Principal Newsletter 10.16.2026
Dear Carnation Families,
We’re about halfway through our first trimester, and it’s wonderful to see students making progress in their learning. These early months bring many important steps forward, and we’re proud of the effort students bring to school each day. Conferences are coming up in November and will be a great opportunity to celebrate students’ learning and growth together. Thank you to our staff and families for the support and encouragement you provide.
Next week, we have two fun opportunities to come together as a school community: the PTSA Tiger Walk on Thursday and PTSA Family Movie Night on Friday. Students voted for The Nightmare Before Christmas as the movie. We’re grateful to our PTSA for organizing these events and hope to see lots of students and families there!
Have a wonderful weekend,
Steve Lesco
Principal, Carnation Elementary
lescos@rsd407.org | 425-844-4553
Important Dates |
Friday, October 16 – PTSA General Membership Meeting
Thursday, October 22 – Tiger Walk
Friday, October 23 - PTSA Tiger Watch and PTSA Fall Movie Night
Tuesday, October 27 – Cookie Dough Fundraiser ends
Friday, October 30 – Halloween observed
Friday, November 6 – PTSA Reflections Submissions Due
Tuesday, November 10 – Veterans Day Assembly
Wednesday, November 11 – No School in Observance of Veterans Day
Friday, November 13 – Carnation Learning Walk
Professional Learning and School Improvement Efforts |
While students were home on Friday, October 9, Carnation teachers joined elementary colleagues from across Riverview for professional learning connected to our school improvement priorities. Teams worked to identify essential standards and build shared expectations for what students should know and be able to do at each grade level. This work strengthens our PLC process and lays the foundation for planning the interventions and extensions students need to close learning gaps and continue growing.
Clarifying Our Current Fundraisers |
Two fundraisers are happening at the same time, and I want to clarify what each supports and why they are occurring concurrently.
The PTSA Tiger Walk brings our school community together around school spirit, physical activity, and community involvement. It is PTSA’s largest fundraiser of the year. All proceeds go directly to the PTSA and help fund programs and enrichment opportunities throughout the year for Carnation students, staff, and families, including assemblies, field trips, teacher grants, and evening family events.
The school-sponsored Cookie Dough Fundraiser raises money for fifth-grade Outdoor Education. It helps reduce the cost of camp for families and makes the experience more accessible to students. Funds raised by each grade stay with that group; current third- and fourth-grade students are beginning to build funds for their own future fifth-grade experience.
We recognize that running the fundraisers concurrently may have made it feel as though families had to choose between them. The PTSA Tiger Walk has been a longstanding fall fundraiser, so I want to clarify why we added the Cookie Dough Fundraiser this school year. Even with generous donations from our CE PTSA and the Riverview Education Foundation, the size of this year’s fifth-grade class and the funds available left a significant cost that would otherwise have been passed on to families. We added the cookie dough fundraiser to help reduce that cost. The timing was also shaped by a deadline: all fundraising for this year’s camp had to be completed by the end of October so families could learn the remaining cost well in advance and plan for payment. We hoped the two fundraisers would feel distinct because they support different needs, but we understand that holding them at the same time was not ideal, and I apologize for that decision. We intend for this to be our only school-based fundraiser of this kind, and in the future we will plan school and PTSA fundraisers so they do not run concurrently.
Thank you for supporting either or both efforts. Your generosity has a direct impact on our students and the opportunities available to them.
PTSA Tiger Walk – Thursday, October 22 |
We are excited to invite all families to our annual PTSA Tiger Walk. This event will take place on Thursday, October 22. This is the PTSA’s biggest fundraiser of the year, and the goal is to raise $20,000 to directly benefit our classrooms, teachers, and students.
The schedule for the day is:
ISET: 1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. (in the gym)
Grades K–2: 2:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m.
Grades 3–5: 3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
All families are welcome to attend and join in the fun! Donations to support the Tiger Walk are due by the day of the event.
To donate, please click here: Tiger Walk Donation
To learn more about becoming a corporate sponsor, click here: Tiger Walk Corporate Sponsor
Tiger Walk Incentives |
$15,000 All School Recess Reward and Prank: Friday, October 23 @ 1:15-2:00
Bubbles, chalk, music, popsicles and inflatables for Mr. Lesco and Mr. Del Rosso.
