What’s Good in the Neighborhood, January 11, 2021

In light of the events of this past week, the past four years, and honestly our lifetimes, it is important that we articulate our commitments as a community for creating a loving, equitable, fair, and discerning community. It is also important that we are able to articulate that we stand against racism, bigotry, hatred, and intolerance.

Here is one small action I have made for our community — I ordered 120 orange yard signs and chisel-tipped Sharpie markers for students and staff to pick-up and make a sign that states each family’s commitment for the CNH Community. Each yard sign will be placed in front of the school on the grass.  All materials will be available by Tuesday, January 19th (the day after MLK Day) for folks to pick-up. Some examples might be: CNH stands up against racism; Our school challenges the status quo; We are all Known, Loved, and Inspired; etc.

What might your sign say?

Happy Week 18, everyone!

–Shyla.

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Noteworthy Upcoming Dates:

 

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This week is Asynchronous Electives (not with the teachers)

Look for an email from Mr. Jerred with this week’s asynchronous options!

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Look for Intent to Return Forms Today

Today, each current CNH family will be emailed an Intent to Return form.  We will be holding our enrollment lottery next month for 2021-22 and this time every year, we ask our families to let us know if their children will be returning to CNH in the next school year so that we know how many seats we will have available.  Please look for a google form in your email and complete one for every child you have who currently attends CNH.  Deadline:  Friday, January 22.

Families of current 8th graders do not need to submit a form for that graduating 8th grader.

It is important to note that Intent to Return forms are not enrollment applications for current CNH siblings.  The deadline for sibling enrollment applications is the same as the Intent to Return form:  January 22.  Applications can be downloaded from our website:  www.cityneighborshamilton.org and completed applications should be emailed to applications@cityneighborshamilton.org.

In addition, please note Intent to Return forms are not applications for current 8th graders to City Neighbors High School.  City Neighbors High School enrollment applications and instructions on how to submit them, as well as deadlines can be found here:      https://www.cityneighborshighschool.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=526057&type=d&pREC_ID=1041338

If you have any questions about CNH enrollment, please contact Stephanie at sking@cityneighborshamilton.org.

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Young Scholars Program for 7th Graders

Please visit this link to learn more about an amazing opportunity for 7th grade students.

The Cooke Young Scholars Program is a selective five-year, pre-college scholarship for high-performing 7th grade students with financial need. It provides comprehensive academic and college advising, as well as financial support for school, Cooke-sponsored summer programs, internships, and other learning enrichment opportunities.

See below for the flyer about the program.

 

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Arbor Day Poster Contest for 5th Grade

The Maryland Forest Service hosts a 5th grade poster contest every year for Arbor Day.  This year’s theme is: Trees are Terrific and Forest Products are too! The winning posters will receive a tree planting at the school.

Statewide Winners will receive a tree planting at your school with:

1st – 15 trees

2nd – 10 trees

3rd – 5 trees

The deadline January 15. Ms. Cohen is happy to help students with their poster designs this Friday!  Please reach out to her at hcohen@cityneighborshamilton.org for support.

Native tree planting goes along really nicely with the work “greening” the school. Thanks to the hard work of CNH parent, Ashley Traut, we have received two grants from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to support work around the building of the school.  We have worked with engineers for planting rain gardens, micro bioretention facilities, and other natural strategies to make sure that rain water is filtered before going into the sewers and draining into the Chesapeake Bay.  When we return to school in-person, students will be able to participate in the work around the building!

If your child submits a poster, please let Dr. Shyla know (srao@cityneighborshamilton.org)  — whether it is selected or not in the contest, we would love to celebrate the work of our students!!

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Progress Report Conferences Feb 2-5

Mark your calendars for the Trimester 2 Progress Report Conferences on February 2-5.  School will end at lunch (12:30) to allow time for the conferences.  This is a great opportunity to hear from your child’s teachers about how they are progressing academically and social-emotionally in classes so far this year.  Conferences allow for either the start or a continuation of an on-going dialogue about each student and how we can best support their growth and development as a team.

Keep an eye out in your child’s class Monday mailers for sign-ups and more information for their classes.

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Family Participation

Thank you!

One of the expectations for being a part of our school is for each family to log at least 40 hours of participation/volunteer time. We ask this of you because it is in our charter, because we believe in you, and because we know what it means to our children to have us all working together toward the success of City Neighbors Hamilton.

Last week, our Family Participation Committee sent emails to about half our families telling them their tally of hours so far this school year. If your family didn’t receive one of these emails it may be because our records show you haven’t contributed any hours to our school so far this year.

We recognize that often families have participated or volunteered in various ways but have just not recorded it. Recording hours is easy!! Click this link to submit Family Participation hours.

We also know during remote learning, family participation is looking very different. We know you are likely engaging in school activities and helping to create the community we had when we were together. You can consider logging hours for:

• Time spent facilitating your student’s distance learning (i.e. helping them log onto their classes, troubleshooting access issues, navigating Google Classroom, asynchronous learning activities, etc.);

• Setting up virtual “playdates”;

• Holding a virtual book club or other enrichment activity;

• Hosting a conversation with others in our school community like the Family Nuts & Bolts meeting or class social time;

• Watching a City Schools Board meeting;

• Posting in the City Neighbors Hamilton Families Facebook group and following up on it (.25 hour increments);

• Participating in PJ Storytime and Spirit Week Activities.

• Helping child figure out his/her All School Open Mic Act

• Attend a CNH Virtual Committee Night, Family Nuts and Bolts meeting, and/or Board Meetings, and

• Attend the Parent-Teacher Conference or Back-to-School Summit

• Time spent coordinating resources for the school (for classroom or facilities; i.e., finding extra computer monitors for teachers)

We ask that you take some time soon to record your hours. If you want to know what activities we already have on record, you can request an up-to-date report by using the form on this page: Request your volunteer hours report

Please contact Elisabeth Hyleck if you have questions or for guidance about how you can meet your participation goal.

Thanks for all you do for our kids and our school!

— Elisabeth and the Family Participation Committee

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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

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Enrollment 2021-22

Enrollment season for 2021-22 is in full swing!

NEW 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.

Our final Enrollment Open Houses will be held virtually on January 26, 9 AM

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

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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!

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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).

• PayPal Donate Button on Website: http://cityneighborshamilton.org/

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.

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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.

• Shyla Rao’s appointment calendar — Feel free to make an appointment if you have questions, comments, or concerns. Shyla looks forward to meeting with you!