LCES Panther Cub Communication #36
May 4-7, 2026
Para traducir al español, desplácese hasta el final y haga clic en la bandera
Dear Families and Guardians,
What a wonderful week at LCES! On Thursday morning, we held our Community Meeting celebrating the HOWL of Curiosity, led by our kindergarten students. Kindergarten proudly shared their learning about recycling, reusing, and reducing, and we loved seeing their excitement and creativity shine! Congratulations to our students of the month for Curiosity.
Next week, students in grades K–2 will complete their end-of-year literacy benchmark assessments. We are excited to see the tremendous growth our students have made in their reading skills this year. Please help your child do their very best by ensuring they get plenty of sleep, eat a healthy breakfast, and arrive at school ready to learn.
Next week is also Teacher Appreciation Week! Our staff works incredibly hard each day to support, encourage, and inspire students. We encourage families to take a moment to thank your child’s teacher for all they do.
We are also kicking off our May Reading Challenge, happy reading! We hope students enjoy spending extra time with great books throughout the month.
Thank you for your continued partnership and support. Have a wonderful weekend.
Go Panthers!
Brandi Lovely, PK-2 Principal
From School Nurse, Colleen Nielsen, RN
We continue to monitor the measles in our schools. We have not had any new cases. We remain at one confirmed case. Please go to the Lake County Public Health website for up-to-date information including upcoming vaccination clinics.
Are you unvaccinated, or unsure of your status?
Vaccination is still strongly encouraged for anyone unvaccinated or uncertain about their status. View all exposure locations here.
Vaccines clinics are available at Lake County Public Health
- Friday May 1 from 10AM – 4PM – (Register here)
- Tuesday May 5 from 12PM-5PM – Call to schedule an appointment
LCES Important Dates (PK – 2nd)
May 4-7- End of Year Benchmark DIBELS assessment K-2 students
May 5– Dollar Day (Flier below)
May 7- K-2 Music Concert, doors open at 5:40 and concert begins at 6:00
May 12- 1st Grade Fieldwork at Hayden Meadows
May 14- 2nd Grade Fieldwork at Hayden Meadows
May 20- K-2 Attendance Reward @ Colorado Rockies game
May 21- LCSD Art Show @ LCES 5-7pm
Helpful Link: Lake County School District Calendar
K-2 Specifics
Interested in more literacy resources? Check out this website from CDE: https://www.readlearnleadco.org/
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 28th. If your student is chosen by their teacher, we will reach out at the beginning of that week to let you know!
Attendance
Attendance Pizza Challenge: Our next pizza attendance challenge ends Thursday, May 7th! See details in the fliers section below!
April Attendance Challenge: Today is the end of our monthly attendance challenge for the month of April! Congratulations to Ms. Enriquez’s crew for having the best attendance percentage in the whole school for the whole month of April! These friends will receive an extra recess for their 93.92% attendance! Our May Attendance Challenge starts on Monday. 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 ends today! 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 Q4 Challenge: We are excited to announce our quarter 4 HOWLs challenge! Your student will try to earn as many HOWL Dollars as they can for the chance to earn cotton candy and extra recess with the principals at the end of the quarter! The top six 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.
K-2 Project Dream
LCES Project Dream Information
Raquel Contreras
LCES Site Supervisor
719-293-5363
rcontreras@lakecountyschools.net
The Center Specifics
Dear Center Families,
It has been another busy and fun filled week at The Center. We have finished with our Habitat Domain. Ash Warner from C4 came this week to each of the classrooms and did a couple of activities focused on animals, habitats, and animals specific to Colorado. We are moving into more classic fairy tales for the next two weeks.
With May comes Teacher Appreciation! Next week is a week that we will be celebrating our amazing teachers. Families are welcome to join us in this celebration. Some ideas include sending along a note of thanks, giving an extra verbal thank you, or having your child make a picture to bring into school.
