Welcome to the Center for Accelerated Studies (CAS)
Policies and
Expectations
Meet the Teachers:
Ms. Kartchner
harmonyk@provo.edu
Ms. Kartchner has lived in
California, Oregon, Washington,
England, Texas, Utah, and has
visited 22 of the 50 states and
Canada. She has worked as a
teacher, teacher trainer, and
administrator for over 11 years.
She loves reading, computers,
gardening, hiking, swimming, and
teaching at CAS.
Mrs. Taylor
cindyt@provo.edu
Mrs. Taylor grew up in Vermont,
where she learned to love the
outdoors. Her husband, 6 children,
8 grandchildren, and activities
such as skiing, biking, reading,
traveling, and teaching at CAS
bring her joy! Currently she is
pursuing a master's degree in
gifted education at the University
of Connecticut.
Mrs. Fossum
pamelaf@provo.edu
Mrs. Fossum has lived in Utah all
her life except for her senior
year of high school when she lived
in San Antonio, Texas. She is
married to Don Fossum who works at
the BYU Bookstore; they have 5
children and 13 grandchildren. She
loves teaching sixth grade because
it gives her an excuse to travel
to the countries about which she
teaches. She has been to many
European countries including
Greece, Italy, England and Russia,
but she will admit the highlight
came when she was finally able to
visit Egypt and its 120 degree
weather.
Philosophy for the Center For Accelerated
Studies
CAS embraces the goals defined in the
Westridge Mission Statement: “to foster a love
of learning in an innovative, cooperative
climate which empowers all students to be
competent, productive, caring and responsible
citizens.”
CAS brings together academically talented
students, from all over the Provo School
District, for enrichment and acceleration as we
cover and move beyond the core curriculum.
Our goal is to provide a supportive and
stimulating environment, where students of
high academic ability can work with other
capable peers. We strive to help students feel
challenged, valued, and encouraged, while
preparing them for the rigorous and advanced
classes in high school and beyond.
Expectations:
As a student at CAS, your child
will be expected to follow the
class and school rules. All
students have the responsibility
to be on time each morning,
prepared with supplies needed to
complete the work for the day.
This includes having all homework
assignments completed and at
school the day they are due.
This is a wonderful time to help
your child learn time management
skills. As teachers and parents,
we understand that your children
are very busy with sports, music
lessons, and other after school
activities. We still expect them
to have assignments completed on
time and to be prepared for
school. If there are extenuating
circumstances that prevent this
from happening, please talk with
us so we can work out a plan for
your child to be successful.
Class Schedule
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Welcome to the Center for Accelerated Studies (CAS)
Policies and
Expectations
Our school day starts at 8:40 am.
There will be outside supervision
starting at after the bus arrives.
Please do not drop off your child
before 8:20 am. School ends at
3:20 pm on Mon-Thurs and 1:30 pm
on Fridays. At times, CAS teachers
are required to attend staff
meetings at Westridge and need to
leave as soon as the students are
dismissed. Please make
arrangements so your child is
picked up after school on time.
There is no after school
supervision at CAS.
Attendance
Students are expected to be at
school on time each day, unless
they are ill. If your child is
too sick to attend school please
call the front office at Westridge
Elementary 801-374-4870 and let
them know. Please try to schedule
doctor’s appointments after school
or during holidays.
Makeup Work
When your child is absent they
have the number of days they were
absent to complete make up work.
Since we do many hands on
activities in class, it is best if
your child is there each day,
since these activities are very
difficult to make up.
Class Work
Since CAS students learn material
with one or two repetitions, the
pace in our classroom is
accelerated. This means that we
do not spend a lot of time
reviewing curriculum. All daily
class work is expected to be
finished on the day it is
assigned, unless it is a long-term
project. If a student does not
finish their assignments in class,
they will bring them home for
extra homework, when possible. If
a student consistently does not
complete class work on time, the
parent will be contacted for a
conference.
Homework
Most homework in our classes will
be a review of what we have
covered in class and will be due
the following day, unless
specified on the homework. CAS
students can expect forty-five
minutes to an hour of homework
each night. This includes thirty
minutes of reading. When we do
long term projects, like the
science fair, they may require
more time to complete their
homework. If it seems like your
child is having a lot of work to
complete, they may not be
finishing their daily work in
class and are completing it at
home. Please help your child be
successful in completing their
homework.
Fieldtrips
Our class will go on several
fieldtrips this year. A note will
be sent home to let you know the
day, time, and if volunteers are
needed.
Donations
A donation from each student
allows our classes to pay for
fieldtrips, class supplies,
student planners, and other fun
activities our classes participate
in. The donation amount will be
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Welcome to the Center for Accelerated Studies (CAS)
Policies and
Expectations
specified by your child’s teacher
and varies with the fieldtrips
taken by the class. This is a
voluntary, tax-deductible
donation. Your child will
participate in all activities in
our class whether they donate or
not.
Volunteering
Volunteering at CAS and in our
classrooms is encouraged. Please
sign up on your child’s classroom
volunteer list and add how you
would like to help. Volunteer
opportunities include helping with
math groups, running an after
school club, organizing holiday
parties, working in the gardens,
or sharing an appropriate
presentation with our class. As a
reminder, we enjoy your little
ones, but it provides a better
volunteer environment if you come
without them.
Gardens
We have two gardens at CAS. One
of them is a native plant garden
in front and the other is a
vegetable garden out back. Our
weekly garden day is usually
Fridays at 10:00 am, while the
weather permits.
