In This Issue
District Recognized as Top 5 in State
Niche just released their 2018 Best Schools in America rankings and Cedar Falls School District was recognized as #5 best school district in the state of Iowa. The district also ranked #217 out of 10,574 school districts in the country. The district achieved the ranking by scoring highly on a variety of factors including student achievement, student-teacher ratio, graduation rates and reviews from students and parents. The Niche data team analyzed this data from thousands of schools across the country to create the rankings. Niche is the largest website for researching K-12 schools. https://about.niche.com/where-niche-grades-come-from/
#CFschoolsfirstday
What a great first day!
So many smiling faces of excited students and teachers!
It's going to be a great school year! #tigerpride
CF CAPS Growing
Aldrich Elementary Progress & Tour of Southwest CF
Longtime Cedar Falls Educator Honored by Governor
ACT Scores Highest in Area, Surpass State and National Average
Enrollment Continues to Grow
Joni the Tiger Booster Club!
School Board Election September 12

Watch the Cedar Falls School Board Candidate Forum

Information on candidates, polling locations, etc.
Get your Tiger Paw!
Kindergarten Safety City
September is Attendance Awareness Month
Please help spread the word about the importance of #schooleveryday!  Research shows that missing 10 percent of the school, or about 18 days in most school districts, negatively affects a student's academic performance. That's just two days a month and that's known as chronic absence.
  • Absenteeism in the first month of school can predict poor attendance throughout the school year. Half the students who miss 2-4 days in September go on to miss nearly a month of school.
  • An estimated 5 million to 7.5 million U.S. students miss nearly a month of school each year.
  • Absenteeism and its ill effects start early. One in 10 kindergarten and first grade students are chronically absent. Poor attendance can influence whether children read proficiently by the end of third grade or be held back.
  • By 6th grade, chronic absence becomes a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school.
  • The academic impact of missing that much school is the same whether the absences are excused or unexcused. Suspensions also add to lost time in the classroom.
  • Low-income students are four times more likely to be chronically absent than others often for reasons beyond their control, such as unstable housing, unreliable transportation and a lack of access to health care.
Grandparents! Neighbors! Family friends! Teachers! Here is something you can do today to help reduce chronic absenteeism: Let a student in your life know that you care -- you care that they get to school, that they do well, that they have the support they need. It makes all the difference!

Make Food Safety a Priority This Fall
During the busy fall season, whether you're preparing a packed lunch for your child, a weeknight dinner for the family, or a tailgate feast for the whole crew, make sure you prevent foodborne illness by following USDA's four steps to food safety: Clean, Separate, Cook and Chill.

Clean: Wash your hands and cooking surfaces before and after handling food. Wash fruits and vegetables before eating, cutting, or cooking. Make sure lunch boxes and coolers are clean before packing.

Separate: Avoid cross contamination. Don't let raw meat, poultry, or egg products come in contact with fruits, vegetables, or prepared foods. Never put cooked food on a plate or tray that held raw meat or poultry.

Cook: When cooking, use a food thermometer to make sure food reaches a safe minimum internal temperature needed to destroy harmful bacteria. Cook raw beef, pork, lamb and veal steaks, chops, roasts, and fish to a minimum internal temperature of 145°F and let them rest for three minutes before eating. When cooking raw ground beef, pork, lamb, and veal, make sure the meat reaches a minimum internal temperature of 160°F. Egg dishes should also be cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature of 160°F. All poultry should be cooked to a safe minimum internal temperature of 165°F.

Chill: When packing food, use an insulated lunchbox or cooler and at least two cold sources, such as freezer packs. Discard any perishable foods that were left at room temperature longer than two hours (one hour in temperatures above 90°F).

Lunch Packing Tips:
  • If the lunch contains perishable food items like luncheon meats, eggs, cheese, or yogurt, make sure to pack it with at least two cold sources, such as freezer packs. Harmful bacteria multiply rapidly so perishable food transported without a cold source won't stay safe long.
  • Frozen juice boxes or water can also be used as freezer packs. Freeze these items overnight and use with at least one other freezer pack. By lunchtime, the liquids should be thawed and ready to drink.
  • If packing a hot lunch, like soup, chili, or stew, use an insulated container to keep it hot. Fill the container with boiling water, let stand for a few minutes, empty, and then put in the piping hot food. Tell children to keep the insulated container closed until lunchtime to keep the food at 140°F or above.
  • If packing a child's lunch the night before, parents should leave it in the refrigerator overnight. The meal will stay cold longer because everything will be refrigerator temperature when it is placed in the lunchbox.
Eating and Disposal Tips:
  • Teach children to properly wash their hands before eating lunch. If running water isn't available, pack disposable wipes for cleaning hands before and after eating.
  • After lunch, children should discard all leftover food and used food packaging.
  • Clean lunch boxes thoroughly each night with warm soapy water or a disinfectant wipe.
Consumers can learn more about key food safety practices at  Foodsafety.gov, by following  @USDAFoodSafety on Twitter, and Facebook.com/FoodSafety.gov

Consumers with questions about food safety can call the USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-MPHotline  (1-888-674-6854) or chat live with a food safety specialist at  AskKaren.gov, available from  10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, in English or Spanish.

If you have questions about storage times for food or beverages, download USDA's FoodKeeper application for  Android and  iOS devices.
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Board Brief
W atch the August 28 Board Meeting

The next Cedar Falls Schools Board of Education meeting will be September 11, 2017,  5:30 p.m. at Cedar Falls City Hall and will be shown on Cedar Falls Channel 15.   Agendas, documents and materials for all board of education meetings can be found on the Cedar Falls Schools website . Watch previous meetings on the District's YouTube Channel Meetings will be available live at  www.cedarfalls.com/live . This format works best with Internet Explorer.

Open Positions
Calendar
Interested in knowing when events are?
http://www.cfschools.org
Cedar Falls Community School District
1002 W. First Street
Cedar Falls, IA 50613
319-553-3000