LCES Panther Cub Communication #22

Week of January 29-February 1, 2024

Hello Families, 

Thank you to all of our families that joined us for our community meeting hosted by 2nd grade on Thursday to honor our students of the month for the habit of craftsmanship. Congratulations to all our students who earned this award:

We would like to invite you for our next community meeting hosted by 1st grade on February 29th to honor our students for the habit of compassion.  

DIBELS and Literacy Work:

This past week we wrapped up our middle of the year testing using DIBELS.  This helps us see the growth your student has made in literacy for this year.  Overall, while we didn’t see the composite movement that we were hoping for, we did see that most students showed growth in their literacy skills.  This data will be shared with you at our March parent teacher conferences.  

NWEA Math:

This next week in your students math block, they will take the NWEA mid-year math assessment.  This is a newer assessment for us at LCES.  For 2nd grade, thai will be your child’s second time taking it this year.  For students in 1st and kindergarten, this will be the first time they are taking it, which will help us see where your child is at with foundational math skills.  The results of this assessment will be shared with you at our March parent teacher conferences.  

Joy of Reading Literacy Night PK-6

We are starting the planning of our third annual Joy of Literacy Reading night hosted at LCES on February 29th.  We are looking for parents who would like to be a part of the planning committee for this event.  We will have a planning meeting at LCES on Thursday, February 1st from 4-6 pm.  If you are interested in joining this team, please reach out to the front office or connect Katie Pongrekun at kpongrekun@lakecountyschools.net.  Thank you for your willingness to help us plan this exciting event! 

Thank you all for sharing your kiddos with us everyday!  Please reach out at any time if you have celebrations, questions, or concerns.  

Have a great weekend, 

Katie Pongrekun

Principal, LCES

kpongrekun@lakecountyschools.net

Staff of the Week Highlight!

Each week this year in family communication, we will be highlighting a staff member in the building.  If you want, please feel free to send emails, handwritten notes, or letters of encouragement to that staff member.

Ms. Trisha and Ms. Rosa- Room #130 Preschool Teachers

Ms. Trisha grew up in Lake and Eagle county. She graduated from Battle Mountain High School in Edwards and she is currently working towards her AA. She is inspired by her 3 beautiful children, her coworkers, and the children she teaches. Her dream vacation would be to take her kids to DisneyLand or Disney World. 

Ms. Rosa graduated high school in El Salvador. She was given an honorary teaching certificate and now her passion is to have an impact on others. She’s inspired by her family and a quote she lives by is: “Don’t forget your principles and don’t forget who you are.” She enjoys shopping, eating out, and her dream vacation would be to visit Italy. 

Ms. Trisha and Ms. Rosa, thank you for all the work you do at The Center!

Send Ms. Trisha an encouraging note at trlopez@lakecountyschools.net 

Send Ms. Rosa an encouraging note at rcarlson@lakecountyschools.net 

K-2 Specifics

Special Note from Mrs. Bridge: 

LCES Music is happy to collaborate with Leadville Dance Collective this month and provide an exciting experience for our 2^nd grade students! We will be having a guest dance teacher, Val Landis, come into our music classes to workshop with our students. If you would like to come observe during this time or volunteer to help, please reach out to Mrs. Bridge at sbridge@lakecountyschools.net.

When: January 29^th, 30^th, 31^st during 2^nd grade scheduled music classes

¡LCES Music se complace en colaborar con Leadville Dance Collective este mes y brindar una experiencia emocionante para nuestros estudiantes de segundo grado! Tendremos un profesor de baile invitado, Val Landis, que vendrá a nuestras clases de música para realizar talleres con nuestros estudiantes. Si desea venir a observar durante este tiempo o ofrecerse como voluntario para ayudar, comuníquese con la Sra. Bridge al sbridge@lakecountyschools.net.

Cuándo: 29, 30 y 31 de enero durante las clases de música programadas para 2do grado

What is Leadville Dance Collective (LDC)?

• LDC is Lake County’s premiere dance school, offering dance and other movement specialities for ages 3 to adult. We aim to remove barriers – including financial, geographical and beyond – so that anyone can develop a great love of dance and other movement specialities while inspiring self-confidence, discipline, community and a passion for the performing arts. 
• Registration is currently open for LDC’s 2024 winter/spring session classes, which include creative rhythm with tap and tumbling classes for ages 3-5; ballet, jazz and tumbling classes for ages 6-8; hip-hop, tap and tumbling classes for ages 9 to 11; jazz funk for ages 12 to 17; and ZUMBA®, tap and jazz funk for ages 18+. All youth classes plus adult tap culminate in a recital performance on Saturday, May 18, 2024. Learn more at https://leadvilledance.carrd.co and register at https://dancestudio-pro.com/online/leadvilledance

¿Qué es el Colectivo de Danza de Leadville (LDC)?

• LDC es la principal escuela de danza del condado de Lake y ofrece danza y otras especialidades de movimiento para edades de 3 a adultos. Nuestro objetivo es eliminar barreras, incluidas las financieras, geográficas y de otro tipo, para que cualquiera pueda desarrollar un gran amor por la danza y otras especialidades del movimiento, al mismo tiempo que inspira confianza en sí mismo, disciplina, comunidad y pasión por las artes escénicas.

