What’s Good in the Neighborhood, May 31, 2021

I hope that you were able to enjoy the gorgeous weather today for Memorial Day.  Thank you to all of our veterans in our community for your service.

Wow, we are almost there — the end of a school year for the history books.  What a year it has been!  Words cannot express how grateful I am for your partnership, flexibility, and trust as we navigated this school year. At every step along the way, the staff has tried to provide engaging online instruction, a variety of supports to suit each student’s idiosyncratic needs, and different points of entry for the content.  I hope we did right by your child this year.

Looking toward next year, as we plan to be fully back in-person, I look forward to your partnership by filling out the end-of-year survey that will be emailed to all families later this week, as well as working with you in some family work groups later this summer.  It is crucial that we consider our re-entry to fully in-person school so that we are thoughtful about the transition back, conscious of academic needs, and sensitive to social emotional needs.  We value and look forward to your partnership in this thinking.

I have so much gratitude for each of you.

Happy Week 37!

–Dr. Shyla

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Noteworthy Upcoming Dates:

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Great News Toward Our Charter Renewal

I’d like to give a little background before sharing the good news: Charter Schools in Baltimore City are part of the Baltimore City School District.  Each Charter School has a literal charter that was written when the school was designed that was approved by the school district. Every so many years, each charter is reviewed by the school district to make sure we are remaining true to our charter and are providing a quality education for our students. This year (yes during the pandemic) our charter is up for renewal. We have spent the past number of months gathering hundreds and hundreds of documents, emails, data, and lesson recordings to serve as documentation of how we have provided a quality education for our students while remaining true to the Mission and Vision of the school.

The good news: Last week, the team of reviewers from the district conducted 11 focus groups and reviewed the Strategic and Professional Management section of our documentation. I am happy to say that they provided feedback on that section, and we received a perfect score in every domain.  This is unheard of in City Neighbors history!  They will send us a report in July that details their other findings, but the general feedback to all the other sections was very positive as well.

This summer, Mike Chalupa, our Executive Director, and I will put together the complete application for our charter renewal, of which we should receive the final response in the middle of the fall.  For now, we can celebrate the great news of this first step.  All of this is possibly, only with your partnership and collaboration — thank you for making our school as great as it is!

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Digital Yearbook

Please submit photos of your child(ren) in this folder for a digital yearbook that we are putting together to commemorate this year.  Please submit photos by Sunday, June 6 at noon.  (We need the afternoon to organize the photos and begin follow-up where needed.

We are looking for the following photos:

• Close-up photo from the shoulders up to serve as the “school picture.”

  • Save image as <Student Name Grade School Picture>

• A fun or funny photo from this year — something related to their school work or classes

  • Save image as <Student Name Grade Fun Photo>

• A photo of your child at their workspace for online learning (in your house or in a learning center/daycare/family member’s house/etc.

  • Save image as <Student Name Grade Work Space>

• Images of your child’s classes, teachers, activities

  • Save image as <Student Name Grade Classes>

• Any other photos you would like to share

  • Save image as <Student Name Grade Other Pictures>

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Technology and Materials Return Days

On June 14 and 15, we will not have synchronous classes. All work will be asynchronous. These two days are designated for returning technology (Chromebooks, headphones, hotspots, etc.) and reusable  classroom materials that were sent home this year.

Below are the times for each day that we will have staff at the school to collect the technology and materials:

• Monday, June 14 — 8:00-2:00

• Tuesday, June 15 — 12:00-6:00

Any technology that is not returned by June 15 will be billed at full replacement cost to the student’s family.  Please be sure to return all technology and materials on one of those days.

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End of Year Celebrations

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Show your School Pride with CNH Swag!

Who else loves seeing all the CNH bumper stickers driving around the city? Have you noticed your kid’s CNH and Known, Loved, Inspired shirts are all getting too small? Now they can get a fresh version for the coming warmer weather. We even have masks, mugs, hoodies, phone cases and more. Show off your school pride AND help support our school with your purchase – everyone wins.  Click here to check out the CNH school store. (Be sure to use the left hand navigation to see all the CNH Gear)

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Resources for Families

• Here are Resources to support health and wellness during COVID

• Funeral Assistance  — FEMA will reimburse anyonewho has ha the iineed

• FEMA — Other COVID Economic Support

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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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Donations to the School

If you would like to donate money to the school (for any reason), the easiest way is through our PayPal account. If you want your donation to go to a specific fund or activity (general educational expenses, technology, arts, etc), please note it with your donation.

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!