Friday, January 29, 2021

Week of February 1, 2021

Friday Flyers:

Updated Information Regarding COVID-19 and Illness:

The Colorado Department of Public Health had updated guidelines for schools for students that are exhibiting COVID symptoms for 48 hours or greater. If your child exhibits these symptoms and is out of school for 2 days, our nurse, Jen Kester, will send you this information and get in touch with you to discuss.

These guidelines are for when a person has had:

- Major symptoms of illness for 24 hours or greater (Loss of taste or smell, fever of 100 or greater, new or worsening cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing)

- Minor symptoms of illness for 48 hours or greater (sore throat, runny nose or congestion, muscle or body aches, headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea).

Options:

1. You can take your child to get a PCR COVID-19 test.

If results are negative, your student may return after they have been fever free for 24 hours without medication, all other symptoms are improving and they can wear a mask. You will need to provide test results to the nurse or administration before their return

2. You can also opt for a 10 day home isolation from the onset of symptoms.

For example, if symptoms began on 1/1/21, you would count 1/2/21 as day 1 and student would isolate through the end of day on 1/11/21 and could return to normal activities on 1/12 as long as they has been fever free for 24 hours without medication and all other symptoms are improving and they can wear a mask

News from the Art Room:

Congratulations to our January Artist of the Month Ian B. in Mrs. Ackerman's class for his Color Monster painting and our February Artist of the Month Lyra W. in Miss Gardner's class for her Owl Moon painting. You can view their artwork in front of the art room if you're in the building and online in our 2020/2021 Artist of the Month album. Happy Creating!

News from PE:

In the next few weeks of PE we will be working on basketball skills with a day dedicated to dribbling, passing and shooting with drills and modified games. We will be using cooperation and communication to complete some awesome parachute activities as well as practicing teamwork and sportsmanship in some fun and exciting Kinball games.

CDE Evidence Outcomes:

Kgt: Move synchronously with others.

1st: Demonstrate fundamental manipulative skills.- Standing in place, dribble a ball continuously with one's dominant hand.

2nd: Throw, catch, strike, and trap objects while stationary or moving with a partner.

3rd: Dribble while changing speed and direction.

4th: Dribble and pass an object to a moving receiver.

5th: Dribble a ball (by hand or foot) while preventing another person from stealing the ball.

Blessing Bags in BASE:

BASE will be collecting items to put in reusable water bottles to give to the homeless during the week of February 15-20. BASE is currently accepting clean new/used water bottles. Please send in your water bottles to the school office. Please see the flyer above for more details.

We are Open and Ready to Serve!

Clothes To Kids of Denver (CTKD) provides FREE clothing to children and youth who are in need or in crisis. To shop, students must live in Metro Denver, be age 3 - 21 and be enrolled in school (remote or in-person) or working toward a GED.

Our wardrobe includes 5 outfits, 1 coat, 1 pair of shoes, 1 bra (optional) and 5 pairs each of new underwear and new socks. Students are invited to select clothing in a welcoming, store-like setting or can order a wardrobe for contactless curbside pick-up.

Curbside and In-Person Service Available

We are very excited to have in person shoppers in our store and are taking extra precautions to protect the health and safety of our visitors, volunteers and staff.

Take a look at our COVID-19 Safety Procedures to learn more.

For families who would prefer a contactless option, we are continuing to offer wardrobes via Curbside Service. This option enables parents and caregivers to request a wardrobe for any student in need, and our staff will shop on their behalf.

Families wishing to shop in person or request a wardrobe for pick-up should call us at 720-379-4630 or email us at appointment@clothestokidsdenver.org for an appointment. Up-to-date phone hours are on the Shop With Us page of our website.

No Referral Required! No matter how families choose to shop, we have temporarily loosened our referral requirements and are providing wardrobes to anyone who says the young people in their households are in need of our services, no questions asked.

Hours of Operation

Happy 2021! We are back in action and have returned to normal operating hours:

Tuesdays - Fridays 9:00 - 4:00

Saturdays 9:00 - 3:00

Sundays & Mondays Closed

Donations Accepted

Fridays & Saturdays 9:00 - 3:00

Donate on Fridays & Saturdays

We are now accepting clothing and shoe donations on Fridays and Saturdays only between 9:00 and 3:00. We are in need of the basic wardrobe staples (shorts, pants, tops, shoes, etc.). We still cannot accept "extras" at this time.

Donating is Easy!

Gather your clean and ready-to-wear items. Check our updated Donation Guidelines for ideas. Please sort items by category (girls, boys, young women, young men and shoes) to save time at drop-off.

When you arrive, pull into our loading zone and wait in your car until any staff members or other donors are at a safe distance.
Empty your donations into one of our rolling bins located outside of our door.
Please do not leave donations inside of plastic bags. Place your donations in our bins and take your bags with you to reuse.

Join Our Team!

