Our lovely school was beginning to look pretty well neglected on the outside. Weeds were encroaching on the entrance and bushes were taking over. Thanks to Kindergarten mom and master gardener, Cat Chupein (August’s mom), our school now looks tended to and cared for.
Spending time talking about native plants and long-term plans for the grounds around the building, I was reminded that the state of affairs at school (and in our lives) is all but a moment in time.
We have planned to remove all non-native plants and create gardens that will educate our students about having a sustainable relationship with plants, and animals. The first weekend of December, we would like to gather CNH volunteers to help us remove the non-native plants and prepare the ground for Spring planting. You do not have to know anything about gardening — you just have to be willing to get your hands in dirt and help beautify the school with social distancing, of course. Keep an eye out for emails about our landscaping weekend!
This meeting with Cat on Saturday added to the nostalgia I was left with after our Virtual All-School on Friday. We have a special community made up of amazing individuals. It is wonderful to start thinking about ways in which we can deepen our connections while online. As we approach Thanksgiving, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for all of you.
Have a fantastic Thanksgiving break! No matter how hard it is, please show your love to others by maintaining social distancing and creating space for connecting online rather than in person.
Have a wonderful Week 12, everyone!
–Dr. Shyla.
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This Week’s Topics
(click a topic below to link directly to that text)
Family Participation Hours Explained 4
Help Protect MD Blueprint for Education 5
Save the Date: Family Arts Night with the A-Team (Arts and Athletics) 6
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Noteworthy Upcoming Dates:
| Wed. November 25 | No classes after lunch |
| Thur. & Fri. November 26, 27 | No School — Thanksgiving Break |
| Fri. December 4 | End of Trimester 1 |
| Wed. December 9 | Report Cards Mailed and Emailed |
| Fri. December 11 | Family Arts Night with the A-Team (Arts and Athletics!!) |
| Wed. December 23 – Sun. January 3 | No School — Winter Break
Return to school on Mon. January 4 |
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CNH Board Elections
Every year, we have three positions open on our City neighbors Hamilton Board (9 family positions rotating every three years). This year, our election will be for the Chair of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Committee, Finance Committee, and Classroom Representative Committee. With COVID this year, we have a number of parents/guardians who are interested in serving on the board and running for a position but are overwhelmed with the current situation in our lives; this has caused us to have only one candidate for each committee chair position.
It may seem funny, but even with only one candidate in each position, we STILL have to hold an election. The bylaws of our charter requires us to get a certain percentage of the school community to vote, even if it’s only for one candidate in each position. Please click on the Google Form below and vote for our candidates. Thank you!
Click here to cast your vote. It will take less than 2 minutes to complete.
Meet the Candidates
Dayna Jackson, Chair of Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity Committee:
Dayna Jackson is a candidate for the lead of the Diversity, Inclusion and Equity Committee. Dayna is a lifelong resident of Baltimore, MD she was educated in the Baltimore City School system, graduating from the A-Course at the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, before completing undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dayna is the parent of two (2) City Neighbors Hamilton Students and has been a part of the City Neighbors Hamilton community since 2012, when my son entered 2nd grade at the School. My Daughter is currently a 5th grader at CNH, and we have absolutely loved being a part of such a special community.
One thing that has made this community so special has been the diversity and the sense of family and community. The current social, political and economic climate has certainly had an effect on people, in all kinds of ways, and what should not get lost as things change and evolve, are the things that have may CNH so special from the very beginning – inclusion, diversity, empathy, community, passion, and so much more. Having experienced challenges professionally as a result of gender, color, and education, has further fueled her drive for being an advocate and voice for diversity and equity for all, across all experiences and walks of life.
By trade, Dayna has over 15 years of experience as a marketing strategist and manager, leading teams for companies in the National Capital Region, supporting their public sector segments, leading global events, designing lead and revenue generating campaigns, while fostering relationships, inside and outside of the company. Dayna currently works for Akamai Technologies, where she recently received the Marketing Excellence Achievement award and was appointed to the Marketing Diversity and Inclusion board.
Anthony Tosheff, Chair of the Finance Committee/Treasurer:
My name is Tony Tosheff and I am running for City Neighbors Hamilton’s Treasurer. Currently I have two children at City Neighbors Hamilton; Noah in 4th grade and Julian in 2nd grade. Next year my youngest, Theo, will start kindergarten. I grew up in Harrisburg PA and moved to Baltimore when I was 19. I earned an Accounting Degree from Towson University and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. Professionally I have worked at Johns Hopkins University for last 16 years. I am currently an Accounting Manager in Sponsored Projects within the Controller’s Office. Other activities around the neighborhood I participate in are I am member of the City Neighbors Hamilton’s Finance committee, I am a volunteer coach at St. Francis Clinic Soccer, a board member at Swan Lake Swim Club and I’m also on the swim team committee at Swan Lake.
