CELEBRATING SCHOOL COUNSELORS — Team Duval is proud to recognize National School Counseling Week and the incredible impact our more than 240 school counselors make every single day. They advocate for students, help them navigate their academic journeys, and guide them toward their goals. Our success as an A-rated district with a 97.6% graduation rate would not be possible without these dedicated professionals. As part of this special week, dozens of counselors gathered at the Schultz Center for their annual conference, focused on building student “superpowers” like grit and resilience – perfectly aligned with the national theme of helping students thrive and preparing them for college, career, and life. Their commitment to growing their own “superpowers” directly fuels student success across Team Duval. Join us in thanking our outstanding school counselors for the lasting difference they make in our schools and community!
Just a reminder about our two events tonight! Stop by Flame Broiler in the Oakleaf Town Center to support our TOTS (Teachers of Tomorrow) group and then join us for Books & Bingo grades 3-5 AND the Book Fair Night!
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Hello Chimney lakes Families & Care Givers:
I hope you all have enjoyed he long weekend. We have a lot going on this week at Chimney Lakes and hope you'll be a part of it!
This month, we have been highlighting Black History Month activities in classrooms, on the morning news and now we want to have our own Spirit Week! Check out the attached flyer for more information.
*Books & Bingo For VPK-2nd Grade will take place tomorrow (Tuesday) night at 6 pm. New Worlds Reading will be providing a Nacho Bar for families for attending. In addition, we will play our Books and Bingo rounds after the presentation. Check out the flyer attached to register today!
*Books & Bingo for 3rd-5th Grades will be on Thursday at 6 pm. This will be our regular Books & Bingo with giveaways and Mardi Gras King Cake! Finally, you can also visit the Book Fair for our Parent Night.
*Growth Parade starts Friday at 9 am. Students will need to bring their growth posters (unless they are making them in the class) on Friday. Parents are able to be spectators in the front hallways as students make their way around the building. Let's celebrate them together!
*Mid Year Stakeholder's Meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 24th @ 4:30 pm. This is our mid year "State of the School" meeting which is open to all stakeholders.
Finally, don't forget about our mid year parent conferences. This week, we have our 2nd and 5th grade families with conference time. We will conclude them next week with 3rd grade. Make sure you have signed up today!
Hope you all have a great week! Can't wait to celebrate our students on Friday!
Sincerely,
Marianne G. Lee
Principal
Hope you are all off to a great week. We have a lot going on in the month of February. This Friday, students will have the opportunity to exchange Valentines to their classmates. However, no student deliveries of flowers, balloons, treats, etc... Keep those special surprises for when they get home. It's very cumbersome for students to manage and difficult for the front office to manage as well.
Please check your email for our calendar of events. Here are a few things coming up:
*Spring Photos will take place on this Tuesday, February 10th. Only students with a pre-paid order, either online or the paper photo form, will get their photo taken. Make sure you have signed up by going to www.leonards.com/order. Our school code is C701593.
*Mid Year Data Conferences are going on now throughout the month of February. 4th and 1st grades will have meeting times this week. Please check your teacher's Rooms pages for the link to sign up or call the front office @ 904-573-1100.
*Mid Year Growth Parade is coming up next Friday! I've attached a flyer for their sign students will need to make. You may already have their data, but if not, please reach out to your child's teacher. The parade will start at 9 am. Spectators for the parade only will be able to wait in the front hallway. Students love to be celebrated. Last year's parade was AMAZING! We had to double up our line that wrapped around the inside of the building. I hope to do that again!
*Books & Bingo Night has been split into two nights. One for VPK-2 and one for 3-5. VPK-2's Books & Bingo will be sponsored by New Worlds Reading. They will provide a lig ht dinner, but have to have an exact count. Please use the QR code on the flyer attached to make your reservation.
3rd-5th Grade Books & Bingo will be on Thursday, February 19th @ 6 pm. This is also our late night for the Spring Book Fair. It will be open before and after Books & Bingo. You don't want to miss it!
