Cuyahoga Heights Elementary School
Parent Newsletter
September
2015
Mrs. Joy Houchen
Principal
August 20, 2015
Dear Families,
I would like to welcome you to Cuyahoga Heights Elementary School for the 2015-2016 school
year! I am very excited to begin my third year as principal in this wonderful building! As always,
the excellent staff at CHES has been preparing for the start of the school year and is ready to
go! We are eager to continue our quest for excellence and to rise up to the new challenges we
face this school year. We aim to develop lifelong learners by instilling a love for learning in our
students through the cultivation of partnerships with families. These relationships will help our
students grow both academically and developmentally.
We have certainly been very busy at CHES over the summer! Thanks to Mrs. Mooney and the
custodial staff, the halls are sparkling, the windows are clean, and the building looks great! Also,
the teachers have been diligently working to get their rooms ready for all of the excited and
eager children as they arrive. In addition, Mrs. Ditzel and Mrs. Bacci have done an outstanding
job of preparing everything in the office, registering new students, and answering all of your
questions.
We are delighted to have added several new faces to our staff this year. I am pleased to
welcome our new school psychologist, Miss Tara Buxton, as well as our new intermediate
intervention specialist, Miss Breen McDonald. In addition, we have a new school social worker
named Mrs. Rachel Meffe and a new speech and language pathologist, Miss Katie Smith. In the
art room this year, we welcome Miss Kelly Ryan and our new teacher’s assistant for grades two
and three is Miss Marissa Passe. Finally, we are excited to have three of our staff members
returning this year in new positions. Miss Madison Chylik will now be teaching first grade, Mrs.
Carrie Martens is our reading specialist, and Mrs. Lisa Meyer is now our primary intervention
specialist. Although we will miss those staff members who have left us, we are extremely
excited to have so many fresh, new faces in our building!
Please mark your calendar for Open House. This annual event takes place on Thursday,
September 17, 2015 at 6:00 p.m. It is a special evening that is set aside for our families to see
the many exciting and wonderful activities and lessons that are taking place in our classrooms
each day. Your child will be able to show you around the building that evening.
We encourage you to become involved in your child’s education by joining PTO and
volunteering. We can make a positive difference in the life of a child if we all work together!
Sincerely,
Mrs. Joy Houchen
Principal
Great Students + Great Staff + Great Families = Great School
Staffing for 2015-2016
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Pre-Kindergarten
o Miss O’Callahan
o Miss Petrunia
Kindergarten
o Mrs. Cichocki
o Mrs. D’Aquila
o Mr. Luginbill
First Grade
o Miss Chylik
o Miss Gammell
Second Grade
o Mrs. Bazydlo
o Mrs. Harvan
o Mrs. Kasmarcak
Third Grade
o Mrs. Collins
o Mrs. Currey
o Mr. Miller
Fourth Grade
o Mrs. Fedor
o Mrs. Rini
o Mrs. Stafford
Fifth Grade
o Mr. Taylor
o Mrs. Wallace
o Mr. Williams
Specials
o Mr. Bertolone
o Mr. Huffman
o Miss Ryan
Intervention Specialists
o Miss McDonald
o Mrs. Meffe
o Mrs. Meyer
o Mrs. Martens – Reading
o Miss Smith - Speech
Guidance Counselor
o Mrs. Satterlee
School Psychologist
o Miss Tara Buxton
Teacher Assistants
o Miss Passe
o Mrs. Svec
o Mrs. Vaughan
o TBD
Student Attendants
o Miss James
o Miss Puthoff
o Mrs. Ruggiero
We have gone to all online forms! Please
look for the information coming home with
directions on how to complete your forms. If
you need assistance or access to a
computer, please contact the office.
Student Handbook
This year, our Student Handbook will be
available online, as well as in the student
agendas for grades 2-5. The material in the
revised handbook will provide you
information on the operation of the
elementary school. It will serve as a ready
reference for questions that you may have.
While completing your forms online, you will
be asked to verify that you and your child
received and reviewed the handbook. We
ask that you please review all informational
items
with
your
child
including
Transportation Guidelines, Cafeteria Rules,
and Playground Rules. Disciplinary issues
at CHES are few, but those that do arise are
often on the bus and play areas.
