LCES Panther Cub Communication #37
Week of May 12-15th, 2025
  | Para traducir al español, desplácese hasta el final y haga clic en la bandera  . |
| LCES Families, It’s felt very wintery this week and we are looking forward to some sunshine and spring feeling temperatures! This week, our K-2 students completed their end of the year DIBELS benchmark assessment to measure their literacy growth and progress. We haven’t officially dove into the results, but at first glance we have some very big accomplishments and celebrations to look forward to. We can’t wait to share those results and celebrations with you, very soon! Thank you to those who celebrated Teacher and Staff appreciation week with thoughtful gifts, snacks for the staff, or even just a “thank you!”. Our teachers and staff work so hard each and everyday, it warms our hearts to feel appreciation. Six weeks of school left, it will go by fast! Enjoy your weekend, Brandi Lovely, Principal blovely@lakecountyschools.net  May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a national event to bring attention to the importance of mental health, provide support, and end the stigma around mental health. At Lake County Elementary School we also want to teach our youngest learners the importance of mental health, how to care for our mental health, and to give them an age-appropriate understanding of what Mental Health means. Throughout the entire month of May, we will be learning about Mental Health. K-2 students will get a lesson on mental health and other fun events to celebrate and learn about the importance of taking care of our brain. Every Monday will be “Mental Health Monday.” All Preschool through 2nd grade kids and staff will be encouraged to show support by wearing green. There will be fun and simple little acknowledgments for participating by wearing green! All students will be receiving a green Mental Health ribbon sticker on Monday May 12th to wear for that Monday! Look for more information to come in next week’s parent communication as well as information being sent home with your student at the end of next week. Please reach out to Mrs. Christy Trujillo with any questions. | |
| K-2 Specifics | |
| May HOWL (Habit of Work & Learning) Focus: Creativity For the month of May, we are celebrating the HOWL of creativity. Creativity means, “I can think of new and interesting ways to tackle projects and challenges.” The Student of the Month for each crew will be announced at our next community meeting on May 29th. If your student is chosen by their teacher, we will reach out at the beginning of that week to let you know! Semester 2 Attendance Challenge:  Congratulations to the winners of our Semester 2 attendance challenge! Final reminder to opt out if your student was a winner of our Semester 2 attendance challenge and you DO NOT want them to attend the Rockies Game on May 22nd. You should have received a paper communication and an electronic message from the office if your student was eligible for this event. Please call the office if you would like to opt out. We are excited to enjoy the game with those students who showed commitment to fantastic attendance this semester! HOWLs Challenge: It is the last quarter of the school year which means it is time for our Quarter 4 HOWLS challenge! Your student will try to earn as many HOWL Dollars as they can by June 9th for the chance to have cotton candy and extra recess with the principals on June 16th! 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 May is creativity.  We need volunteers! Sign up to volunteer at: https://signup.com/go/iGRLKLV Questions? Speak with Mrs. Northcraft, the art teacher at LCES: jnorthcraft@lakecountyschools.net Necesitamos voluntarios! Regístrate para ser voluntario @:https://signup.com/go/iGRLKLV Preguntas? Hable con Mrs. Northcraft, profesora de arte en LCES: jnorthcraft@lakecountyschools.net | |
| K-2 Project Dream Information | |
| Hello Project Dream Families, Elementary School Information & Policies   If you have any questions about Project Dream, please reach out to Raquel. Raquel Contreras | LCES Site Supervisor | 719-293-5363 | rcontreras@lakecountyschools.net | |
| Preschool Specifics | |
| Hello Center Families, Thanks for hanging with us as we reach out about applications and interviews for families returning to preschool next year. If you have not yet returned your child’s application, now is the time! We need these by May 14 as we will be during a first round of selection for next year on May 15. Please reach out with any questions about the process. We are entering the last few weeks of school! Our calendars are about to get very busy, we will be sending home information for events and activities in your child’s yellow folder. Watch for those and information in this bulletin. Whether sun or snow is your preference, we had both this week. Hope you all are enjoying “springtime” in Leadville. Happy weekend! Tanya Lenhard –PreK Director Office phone: 719-486-6928 Cell: 719-293-1055 tdlenhard@lakecountyschools.net Classroom and Curriculum Updates: – This week wraps up our Habitats curriculum. The end of our study culminates with a visit from Ash Werner from C-4. On Thursday, May 8th and Monday, May 12th your child will get to experience hands-on learning about our local Leadville habitats. – A fun way to extend your child’s learning at home is to make a book together at home. Fold and staple paper together to make a blank book. Then write down a story that your child tells and have your child draw pictures to illustrate the story. Write the title of the story on the cover and have your child write their name since they are the author. – You can also extend letter writing at home. Use pipe cleaners, wiki stix, or shaving cream to practice writing letters at home in addition to paper and pencil. Ask your child to say the letter name and sound while they are practicing writing. – Here is the link to the letter and sound video that was discussed at conferences. Watch to learn the animal name, letter sound and gesture and practice daily with your child. – English letter/sound video Spanish letter/sound video Kelly Horning Assistant Director Office Phone: 719-486-6927 khorning@lakecountyschools.net Family Engagement Corner  What exciting times here at The Center as we look ahead to the 2025-2026 School Year! If your child will be returning to The Center, please complete and submit your 2025-2026 Application along with any required documentation as soon as possible. Early Literacy: Building the Foundation for Reading Continuing with our topic “Helping my child learn to love books and reading,” this week we will look at another predictive variable proven to aid in building a strong foundation for reading: Visual Processing.Visual Processing is the ability to discriminate and sequence visual symbols. The visual difference between letters is subtle. Note how a “t” turns into an “f” with a mere flick of the pencil. At the same time, letters (unlike pictures) change meaning based on position. A “p” can frustratingly turn into a “d” and then a “b” and then a “q” depending on the way it is facing. Teach the Concept of Same vs. Different Some of you may remember the Highlights Magazine, which would always have a “Spot the Differences” section in the back of each edition. Learning to visually discriminate similarities and differences remains a powerful way to prime young children to recognize the subtle visual differences of letters and patterns when reading. Original article: Early Literacy: Building the Foundation for Reading – EdwardsOG  Rhonda H. DeVoe Preschool Family and Community Engagement Manager Office Phone: (719) 486-6925/Cell Phone: (719) 293-1403 rdevoe@lakecountyschools.net | |
| PK-2 Important Dates | |
| May 15 LCSD Art Show, LCES Gym 5:00-7:00 pm May 22 K-2 Attendance Reward Rockies Game May 26 Memorial Day, NO SCHOOL May 27 2nd grade Fieldwork at Hayden Meadows (leave 8:30, return 12:15) May 29 Community Meeting, curiosity led by specials, LCES Gym 8:00 June 5 Kindergarten Fieldwork at the Fish Hatchery (leave 8:45, return 1:30) June 5 Ice Cream Social for rising Kindergartners and Families (see flier below) 6:00pm | |
| Fliers | |
  Digital copies of lunch/breakfast Menus are available in our front entrances or in the office! Please feel free to stop by and grab one.    The Art Room has a lot of great supplies, but we are always looking for extra interesting items to use for creativity! If you would like to donate any of these items, please drop them off in the Art Room at Parent/Teacher conferences this week. Or, send them with your student to drop off in the office or art room. Thanks so much for supporting our creative students! Mrs. Northcraft Lake County Elementary Art Teacher jnorthcraft@lakecountyschools.net          | |