Finally, our last sports spectacular sessions that will start after Spring Break are open for registration. The flyer is attached with information. Early bird savings is available for those who register early.
Hope you all have a great week. Thank you for being a part of the Chimney Lakes family.
Sincerely,
Marianne G. Lee
Principal
Good Day Chimney Lakes Families & Care Givers:
Hope you all are bundling up and staying warm during these cold days we are experiencing. We have a lot of great activities coming up in February. We hope you are a part of them.
*Spring Photos will be on Tuesday, February 10th. Only students who have pre-paid will have their photo taken on this day. Make sure you have pre-paid for your photo before 7 am on photo day. You can also send in the paper form, which has already been sent home.
*Kids Heart Challenge: This year, we have an important goal: 100% of our families learning the lifesaving skill of Hands-Only CPR! It only takes a few minutes to learn, and it can make all the difference in an emergency. Sign up here or download the free “AHA Schools” app for iPhone or Android. Raise funds to help kids with special hearts.
Complete Finn’s Mission: Complete all 7 steps, learn Hands-Only CPR, and be entered to win two Super Bowl tickets!
*Spring Book Fair starts next week and goes all the week until February 19th. Start now to set up your E-Wallet for your student(s). Just click here to set it up today! Our Parent Night at the Fair will be on Thursday, February 19th.
*K-2 Books and Bingo & New Worlds Reading. This year, New Worlds Reading is joining our K-2 Books and Bingo event on Tuesday, February 17th at 6 pm. Everyone who registers will get a yummy dinner. All you have to do is open the photo for New Worlds Reading and scan the app.
Good Day Chimney Lakes Families & Care Givers:
Hope you all are bundling up on this nice, cold day! Here are a few things happening at Chimney Lakes! It's Literacy Week. Check out our literacy activities for this week in the flyer attached.
*Mid Year Conference Days Links are being posted throughout this week. Please check your teacher's Rooms accounts to get the links.
*Spring Photos are coming up on Tuesday, February 10th. Go to www.leonards.com/order to prepay today! Paper order forms are coming home this week.
*BIZI Pay Day is this Week! Make sure you have helped your child select their BIZI selections by Tuesday evening.
*5th Grade Parents: Make sure you have signed for the Marine Science Center field trip next week. This is a wonderful opportunity offered to all 5th grade students throughout Duval County. You don't want them to miss it!
*School Counseling Week is next week! If you get the chance, please send an email or note to Ms. Durham to let her know how appreciated she is from all of us. Her email is: durhamt1@duvalschools.org.
*Spring Book Fair is coming from February 9-20. We will have our Family Night on Thursday, February 19th; Same night as our Books and Bingo for grades 3-5.
*Speaking of Books & Bingo. This year we will have 2 different sessions for Books & Bingo. The first session is geared towards our VPK-2nd grade readers that will take place on Tuesday, February 17th @ 6 pm. New Worlds Reading will be here as well. Click on this link to register!
Finally, please remember that Magnet Forms are found in the parent's FOCUS account under "forms" for your student. K-12 magnet forms are due by Friday, January 30th. (This Friday!) VPK magnet requests are due by Friday, February 27th.
Have a great week!
Sincerely,
Marianne G. Lee
Principal
Good Day Chimney Lakes Families & Care Givers:
Welcome back to another week at CLE! Here are a few things happening at Chimney Lakes in the coming weeks!
*Literacy Week starts on Monday, January 26th and goes to January 30th. We start off by celebrating the 100th Day of School and reading 100 books that day! Check out the flyer attached for how we are celebrating each day!
*Mid Year Data Conferences will take place in the month of February. This is a great opportunity to have a quick run down on your child's most recent mid year data and what action steps need to happen to be successful in school and state assessments. Please check out the flyer for your grade level dates and times. A Sign Up Genius will be sent out next week for you to sign up.