Ashley Eddington, Chair of the Classroom representative committee:
“Our children, parents, and educators should feel safe and supported everyday.”
Ashley Eddington is a mother of 2 City Neighbors Hamilton students who’s passionate about education. Born and raised in East Baltimore, Ashley is well aware of the struggles students and parents face when dealing with the Baltimore City school system. From the lack of educational resources to miscommunication in schools, Ashley has been an advocate for better communication and support for parents, schools and educators ever since she was 13 years old. Determined to bridge the gap, Ashley is running for Chair of Classroom Representative because she wants to strengthen the relationship of school staff and families within City Neighbors Hamilton. In the 2 years of her school presence, she has built solid relations with students and staff, and has been very active in ensuring that all kids and parents voices are adequately heard. She’s even become affectionately known as the IT mom because of her abilities to troubleshoot virtual learning issues to ensure no child misses instructional opportunities. Education is much more effective when everyone’s on the same page. Better communication and a strong family like dynamic is my goal as Chair. Let’s rewrite the narrative and be the proof that exemplary educational relationships exist and have a positive impact on our kids.
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Family Participation Hours Explained
Dear Families,
We know during remote learning, family participation is looking very different. We know you are engaging in the school activity and helping to create the community we had when we were together, so we want to encourage you to submit Family Participation hours. You can consider logging hours for:
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- Parent-Teacher Conferences;
- Time spent facilitating your student’s distance learning (i.e. helping them log onto their classes, troubleshooting access issues, navigating Google Classroom, etc.);
- 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;
- Time spent coordinating resources for the school;
- Watching a City Schools Board meeting;
- Posting in the City Neighbors Hamilton Families Facebook group (.25 hour increments);
- 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 fulfilling a school wish list (for classroom or facilities; i.e., finding extra computer monitors for teachers)
What else have you been doing? Tell us here! We appreciate all you do for our school community!
Thank you!
Elisabeth Hyleck
Director, Family Participation Committee
CNH Board Member
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Help Protect MD Blueprint for Education
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Save the Date: Family Arts Night with the A-Team (Arts and Athletics)
Join us on December 11, 6:00 pm, to celebrate learning in our A-Team classes! We will have performances and some audience participation activities. Keep an eye out for more information.
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Enrollment 2021-22
School year 2020-21 has just begun, but enrollment season for 2021-22 has begun!
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.
Enrollment Open Houses will be held virtually as follows: November 23, 6 – 7 PM, December 10, 12-1 PM, 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.
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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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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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Follow Us on Social Media!
CNH is on Social Media — Follow us! Please note that Twitter and Instagram are new endeavors for CNH so please know that it will pick-up momentum with time and more followers. 🙂
- Twitter — @CNHschool
- Instagram — city_neighbors_hamilton
- Facebook — Follow us at our official school page City Neighbors Hamilton (to receive important information) and our City Neighbors Hamilton Family page (where you can share photos and comments with CNH Families as well as Staff)
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Donations to the School
Some families reached out to the school over the summer mentioning that they would like to donate the money they didn’t spend on groceries this summer due to receiving the P-EBT card for their children. Other families reached out to me wanting to donate money to support our acquisition of technology to support families this fall.
If you would like to donate money to the school (for any reason), the easiest ways are through our CashApp or PayPal accounts. Checks mailed to the school will also be accepted. Please add a note, no matter how you might donate, with how you would like it used (general educational expenses, technology, arts, etc).
- CashApp: $CNH346
- PayPal Donate Button on Website: https://cityneighborshamilton.org/
If you aren’t able to donate funds to the school, 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
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- 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!
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Connecting with Shyla
Below the signature of every email I send from my computer (not the ones from my phone), I have the following text.
Want to meet? Click here to make an appointment. Be sure to add the topic/agenda of our meeting in the Notes section, so that I am prepared. I look forward to speaking with you.
I wholeheartedly mean it when I say that I am happy to meet with you anytime you’d like to talk. It can be something you’re excited or upset about, a new idea you have for the school, if you want to share news about your family, or just to connect. I would love to meet with you!
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