Recess
We have two recesses a day at CAS.
The first recess is after students
eat their lunch and the second
recess is later in the afternoon.
Breakfast and Lunch
Breakfast is served at CAS on
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for
those who wish to buy breakfast,
from 8:20-8:40am. On Tuesday and
Thursday, Fine Arts days,
breakfast will be served at
Westridge.
CAS lunchtime is from 11:55-12:30.
This includes lunch recess time.
Students can buy lunch at CAS in
the cafeteria or bring their own
lunch. If your child buys lunch
please send meal money with your
child to school or pay for meals
online by going to the Child
Nutrition page on the district
website. If your child is running
low on money in their account they
will receive a reminder note to
send money
Meal Prices:
$1.25 Student Breakfast
$1.75 Student Lunch
SEP (Student, Educator, Parent)
Conferences
SEP Conferences will be held on
the following dates. Please watch
for sign ups.
Transitional SEP: August 22-26
Fall SEP:
Spring SEP:
Powerschool Gradebook
You can access your child’s grades
and attendance on Powerschool.
How to access Powerschool:
 Go to www.provo.edu
 Click on “Powerschool” (on
the right)
 Your ID is your child’s 6digit student ID number
(their lunch number)
 Your password is your child’s
birthdate
(Ex: Birthday is November 17,
1992, so your password is
11/17/92)
Science Fair, Spelling Bee, and
Geography Bee
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Welcome to the Center for Accelerated Studies (CAS)
Policies and
Expectations
All CAS students will be required
to participate in the Science
Fair. It will be held at
Westridge Elementary at the end of
January. We will work together in
class to learn the scientific
method. The experiment will need
to be done at home. More
information will be coming home
around November and December.
Students may also participate in
the Westridge spelling bee and
geography bee. More information
will be sent home, as these events
get closer.
Birthdays
For birthdays (or half birthdays
for students with summer
birthdays) you may send treats if
you would like. Please remember
that all treats need to be store
bought to comply with the health
policies.
Computer Use Policy
Each student and parent will sign
a Computer Acceptable Use Policy.
By signing this policy you and
your child agree that they will
abide by district rules when using
the computers at school. If a
student chooses to use the
computers inappropriately, they
will lose the privilege of using
computers at school and could be
subject to more serious school
discipline if appropriate.
Electronics at School
Electronics from home are not
allowed at school. These include
portable video games, mp3 players,
cd players, DVD players, and cell
phones. If they are found at
school the teacher will collect
them and the parents will need to
pick them up.
CAS Curriculum
The curriculum at CAS covers the
Utah State CORE. To meet the
needs of our gifted students, we
will move at a quick pace through
material and delve deeper into the
concepts we are studying.
Fine Arts Classes
On Tuesday and Thursday mornings
from 8:45-9:45 am, CAS students
will participate in the Fine Arts
program at Westridge Elementary.
Car riders will need to be dropped
off at Westridge on those
mornings. The bus will take the
bus riders to Westridge. At
Transitional SEP’s your child will
select their top four choices of
Fine Arts programs. Below are the
Fine Arts choices each student can
choose from:
Band, Orchestra, Art, Ballroom
Dance, Choir, Drama, Guitar.
The Fine Arts program will begin
on Tuesday, August 30.
PE
PE takes place at CAS once a week
on Mondays. Please make sure your
child is wearing tennis shoes on
PE days. PE times are below:
6th grade: 10:15
5th grade: 10: 45
4th grade: 11:15
Buses
If you choose, your child may ride
the bus to and from school. The
pick up and drop off spot is your
child’s home elementary school.
The bus schedule will be posted on
our front door at the beginning of
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Welcome to the Center for Accelerated Studies (CAS)
Policies and
Expectations
the school year. If you have any
questions about this, please
contact the district
transportation office.
Discipline
All students at CAS are expected
to follow the class and school
rules. If a student chooses to
not follow the class or school
rules we will contact the parents.
If the inappropriate behavior
persists or is serious, we will
involve our school principal and
part of the discipline may include
the student spending time in the
LRR (in school suspension) room at
Westridge. If the behavior still
continues, a conference between
the parent, principal, and
district personnel may be arranged
to discuss the student returning
to their home school where their
behavior needs can be better met.
Sept 8: Dismiss at 1:30
Sept 8: Westridge Idol Auditions,
1:30 p.m.
Sept 12: School Picture Day
Sept 15: School Carnival
Sept 26: District Non-Work Day, No
School
Sept 29: Vision Screening
Oct 20-21: Fall Break, No School
Nov 23-25: Thanksgiving Break, No
School
Dec 21: Early Release 12:30
Dec 22-Jan 2: Christmas Break, No
School
Jan 16: MLK Day, No School
Feb 20: President’s Day, No
School
April 9-13: Spring Break, No
School
May 25: Last Day of School,
Dismiss at 11:30
Contact the Teacher
It’s important that we stay in
touch. Please contact us with
questions, concerns, or comments.
Cindy Taylor
Email: cindyt@provo.edu
Phone: 801-374-4870 ext
Pamela Fossum
Email: pamelaf@provo.edu
Phone 801-374-4870 ext
Harmony Kartchner
Email: harmonyk@provo.edu
Phone: 801-374-4870 ext 1804
Important Dates to Remember
Aug 22: First Day of School
(Dismiss at 1:30)
Aug 22-26: Transitional SEP
Conferences
(Dismiss at 1:30)
Sept 5: Labor Day, No School
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