*Growth Parade: Our students have been learning a lot! We want to celebrate the growth they have made by a parade with their accomplishments. I've attached a flyer for the parade and some photos of examples for you. We ask you help your child create their own poster.
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Welcome back to a full week of school! I know we just came back from the Winter Break, but please remember that next Monday, January 19th is a federal holiday (Martin Luther King Jr Remembrance Day). All schools are closed on this date. We will return on Tuesday, January 20th. Attached to this message is our January newsletter!
Here are few things happening at Chimney Lakes:
*Magnet Tours: Our last 2 magnet tours will be tomorrow (Tuesday, January 13th @ 10:00 am) and Thursday, January 15th @ 4:30 pm. Please make sure you have submitted your form to magnetize your student. This helps as students go on to middle school to have magnet preference in elementary school. The deadline to submit your K-5 magnet application is Friday, January 30th. For VPK candidates, the window is different. The application stays open until February 28, 2026. Remember, our incoming parents must have a FOCUS account assigned to their child to apply. If you need assistance, please let us know.
*Class/Group Picture Day is this Wednesday! Make sure you have signed up to receive a class photo. I've attached some helpful photo shots to help you pay online. The order forms were sent home last week.
*School Advisory Council will be meeting next Tuesday, January 20th @ 4:30 pm. We hope you will take time to join us for our monthly meeting.
*Lost and Found: We have a TON of jackets, sweaters, and other clothing item that have not been claimed by students. They are taking up a lot of space in our Cheetah Chat. Please ask your student to see if they have a piece of clothing that you may be missing. All clothing not claimed by Friday, January 16th will be donated to Goodwill. We know that students need their jackets, so ask them to check!
*Mid Year Parent Conferences are coming soon! Please be on the lookout for information to sign up!
*Time to Level Up! Join the Title I Parent Expo. (see flyer)
Finally, after school tutoring has begun. For those that received their tutoring form, please send it back one way or the other. If you cannot arrange to have your child stay for after school tutoring, please let us know so we can provide that spot to another student.
Bundle Up! It's going to be chilly all week!
Sincerely,
Marianne G. Lee
Principal
We hope you all had a wonderful Winter Break! We are looking forward to seeing our students on Wednesday, January 7th. Here are a few things happening at Chimney Lakes in the coming days:
*After School Athletic Clubs are back! Please go to otathletics.com/jax to sign up. These classes fill up FAST. You will want to sign up as soon as possible. The first class starts on January 20th.
*Class & Group Photos will be taken next Wednesday, January 14th. Please see the attached flyer and sample order form for the code to purchase online. Actual order forms will be coming home this week. This order form is for individual class photos and special groups like patrols, TOTs, etc...
*After School Tutoring for students in grades 3-5 will go out this week. Please return the forms by Friday, January 9th. Math tutoring will be on Mondays and Tuesdays. Reading tutoring will be on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The time for tutoring is 3:15 - 4:15 pm and snack is provided.
Come soon.....Mid Year Parent Conferences! Look for a sign up link soon1
Hope you have a great week!
Sincerely,
Marianne G. Lee
Principal
Love how many of you all are in the holiday spirit! We love seeing students dressing up and having fun with our teachers during this holiday season. Here are a few things happening this week along with our reminders:
*Spelling Bee for 4th/5th graders will take place on Wednesday, December 17th. Good luck to all of our students participating!
*We are ready to GLOW this Thursday (K-2) and Friday (3-5) for our students making gains and proficiencies on their mid year assessments. Remember, students had to be here for the original administration date to qualify. Can't wait to celebrate with them!
*Pajama Day is this Friday! Please remember that students must still be within the dress code found in the Code of Conduct. That includes no backless shoes. Check out the photo image attached to this email.
