Cottage Lane School

School Year 2010-2011

Dear Parents,

Cottage Lane Elementary School is a unique and exciting 4th and 5th grade public school designed to meet the needs of diverse learners. We are committed to balancing the social, emotional and educational development of our students. We strive to meet the particular needs of our children by placing equal importance on emotional intelligence and academic performance. Students are educated in a stimulating environment where they are prepared to be critical, creative thinkers
who will be successful in the 21st Century.

This year, we are working to make greater achievement towards meeting one of our district goals, Fostering a Respectful Learning Environment. On the first day of school, your child will receive a Cottage Lane Planner that includes valuable information and helpful tools to help your child succeed. Please be sure to look at this planner, which includes information from, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Children”, by Sean Covey. In addition, we will focus on a particular book and word each month. For September the word is Kindness and the book is A Chair for My Mother, by Vera B. Williams. This program allows our school to share a common language around character traits which will allow us to build our community and address issues such as bullying.

We are proud of the work that was completed this summer to prepare our school for an exciting year. Some of the work that has been done includes: painting hallways and classrooms, flooring and sealing of the gym and cafeteria, re-grading
the ball field to improve safety and drainage, roof repair, new classroom and hallway lighting, new carpeting for entryway and teachers’ lounge (in process), landscaping, and cleaning.

We’re looking forward to a great year together.

Sincerely,

Brian & Karen

 

Brian Culot Principal 680-1503 bculot@socsd.org

Karen Ramirez Assistant Principal 680-1518 kramirez@socsd.org

STUDENT SAFETY – ALWAYS A PRIORITY

Appropriate behavior is defined as remaining seated at all times and talking quietly to a friend and cooperating with the bus driver. This type of behavior will ensure the following:

A.       The safety of passengers and the driver

B.       Less distraction for the driver

C.      The bus ride will be a positive experience for everyone

We are asking that students secure their seat belt before the bus is in motion.

SIGNING OUT STUDENTS

Please remember that parents are responsible for signing children out during pick up time. Due to safety conditions, students are not allowed and will not be permitted to meet their parent in the parking lot. Parents are expected to come into the school to sign their child out. If you come into school after 3:00 p.m., after you sign in, please wait for your child in the cafeteria. This will help keep the halls clear and secure for the children.

WALKERS

Children will only be permitted to walk home if they have written permission from their parent or guardian. Walkers are expected to take the bus home if the weather presents unsafe walking conditions.

FRIENDSHIP BUSES/TRANSPORTATION ISSUES

Just a reminder, the district’s new bus company doesn’t permit friendship buses. Therefore, we cannot honor requests for children to ride a different bus. If you have any questions about this policy or have an issue with your child’s transportation route, please call the transportation department at 680-1662.
 

SECURITY
We will continue to have a security guard manning the entrance to Cottage Lane. Please cooperate with him in enforcing the district policy of displaying photo I.D. and complying with any other directions he may give. Our expectation at Cottage Lane is to cooperate with each other in a respectful and polite manner.

Mr. Soss, myself, and the entire Cottage Lane staff are truly dedicated to your child’s academic and social development. We will do our best to ensure your child has a very positive school year experience. However, we cannot do this alone – we need your support every step of the way.