During the 22-23 school year, schools across the region are getting back into their first truly regular year of school after the pandemic. At Central Elementary, they are going above and beyond regular!
Central started with a Meet Your Teacher Night before school started, with about 300 people attending. Principal Monica West said it was a pretty exciting event because many parents had never seen the inside of the school, even though their students attended Central for the past couple of years. West said they are very excited to welcome parents and families back into the school building this year for events and volunteering. “We want our Cougar families to get involved in our school this year and really get connected to what we are doing every day for students,” West said.
West and Sam Fiorito, Central’s Dean of Students, have created several new ways to connect with families. They started a Cougar Minute, a one-minute informational video highlighting Central activities and sent out on Fridays to families. So far, the videos have focused on parking lot logistics, attendance and some students on camera sharing what they like about the year so far.
In another program, students can earn Red Cougar Tickets for showing the behavior trait of the month – tickets from the big red box will be drawn for prizes. One winner will get to sit on a special chair in their classroom for a week. Spirit Days will be celebrated on Assembly Fridays, the last school day of each month. “We hope that all of these new, small but fun things will add up to increased connections between our 420 students and will continue to build the positive climate here at our school,” West said.
Central’s first All-School Assembly is on Friday, September 30th, which will include some instructions about proper assembly behavior, awards for Crazy Sock Day winners, Minute to Win It games and each grade level participating in their first “Roar for Cougars” contest. It will probably be loud, but will also look like a regular assembly -- which is just fine for Cougar Country.
