LCES Panther Cub Communication #28
Week of March 3-6, 2025
  | Para traducir al español, desplácese hasta el final y haga clic en la bandera  . |
| LCES Families, Hello March! On Thursday we celebrated Compassion, the HOWL of the month for February and our community meeting was led by first grade. It was wonderful to celebrate our Students of the Month and see the great astrology and planet work that first grade is learning.   It was also a special week in Kindergarten! Students wrapped up their Knowledge domain on Kings and Queens with a Kindergarten Ball; so much fun!  In specials this week, students began celebrating Dr. Seuss’ birthday by flashlight reading. Mrs. Ayers did a great job facilitating this fun event and students really enjoyed reading Dr. Seuss books.  We are looking forward to celebrating Dr. Seuss week next week with fun spirit days! See the flier below. Please always feel free to reach out to the front office, your child’s teacher, or myself should you have any questions or concerns. Thank you for your continued partnership. Have a fantastic weekend, go Panthers! Brandi Lovely, Principal blovely@lakecountyschools.net | |
| K-2 Specifics | |
February Reading Challenge: Families, thank you so much for your participation in our February reading challenge.  February HOWL (Habit of Work & Learning) Focus: CompassionFor the month of February, we are celebrating the HOWL of Compassion. Compassion means, “I care for and help others, my community, and the world around me.” The Student of the Month for each crew will be announced at our next community meeting on February 27th. If your student is chosen by their teacher, we will reach out at the beginning of that week to let you know! February Attendance BreakdownAttendance Goal: 94% This month’s average daily attendance: 90.58% (104 school days & 191 students) K-88.63% 1st-93.77% 2nd-89.06% Semester 2 Attendance Challenge:  We also have an exciting semester-long attendance challenge to share! This semester, K-2 students who have 1 or fewer absences will have the opportunity to attend a Rockies baseball game in Denver at Coors Field on May 22nd! We will be checking attendance from Jan 6th-May 1st to see who qualifies. Families will be notified if your student has earned this opportunity the week of May 5th. The game is at 1:10 pm so students will come to school as usual, board the buses at 10:00 am, enjoy the game, and return back to school between approximately 5:30-6 pm. The tickets are offered to only students and staff at a reduced rate so we are unable to welcome parent volunteers for this event. Students may opt out of attending if parents so choose (Opt out deadline: May 7th). LCIS is also doing an attendance reward at this Rockies game as well so please look for specific information from LCIS in their parent communication as the criteria is slightly different between schools. Make sure your student is present at school every day as long as they are healthy in order to earn this opportunity! We are so excited for this special event! HOWLs Challenge: It is a new quarter which means we have a new HOWLS challenge! Your student will try to earn as many HOWL Dollars as they can by March 20th for the chance to make an indoor snowman craft and drink hot chocolate with the principals on March 26th or 27th during our spring conference half days! The top six HOWL dollar earners in each class will win. If your student wins, we will send home paper communication as well as a message from the front office. Students can earn HOWL Dollars by showing any of our HOWLs to any staff member in the school. The HOWL that we are focusing on for January is craftsmanship. Parent Volunteers: If interested in volunteering, we encourage parents to reach out to their child’s teacher or Mrs. Lovely to see where the biggest need of help may be. Sometimes this may look like making copies or laminating new math materials. We always appreciate the extra help! Food Program: Smart Bellies delivers kid-friendly food weekly and a bag of produce for our families. Register by filling out the form at https://forms.gle/5KyNS6wkEVv89uns6. We will leave the bags of food outside of your door each week. Lake County deliveries happen on Thursday each week. Please feel free to reach out to Smart Bellies at smartbelliesco@gmail.com or 970-368-2848 if you have questions, need special accommodations or more food. Smart Bellies entrega semanalmente comida para niños y una bolsa de vegetales para nuestras familias. Regístrese completando el formulario https://forms.gle/5KyNS6wkEVv89uns6. Dejaremos las bolsas de comida afuera de su puerta cada semana. Condado de Lake: Las entregas se realizarán los jueves de cada semana. No dude en comunicarse con Smart Bellies en smartbelliesco@gmail.com o al 970-368-2848 si tiene preguntas, necesita adaptaciones especiales o más comida. Interested in more arts experiences for youth/kids in our community? Please take this 1 minute survey to help guide the Tabor Opera House’s growing youth/kids arts programs.https://bit.ly/tyckids | |
| K-2 Project Dream Information | |