Do you know anyone interested in joining our fabulous team as a full-time Merchandising Associate? Please share this job description!

ABOUT CLOTHES TO KIDS OF DENVER

Clothes To Kids of Denver provides new and quality used clothing in a boutique setting to students from low-income or in-crisis families in the Denver Metro area.

Since 2008 Clothes To Kids has provided more than 70,000 school wardrobes to students in need, completely free of charge. Please join us in celebrating our accomplishments of the past, and help ensure our continued success in the future. Visit us online at www.clothestokidsdenver.org or call 720-379-4630.

Take a look inside our boutique and see how Clothes To Kids changes the lives of deserving students:

DONATE TODAY!

You are receiving this update because you or your workplace has referred students to Clothes To Kids. Please reply to this message if you would like someone else at your school/agency to be added or you would like to be removed from this list. Please help us reach more kids by forwarding this message to your colleagues, networks and list-serves.

Thank you for helping us spread the word!

Upcoming Events:

Feb 9: Freddy's Restaurant Night for IHE

Feb 10: PTO Meeting - 3:45-4:45pm (virtual link on the school website)

Feb 12: NO SCHOOL - Professional Development Day

Feb 15: NO SCHOOL - President's Day

Feb 16: SAC Meeting - 3:45-4:45pm (virtual link on the school website)

Friday, January 22, 2021

Week of January 18, 2021

Friday Flyers:

Chipotle Restaurant Night Flyers

Hawks Lacrosse

Masks and Students:

As a reminder, students are required to wear masks on school grounds at all times. This includes when students are exiting their vehicles, waiting for car line pick ups, and walking to areas that are deemed off campus (trailhead and sidewalk along gravel lot, sidewalk along Hilltop). Please have your child put on their mask before leaving the car in the morning. Our teachers are also reminding students as they leave for the day.

We are also seeing a lot of students wearing gaiters. We have noticed that these tend to not stay up on their noses, thus creating a safety issue. We encourage all of our students to wear well-fitting masks that cover the nose and do not slip for the safety of our staff and other students. With everyone's help, we can continue to stay in school!

Spelling Bee Winners:

We are excited to announce that Rylee H. is our spelling bee champion for 2021 and Brandon D. is our runner up! In the event that Rylee cannot attend the spelling bee, Brandon will take her place. Congratulations to both of you!

January’s News from the STEM Room:

This month the students will investigate the role that hills play in making roller coasters move. They will think about the world in terms of energy and begin to make sense of how and why things speed up and slow down. They will create hands on activities that focus on engineering, testing a hypothesis and using results to develop their ideas.

Read-A-Thon:

Chipotle Night for IHE:

Please join us at Chipotle on January 27 for dinner and raise funds for IHE at the same time! Please mention Iron Horse when you order (including online with the code YVNRR67) and we will receive 33% of the night's profits!

PTO Newsletter:

As a reminder, when you click on any of the links within the PTO Newsletter each month (even if you're not interested), IHE receives a small monetary amount that is given to us twice per year. This is an easy way to support our school!

Gifted and Talented News:

As part of the DCSD Universal Screening process and our commitment to equitable identification for gifted programming, DCSD will administer the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT 7) during the weeks of Feb. 8 - March 5, 2021. This assessment indicates the level and pattern of cognitive development of a student in comparison to grade and age mates. Please see below for specific information based on your child’s current grade.

2nd Grade Universal Screen

As part of this process, ALL students in 2nd grade who have not been identified for gifted programming will take the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) the week of February 8th. This assessment indicates the level and pattern of cognitive development of a student in comparison to grade and age mates. These general reasoning abilities, which start developing at birth and continue through early adulthood, are influenced by experiences gained both in and out of school.
If your child is already identified for gifted programming, they will not participate in this universal screen testing. Your Gifted Education Facilitator will contact you directly with more detailed information about this process.

Gifted Identification Referral Testing

If your child is in grades K, 1, 3, 4 and you believe he/she needs evaluation for Gifted Identification and Services, you may refer your child for testing by initiating the Gifted Identification Process.
NOTE: Requesting this assessment automatically initiates the process to evaluate for Gifted Identification.

Please request CogAT testing for your child by completing the Referral for Gifted Identification linked here: Iron Horse Gifted Referral Form

Upon receipt of this form the Gifted Education Facilitator will connect with you to discuss next steps in the gifted identification process.

5th Grade Universal Screen from November 2020 - Makeups

Students who were not able to take the test in November will take the CogAT during this February window
Students who started the CogAT but were not able to finish will have the chance to take the portion(s) that was not completed during this February window.

eLearners

Families with students currently enrolled in eLearning will receive detailed information about their CogAT testing options and logistics directly from the DCSD District Team/eLearning Administration. If you do not receive this information by Jan 22, 2021, please contact the DCSD Gifted Education Team at: gifted.education@dcsdk12.org.

