Happy New Year and welcome back! We hope you had a wonderful holiday break and are ready to start the new year with renewed energy and excitement. As we kick off 2026, we are looking forward to all the wonderful learning, growth, and fun that will take place in the coming months.

Beginning January 6, Dalton Public Schools will implement the statewide Distraction-Free Education Act, which means students in grades K–8 will not be permitted to use personal cell phones, smart watches, or other personal electronic devices during the school day. This important change helps us create classrooms that are more focused, engaging, and supportive for every learner.

Because we do not have a way to store personal devices at school, we kindly ask that all devices remain at home or in the student’s book bag during the school day.

If you need to reach your child, our team is always here to help! Families can contact the school through:
• 📞 The front office
• 💬 The Dalton Public Schools app
• ✉️ Teacher or nurse phone calls or emails

Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a safe, organized, and distraction-free learning environment for all students. We truly appreciate your support as we work together to help every child thrive!

Food City is giving away $800,000 to schools for classrooms, equipment, and supplies. Every time you shop with your linked ValuCard, our school earns points — and the more points we collect, the bigger share of the cash we receive!

👉 Linking is quick and easy: just log into your Food City account at https://www.foodcity.com/schoolbucks, choose City Park  as your school, and you’re set for the year.

Don’t have an online account? No worries — check out the helpful video at the link above! 

Let’s make every grocery trip count for our students!

To help keep our campus safe and traffic moving smoothly, City Park School will begin using updated parking and traffic flow procedures beginning Tuesday, January 6. We appreciate your cooperation as we work together to make arrival and dismissal safer for everyone.

Important updates for families:

-Parents may enter and exit City Park School using School Street or North Thornton Avenue

-Vehicles exiting onto North Thornton Avenue must turn right

-City Park families may not use the Cyber Academy parking lot or drop-off area

-Parents visiting campus should park only in designated City Park parking spaces

-Car rider lanes and drop-off areas are fire lanes and must remain clear Parents may not park in these areas.

-Morning drop-off should be completed through the car rider line; please do not park and walk students inside

-Overflow parking is available behind City Park School on Jones Street or at the public parking deck located at 206 W. King Street.

Learn more here: https://www.daltonpublicschools.com/.../page/parking-update

Thank you for your continued support and for helping us keep City Park School a safe, welcoming place for all students. We hope you have a wonderful winter break and look forward to welcoming everyone back in January!

The Georgia School Climate Surveys will open for Dalton Public Schools students, teachers, staff, and families on December 8, 2025, and runs through February 13, 2026. These confidential surveys give every stakeholder a voice in shaping school climate, safety, and culture. The results directly support School Improvement Plans, advance our district goals, and impact each school’s Climate Star Rating.  City Park students in grades 3-5 will take the survey during the week of January 26-30 with their homeroom teachers. 

Why the Surveys Matter:

Provides actionable data to improve learning and working conditions 

Highlights strengths and areas for growth 

Participation is reflected in each school’s Climate Star Rating

Your feedback guides district and school-level decisions 

Although participation is voluntary, the Georgia Department of Education specifies that to be recognized as achieving a high rating, schools must have at least 15 family surveys and 71% or higher participation on the student, staff, and teacher surveys. Thank you for helping ensure every voice in Dalton Public Schools is heard. If you have any questions, please reach out to the City Park administration.

This month at City Park Elementary, we are focusing on our Pawsitive Panther Trait of the Month: Perseverance! Perseverance means not giving up when things get hard, trying again after a mistake, and continuing to do your best even when a task is challenging. Our Panthers are learning that effort and determination help them grow as learners and leaders. We encourage families to talk with students at home about times they’ve shown perseverance and to celebrate those moments of hard work and resilience!

During the month of January, students in grades 4 and 5 will be changing their computer passwords at school. This practice is part of our ongoing efforts to support good digital citizenship and help students learn how to protect their personal information online. Teachers will guide students through the process and review the importance of creating strong, secure passwords. We encourage families to continue these conversations at home by discussing online safety, responsible technology use, and the importance of keeping passwords private. Thank you for partnering with us to help our students build safe and responsible digital habits.

You may notice your child bringing home poems, jokes, or playful language from school! Poetry and humor are important parts of learning because they help students understand figurative language—such as similes, metaphors, rhyme, and wordplay. Exploring poems and jokes builds vocabulary, strengthens reading comprehension, and encourages creative thinking. Most importantly, it helps students see that language can be meaningful and fun. We encourage families to enjoy poems and jokes together at home and talk about what the words really mean beyond their literal definitions.  Here's a winter "PAWm" and jokes to get you started:

A Winter School Day
Snowy sidewalks, hats in place,
Bookbags hanging, a cheerful pace.
Classrooms warm with learning bright,
Counting numbers, words that rhyme just right.
Winter whispers outside our door —
Inside we learn and grow much more! 🐾

Why did the cat sit by the heater in January?
Because it wanted to stay purr-fectly warm all winter! 🐾❄️

As winter weather settles in, please remember to dress your child in layers and ensure they have appropriate clothing for outdoor recess (e.g., jackets, hats, gloves, etc).

It is a great idea to write your child’s name on all items!

January 6--Students return to school

January 9--Report Cards go home 

January 15--Grade 3 Creative Discovery Museum Assembly; Grades 4 and 5 change computer passwords

January 16--5th Grade Fire Safety Lesson 

January 19--Student and Staff Holiday in honor of MLK Day

January 20--100th Day of School 

January 22--Student Artwork in Dalton Citizen Newspaper

January 26-30--Grades 3-5 Georgia School Climate Survey

(subject to change or update--be sure to check out our Facebook Page and Rooms Messages for updates, changes, and additions)