7/26/2026

CES Pirate Family,

Welcome back to school!  This email contains a lot of important information that will help you navigate the first few days of school.  We look forward to meeting our CES Pirates on Monday at our Back to School Night!

Back to School Night- Monday, July 27th

Elementary Back to School Night will take place on Monday, July 27th from 3:30 – 7:00.  There will be a shuttle running from the CHS parking lot to our CES campus from 4:00 – 7:00 to help with overflow parking.  The event is an Open House Format. We encourage students to meet their teacher and bring in their school supplies.  CES Supply Lists 

First Day of School – Thursday, July 30, 2025

Student Lanyards

Students will be given a lanyard during Back To School Night that will have important dismissal information that is extremely helpful to CES staff and bus drivers to be able to get to know your student and their afternoon dismissal procedure. Students will wear these lanyards to school for the first seven days of school.

 Lanyards will be filled out at Back To School Night. If you are not able to attend, please contact your child’s teacher with their dismissal procedure. 

Kindergarten Classroom Placements

Kindergarten Teachers will reach out to families by 1:00 tomorrow via e-mail to let them know their child’s classroom placement.  Thank you for your patience as we work to assign all students to a Kindergarten class.  On the first day ONLY we allow our kindergarten families to drop off their child an hour later without being counted as tardy. This allows for a calmer entry for your child on their first day.  You will follow the car rider line procedure, but will arrive at CES between 9:40 and 9:55 on the first day of school.  

Arrival and Dismissal 

Bus Rider Information

Previously enrolled students that ride the bus will be rolled over for the school year and families DO NOT need to complete a new transportation form.  If your child is new to the district, please complete a Transportation Request Form if your child will be a bus rider.  Formulario de solicitud de transporte 

• Students opting to ride the bus can only have ONE pick-up location and ONE drop-off location. They are not allowed to rotate between different stops, unless on a one week on/off plan due to living arrangements.
•  NO TEMPORARY BUS PASSES ARE ALLOWED. If a need arises for a child to get dropped off/picked up at any place other than their assigned stop, the parent/guardian needs to make those arrangements.
• Please have your child at the assigned bus stop 5 minutes prior to the scheduled time in the mornings. If a bus is at the stop at the correct time (10 min. window) and the child misses the bus, we will not instruct the bus driver to go back and pick up your child.
•  If your child is in preschool or utilizes special education transportation, we require that a responsible greeter be present at the bus stop and you will need to contact your school to set up transportation.
• To request transportation, please click the link below.

For more information about Transportation, please visit our GCCS website.  

Car Rider Information 

Car Rider Tag Important Information

Due to the large number of car riders each day, numbers are assigned and tags are distributed to eliminate the need to check each driver’s ID for student pick up. Car rider tags are highly recommended if a student is going to be a car rider regularly, but if a student is not scheduled to be a car rider often, parents can call the main office before 2:30 PM to be assigned a temporary car rider pass for the day. Please do not send in notes with your child or email your child’s teacher with this information. All transportation changes need to be made through the main office. Anyone without a car rider tag or a temporary car rider pass will not be allowed to pick up a child and will have to come to the main office so office staff can check ID and ensure our students are being dismissed safely. Car rider tags are not needed to drop off a child for school in the AM.

• If you requested/completed the Car Rider Google Form Prior to Thursday, July 23rd- A car rider tag will be distributed to you in your child’s classroom during Back to School Night to reduce the amount of wait time for parents. 
  • One student: Pick up the tag in your student’s classroom.
  • Family tag: Pick up the tag in your youngest student’s classroom.

• Extra Tags: once you receive your car tag number you can purchase multiple tags for $1.00 a piece (cash only) 

• If you did not complete the form or if your tag is not in your child’s classroom- Please visit the car rider table(s) located in the gymnasium during Back to School Night.  

Car Rider Drop off and Pick Up Traffic Patterns 

• Busses and Green Pass only will enter the side of the building off of Halcyon. 
• Car riders will use the Clark Road entry by the library to enter our car rider line.  Please refer to the map.
  • As cars enter into the parking lot, please be advised that you will make the second left turn and follow the arrows through our parking lot.  We plan to double stack the cars. The red and blue areas represent Zone A and Zone B loading areas that will help us get kids to the area quickly during dismissal.  

Arrival and Dismissal Tips

• If your child is going to be a bus rider in the afternoon on the first day of school, then we highly encourage them to ride the bus to school on the first day as well.  This allows the bus driver to meet your child and helps your child to be able to recognize their driver.
• Doors open for students at 8:40 am and dismissal begins at 3:30 pm.  For the first few days of school, we will begin earlier to help alleviate traffic as we learn new systems. 
• Please be patient with us as we work to load and unload students as safely and efficiently as possible. Having your child on the right side of your vehicle is recommended. Please stay in your car when it is your turn to load or unload your child, as staff will be able to assist. This will greatly speed up the line and decrease wait time for everyone.
• If needed, a safe buckling station is located to the right past our loading area.

Youth Link Before and After School Care

• Arrival- Please enter the parking lot through Halcyon Road.  Students will enter through gymnasium doors and walk into the cafeteria.
• Dismissal- Parents will pick up no earlier than 4:00 pm from the Art Room door located next to the front office. 

Athletics- Final Forms

Any student wishing to participate in an athletic extracurricular activity, will be required to complete Final Forms and pay the $5 fee.  A physical is not needed for elementary sports.  It is often more convenient for families to go ahead and complete this at the beginning of the school year. https://greaterclark-in.finalforms.com/

School Lunch 

Please visit the GCCS Food Services website throughout the school year for up to date information about Menus and Pricing. We encourage families to apply for Free/Reduced Lunch. 

Breakfast: $2.00      Lunch $3.10    

Powerschool 

It is extremely important to utilize Powerschool to keep up to date on your child’s academic progress and attendance.  If you do not have access to Powerschool, please email your teacher so they can get you the Parent Login Information Paper.  Powerschool helps parents stay informed!

CES Student Handbook 

Please read the student handbook carefully. Attendance, Birthday Recognition Guidelines, Immunizations, Transportation, and Dress Code Information are just a few examples of the topics in the handbook.

Your Principals, 

Sara Porter, Principal  (PreK – Grade 2) sporter@gccschools.com 

Jamie Spear, Assistant Principal (PreK – Grade 2) jspear@gccschools.com 

Aimee Doherty, Principal (Grades 3-5) aidoherty@gccschools.com

Jillian Richardson, Assistant Principal (Grades 3-5) jrichardson@gccschools.com

Charlestown Elementary School Student Handbook 25-26

Student Rights and Responsibilities