As your child’s most important teacher, the
emphasis that you place on positive
behaviors
for
the classroom,
bus,
playground and cafeteria will be very helpful
and will act as a preventative measure. Our
school-wide expectations for behavior are
very simple, yet effective: Stay Safe; Act
Responsibly; Be Polite and Respectful!
Arrival/Dismissal
Guidelines for arrival and dismissal are as
follows:
 If students walk to school or are
dropped off, they may not arrive
earlier than 8:25 a.m., as there is no
supervision before this time.
 Parents who drive or pick up
children at the end of the day must
park in the lot behind the elementary
school, and come in to pick up
students in the back lobby. We ask
that parents notify grandparents or
others who may be picking up
students of this important safety
procedure. Your cooperation on this
safety procedure is appreciated.
Forms! Forms! Forms!
Great Students + Great Staff + Great Families = Great School
Lunchtime Information
PayForIt.net is an online web prepayment
system that gives you flexibility in managing
your child’s cafeteria meal
account at school. As a
parent you can perform the
following functions:
 Add money to your
child’s meal account 24/7.
 Check your child’s
account balance 24/7.
 Request an activity
report so you can see what your
child has purchased
 Set up recurring payments so money
will automatically be deposited once
your child’s balance falls below a
certain amount.
 Set up email alerts so you know
when your child’s balance reaches a
certain amount.
To take advantage of all this, you simply
need to sign up at www.payforit.net and
click on “Sign up for an Account” and follow
the prompts on your screen.
The price for a full lunch, including milk, will
be $2.55 for all children. Milk purchased
alone is 50 cents for all students.
Grade level lunch times are as follows:
2
11:30-11:50
3
11:40-12:00
1
11:50-12:10
K
12:00-12:20
4
12:10-12:30
5
12:20-12:40
Missing Child Act
Parents of children are required to notify the
school by 8:30 a.m. of their child’s absence.
If your child is in the pre-kindergarten
afternoon class, please contact the school
office before 12:30 p.m.
Directory
By law, the Board of Education designates
certain personally identifiable information in
a student’s educational record as directory
information. This type of information does
not include confidential data.
It is
information that is not generally considered
to be harmful in any way if released for
publication.
It includes such things as
name, dates of attendance and graduation,
major field of study, participation in cocurricular activities, photographs and honors
or awards earned. Any parent who does
not wish to have directory information for
their child released should notify the
principal in writing.
Medication
There are a number of regulations that the
parent/guardian must strictly adhere to
regarding the dispensing of medication in
school.
If these regulations are not
followed, we cannot administer the
medication during the school day.
If your child requires medication to be taken
in school at any time during the school year,
please refer to the Medication Policy in the
Student/Parent Handbook.
Medication
forms were sent with the letter from the
Superintendent’s office
in August. If you are in
need
of
additional
forms to be completed
by
your
physician,
please contact the
elementary
school
office.
Family Conferences
Conferences with your child’s teacher can
be scheduled at any time.
For your
convenience, parent-teacher conferences
are scheduled in the fall.
Hearing/Vision Screening
State regulations require hearing screening
of all children in kindergarten, first, second,
and third grade. Any new students to our
district will also be screened. Our SpeechLanguage Pathologist, along with our
School Nurse, will be completing the
hearing screening during the month of
September.
Great Students + Great Staff + Great Families = Great School
Calendar of Events
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First Day for all Kindergarten students
August 21
Friday
August 24
Monday
 First Day for all Pre-K students
August 28
Friday
 Picture Day
September 2
Wednesday
7:00 p.m. Board of Education meeting
High School Media Center
September 7
Monday 
Labor Day – No School
September 11
Friday
PTO Tailgate Party
September 16
Wednesday
7:00 p.m. Board of Education meeting
High School Media Center
September 17
Thursday
 6:00 p.m. – PTO Ice Cream Social - cafeteria
6:30 p.m. – Open House
September 28
Monday
Teacher In-service Day
NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS
October 1
Wednesday
Conferences for Grade 3-5
4:00 – 7:00 p.m.
October 2
Thursday
Conferences for Grade 3-5
4:00 – 7:00 p.m.
October 3
Friday
Conferences for Grade 3-5
8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES 3-5
Great Students + Great Staff + Great Families = Great School