CCS strives to sustain community collaborations and seeks new opportunities

Stephanie Sumner, K-4 co-principal

This past Friday, the Charlotte Central School (CCS) Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) and my CCS co-principal, Jen Roth, and I hosted a New Family Social as an opportunity for new families to get an overview of how the school and the PTO work together to provide opportunities for the students of CCS. While many in attendance were new Charlotte residents, the group also included parents of students in younger grades looking for opportunities to get involved at CCS or to ask questions about all things CCS. This was an excellent chance for us to not only share what is great about CCS but also to hear what is important to our families and community members and find out what personal interests they have that they might contribute to our school and students. 

We here at CCS value being a central part of the Charlotte community and hope to continue to sustain current community collaborations as well as seek new opportunities to connect with the greater community. Our PTO coordinates many school events throughout the year: quarterly staff luncheons, a back-to-school fall barbecue and open house, Scholastic Book Fair, the variety show, the annual fund drive, Town Meeting bake sale, the Lake Monsters fund raiser and our Spring BBQ/Fun Run and Basket Raffle. While some of these are fundraising events, the majority of them are opportunities to bring our CCS families and community together. 

The dates for these events are listed below, and we hope that all community members will attend events of interest. Anyone interested in being involved in a specific event can connect with our PTO by email. 

This year’s events include: 

  • Staff appreciation luncheons – October 26, December 14, February 15 and May 3
  • Scholastic Book Fair – February 5-8
  • Variety show – February 8
  • Spring BBQ – June 6

Over the past few years we have also collaborated with the PTO to hold monthly question-and-answer sessions with the principals as a way to combine our PTO meetings with opportunities for families and community members to come in and ask questions, share ideas and learn more about life at CCS. 

This year’s scheduled Q & A sessions are:

  • Friday, October 26, 2018: 2 – 2:45 p.m.
  • Friday, December 7, 2018: 7:45 – 8:15 a.m.
  • Friday, January 4, 2018: 2 – 2:45 p.m.
  • Friday, March 8, 2019: 7:45 – 8:15 a.m.
  • Friday, April 5, 2019: 2 – 2:45 p.m.
  • Friday, May 3, 2019: 7:45 – 8:15 a.m.

Please join us! 

Beyond PTO endeavors, CCS has also collaborated with other community groups, including the Charlotte Senior Center, Charlotte Fire and Rescue, the Lewis Creek Association and Ahead of the Storm. Through our Be the Change (PBIS) initiative, CCS has made contributions to COTS and the Chittenden County Humane Society. 

We continue to seek and identify authentic opportunities to collaborate with our community and we invite community members to reach out to us with opportunities as they arise.

Please email Stephanie Sumner, K-4 co-principal, or Jen Roth, 5-8 co-principal,  with ideas or questions. We look forward to hearing from you.