LCES Panther Cub Communication #39

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LCES Families,
Happy Memorial Day weekend! We will not have school on Monday, May 26th and hope you are able to enjoy the long weekend with your family and friends doing something you enjoy. We look forward to welcoming students back on Tuesday, May 27.
Congratulations to the 17 students who had 1 day or less absent for semester two and celebrated on Thursday at the Rockies game. Beautiful weather and fun memories made for a great day!

Looking ahead, we are getting excited for our kindergarten transition night, Ice Cream Social. See the flier below for more information! If you have a student who will be 5 by October 1, 2025 and will be enrolling in kindergarten at LCES, we look forward to seeing you at our transition event planned for June 5 from 6-7pm. If you know of other families in the community with kinder ready children, please help us spread the word!
We also have our Teddy Bear picnics planned. K-2 students will have their picnic on June 11 and The Center will have theirs the week of June 16-18. We invite you to come have a picnic lunch with your student on these days! If you are wanting to buy an adult school lunch, please call the front office (719-486-6890) by June 4 so we can have accurate lunch count numbers. Adult lunches will be $5.00 We are looking forward to this event and fingers crossed for spring weather!
Enjoy your long weekend and go panthers!
Brandi Lovely, Principal blovely@lakecountyschools.net

Subject: Important Update Regarding PowerSchool Data SecurityDear families and educators of the Lake County School District community:We are writing to inform you of a recent development related to the cybersecurity incident PowerSchool experienced in December 2024.PowerSchool is aware that a threat actor has reached out to multiple school district customers in an attempt to extort them using data from the previously reported December 2024 incident. PowerSchool does not believe this is a new incident.Please be assured that both PowerSchool and Lake County School District are taking this situation very seriously. PowerSchool has informed us they are working with cybersecurity experts to thoroughly assess this development and have reported it to law enforcement in both Canada and the United States.As a reminder, following that incident PowerSchool also offered and made widely available credit monitoring and identity protection services for a period of two years to students and faculty Lake County School District regardless of whether they were individually involved. We encourage all those who were offered these services to take advantage of them:For individuals in the U.S.: https://www.powerschool.com/security/sis-incident/notice-of-united-states-data-breach/For individuals in Canada: https://www.powerschool.com/security/sis-incident/notice-of-canada-data-breach/As was reported earlier this year, PowerSchool made the decision to pay a ransom because they believed it to be in the best interest of their customers and the students and communities they serve. As is always the case with these situations, there was a risk that the bad actors would not delete the data they stole, despite assurances and evidence that were provided PowerSchool.We wanted to share this update as part of our ongoing commitment to transparency. We remain committed to working closely with PowerSchool and law enforcement to provide support in any way we can.Sincerely,Lake County School District

K-2 Specifics

DIBELS Update: We would like to shout out and celebrate the reading growth and achievement our students showed during their end of year DIBELS reading assessment. Individual student results will be sent home with report cards in June.
First, we are celebrating the tremendous growth of 56 students who moved a color band, meaning their composite score grew enough to move from: red (below grade level) to yellow (approaching grade level), or yellow to green (at grade level), or green to blue (above grade level). Fifty six students is 31% of our total number of students.
Next, as a school, we started the year with 55% of students performing below grade level (red) and our end of the year data shows this number decreasing to 33%. This is phenomenal growth that truly shows our student’s ability to learn and grow as well as our teachers and families dedication to each child’s education.
We look forward to celebrating this growth and achievement with students the week of June 9-12, where all students will receive a reading growth award during grade level DIBELS donut parties!
Thank you for the continued partnership and commitment to your child’s education!

May Reading Challenge: Students have really been enjoying the reading challenge again for the month of May! Thank you, families, for prioritizing reading at home as this challenge is a great opportunity to further motivate students and celebrate the joy of reading in all languages at home. We have three days left in May to turn in your completed reading log to Ms. Mulcey!
May HOWL (Habit of Work & Learning) Focus: CreativityFor 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!
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.

