Cheltenham Updates

Dear Cheltenham Families,

I hope you all have been staying warm despite the cold! As we get ready to face the challenges of the new year, I wanted to take a moment to celebrate some of the positive things going on at Cheltenham.

Our daily attendance is at 91%, up 4% from last year at this point. I also want to celebrate our chronic absenteeism rate: it's decreased 21% since last year. This is the 2nd highest decrease in all of DPS!

Regular attendance is key to your superhero's success - not only does it help students succeed academically, it also helps children thrive socially and emotionally!

Thank you so much for prioritizing your superhero's attendance - your effort to get your students to school on time every day are showing. I'm so proud of our Cheltenham community!

Warmly,

Ms. Elinor Roller

Interim Principal

Be sure to mark your calendars for upcoming events at Cheltenham:

• Jan. 27: CSC Meeting (Learn more here)

• Feb. 5: NO SCHOOL FOR ECE (ECE parent/teacher conferences)

• Feb. 6: Project-Based Learning Exhibition

• Feb. 12: K-5 parent/teacher conferences

• Feb. 14: NO SCHOOL (Professional Learning Day and K-5 parent/teacher conferences)

• Feb. 17: NO SCHOOL (Presidents Day)

• Feb. 19: K-5 parent/teacher conferences

• Feb. 28: NO SCHOOL (Chelty Day)

We want to be as transparent as possible about shifts that will be happening at Cheltenham for the 2025-26 school year. We will have some budget-related changes; while we cannot confirm exactly what that will entail yet, here's what we do know:

The extra budget support we received due to the Fairview/Cheltenham consolidation will be fading out next year. This means our budget will be cut and we will have to make some changes at Cheltenham to accommodate.

We will be discussing the budget at our upcoming CSC meeting on Monday, Jan. 27. The meeting will be at 3:30 p.m. in the library and is open to the public. Please feel free to attend.

Our budget is due to the district on Jan. 30. We will communicate budget-related changes you can expect at Cheltenham shortly afterwards.

Parent/teacher conferences are coming up in February!

ECE conferences will be Feb. 5.

K-5 conferences will be during the afternoons of Feb. 12 and 19, and the morning of Feb. 14.

Keep an eye out for communication from your child's teacher about conference details.

Want to join our Chelty team? We're looking for a bilingual (English and Spanish speaking) paraprofessional to join us for 7 hours a day. Applications are due Jan. 30.

You can find details about the role and apply here. Please contact Ms. Luz if you're interested or have questions: larzola@dpsk12.net.

Safety is a top priority here at Cheltenham! To ensure student safety, we need to identify every person that enters our building. Please keep the following visitor protocols in mind:

• Visitors must ring the doorbell. We cannot let anyone in until they share their identity and reason for visiting over the intercom. You must ring the bell to activate the intercom.

• Visitors must bring their physical IDs when visiting Cheltenham. We check every visitor’s identification.

• Visitors must not hold Cheltenham’s door open for anyone. We need to identify visitors before they enter the building, and we cannot do that if folks are being let in by other visitors. We understand that holding the door is common courtesy, but the safety of our students comes first.

• We will not answer the door during a lockdown or secure perimeter, whether it’s a drill or an actual emergency.

Thank you for following these protocols so we can keep our superheroes safe!

All students, regardless of immigration status, have a constitutionally protected right to access free public education. Public K-12 schools must teach all students free of charge, regardless of their immigration status or their parents’ status.

This family toolkit is a comprehensive guide designed to assist families in creating personalized action plans in case of deportation or prolonged absence. It provides practical tools and advice on organizing critical documents, managing legal and financial matters, and developing communication strategies. This resource empowers families to navigate challenging circumstances with greater confidence and readiness.

Hagan clic aquí para leer este mensaje en español.

We especially want to highlight the importance of updating emergency contacts in case parents/guardians become unavailable for any reason. Families can update students’ emergency contact information as needed throughout the school year and provide alternative contacts if no parent or guardian is available. Follow this step-by-step guide (also available in Spanish) to add, remove, or modify emergency contact updates for your child in Infinite Campus.