We start our short week with the shortest day of the year, the Winter Solstice. What a poetic way to lead into vacation — each day after Monday will progressively be longer and with more light after the Winter Solstice. Let’s mark this day as a turning point where we are looking toward the light with great anticipation. 

I am so grateful for your partnership throughout this year.  Maybe after Winter Break I will be able to find the words to describe what this year has been for me, but for now I cannot and am simply grateful to you. 

Our Winter Break begins at 12:30 on Wednesday, and we will return on Monday, January 4.  I look forward to ringing in the school year with optimism and joy. Whereas this break will be different than ever before, continuing with social distancing, possible new financial strains, and holidays on Zoom, I hope that you are able to find time to take care of yourselves, enjoy some spaciousness of thought, and love those around you deeply and fully.  I love each and every one of you.  

Happy Week 16, y’all! 

–Shyla.

**************************************

Noteworthy Upcoming Dates:

December 21, 7:00-7:45 3rd Grade PJ Story Hour on Zoom (Pick up your good bags on Monday!!)
December 23 at 12:30 through January 3 No School — Winter Break — We begin break at 12:30 on Wednesday, December 23.

Return to school Monday, January 4 at 8:30.

 

**************************************

Electives Sign-Up Due Mon. Dec 21 Before Noon

Electives will be asynchronous for the remainder of 2020.  Students can  sign-up for their Trimester 2 elective starting today until Monday morning, December 21, 2020. Synchronous electives with your teachers will begin January 6, 2021. And yes, they can sign-up for the same elective if they choose. Please see below for grade specific elective sign-up:

**************************************

CNH Gift Card Drive Information

Hello families. Several people have reached out wanting to serve as “Santa” to a family that might be struggling financially right now. We are so grateful to have such caring and compassionate people in our CNH community. Therefore, in an effort to uplift the spirits of families dealing with financial hardship, we will be launching a CNH Gift Card Drive. We are collecting gift card donations in the following ways:

  • You may purchase a physical gift card (we are recommending Amazon gift cards because they are the most flexible) and you may drop it off with Ms. Kachaelar at the front office during our family office hours.
  • You may purchase an e-gift card (again, we recommend purchasing Amazon gift cards) and send it to kjones@cityneighborshamilton.org or janderson@cityneighborshamilton.org .
  • If you prefer not to purchase an Amazon gift card, we are encouraging you to purchase a gift card from a local business in Baltimore. 

We are accepting gift cards starting today until December 22nd (the day before holiday break). Once we identify the families in need, we will distribute gift cards accordingly. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to janderson@cityneighborshamilton.org . Thank you in advance for your generosity and continued partnership. 

**************************************

This Monday — 3rd grade PJ Story Hour

This Monday, December 21, the Third grade classes will each be hosting their own PJ Story Hour on Zoom!

Third grade students and families are invited to join your class on Zoom from 7:00-7:45 pm on Monday, December 21.  Wear your jammies and bring two or three favorite books to share!  Your teacher will put you in a breakout room with one or two other families from your class, and you can take turns reading aloud some favorite books. 

Goody bags with treats for the evening are available for pick-up at the school Monday 10:00-2:00 — with the snow last week, we have enough left over for one per person in your family, not just for the student.  Additionally, if you are short on books at home, you are welcome to check out 2-3 books from the school to borrow for the evening at the same time you pick up your goody bag. Family Hours for pick-ups are 10:00-2:00 on Monday.

This is a great way to spend some time with classmates outside of the school day, and to get to know other families from your class.  We hope you can join us!

**************************************

Important Message from the City Neighbors Foundation

December 16, 2020

Dear City Neighbors Community,

When our founding school opened its doors in 2005 with 132 students in grades K-5, we had no idea that we would grow to three thriving schools serving students in grades K-12, be in such high demand, and be impacting education beyond our City Neighbors walls. Over these last sixteen years, the City Neighbors community has grown, rooted, and flourished. City Neighbors is strong and, more importantly, always creating and evolving.

Now, well into our second decade, it is time for us to carefully and strategically consider the future of our City Neighbors organization.    What will City Neighbors look like five years from now?  Ten years from now?

To that end, the City Neighbors Foundation Council, the governing body of City Neighbors Foundation–which is composed of representatives from each of our three schools–has given its approval to begin the strategic planning process. The first step is to seek proposals from organizational and strategic consultants who can lead our communities through a process to consider how we can be more effective, how we can structure our leadership to support sustainability and effectiveness, how we can take our robust equity work and center it as our vision for the future, and how to ensure our strong organization is even more prepared to thrive decades into the future.

