Principal's Message

Welcome to Carylwood Intermediate School!

Dear Carylwood Families and Community,

Welcome to the 2026–2027 school year! Whether you are returning to Carylwood or joining our Bearcat family for the first time, we are excited to welcome you to another year of learning, growth, and success.

I am Jennifer Speight, and I am honored to continue serving as Principal of Carylwood Intermediate School. I am also excited to welcome Mr. Jamal Hamm, who joins our leadership team this year as our new Dean. Mr. Hamm is passionate about supporting students, partnering with families, and helping create a safe and positive school environment. Together with our dedicated teachers and staff, we are committed to ensuring every student feels welcomed, challenged, supported, and positioned for success.

Growing Our Carylwood Community

This school year, Carylwood Intermediate also becomes home to the BEAR (Brilliant Eager Achieving Resilient) Learners Program, a specialized district program providing intensive behavioral and academic support for students with unique needs.

The BEAR Learners Program operates as a separate program within our building, with dedicated classrooms, staff, schedules, routines, and an entrance designed to support the needs of its students. Our staff has worked closely with the District to create an environment where both programs can thrive while maintaining safe, structured, and supportive learning experiences for all students.

We are proud to welcome these students and staff into the Carylwood community.

Learning, Growth & Achievement

At Carylwood, we believe every child can grow and achieve at high levels. Academic success begins with the habits we build every day—consistent attendance, arriving ready to learn, giving our best effort, and developing a love of learning that extends beyond the classroom.

Literacy remains especially important to us. We encourage every Carylwood student to read or be read to for at least 20 minutes each evening. Those minutes add up, helping students strengthen vocabulary, comprehension, fluency, and the confidence needed to become lifelong readers.

We also encourage families to regularly monitor their child's academic progress through ProgressBook and maintain open communication with teachers throughout the year. Strong communication between home and school allows us to celebrate progress, identify needs early, and work together in the best interest of every student.

We ROAR at Carylwood

As proud Bearcats, our students ROAR by being:

• Respectful
• Open-minded
• Achieving
• Responsible

These expectations help us maintain classrooms and common spaces where students feel safe, respected, focused, and ready to learn.

Through our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS) program, we also recognize and celebrate students who demonstrate positive choices, strong behavior, academic effort, and what it truly means to ROAR.

Partnering for Success

A successful school year is built through a strong partnership between our school, our families, and our community. We encourage parents and guardians to stay connected, communicate regularly with teachers, monitor academic progress, support consistent attendance and nightly reading, and reinforce our ROAR expectations at home.

Thank you for entrusting us with the opportunity to educate, encourage, and support your children. We look forward to everything our students will accomplish throughout the 2026–2027 school year.

Together, let's make it a great year at Carylwood!

GO BEARCATS!

Warmly,

Jennifer Speight
Principal
Carylwood Intermediate School