| Hello Project Dream Families,Elementary School Information & PoliciesRaquel Contreras | LCES Site Supervisor | 719-293-5363 | rcontreras@lakecountyschools.netEl Camioncito ScheduleEl Camioncito is a Mobile Learning Center, a school bus that has been redesigned for tutoring and enrichment activities. El Camioncito visits different neighborhoods in Lake County to bring fun and learning directly to students after school. Students do not need to register to attend El Camioncito programs. However, students do need to be dropped off by a parent/guardian, and a parent/guardian needs to be available in the case of an emergency or issue while their students are on the bus.Mondays Afterschool (4:00 – 5:30 pm) Mountain View Tuesdays Afterschool (4:00 – 5:30 pm) Mountain Valley EstatesWednesdays Afterschool (4:00 – 5:30 pm) Lake ForkThursdays Afterschool (4:00 – 5:30 pm) Mountain ViewFriday Morning (10:00 am – 12:00 pm) Mountain Valley EstatesFriday Afternoon (1:00 – 3:00 pm) Lake ForkParking Locations: Mountain View- parked next to the office in Mountain View WestLake Fork- parked next to the officeMountain Valley Estates- parked in front of unit 25Take a tour of El Camioncito by clicking this link! If you have any questions about El Camioncito, reach out to Mandi Newton: 719-427-7143 or mnewton@lakecountyschools.net | |
| Preschool Specifics | |
| Hello Center Families, Happy March next week! Wow, the year is going so quickly. Let’s hope spring finds its way to Leadville soon. Next week is going to be a busy one. We are celebrating Dr. Seuss with a spirit week. Help your preschooler join in the fun! Here is the schedule. Monday – Cat in the Hat Day! Wear a hat and red and white stripesTuesday – Grinchy Green Day! Wear greenWednesday – Wacky Wednesday! Wear wacky mismatched clothes and crazy hairThursday – Pajama Day! We are also hosting a preschool specific Family Fun Night on Wednesday March 5 from 6-7 focused on Health and Wellness. We have several community partners coming to share activities and information along with program sponsored activities as well. We will be making elephant toothpaste, regulating with Tucker Turtle, and making a child friendly trail mix. Come and join us! Enjoy your weekend! See you Monday! Tanya Lenhard – PreK Director Office phone: 719-486-6928 Cell: 719-293-1055tdlenhard@lakecountyschools.net Classroom and Curriculum Updates: We are continuing our study of the plant domain. Here are some suggestions for activities you can do to extend your child’s learning:Read stories about plants and talk about what real plants need to stay alivePractice telling stories: Read a favorite book together and at the end pause and encourage your child to use their imagination to make up a new ending to the storyAllow your child to choose a favorite fruit or vegetable and cook it up for dinner.Next week your child will have two days exploring fruit and vegetables. On Monday, they will read the book “Fruit is a suitcase” and have a chance to touch and smell the outside and inside of fruit and veggies.On Wednesday, your child will have the opportunity to taste test oranges, apples, peppers and cucumbers and decide which they like best. We want to introduce you to Marie! Marie is our Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant. She collaborates with The Center through SolVista to provide virtual consultative services to our program, our classrooms, and individual children/families. Marie will be sharing a weekly parent connection tip in our newsletter :  Marie’s Parenting Tips: RegulationWe have all been there when your child loses their cool. It can be really stressful to handle in your already hectic day! Children’s nervous systems are not able yet to regulate by themselves. In fact, children cannot regulate on their own until the age of 3, and that’s just the beginning! Basically, you’re their prefrontal cortex (behavior, personality, and executive functioning). No wonder parenting is exhausting! Here are some tips below to help you better regulate your child.Singing regular or melodic rhythms helps to regulate the nervous system.Try it out! clap and stomp to “We Will Rock You” when you’re feeling dysregulated.Even rocking or rhythmic movements can help regulate as well.Explain what you will do before doing it to an upset child.Surprising a child with your actions can often make it worse.For example, “I am going to come over and sit with you. Is it okay for me to put my arm around you?”Sit with the feeling(s) and validate them!When validating feelings correctly it can turn on their reasoning skills. This allows you to start reasoning with them.For example, “Oh, I see that you’re sad because I told you we had to be done with the tablet. It can be really hard when we can’t have what we want. It’s okay to be sad.”Distracting feelings and pushing them out of how they are feeling can cause more upset. (Although when you’re in a hurry distracting is okay!) Kelly Horning Assistant Director Office Phone: 719-486-6927 khorning@lakecountyschools.net Family Engagement Corner Continuing with our focus on “LOVE” this month, the following article will help explain The Five Love Languages for Children and give you some helpful tips on expressing love to the ‘Littles’ in your life today and every day! The Five Love Languages for ChildrenWhat are Love Languages?Author Gary Chapman wrote the book, The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate, in 1992. Chapman identified five ways of expression to help romantic partners show love and appreciation in their relationships. Knowing your own and especially your loved one’s love languages strengthen your relationship. Many individuals have more than one, and often have different languages for expressing and receiving love to and from others.The Five Love Languages:Acts of Service: Doing helpful or supportive actions for your loved onePhysical Touch: Being close to, touched, or embraced by your loved oneReceiving Gifts: Giving thoughtful gifts or tokens to your loved oneQuality Time: Spending meaningful and attentive time with your loved oneWords of Affirmation: Speaking affectionate or supportive things to your loved oneEven though the author initially applied his expressions to romantic relationships, people show friendly or familial love through these languages as well. To support children and families, this article has applied these five expressions of love