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Hello, Cardinal Forest families!
My name is Mariel Otero, and I am excited to continue serving as the Family Liaison here at Cardinal Forest Elementary School. This is my fifth year in the role, but CFES has been a part of my life for much longer—both of my children attended this wonderful school, and our community holds a very special place in my heart.
A little about me: I was born and raised in Puerto Rico and came to Washington, D.C. for college. I’ve now called this area home for over 25 years. In my role, I’m here to support our families by strengthening communication, fostering connections, and encouraging active engagement between home and school.
I am fully bilingual in English and Spanish and happy to assist anything school related. For other languages, I can help coordinate interpretation services and resources.
I look forward to partnering with all of you to ensure every student at Cardinal Forest thrives!
Check out our FAMILY TECH TOOLKIT everything families need, all in one place!
Office Hours/Horas de oficina:
Monday/Wednesday/Friday 8am - 4:30pm
Lunes/Miercoles/Viernes
Tuesday/Thursday 8am – 1pm
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Welcome back, Mighty Red Birds! We were so excited to see so many familiar AND new faces at Open House. We are looking forward to an AWESOME year celebrating the 60th Anniversary of CFES!
Our 2026-27 PTA Calendar is filled with a TON of fun, family-friendly events - Be sure to check out what’s coming up by visiting our PTBoard Site and creating a login. While you’re there, don’t forget to sign up for the PTA and join the Student Directory if you haven’t already this year!
We are a Paperless PTA, so all our information will come to you via PTBoard emailings, News You Choose and Social Media - follow that link to make sure that you are signed up to receive all of the up to the minute information!
Soar to Success (STS) Our CFES-Run Fundraiser is back for Year 2!
We’re thrilled to be back for a second year of our STS Fundraiser - we successfully raised over $30,000 for our school last year and we look forward to raising even more this year! The STS Glow Run celebration will take place during Field Day on Friday, October 9th; a cooler-temperature day to enjoy stations outside, as well as a GLOW-OUT in the gym to celebrate a great fundraiser! Mark these dates on your calendar:
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Kickoff: Back to School Night – Wednesday, September 16th
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Celebration Event: Glow Run in the gym – Friday, October 9th
Lastly, we are looking for a few social media, community-connected Champions to join us in hyping up STS! Low-commitment and high return - if this sounds like you, please fill out the STS Champions form here!
Thank You for All You Do
Your continued support—whether it’s joining the PTA, volunteering in your child’s class, helping in the library, stuffing Tuesday folders, assisting at events like Field Day, supporting our fundraiser, etc. —makes a huge difference in our school community. If you would like to volunteer, but don’t know where to get started, please fill out our Volunteer Interest Form!
Have an idea or a question for the PTA? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at: cardinalforestpta@gmail.com
Thank you again for all that you do—we’re looking forward to a fantastic school year!
—The Cardinal Forest PTA Board (Ginny Hodum, Jessica Carrillo, Sinia Mejia Larios, Jenny Polakowski, Tom Hamlyn)
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Join the PTA!! |
Hit the easy button and attend our first General PTA Meeting before Back to School Night on Wednesday, September 16th in the Cafeteria! We will be discussing and voting on our budget for the year, kicking off our Soar to Success (STS) fundraiser, and discussing many of the exciting things that we have planned for this year. Please make sure that you have joined the PTA so that you can vote at the meeting! Come with your questions and ideas - look forward to seeing everyone there! Mark your calendars for our two virtual General PTA Meetings this year - Wednesday, January 13th and Wednesday, May 12th.
We would love to have you and are happy to work with you to match you with a great volunteering opportunity! Please fill out our Volunteer Interest Form to join our Volunteer Listserve. We have a handful of ongoing PTA roles on PTBoard here, but there are many other opportunities to volunteer throughout the year. We look forward to seeing you soon! Questions? Please contact our Vice President of Volunteers, Sinia at cfesvicepresident@gmail.com.
In celebration of our school's 60th year, show your Mighty Red Bird spirit and support the CFES PTA with our retro inspired spirit wear (t-shirts, hoodies, pj pants)! Click here to order on PTBoard! Orders will close on Thursday September 17th. We will fulfill orders as they are submitted with on-hand stock -- should we run out of stock, our refresh order will be placed on September 18th with an anticipated early October completion date. Spiritwear ordered online will be delivered directly to your student's classroom!
Register today so you don't miss out! Classes starting in September and October!
Please click on the links below to register. If you have questions, please contact cfes.enrichmentcoordinator@gmail.com. A special shout-out to Annie Gant for taking on the Enrichment Coordinator role for this year, and to Libby Zrembski for her continued support in the CFES Main Office - thank you so much!
TUESDAY AM: 8-9:00 AM
Silver Knights Chess - 10/6/2026-1/12/2027 (No class - 11/3/2026, 12/22/2026, 12/29/2026)
Register for Silver Knights!
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WEDNESDAY AM: 7:45-9 AM
Run Fit Kidz - 9/23/2026-11/11/2026
Register for Run Fit Kidz!
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THURSDAY PM: 4:10-5:10PM
Acting For Young People (AFYP) "Take the Stage" (2nd-6th) - 9/24/2026-11/12/2026
Register for Acting for Young People!
Looking to help at school, but not sure that you can make it weekly for Tuesday Folders? Join us for the first Teacher Workroom on Tuesday, September 15th and monthly after that! Starting at 9:30, check in at the kiosk in the front office and meet us in the upstairs workroom! We’ll be helping teachers complete projects for their classrooms - cutting, copying, stapling, bulletin boards, and more! Come for as long as you can, and leave when you need to! Thank you for your help and support!
Upcoming Events | 