*Magnet/VPK Lottery Registration: Magnet requests are now going on. You will find them in the parent FOCUS account under "Forms". The window for K-5 magnet is January 31, 2026. For VPK, the request for 26-27 VPK is open on January 1, 2026. The window for that lottery period ends on February 28, 2026. Our final tours will be on January 13th and January 15th. Sign up today on our Facebook account.
*Winter Holidays start on Monday, December 22nd and go through Tuesday, January 6th. Students will return on Wednesday, January 7th, 2026.
Thank you all for choosing Chimney Lakes as your school. We hope you all have a great holiday season!
Sincerely,
Marianne G. Lee
Principal
Hope you all are having a great week! I know that there are a lot of events coming soon including holiday parties, dressing up through the days, testing and much more. Here are a few things happening this month:
*Holiday Show for Kindergarten and 1st Grade Students. Our K-1 students have been notified of their participation of the Holiday Show this Thursday at 6 pm. Students will need to be in Ms. T's Music Room by 5:30 pm. The show will begin at 6 pm. A separate email will be coming with more information.
*Magnet Tours are going on now Our next one is planned for Thursday, December 11th @ 4:30 pm. There will be two more in January. Remember, the magnet school window closes on January 30, 2026 for K-5, February 28th for VPK. Sign up today on our Facebook page.
*Field Trip Reminders: Please remember that field trips must be paid for on School Cash Online. This is a relatively new district requirement. Also, in addition, to attend the field trip, a parent must have their Level 2 clearance. If you have applied and haven't heard back, please let me or your child's teacher know. I can follow up with the district for you. We hope our children enjoy their field trips this week (Kindergarten, 2nd and 3rd grade).
*Glow Parties will be held next week for those who increased their score and/or met proficiency for FAST PM2. They will be held next Thursday and Friday afternoons.
Finally, we will celebrate our students who have met their academic goals next Friday for their dog tags!
Hope you all have a great week!
Sincerely,
Marianne G. Lee
Principal
Please see the message below from Ms. Thigpen (music teacher) for the upcoming performance:
I am so excited to announce our Holiday show coming up on December 11th at 6pm! Here is a few things about the show!
I will have kindergarten be on the stage and first grade will on the bleachers!
The dress code for the students is to wear either jeans or black slacks, with a red, green or white shirt!
The songs that each of the grade levels will be performing is as follows:
Kindergarten:
Swirling in the wind by Stephenie Levell
Jingle Bells
Reindeer Polka
First Grade:
Hot Chocolate
Christmas ABC’s
Nutcracker’s Trepak with Scarves
At the end, I will have a sing-along with Jingle Bells rock, I will encourage families to sing along with their students!
To be able to gauge how many students will attend the after-school performance, please complete the form: https://forms.office.com/r/Mnf9mZHZxG
Please do so by Wednesday afternoon!
Thank you!
Hello Chimney Lakes Families & Care Givers:
I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break. December kicks off with our state mid year testing. Although we're testing, we still want to have a little fun over this next month. I've attached both of these for you.
Many of you have asked about the OT Athletics (after athletic club). This week finishes our first rotation of activities. Please look for information coming soon for sign ups for the Winter!
We are encouraging our students to do their best on the next FAST progress monitoring. We have put together a motivational party for them. Students who meet their goal of the next bucket and/or proficiency level will be able to go to the Glow Party. I've attached the flyer we are sharing with students during the morning announcements. Please encourage your students to do their best, get good rest and eat breakfast.
Hope you all have a great week!
Best,
Marianne G. Lee
Principal
As a Title 1 school, we offer many different resources for our parents, guardians, and families. One way to find out about all the great things our Title 1 department does, is to check out our Parent & Family Engagement Plan. It is located at our school or can be found on our school website. https://dcps.duvalschools.org/o/cles/page/title-i
Hope you're off to a great start to the week. Just a quick update to let you know about the rest of the events in November.
