Dear Solomon Family--

It was wonderful to see so many of you on Thursday at our open house. We are excited for the start of a new school year!

Since I am a CPS parent like you, I am receiving all of the district emails on COVID protocols at schools, and I want to boil all of those communications to their essence:

Close contacts will not be excluded from school.
Only those with a documented COVID positive test will be quarantined for 5 days.
Document a COVID positive test at cps.edu/covidresults.
When there is a positive case, everyone in the homeroom will be considered a close contact (due to eating together). This will mean that everyone in the homeroom, vaccinated or not, will need to mask for 10 days.
Email is the only way we communicate positive tests, quarantines, or mandatory masking. So check your email regularly for updates from me or your child's teacher(s).
Sign up for weekly testing below.
Wearing a mask is still advisable, as is getting that vaccination.
If you are sick, COVID symptoms or not, please stay home.
Students who are quarantined are eligible for remote learning until they return.
Things can change, so keep an eye out for district updates.

We will see you at 9am tomorrow! Please be sure to review the entry and exit guidance document below so that you know which door your child enters and exits each day.

Tomorrow is a great day to be a Cougar!

In partnership,

Chris Gamble

Principal

Hannah G. Solomon Elementary School

Welcome to Solomon!

Greetings Solomon Community!

My name is Bridey Clark and I will be Solomon's new library media specialist. I am so excited to meet all of you and embark on a fantastic school year.This is my third year working in CPS, and I look forward to bringing my past experience in librarianship and as a Makerspace teacher to the school community. In my spare time, I enjoy reading, listening to podcasts, playing bocce ball, and traveling. I look forward to working and reading with all of you this year!

News and Notes

Links you can use this week:

Our entry and exit procedures document, which includes our early dismissal policies and a reminder about our health protocols still in place.

Our school fees for the year and how to pay them.

The district consent form for in-school COVID testing for your child(ren) once a week.You will need your child's CPS ID number, which you can find in Parent Portal on Aspen (aspen.cps.edu).

Our school safety plan.

Our school assessment calendar for the school year.

Our school organization chart, which has every staff member's email address.

Information on how to sign up for YMCA before-school care and register interest in after-school programming.

Starting tomorrow morning, the staff parking lot is off-limits to non-staff members between 8:30-9:15, as we have students lining up for class in that space. The same goes for 3:30-4:15. The lot can be used by parents before 8:30 for YMCA before-school child care drop off (at Door #6). Parking is not permitted by non-staff members at any time. Please help us keep everyone safe!

If you did not order the Teacher Tailored kits this past spring, then make sure you print out a supply list for your child's classroom and head over to the store. You can find the supply list on our website (solomon.cps.edu) or you can click here.

Open Kitchens will be our food service vendor this coming year, providing breakfast and lunch to all students. You can find the August menus here.

We will begin sign-ups for Fall Sports (grades 5-8) later this week, with the first week of competition scheduled for September 17. Students can sign up for Boys and Girls Cross Country, Boys and Girls Volleyball, and Boys Soccer. We are a small school and won't have enough students to support all of those, but we will try! Mr. Martin is our Athletic Director who will keep us updated!

Please review the district's minimum health requirements for all students here.

Solomon spirit wear purchases can be made through our partner, Squadlocker. Check out unique Solomon gear here.

Due to the national driver shortage impacting CPS, the projected travel time for students can be 90 minutes each way. Diverse learner families and students in temporary living situations have the option to opt to self-transport their child(ren) and receive $500 monthly. If you are interested this year in self-transportation, you are asked to complete the following forms: English and Spanish

Solomon Calendar

All Solomon community events can be found on our school Google Calendar, linked at the Solomon website, solomon.cps.edu.

A few of the important upcoming dates:

Monday, August 22: First Day of School for Students

Monday, September 5: Labor Day (no school for students or staff)

Tuesday, September 20: Solomon Curriculum Night (6pm, in-person)

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