LCES Panther Cub Communication #24

by zalmeida · January 30, 2026

February 2nd – 5th, 2026

Para traducir al español, desplácese hasta el final y haga clic en la bandera

LCES Families,

Thank you families for joining us on Thursday at our K-2 Community Meeting to celebrate the HOWL of Craftsmanship! Congratulations to our student of the month nominees and shout out to our second grade crews for sharing their number lines and leading our meeting. It’s always a fun celebration!

Hopefully February will bring some snow to our mountain town! Please continue packing and sending your child’s snow clothes to school each day. We will go outside for recess when the temperature is 10 degrees or higher, or the real feel is above 0. Please reach out to the front office if your child is in need of snow clothes, we have plenty to share!

Have a wonderful weekend, Panther families!

Brandi Lovely, PK-2 Principal

blovely@lakecountyschools.net

LCES Important Dates (PK – 2nd)

February 12: K-2 Panther Day during Specials and Classroom Valentines Day Celebrations (letter sent home this week in Thursday folders- reach out to your child’s teacher with any questions)

February 23: 100th day of School! (flier here)

February 26: K-2 Community Meeting at 8:00am led by 1st grade, celebrating the HOWL of Compassion

March 2-5: Dr. Seuss Spirit Week (more information coming soon)

March 5: K-2 Panther Day during specials and K-2 Dollar Day

March 9-13: Spring Break, NO SCHOOL

Helpful Link: Lake County School District Calendar

K-2 Specifics

February Reading Log: This week in your student’s Thursday folder, the February reading log was sent home by Ms. Mulcey. Please read with and encourage your child to read each day and color in one block for every 10 minutes of reading. We encourage you to read with your child in your home language and please reach out if you need more books at home. Happy Reading!

American Heart Association Challenge: Hello Lake County Elementary School Families – We’re nearly finished with the Kids Heart Challenge and our students are learning how to keep their hearts healthy and about life-saving skills at school.

We need your family’s help at home – Click here: http://www2.heart.org/site/TR?fr_id=12402&pg=company&company_id=526659 or download the free AHA Schools App to join our school’s service project and see updates for student and class rankings including all the ways your student can get involved!

Complete Finn’s Mission together at home then share your page with friends and family to spread lifesaving skills and support your fundraising goals.

🎟️ Raise $25 = score discounted Switchbacks Soccer tickets! 🏀 Raise $50 = unlock discounted Nuggets tickets and an exclusive on-court experience! ✨

Thank you for being part of our school’s service project with the American Heart Association. Students aren’t just having fun and earning rewards – they’re building leadership skills and learning how to protect their hearts! Our school also receives equipment for PE or recess, and we can apply for wellness grants.

IXL: This weekend begins our next IXL pizza gift certificate challenge! Students who log on and complete at least 60 minutes of IXL skills practice between the next two weekends, will be entered into a raffle for a pizza gift certificate. The challenge will conclude on Monday, February 9. IXL is research based and proven to have a strong impact on student academic achievement. We encourage you to support your child in using this platform at home. Please reach out if you have any questions about how to login and thank you for reading to your child or using IXL.

Interested in more literacy resources? Check out this website from CDE: https://www.readlearnleadco.org/

February Panther HOWL (Habit of Work & Learning) Focus: Compassion

For the month of February, we will 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 26th. If your student is chosen by their teacher, we will reach out at the beginning of that week to let you know!

Attendance

Congratulations to our Jan 19th-Jan 29th pizza attendance challenge winner! We hope your family enjoys some delicious pizza and thank you for having zero absences for the last 2 weeks of school! Remember to use the attendance tracking calendar at home with your student to help your student keep on track for all of the fun challenges and prizes we have regarding attendance this year. See details about our semester 2 attendance challenge in the fliers section below!

January Attendance Challenge: Congratulations to Mrs. Bridge’s crew on winning our January Attendance Challenge! This crew had the best attendance percentage for the whole month across all 3 grade levels and earned an extra recess with Ms. Rapke! Please try to send your student to school every day, unless they are too sick. We appreciate your help in reaching our 94% attendance goal!

Semester 2 Attendance Challenge:

The semester 2 attendance challenge is here! 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 20th! We will be checking attendance from Jan 5th-April 30th to see who qualifies. Families will be notified if your student has earned this opportunity the week of May 4th. Students may opt out of attending if parents so choose (Opt out deadline: May 6th). As the event gets closer, we will share more details so check this section regularly for updates! Please note LCIS is 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: We are excited to announce our quarter 3 HOWLs challenge! Your student will try to earn as many HOWL Dollars as they can by March 23rd for the chance to tie dye a t-shirt with the principals on March 26th! The top four HOWL dollar earners in each class will win. If your student wins, we will send home a paper parent communication in their backpack. You will also receive a text 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 and we are excited to see you all at our community meeting celebrating this HOWL on January 29th!