City Neighbors teachers, parents, students, community members, Board members, and leaders will work with the selected consultant to thoughtfully and methodically develop a plan that determines our path forward.   We will all roll up our sleeves to plot our path forward.   Everyone will have a voice.  This is how we do it at City Neighbors.

We hope to launch this work in the Spring of 2021.   Depending upon the consultant we select, the strategic planning process could take from one year to eighteen months.    And we will keep you all engaged and updated all along the way. 

I look forward to working together to create the future of our City Neighbors.

If you have any questions or ideas, please feel free to contact your school leader or me (mchalupa@cityneighbors.org).

Have a safe, healthy, and peaceful holiday.   And, here’s to 2021 and stepping into our futures together!

Sincerely,

Mike Chalupa

Director, City Neighbors Foundation

**************************************

Care Center Site 

Families can access the Care Center Site by accessing the CNH Family Site and clicking on the Family Resources tab. You can also click here to access the site. Students, teachers, and families can find different ways to support social-emotional learning on this site. You can also use this site to get in touch with Ms. Lauren & Mr. Jerred. 

Care Center Week Ahead… 

  • Mindful Monday
  • Wellness Wednesday
  • Find a Friend Friday

**************************************

Enrollment 2021-22


Enrollment 2021-22 is in full swing!


PROSPECTIVE FAMILIES

City Neighbors Hamilton is now accepting enrollment applications for next school year.  The deadline to receive applications from new families for inclusion in the enrollment lottery is 3 PM February 3, 2021.  

Upcoming Enrollment Open Houses will be held virtually as follows:  January 9, 3-4 PM, January 26, 9 AM

Links for the virtual Open Houses will be on our website:  www.cityneighborshamilton.org 

Please spread the word!

CURRENT FAMILIES

The deadline to receive applications for siblings of current students and children of school staff is January 22, 2021.  If your child currently attends CNH, there is no need to reapply.  Intent to Return forms will be sent and collected in January.  Siblings and children of staff will not be included in the enrollment lottery, HOWEVER, you must submit an enrollment application by January 22, 2021 in order for us to have an accurate count of open seats when we conduct our lottery.

Enrollment applications can be downloaded from https://cityneighborshamilton.org/apply/

and should be emailed to applications@cityneighborshamilton.org.  Be sure to clearly indicate “sibling” on the application.  Please be aware that the Sibling Preference Policy only applies to siblings of current City Neighbors Hamilton students.  It does not apply to siblings of students who are enrolled at City Neighbors Charter School or City Neighbors High School.  

If you have any questions about enrollment, please reach out to Enrollment Coordinator, Stephanie King at sking@cityneighborshamilton.org.

**************************************

Purchase CNH Gear Online!

Want to represent CNH in all ways?  You can purchase shirts, hoodies, mugs, phone cases, etc on our new TeePublic storefront!  Click here to check out our products!  

**************************************

Donations to the School

If you would like to donate money to the school (for any reason), the easiest ways are through our PayPal account.  Please add a note, no matter how you might donate, with how you would like it used (general educational expenses, technology, arts, etc). 

If you aren’t able to donate funds to the school right now, we always appreciate your donation of time supporting the general programming needs at our school (all virtual, of course).  If you would like to volunteer for the school, please email our Family Participation Board Director Elisabeth Hyleck at ehyleck@cityneighborshamilton.org. 

**************************************

Helpful Links

    • The CNH Academic Calendar — This gives all important dates for this year (end of each trimester, Progress Report Conferences dates, etc.)
    • CNH Family  Site — This is one-stop shopping for families (links to Google Classrooms, Family  Resources, the Care Center, Tutorial Videos, etc.)
    • School Schedule Spreadsheet — This document has each grade’s schedule with links to Zoom meetings in one mega spreadsheet.  (NOTE: Student schedules are also posted in every Google Classroom with links to Zoom meetings)
    • Family  Participation Hours Log — Any time you participate in a meeting with a staff member, attend a school event, participate in progress report conferences, or attend Committee Night, complete this form so that we can keep track of your participation!  Every family needs to log 40 hours of participation each year. 
    • CNH Main Website — Here is the main website with information about the school and resources.
    • CNH Care Center Site — Find resources for supporting your child’s (and your own) social-emotional learning needs as well as see the videos posted for our morning meetings each week. 
    • COVID Testing Sites — If you are experiencing symptoms, click this link to find a testing site near you. 

 

  • Meal Sites — This site provides information for meal sites as well as other resources for accessing food.