LCES Panther Cub Communication #9

Week of September 30-October 3
LCES Families, 

What a fun and exciting week we’ve had! The week started out with Panther Days during specials classes where students made some fun leaf art. Then, on Thursday we held our first community meeting to celebrate the HOWL of Collaboration and awarded students of the month. All week, we saw incredible participation for Homecoming Spirit Week, with lots of beach sun hats, superheroes, Broncos jerseys, and purple and gold colors.

Looking ahead, Tuesday, October 1st is a very important day for attendance. This is the October 1 count, where the attendance we have on this day is state reported for funding purposes. PLEASE ensure your student is present on Tuesday. Thank you! Also, this week we are looking forward to our first Family Fun Night for preschool students at The Center. Preschool families, please join us on Thursday, October 3rd at 6pm for a night themed “Fall Back Into School”! Older But Still Important:  A Quick Note About Safety- When dropping your student off each morning, please use the main entrances to exit the building. This ensures all doors remain locked and safe. Thank you for your cooperation!  After School Plans- If your child will be absent please call the office by 8:45 am or if you need to change your child’s after school plans (Must be done by 2:30pm) please reach out to Marissa or Zee in the front office at 719-486-6890 or 719-486-6895 for spanish .Playgrounds- A friendly reminder that ALL playgrounds at LCES are unavailable to the public and parents/students that are not enrolled in Project Dream or Preschool before and after care between 8:00 am and 6:00 pm from Monday through Thursday & 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on Friday. You are welcome to use our playgrounds after these hours during the week. Enjoy the beautiful fall weather and leaves. Happy Homecoming week and GO PANTHERS! Brandi Lovely, Principal  blovely@lakecountyschools.net

Tips of the Week

Hi Parents,This is Marie Covington, your Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant. I can’t imagine how much stress and worry you’ve experienced in recent days. I wanted to give you some support on how to tackle this event with your preschooler(s) since tough conversations like this can be hard to know how to approach. First off, I want you to focus on your feelings. Check in with yourself and be sure you’re processing and working through your feelings. Your child needs you as their rock and your emotional state dictates their state. So, do your best to take some time to yourself to regulate and process. Second, focus on their safety. Children need to feel safe and secure in their learning environments in order to learn and grow. Be sure that you mention that the school shut down to keep them safe, and your job as their parent is to keep them safe. Lastly, listen to your child’s feelings and thoughts. They might have heard something from a peer or overheard a conversation between adults. They could express sadness, confusion, fear, and even anger. It is important to validate those feelings as well as reassure them. Do be mindful and avoid minimizing their feelings and respect if they are feeling scared. If you’re having any trouble with handling this event or anything else with parenting please reach out to me and I am happy to provide you with brief consultation or long term support. My services are completely free and do not go through insurance.Kindly,  Sarah “Marie” Covington  MA Ed. ECMH®-E Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant Solvista HealthServing Chaffee, Custer, Fremont, and Lake Counties Office: 719.539.6502 Mobile: 719.420.1293

K-2 Specifics

Literacy News!Dear LCES Families,We are excited to kick off our October Reading Challenge next month! We started our reading challenge at the end of last year and it was so exciting to see so many of our students and families engaged in reading. Please be on the lookout for more information in your child’s Thursday folder next week. Thank you for your collaboration in supporting our students’ reading achievement. Estimadas Familias de WPES,¡Estamos emocionados de iniciar nuestro Desafío de Lectura de Octubre el próximo mes! Comenzamos nuestro desafío de lectura a fines del año pasado y fue muy emocionante ver a tantos de nuestros estudiantes y familias comprometidos con la lectura. Esté atento a más información en la carpeta del jueves de su hijo la próxima semana. Gracias por su colaboración para apoyar el rendimiento en lectura de nuestros estudiantes.Best Regards,Clare MulceyLiteracy Specialist Lake County Elementary School 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! You’re Invited to Lunch!: Families are welcome to join your student during their lunch time. Lunch times are as follows: Kindergarten eats at 11:40, first grade eats at 12:00, and second grade eats at 12:20. Please be sure to sign in at the front office and if eating school lunch, bring $4.50 for an adult meal. Thanks! September Attendance Challenge: For the month of September, crews will be participating in our September attendance challenge. Our school attendance goal is 94%. The class with the best attendance for each grade level will receive 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! Attendance Reminder: If you know your child will be absent from school, please notify our front office staff. If your child is planning to miss school for 3 or more days, you should complete the Request for Pre-Arranged Absence Form in the front office. This form should be submitted three days prior to the absence so that we can notify your child’s teachers and appropriate support for your child can be put into place. We follow the district attendance policy, as follows: After 7 absences, we require a doctor’s note to excuse all future absences.  At 10 absences, we notify parents/caretakers of our concerns in writing and meet to establish an attendance success plan.  At 15 absences (chronic absenteeism defined in BOE Policy JH), we hold an attendance meeting to discuss further actions as needed. Any further absences the parent/guardian must call and speak with the Assistant Principal directly.  At 20 absences, the Assistant Principal may refer the student to Nancy Abila the Juvenile Diversion Coordinator for the District Attorney’s office or Truancy Court. Thank you for your support in ensuring that our students are here and ready to learn each day! HOWLs Challenge: We are having a HOWLs challenge this quarter.  Your student will try to earn as many HOWL Dollars as they can by October 7th for the chance to bring a stuffy to school!  The top six HOWL dollar earners in each class will win.  If your student wins, we will send home a paper parent communication on Oct 8th in their backpacks.  You will also receive a text message on Oct 8th and 9th. 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 September is collaboration and we are excited to see you all at our community meeting celebrating this HOWL next Thursday!