K-2 Project Dream Information

Hello Project Dream Families,Just a reminder the last day for After School will be June 5th!, and the last day for Friday’s will be June 6th! Elementary School Information & PoliciesIf 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,
Our outdoor classroom area was fully in action this week! With the new surface and milder weather we were able to get kids out to enjoy this space. The sandbox and the stepping stone turtles were popular activities. Now that the weather is starting to turn a corner (fingers crossed), we are back to our schedule of daily outdoor play. Classrooms visit the outdoor playground 2 days a week and the outdoor classroom the other day. Yay for outside!
Returning families you should receive information regarding 2025-2026 school year enrollment in the mail soon. We have changed our system a little and will now be providing our main orientation for families in June. There is information regarding spot acceptance and June orientation scheduling in these letters. Please watch for this communication and reach out if you have not received anything within the next week.
Our program is closed on Monday so a four day weekend is ahead. Hope you are able to get outside and enjoy!
See you Tuesday!
Tanya Lenhard –PreK DirectorOffice phone: 719-486-6928Cell: 719-293-1055tdlenhard@lakecountyschools.net

Classroom and Curriculum Updates: As we get closer to the end of the school year we have been focusing on reviewing letter names and sounds. Teachers are helping preschoolers to “listen” for the first sound in words and identify the sound. You can practice this at home too! Name objects around your house emphasizing the first sound and support your child to identify the sound and name it. As our older preschoolers get ready to transition to kindergarten next year, we have been learning a lot about transitions. We have been discussing what is the same and what is different about preschool and kindergarten. What are you excited about? What are you nervous about? Reading books about kindergarten and talking about the transition over the next few months can help your child to feel more comfortable and know what to expect. Here is a link to “The Kissing Hand” , a well loved book about transitions. We also have several activities including a visit to Kinder on June 4th and an Ice Cream Social on June 5th to help support your child as well. Stay Tuned!
Kelly Horning Assistant DirectorOffice Phone: 719-486-6927 khorning@lakecountyschools.net

Family Engagement Corner“Happy Memorial Day Weekend!”

For Preschoolers, Memorial Day is a day to remember and thank the brave people who served in the military and gave their lives to protect our country. It’s a day to show appreciation for their sacrifice and the freedom they helped secure. Here’s how to explain Memorial Day to Preschoolers in a simple way:Focus on gratitude: Explain that Memorial Day is a day to be grateful for the soldiers who helped protect our country and to thank them for their bravery. Keep it simple: Use easy-to-understand language and avoid complex details. For example, you can say it’s a day to remember the people who passed away while working to keep us safe. Share stories and activities: You can share family stories about veterans, discuss the meaning of the flag, and engage in simple activities like decorating with red, white, and blue colors or making a snack that looks like the stars and stripes. Connect it to everyday life: Relate Memorial Day to the idea of people who help us, like firefighters and doctors. Explain that these helpers are also important and that we can thank them for their work. Remember the fallen: You can also share simple stories about people who passed away in service, emphasizing their bravery and sacrifice. You can also visit memorials or cemeteries to show your respect. Don’t overwhelm them: Keep the explanation age-appropriate and avoid going into too much detail. The goal is to introduce the concept of Memorial Day and instill a sense of gratitude and respect for those who served. Rhonda H. DeVoe, Preschool Family and Community Engagement Manager Office Phone: (719) 486-6925/Cell Phone: (719) 293-1403/Email: rdevoe@lakecountyschools.net

PK-2 Important Dates

May 22 K-2 Attendance Reward Rockies Game May 26 Memorial Day, NO SCHOOLMay 27 2nd grade Fieldwork at Hayden Meadows (leave 8:30, return 12:15)May 29 Community Meeting, curiosity led by specials, LCES Gym 8:00June 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) 6:00pmJune 10 K-2 Earth Day event activities on LCES Field (coordinated by FFROGS- high environmental club)June 11 K-2 Teddy Bear Picnic (see flier below)June 12 1st grade Fieldwork at Hayden Meadows (leave 8:45, return 1:45)June 16 K-2 Dollar Day (see flier below)June 16 K-2 Quarter 4 HOWLs Reward (cotton candy and extra recess)June 17 PK-2 Field DayJune 18 K-2 Awards Celebration, LCES Gymnasium 1:00pm (see flier below)June 19 PK Graduation, LCES Gymnasium 10:00amJune 19 LAST DAY OF SCHOOL, Dismissal 11:00am

Fliers