K-2 Project Dream

Jan. 30th Field Trip To Breckenridge Pool

LCES Project Dream is going to the Breckenridge Pool for an all day field trip on January 30th. We plan to return to LCES shortly before dismissal at 3:00, so please plan for your student to attend all day as early pick up will not be possible. Please reach out to Raquel if you plan to not attend this Friday.

Denver Broncos Foundation

As the Broncos are making a push for the Super Bowl, Project Dream just finished a grant from the Denver Broncos Foundation! Their financial support paid for our club leaders to do outdoor and physical activities this Fall. If you’d like to show your appreciation, please send your student with their Broncos gear to Project Dream tomorrow, Friday the 23rd. GO BRONCOS!

LCES Project Dream Information

Raquel Contreras

LCES Site Supervisor

719-293-5363

rcontreras@lakecountyschools.net

The Center Specifics

Dear Center Families,

Hello! We were so happy to see some of you at our Family Fun Night event last night! If you missed this one, don’t worry, we will be planning another evening activity for this spring. Let us know if you have ideas for a theme or resources you would like to see us incorporate into these evening events.

With a new month next week comes the long standing tradition of Mail Month at The Center. A letter went home in your child’s yellow folder yesterday to share the details of this special event.

The first step with this tradition is to make a mailbox with your child at home. Please note that there are 16 children in a classroom and this can make finding space a little tricky, keep your mailbox creations smaller in size but large in creativity! We are asking for families to have your child’s mailbox to school by February 12. Reach out to your child’s teacher if you need materials for this project.

Our classrooms have also been learning a lot about Plants! Children have been learning about the parts of a plant, plant needs, and types of plants. Each classroom will be incorporating a farm stand for new imaginative play opportunities with peers. Our farm stands will focus on offering props, writing opportunities, visuals, and materials that allow children to experience roles like supervising the market or shopping for fruits and vegetables. This is a fun way for children to connect their learning from whole group lessons into play experiences with peers.

We hope you enjoy your weekend! See you Monday!

Tanya Lenhard, Director

719-486-6928 (work); 719-293-1055 (cell)

tdlenhard@lakecountyschools.net

From the Assistant Director

Hello Families,

Returning families, if you received a letter or email in regards to the Universal Preschool Program for the 26-27 school year, please remember to use the QR to sign up. If you need support registering please let me know, and I would be happy to sit down with you in person to complete this.

Tuition for February 2026, have been posted to your child’s powerschool fees. Please reach out if you have any questions. All payments are due by February 5th, to avoid any late fees.

Have a great weekend!

If you have any questions, please free to contact me:

Marissa Martinez

Assistant Preschool Director

719-486-6927

mamartinez@lakecountyschools.net

Family Engagement Corner

Our Family Fun Night last night focused on Nutrition. We often have families share that their preschoolers are picky eaters. You are not alone! Refusing foods because of color or texture or eating only certain types of food is a common behavior in children ages 2-5.

As long as your child is growing as your doctor suggests, they are most likely eating enough to be healthy. Anytime you have concerns with your child’s growth or eating behaviors, it is best to talk to your child’s doctor.

To help your child move through the picky eating stage, here are a few ideas and suggestions to try at home.

Let your child pick out fruits and veggies at the store.
Have your child help in the kitchen with washing fruits or vegetables, tasting food while you prepare it, or stirring food.
Offer choices “Would you like broccoli or carrots for dinner?”
Eat meals together
Offer the same foods for the whole family.
Talk about things like color, shape, and texture of foods.
Offer new foods one at a time and often. Be willing to try them yourself!

For more resources and ideas check out ChooseMyPlate.gov

Menus

Menus can be found in your child’s yellow folder at the end/beginning of each month or in our main entrance vestibules!

Fliers

Back to School? We’ve Got You!
Coming back after the holidays can take some adjusting for parents and students alike! The School-Based Health Center is here to support your physical and emotional well-being. Not enrolled yet? No worries. Enrollment is open year-round!

Visit Lake County SBHC Enrollment (English), Lake County SBHC Enrollment (Spanish) to enroll and School Based Health Centers – Elevated Community Health to learn more.

Call (970) 710 – 5049 to schedule your appointment today!

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¿De regreso a clases? ¡Estamos aquí para ayudarte!
Volver después de las vacaciones puede requerir un período de adaptación tanto para padres como para estudiantes. El Centro de Salud Escolar está aquí para apoyar su bienestar físico y emocional. ¿Aún no están inscritos? ¡No hay problema! La inscripción está abierta todo el año.

Visita Inscripción al SBHC del Condado de Lake (Inglés), Inscripción al SBHC del Condado de Lake (Español) para inscribirte y Centros de Salud Escolar – Elevated Community Health para obtener más información.