K-2 Project Dream Information

If you have any questions regarding Project Dream, after school program, please contact Raquel Contreras, 719-293-5363 or via email at rcontreras@lakecountyschools.net  Raquel Contreras Project Dream Site Supervisor Lake County Elementary Cell: 719-293-5363Se habla español [Lake County School District | Leadville CO]

Preschool Specifics

Hello Center Families, This week flew by! We had a busy week filled with superheroes, sports, and purple and gold!  Our Thursday was filled with busy events.  We attended the LCES pep rally hosted by Lake County High School. Our preschoolers got to hear the band play and participated in cheering on the Panthers!  We also hosted hearing, vision, height, and weight screenings for students.  If there is a follow up need or concern you will receive a letter in the mail.  If you do not receive anything, that means your child’s screening was in the normal range.  No news is good news.  Please reach out if you have questions and we can help connect you with Colleen Nielsen, our district nurse. I wanted to bring your attention to the “Tip of the Week” section above.  These tips are coming from Sarah Marie Covington, an early childhood mental health consultant through Solvista.  She is sharing information and resources that are relevant for all our families at LCES, including our preschoolers.  She is also available and willing to provide support to families as well.  Check out that section which also includes her contact information.On another note, did you know that our program also has an Early Head Start Home to School Connection Program? Our amazing home visitor Cristina partners with parents, coordinates services, and provides learning opportunities to support children’s growth and development in their earliest years. We serve expectant mothers and families with children ages birth to three. Families participate in weekly visits, along with the opportunity to attend two group socializations a month. These services are free for qualifying families. If you are interested in learning more or would like an application, reach out to Rhonda or Tanya.  Help us spread the word and tell a friend too!   Classroom and Curriculum Updates:  Home to School Connection:  We are wrapping up our first domain, All About Me. Our preschoolers have had a blast pretending to be doctors and nurses or even the child who is sick in our Doctor Office themed dramatic play area.  They have had lots of practice getting ready for writing by using and strengthening their fine motor skills in their hands and fingers. There has also been lots of talk about the first letter in their name. Ask your child to tell you all about it.Second step, our social emotional curriculum is also in full swing. Check out this week’s yellow folders for activities you can do at home to extend learning.In our next domain we will be transforming our Doctor Offices back into a house area with a focus on a Birthday Party theme. Do you have any old wrapping paper you’d like to donate to The Center to support this theme? Family Engagement Corner: GET READY FOR A FAMILY FUN NIGHT! We are excited that our first FAMILY FUN NIGHT is coming up next week! Please mark your calendar for THURSDAY – OCTOBER 3rd – 6:00 PM t0 7:00 PM.Bring the whole family to participate in our “FALL BACK INTO SCHOOL” FUN! We have a variety of fun and educational activities planned. We will revisit “Our Five Senses” using Pumpkins and look ahead to “Five Little Pumpkins” who may be causing some “spooky trouble!” And, what is a Fall Fun Night without a colorful Leaf Craft? Please make plans to attend – you do not want to miss the FUN! Thanks!  We will see you on Monday!  GO PANTHERS! Tanya Lenhard – PreK Director Office phone: 719-486-6928 Cell: 719-293-1055 tdlendhard@lakecountyschools.net  Kelly Horning Assistant Director Office Phone: 719-486-6927 khorning@lakecountyschools.net  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

Important Dates: October 3 – Preschool Fall Back into School Family Fun Night 6-7pm October 8- Picture Retakes October 16 – Parent Teacher Conferences, Dismissal 11:00am October 17- Parent Teacher Conferences, Dismissal 11:00am October 31- K-2 Panther Day during Specials, K-2 Dollar Day, K-2 Community Meeting in the Gym at 8:00 (led by 1st grade: respect)

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