Preschool will be getting neighbors next year! Next year our school district is consolidating into 2 main buildings. If you have not already heard this information, some first and kindergarten classrooms will be joining preschool in our area of the building and we will be moving from 5 classrooms to 4 with a model that has 3 teachers assigned to a classroom. You can find out more information regarding the building consolidation here https://www.lakecountyschools.net/2026-school-consolidation/ .
It is May 1, there are 13 more days to submit your child’s application for preschool for the 26-27 school year to be considered in 1st selection on May 15. We do have a fillable PDF version, but this structure does not automatically notify us. In order to complete the application, these steps need to be completed:
- Download the PDF
- Fill it out
- Email it to either mamartinez@lakecountyschools.net or tdlenhard@lakecountyschools.net .
We apologize if this process has been challenging. We also have good old paper applications, let us know if you need one!
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,
What a great week it has been.
We have seen an increase in toys and stuffed animals coming to school. Please remember to keep toys at home, and only one stuffed animal to be used during nap time. All stuffies will be kept in the child’s cubby/backpack during school hours, and brought out during that time.
Please remember when signing your child in and out, please make sure to include the time and print or your signature must be legible.
May tuition has been applied to your child’s account. The due date is by May 5, to avoid a $10.00 late fee.
We know that our district phones have been in and out lately. If your child is absent, we encourage you to text Marissa at 719-427-7075 or LCES Office Cell phone 719-293-0931 before 9:20am. This will allow the time to mark your child with an excused absence. The following system shows our steps if we do not receive attendance communication from families. This process is a part of our Attendance Policy.
- At 9:30 the automatic phone system will call any family we have not heard from.
- At 10:30 Raquel will begin to directly reach out to families regarding your child’s absence.
Your communication supports accurate data so we can respond accordingly if we are seeing trends, like child illness. Thank you for your partnership and your communication!
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
Menus
Menus can be found in your child’s yellow folder at the end of each month or in our main entrance vestibules!
Fliers
Mental Health Matters This May
May is Mental Health Awareness Month—a great time to check in on your student’s emotional well-being. Stress, anxiety, and end-of-year transitions can impact how students feel and perform. The School-Based Health Centers through Elevated Community Health are here to support students with a safe, supportive space and access to care right on campus.
Looking ahead to summer, select School-Based Health Centers will remain open, so students can continue receiving care even when school is out.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 970-710-5049.
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La salud mental es importante este mayo
Mayo es el Mes de la Concientización sobre la Salud Mental, un buen momento para reflexionar sobre el bienestar emocional de su estudiante. El estrés, la ansiedad y las transiciones de fin de año pueden afectar cómo se sienten y se desempeñan los estudiantes. Los Centros de Salud Escolar a través de Elevated Community Health están aquí para apoyar a los estudiantes con un espacio seguro y acceso a servicios directamente en la escuela.
Pensando en el verano, algunos Centros de Salud Escolar permanecerán abiertos, para que los estudiantes puedan seguir recibiendo atención incluso cuando no haya clases.
Para más información o para programar una cita, llame al 970-710-5049.
Rockies Rock Summer Camp – Enrollment Open!
Join Get Outdoors Leadville for an unforgettable summer of outdoor adventure, confidence-building, and connection with nature.
Enroll by April 16th (requests processed by 4/23).
Questions or need help signing up? Visit our Open House on April 9th, 5–7 PM at the Get Outdoors Leadville building (next to Climax Building at CMC, 901 US-24, Room 219).
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Campamento de Verano Rockies Rock – ¡Inscripciones Abiertas!
Únete a Get Outdoors Leadville para un verano inolvidable de aventuras al aire libre, desarrollo de confianza y conexión con la naturaleza.
Inscríbete antes del 16 de abril (las solicitudes se procesarán antes del 23/4).
¿Tienes preguntas o necesitas ayuda para inscribirte? Visita nuestra Casa Abierta el 9 de abril, de 5 a 7 PM en el edificio de Get Outdoors Leadville (junto al edificio Climax en CMC, 901 US-24, salón 219).
