Welcome Back!!! The staff and I are looking forward to another incredible year! We are still excited about being selected as a Distinguished School last spring and would like to once again say thank you to each of you for your support and efforts in helping us achieve this honor. We will continue to strive to prepare Cullen's students to meet the challenges of today's world and encourage each student to embrace values inherent in being responsible individuals as well as academic achievers.
I hope each of you had a restful summer and meaningful family time with one another and friends. It was hard to drive past Cullen this summer and not notice that it had fences up with signs posted, "danger, no trespassing," as well as big trenches running the campus. This was the next step in modernizing the Cullen campus. Conduit was laid throughout the campus with the intent of increasing our capability to meet the technological needs of our campus. The next step will be in modernizing classrooms, which is scheduled to begin in the Spring of '08 if not sooner. These changes were facilitated by the Measure G bond monies which were voted on last fall. Thank you for supporting such a measure in Glendora.
New to Cullen this year are Miss Boyd and Mrs. Raab in first grade as well as Miss McGee in 5th grade. Familiar to Cullen families but in a new position is Mrs. Vincent in the Cullen office.Some important items to keep in mind for the following year are:
Attendance - On time and daily attendance is important in helping students to be successful. While some papers can be made up when a student misses school, the experience of the lesson cannot. Please help your child by having her/him at school, on time, daily. Please plan vacations that correlate with school holidays identified on the school calendar, found on the magnet sent via US Postal Service or on the last page of the student handbook (which includes Tuesday, early outs).
Student supervision - student supervision is limited to 8:00-1:30 for kindergarteners, 8:00-2:02 for 1st-3rd graders and 8:00-2:25 for 4th & 5th graders. In other words, students may be on campus beginning at 8:00 in the morning. They should only arrive earlier if they are eating breakfast in the cafeteria which is served beginning at 7:45. Playground supervision begins at 8:00 and there is no after school supervision. Students who are waiting to be picked up should wait in front of the school on the bench outside the library. They should not be on the playground or outside classrooms. If students are older they may also exit outside the gate on Leadora Ave. Please let your child know in advance if you will be picking them up in the center drive in front of the school or on Leadora.
When dropping students off, you may use the parking lot if you are simply driving through and dropping students off. If you will be parking your car, we ask you to park on the street and walk in. Parking spaces are reserved and assigned to staff who are here for the day and may only leave for short periods of time. It is helpful to them if you do not park in their space as their time off campus is generally rushed.
When picking students up, if driving through the circle drive, please keep in mind that if a student is not readily available, you may be asked to drive through again to keep the traffic moving. Once again, if you are parking, please park on the street.
Safety of the students is a primary concern and being considerate, patient and conscientious drivers will assist us with keeping all students safe. Along those lines, please talk with your child about not talking to strangers and being vigilant in recognizing people who may be out of place. They should be encouraged to tell you or a school representative immediately if they are concerned or made to feel uncomfortable.
Volunteers & PTA - PTA is very involved in providing extension opportunities for Cullen students and families to participate in which round out the educational experiences available at Cullen. In addition, at Cullen there are many opportunities for volunteering inside and outside the classroom. Contact your child's teacher and/or become an active member of Cullen's PTA to learn more about these opportunities.
Pets - It seems like the number of pets being brought on campus has more than doubled. If you notice the red signs posted about the perimeter, you will see that there are vehicle and city codes prohibiting animals on campus. Please assist us in keeping a safe and clean environment by leaving pets at home.
Again, let me say, the staff and I are looking forward to a great year as I am sure each of you are, as well.
