Principal’s Message for September 2019: 

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” – Emilie Buchwald

Dear Carnelian Family,

At Carnelian, the staff and faculty of the school are honored to be an important part of each child’s education.  We want to support you and work hand-in-hand with you to help our children achieve their learning goals, because we believe the most important teachers are you, the parents. It is important for parents and students to be informed about the student’s reading level.  This should be considered when we see what books students are reading and how they are doing on their AR comprehension quizzes. It can be confusing because there are many ways that reading scores are presented. The easiest score to interpret is the G.E., which stands for Grade Equivalency.  If a student has a G.E. of 3.4, that could be interpreted as third grade fourth month. Make it a homework assignment to know what your child’s G.E. is and what his/her reading goal is for the trimester. The ability to read and comprehend is a critical skill for students to be successful and to grow into lifelong learners.  

I would like to thank all who have joined Carnelian’s PTA this year.  We are already at 325 memberships! That is 62%, but our goal still is 100% memberships.  Please join if you have not already done so. Joining PTA does not mean that you have to attend meetings and/or volunteer.  It simply shows our children that we value education. Our PTA works hard to enrich and enhance our students’ experiences at Carnelian.  They help to create those moments that become cherished childhood memories.  

One measure that helps our children to have success in education and in life is to help them to establish good habits, and help them to break bad habits.  This is most easily done when we start in their elementary years. The longer we hold onto bad habits, the harder they are to break, and likewise, the more we practice good habits, the more they become a part of our daily lives.  It is very important that we do all that we can to work together to ensure that our students are here at school everyday. Tardiness and absenteeism are bad habits, and they diminish the value that we place on our children’s education and future. Let’s continue to model good habits and help our children solidify good habits, such as being at school, on time, everyday, and being responsible with our learning.  

It is such a joy to walk through classrooms at Carnelian and see your children highly engaged in learning and observing the expert teaching practices and strategies employed by our outstanding faculty.  From our three and four year olds in CHAMPS to our sixth graders starting out their last year of elementary school, I notice that same gleam and light in their eyes and faces as they are learning in class.  

Thanks so much for partnering with us and supporting us as we do all that we can to enhance the lives of our students.

Mr. Deegan

Principal, Carnelian Elementary School 

“The Finest Elementary School in the Land!”