginning June 1, 2018 for HVAC and other maintenance work.   This summer, EISD will be installing a buzz-in security system at all campuses. Currently Barton Creek Elementary has the buzz-in security system.  In the fall, all visitors will be required to use the buzz-in security system before they enter the outside door at CCE.  Maintenance will also be installing additional fencing at CCE.  Please don't be surprised when you see our portable buildings being removed, as they are being replaced with beautiful new learning studios, which will include restrooms! Also, a new hallway will be created inside the school to allow for independent access to these learning studios to and from the main building. Since there will not be any summer classes being held at CCE, this will give maintenance an excellent opportunity to conduct several updates both inside and outside our school.

Looking ahead, tomorrow will be our last Cedar Creek Spirit Day of the 2017-18 school year. Each grade-level will wear a different color to show class spirit. Please encourage your child to wear the following colors:

Kindergarten - yellow

First Grade –  green

Second Grade – red

Third Grade – orange

Fourth Grade – blue

Fifth Grade - The fifth grade students will surprise the student body on Friday with their color choice. Your child knows what color he or she is wearing.

If you are looking for a literary experience for your child, please consider an activity at the AISD Performing Arts Center. Our wonderful librarian, Mrs. Foley, writes, "This Saturday there is a wonderful children's book festival at the AISD Performing Arts Center. Nationally known authors of popular series, such as "I Survived" and "The Last Kids on Earth" will be speaking and autographing books. For more information, see the attached flyer or http://www.5bookdive.org/."

We look forward to seeing many of you this last week of school!

Warm regards,

Jessica Brown