to the relationship between children and parents along with other important people in their lives. Finding your Child’s Love LanguagesStart by listening to how your child requests your love or attention:Acts of Service: “Can you help me clean up my toys?”Physical Touch: “Can I sit or cuddle with you?”Receiving Gifts: “I like when you add a special treat to my lunch!”Quality Time: “Please play with me”Words of Affirmation: “Look what I can do!”Then observe how your child expresses love to you and others:Acts of Service: Helping with chores or cookingPhysical Touch: Giving hugs, high-fives or cuddlesReceiving Gifts: Gifting art projects or small tokensQuality Time: Asking to do things with you or wanting to be near youWords of Affirmation: Expressing their affection verballyIt is common for children to have more than one, and the infant-toddler age range benefit equally from all five love languages. In fact, simply being mindful of how often you express any form of love to your child can have a positive impact.The Five Love Languages for Children (and ways to express love in that “language”)Acts of ServiceHow to express love to your child through small acts of kindness:Take time to learn more about their interests and hobbiesHelp your child practice physical or musical activitiesRead your child a book before bedtimeMake your child’s favorite mealVolunteer at your child’s school or care facilityPhysical TouchA few ways you can express love to your infant or toddler through touch:Skin-to-skin contactHugs and kissesWear your infant in a carrierEmbrace and snuggleTickle and playA few ways you can express love to your school-aged child through touch:Hug your child before and after schoolBrush their hairInitiate snuggle timeHold hands or give high-fivesStart a tickle fightReceiving GiftsPractice giving random gifts of love and not bribes or rewards:Add excitement to giving yearly school clothes/shoes by wrapping themMake your child’s favorite food or snackPlan a treasure huntAdd an extra treat to your child’s lunch bagGift “coupons” to create future opportunities for funQuality TimeHow to make time to be together:Include your child in planning weekly meals or weekend activitiesBe present during car ridesAsk specific, open-ended questions about their dayWatch something togetherSchedule one-on-one “dates” with each child (if more than one)Words of AffirmationA few ways to effectively communicate your affection to your child:Acknowledge their little victories and successesSay “I love you” oftenBe specific when praising your childSneak a love note in their lunchbox or backpackTell them you are proud of them A little humor: When my youngest son was around three years old, one of his “expressing love languages” was ‘Recieving Gifts’ – which became quite funny as he would go around our home, find some of my things and then proceed to wrap them up and give them to me. It really was sweet when he would hand me “my gift” (which was already mine) and say, “I love you! I got you a present!” (Precious Memories❤️)  Rhonda H. DeVoePreschool Family and Community Engagement Manager Office Phone: (719) 486-6925/Cell Phone: (719) 293-1403 rdevoe@lakecountyschools.net Link to the Original Article: https://newpath.org/love-languages-for-kids/Want more information on The Five Love Languages? This is the book referenced in the article. It is a great resource for everyone wanting to express love to people in their life. | |
| PK-2 Important Dates | |
| Important Dates: March 3-6: Dr. Seuss Spirit Week (flier below) March 5: PK Health and Wellness Family Fun Night 6:00-7:00pm March 6: Panther Day during K-2 Specials: “The Lorax”, K-2 Dollar Day: Mustache March March 10-14: Spring Break, NO SCHOOL | |
| Fliers | |
      ~*~ This project is focused on creating a vibrant community space on the 12-acre open area adjacent to Lake County Elementary School. The Harrison Park Master Plan aims to incorporate affordable housing, open space, and recreation based on community feedback. We know how important more and affordable housing is to you as an employer and business owner. We want to hear from you and your employees on how we can best serve the community as a whole. Here are what some of our business owners and major employers have to say about housing: “Housing continues to be a significant challenge to our ability to staff our schools with qualified educators. An entry-level teacher has a gross monthly income of $3,600. A goal of spending no more than 30% of their income on housing would require monthly housing costs of under $1,200. This is nearly impossible in the current housing market.” Kate Bartlett, Superintendent of the Lake County School District “Because Leadville’s housing market has been turned upside down by forces out of our control, it is harder than ever for local businesses to prosper here. If we don’t create more housing for our workers, our business community and the diverse nature of our town (and downtown) will be forever changed.”Fritz Howard, Melanzana Here’s how you can get involved:Take the survey – Your input is essential to ensure the plan reflects community needs. (https://survey.alchemer.com/s3/8129093/Harrison-Park-Master-Plan-Community-Survey)Join us at the next Open House – Meet the project team in person, share your ideas, and learn more about the planning and design process. The Open House will take place in January 22nd in the Amax Room of the Lake County Public Library. Stay tuned for updates! To learn more about the project, take the survey, or join our mailing list, please visit harrisonparkmasterplan.comThank you for being part of this important community effort! Your feedback will play a crucial role in shaping a future that benefits Lake County residents.     | |
