Dear Parents,
Our weeks are filling now with more and more
wonderful events for students! Colorado Ballet called last week and
had had a cancellation of a school and wondered if we'd like to bring
students at no cost to see the ballet of Don Quixiote. So, we were
able to get buses and the entire middle school is going on Oct. 15.
There will be a Family Reading Night for K-2nd grade on Oct. 20 from
5:30 - 7 p.m. - a time for parents to learn more about reading to
children and a special time for children to hear stories and to get a
free book to keep! We'll have a BOOK FAIR on Oct. 26 and 27 during
parent conferences before and after school... help us build a fund to add
new books to our library collections! Almost the entire school is
going to see another ballet at Teikyo Loretto Heights on Nov. 6. Don't
forget to put our Kunsmiller First Friday Art Event on your calendars
for Nov. 6, 4-7. On Nov. 17 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. the entire school will
have a delightful opera night, "How the West Was Sung," with Central
City Opera. Whew...lots of fun ahead!
We have added a Student
Advisor to our staff, Michelle Esguerra, who came to us from Kennedy
HS. She is experienced, shares our focus on guiding students rather
than simply punishing, and is a welcome addition to our school. We
will soon be adding a health technician, Arnold Swenson, so that we
have help daily with children who are ill, and a half time ELA support
teacher, Cindy Sherlock, who will be teaching middle school ELD
classes. I am currently interviewing special education teachers to add
one more to our staff. I hope you feel the growing confidence we have
that things are calming, more arts are blossoming, and we are able to
meet more special needs with expertise.
All parents who filled
out surveys at Back to School Night stating that they were interested
in being on the Collaborative School Committee were contacted, and a
group met Tuesday night to discuss our needs as a community. Six
parents attended, have varied professional backgrounds and vital life
experiences, and with a group of teachers and administration, will be
our first CSC leadership team:
Leo Alirez (chair) Margaret Mills Wayne Reed
Janet Rose Duke Layne Montoya Mary O'Neil
Our
PTO is up and running and already hard at work adding things to the
school. Note the Artists of the Month in the bulletin boards by the
office. Our next PTO meeting will be 6:30 on Oct. 26th in the
cafeteria...EVERYONE is welcome!
Oct. 16 is the first EARLY
RELEASE day of the year, and is a part of the DPS teacher contract.
Students will be released at 12:45. A regular lunch will be served
that day before the students leave. The staff will be focusing in
cross-grade level teams on designing arts infused lessons linked to
curriculum. We believe that when we weave more arts into instruction,
learning will be more significant and inappropriate behavior will
diminish. We know these days are not easy for families, and we thank
you for your understanding.
Principal Newsletter - October 8, 2009