• Actualmente está abierta la inscripción para las clases de la sesión de invierno/primavera de 2024 de LDC, que incluyen clases de ritmo creativo con golpecitos y volteretas para edades de 3 a 5 años; clases de ballet, jazz y gimnasia para niños de 6 a 8 años; clases de hip-hop, tap y tumbling para edades de 9 a 11 años; jazz funk para edades de 12 a 17 años; y ZUMBA®, tap y jazz funk para mayores de 18 años. Todas las clases para jóvenes más tap para adultos culminan con un recital el sábado 18 de mayo de 2024.

• Obtenga más información en https://leadvilledance.carrd.co y regístrese en https://dancestudio-pro.com/online/leadvilledance

Preschool Specifics

Curriculum:

• Preschool Room – This week would be an extension to learning for our Preschoolers. They will have a chance to review the skills they learn about the animal domain, nursery rhymes, classic tales, and important people of the United states. Here is the list of nursery rhymes children we will review. 

Nursery Rhymes: 

• An Old Person of Ware 
• Here is the Beehive
• Five Little Ducks
• The Eensy, Weensy Spider
• Hickety, Pickety, My Black Hen 

Classic Tales: 

• The Gingerbread Man 
• The Shoemaker and the Elves

Important People 

• Martin Luther King
• Barack Obama

• 2 ½ Years Old Room – Children will start studying about clothes. Clothes come in a variety of colors, textures, materials, and patterns, which provide a wide range of observable features for children to explore. Supporting children how to zip, button, and snap their own clothing helps support independent learning and strengthen their fingers and hands. 

Letter to families about clothing study: English and Spanish 

Second Step Curriculum

• We will resume our social emotional curriculum for week 12 “Caring and Helping”. Kindly see the letter link below to help support your children at home. Letter Link English and Spanish

MAIL MONTH (Feb. 1 – Mar. 7th) – Kindly read the letter attached for more information about the mail month for our preschoolers. If you have shoes boxes or any small boxes that can be used to make a mailbox, kindly bring them to The Center to share. 

Another fun activity we do during mail month is our traditional field trip to the Post Office. Children will learn and understand how mail/packages get distributed in our community. Children will also have the opportunity to write their own letter then send it to their friends and family.

Here is the tentative schedule for the Preschool Post Office Field Trip. Children will be riding the bus to and from school. 

Feb 21, 2024

Group 1- Room 130 10:00-10:30

Group 2- Room 131 10:30-11:00

Feb 27, 2024

Group 1- Room 133 10:00-11:00

Group 2- Room 135 10:30-11:00

Feb 28, 2024

Group 1- Room 137 10:00-11:00

Group 2-Room 139 10:30-11:00 

January Activity Bingo and In-kind Form: English and Spanish    Kindly turn in your In-kind form by January 31st. 

Reminders:

• With current staffing shortages, there is a chance that your child’s class will be split into other rooms and closed on any given day. This may occur after your child has already been dropped off. 
• Reminder school doors open at 9:00 am each day, we ask that you wait until you schedule hours listed on your signed tuition agreement. Any time that is outside these hours are billable to you. 
• Be sure to put your student’s yellow folder in their backpack to return on Monday so that we can fill them back up with important information.   Thanks for helping with this.

Important Dates PK-2

January 29	NWEA math assessment testing begins in Kindergarten-2nd grade
February 14	Panther Day during Specials: Happy Valentine’s Day!
February 29	K-2 Community Meeting in the Gym at 8:00, HOWL of the month is Compassion and the meeting will be led by 1st grade
March 7	K-2 Dollar Day Panther Day during Specials: Dr. Seuss Week
March 11-15	Spring Break
March 20-21	Parent Teacher Conferences 12:00-8:00pmHalf Days of School: Dismissal 11:00am
March 28	K-2 Community Meeting in the Gym at 8:00, HOWL of the month is Perseverance and the meeting will be led by Kindergarten

Public Library Schedule:

January 30,2024	10:40-11:10	Steph & Sheryl
January 31st, 2024	8:20-8:50	Frattolin
	10:10-10:40	Kuehl
	2:15-2:45	Compean

LCES Menus:

Project Dream Information

Please be on the lookout for a text/email with information for spring programs. Your student’s days in Project Dream will remain the same unless you request otherwise. There will be some edits to our transportation route which will be sent out next week. 

You can find the full Project Dream calendar here.

If you ever have any questions or concerns about Project Dream, please reach out to Raquel Contreras, our LCES Site Supervisor (719-293-5363 or rcontreras@lakecountyschools.net). 

Community News

Fliers

Leadville Trail 100 and Legacy Foundation Recognition

Project Dream is excited to be the recipient of a $5,000 grant award from the Leadville Trail 100 Legacy Foundation and Leadville Race Series! The funds will be used to purchase updated STEM supplies and Cooking Club materials. Project Dream runs Cooking Clubs at the Lake County Elementary School, Lake County Intermediate School, and Lake County High School. STEM Clubs are run at all three schools plus on El Camioncito (Mobile Learning Center). At the elementary level, students participate in No-Cook Cooking where they learn to make fun treats for themselves without the use of an oven or stove. At this level, students are also introduced to the basics of STEM through science experiments and construction projects with STEM materials. At the intermediate level, students move into Cooking with an experienced leader using different kitchen tools. Students also become more advanced in their STEM skills, learning advanced creation techniques and coding skills. Once students reach the high school level, they take on the role of Club Leaders alongside an Adult Sponsor, leading other students in cooking and baking techniques plus individualized STEM interests. Project Dream is eager to continue these successful projects with support from Leadville Trail 100 and Legacy Foundation.