*School Advisory Council will meet this Tuesday @ 4:30 pm in the Chimney Lakes Media Center. Please join us to discuss upcoming events and learn about our School Improvement Plan.
*Family Math Night is THIS Thursday starting at 6 pm. Come join us for some updated activities to do with your child at home. You can also make a "home manipulative kit" for your child! Check out the flyer attached.
Finally, we are looking for a cafeteria monitor. If you are interested in helping out in the cafeteria monitoring students, please reach out.
We hope you all have a great Thanksgiving Break. Remember, students are in school on Monday, November 24th and Tuesday, November 25th. We are all off from November 26-28.
Sincerely,
Marianne G Lee
Principal
Hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating all of the Halloween festivities this weekend. We have a great week planned for our students at Chimney Lakes. Here are a few things happening that you need to know about:
*The front drive loop will be closed daily starting at 2:15 pm until 3:15 pm. We will start this new procedure on Wednesday, November 5th. This is a step to ensure the safety of our students, families and visitors to the school . In addition, this is a fire lane and no cars are supposed to park on the curb (per fire code).
*Veteran's Day Flag Raising & Cheetah Chat will be this Friday, November 7th. We will begin by honoring our veterans at our Flag Raising at 8:45 am. Please see the flyer with the QR code to register your veteran, if you are coming to the Flag Raising.
*Our annual CLE Food Drive is going on now! Please bring your canned goods for your class donation basket. We are working in conjunction with our faith-based partner, The Church at Argyle, to help families in need at Thanksgiving. Please help us today!
*The School Enrollment Expo is coming on Saturday, November 15th from 11-3 pm at the Prime Osborn Convention Center. Come see us and all of the DCPS booths. This event opens the School Choice window. We will have school tours in the month of November, December and January. If you know of a family who might be interested in sending their children to Chimney Lakes, have them come visit us at the Expo or call the school to register for a tour. You can also go to our Facebook page to sign up as well.
*Family Math Night will be on Thursday, November 20th from 6-7:30 pm. So, look for your flyer to come home to register today!
Hope you all have a great week! Enjoy the long weekend coming up as we do not have school on Monday, November 10th for a Weather Day and Tuesday, November 11th for Veteran's Day. We'll see our students back on Wednesday, November 12th.
Sincerely,
Marianne G. Lee
Principal
Chimney Lakes Elementary School
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We're off to a very busy week at Chimney Lakes! Today, we kicked off with two grade level field trips. We hope the students had a great time and did learning a bit different today! Here's what is happening the remainder of the week:
*Red Ribbon Week: This week is we celebrate our students by instilling the belief that they can "Be All You Can Be", like the old Army ad campaign! Here are our dress up days:
*Tuesday: CLE Code Red: Wear Red!
*Wednesday: WILD and Drug Free! (wear animal prints)
*Thursday: Be TEAM Drug Free! (wear sports gear)
*Friday: Book Character Parade (wear your costume for your favorite book character)
*Kindness Kar-Nival: is THIS Thursday! Come join us from 5-7 pm with our trunks and get a few treats! We have a Trackless Train, Hot Dog/Pizza Dinner (to support Safety Patrols), and much more! A BIG Thank You to the families that have already donated candies to the collection!
*Book Character Vocabulary Parade: Don't forget that FRIDAY is our Book Character Parade at 9 am. Parents can be spectators, but you will have to show your ID in the front office. Parents will stand in the viewing hallway in the front hallway by the Guidance Office and the Media Center. It's a fun event for all!
Finally, next week is our Veteran's Day Flag Raising Ceremony! If one of our students is the child/grandchild of a veteran, we would love to honor your service. In addition, students will be out the following Monday (11/10) and Tuesday (11/11) for a weather day and Veteran's Day. Hope you can join us! Please let me know if you're coming by reaching out to Ms. Harris.
Hope you have a great week and it's nothing but treats for you all!
Sincerely,
Marianne G. Lee
Principal
Chimney Lakes Elementary School