$20,000 Stretch Goal - All School Reward and bigger Prank
PTSA will have an evening performance and there will be an even bigger prank on Mr. Lesco and Mr. Del Rosso. If we hit the stretch goal, there will be a student assembly where Mr. Del Rosso gets his bald head covered with temporary tattoos and Mr. Lesco gets his head shaved.
i-Ready Inform Results
Updated instructions for obtaining your child’s i-Ready Inform results are now available. Please click on the link below and follow the outlined steps. The links have been updated with the correct District Report Code, GGWNXW, needed for accessing family reports.
Kindergarten and 1st grade access: Family Report Access K-1st 26-27.pdf
2nd grade - 12th grade access: Family Report Access 2nd-12th 26-27.pdf
Halloween Plan
Halloween falls on a Saturday this year, but we will celebrate on Friday, 10/30. Students are allowed to wear costumes on Friday. Please follow the established guidelines below, as well as any additional guidelines shared by your child’s classroom teacher.
Be comfortable - Wear a costume that allows you to use the restroom and be comfortable in class. Dress in layers if you’re wearing a one piece.
No Face Paint or Face Coverings
No Weapons, references to weapons or disrespectful words
Leave hand-held accessories at home (wands, etc.)
Free & Reduced Meal Benefits ReminderFree & Reduced Meal benefits expired on October 14. To continue receiving meal benefits for this school year, please submit a new application as soon as possible.
Apply online at MySchoolApps.com A new application is required each school year to determine eligibility for Free & Reduced Meal benefits. Please visit this food service page for information on menu pricing, applying for meal benefits, and managing student meal accounts: https://rsd407.org/back-to-school-information#food-services |
Carnation Learning WalksWe're excited to bring back our Parent & Community Learning Walks at Carnation Elementary! These walks give families and community members an opportunity to step inside our school, see learning in action, and get a firsthand look at the great things happening at CE! The goal is to strengthen connections between our school and community, build understanding of our instructional practices, and celebrate the amazing work happening in our classrooms. These visits aren't evaluations of teachers or students, but rather an opportunity to see what a typical day of teaching and learning looks like at Carnation Elementary. Our first Learning Walk will take place Friday, November 13, 2026, from 10:00–11:30 AM. Interested in joining us? Click here to sign up! You can also scan the QR code below to register. We hope to see you there! |
Veterans Day Assembly – Save the Date |
Our Tigers will be producing a celebration to honor Veterans Day on Tuesday, November 10 @ 2:00 pm.
There will be no school on Wednesday, November 11th in observance of Veterans Day.
PTSA Information
The PTSA General Members Meeting is tonight, Friday, October 16th @ 5:00 in the library. Please see the important updates from our PTSA and remember to visit their website: https://carnationptsa.org/
PTSA Tiger Watch |
Hello Tiger Family! We are excited to launch our second year of Carnation Elementary's Tiger Watch, a PTSA volunteer program, which draws inspiration from the national Watch D.O.G.S. initiative to cultivate a more positive school climate. Our program actively seeks a diverse range of volunteers, particularly encouraging male role models such as dads, uncles, grandpas, and other father figures. We warmly welcome parents, family, and community members from all backgrounds to contribute as positive influences, helping to create a safe and supportive learning environment for every student. Please consider volunteering!!!
Radiant Readers
After one and a half months of school, over 60 kids have read 5 Radiant Reader books, returned their reward slips and received their backpack axolotl prize! Many of those readers have also read over 10 books and received their Italian soda gift certificates for Kelsey’s Koffee! Congratulations to the handful of students who have already hit the goal of 15 books and are continuing to check more books off their lists! Way to go Rad Readers, keep reading!
Please send photos of your readers enjoying their Italian sodas, clipping axolotls to backpacks or reading Radiant Readers books to: carnationyearbook@outlook.com
Suicide Prevention Training |
The Cedarcrest Forefront Team invites Riverview School District parents and caregivers to attend a free suicide prevention training on Tuesday, November 17, 2026 from 6:30pm - 8pm at the Cedarcrest High School Library. Come learn a five-step process to help you talk with someone you're worried about, learn if they are considering suicide, and take early steps to keep them safe. This training is designed for parents and caregivers of students in grades 9 through 12, but the steps can be adapted and used with youth of any age, particularly middle school and up. Anyone working with youth is encouraged to attend. More on this program is at forefrontintheschools.org. Register by November 13 at https://bit.ly/CHSForefrontNovember2026
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