Please see the following for additional information linked below:

2020 - 2021 Spring CogAT UNIVERSAL Screening Letter

Upcoming Events:

Jan 25: Read-a-Thon Begins

Jan 27: Chipotle Restaurant Night for IHE

Jan 29: Read-a-Thon Ends

Feb 9: Freddy's Restaurant Night for IHE

Feb 10: PTO Meeting - 3:45-4:45pm (virtual link on the school website)

Feb 12: NO SCHOOL - Professional Development Day

Feb 15: NO SCHOOL - President's Day

Feb 16: SAC Meeting - 3:45-4:45pm (virtual link on the school website)

Friday, January 15, 2021

Week of January 11, 2021

Friday Flyers:

Meal Bag Information

Read-a-Thon Flyer

Masks and Students:

Apple Award Nominees:

We are so excited to share our 2021 Apple Award Nominees, Mrs. Stephanie Dale and Mrs. Molly Parker! These ladies are so deserving and we are so proud of them!

Read-A-Thon:

We are excited to begin our Read-a-Thon very soon! This is our largest fundraiser of the year and all funds earned will be used to support the purchase of materials for experiments for our science curriculum, STEMScopes. Students will engage in a virtual assembly next Friday in their classroom and more information will be coming home soon!

Spelling Bee:

We will be holding our annual spelling bee on January 22nd. Students will complete the Bee in cohorts by class, maintaining a 6 foot distance, in the cafeteria. Unfortunately, due to the continued health guidelines, as well as Bee guidelines, we are unable to have an audience (virtually or in-person). We will share the results with the community as soon as possible on the 22nd.

Chipotle Night for IHE:

Please join us at Chipotle on January 27 for dinner and raise funds for IHE at the same time! Please mention Iron Horse when you order and we will receive a percentage of the night's profits.

PTO Newsletter:

Parent Opportunity:

Dr. Susan’s Coaching is providing her very first FREE Parent Workshop! REGISTER USING THIS LINK

How to Help Kids Get Stuff Done!

January 14, 2021
6:30 - 8 PM MST (Mountain)
5:30 - 7 PST (Pacific) or 8:30 - 10 EST (Eastern)
and
January 25, 2021
5 - 6:30 PM MST (Mountain)
4 - 5:30 PST (Pacific) and 7- 8:30 EST (Eastern)

No Place for Hate:
IHE is proud to be joining schools across the nation in the Anti-Defamation Leagues (ADL) campaign to promote respect for individual and group differences and to prevent bullying and prejudice. As part of this campaign, our school is working to create a group which includes staff members, parents, and students in grades 3 and 4 who will work together for the remainder of the year to create activities for the school that will promote kindness, respect, and acceptance for all people. If you are interested in joining as a parent or community member, please contact Alejandra Chavez-Stuart at achavezstuart@dcsdk12.org or Carly Wise at cwise@dcsdk12.org.

6th Grade Cimarron Registration Information:
Please see this link for registration information if you are a 5th grade parent.

Upcoming Events:

Jan 18: NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Jan 22: Read-a-Thon Virtual Assembly

Jan 25: Read-a-Thon Begins

Jan 27: Chipotle Restaurant Night for IHE

Jan 29: Read-a-Thon Ends

Feb 9: Freddy's Restaurant Night for IHE

Feb 10: PTO Meeting - 3:45-4:45pm (virtual link on the school website)

Feb 12: NO SCHOOL - Professional Development Day

Feb 15: NO SCHOOL - President's Day

Feb 16: SAC Meeting - 3:45-4:45pm (virtual link on the school website)

Friday, January 8, 2021

Week of January 4, 2021

Friday Flyers:

None this week

Welcome Back! We are SO excited to welcome our kiddos back to the building!

Kindergarten Registration:

Registration for 2021-2022 Kindergarteners is now open! Please contact the office for more information on how to enroll your kindergartner.

Read-a-Thon:

PTO will be hosting our biggest fundraiser of the year, our Read-a-Thon, beginning January 22nd. Please be on the lookout for more information soon!

Upcoming Events:

Jan 13: PTO Meeting - 3:45-4:45pm (virtual link on the school website)

Jan 18: NO SCHOOL - Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Jan 25: Read-a-Thon Begins

Jan 27: Chipotle Restaurant Night for IHE

Jan 29: Read-a-Thon Ends

Feb 9: Freddy's Restaurant Night for IHE

Feb 10: PTO Meeting - 3:45-4:45pm (virtual link on the school website)

Feb 12: NO SCHOOL - Professional Development Day

Feb 15: NO SCHOOL - President's Day

Feb 16: SAC Meeting - 3:45-4:45pm (virtual link on the school website)

Thursday, December 17, 2020

Week of December 14, 2020

Friday Fliers:

Family Care Connection Project

We wish you a wonderful and relaxing holiday break with your loved ones! The IHE Staff will see you on January 5th!

Let's shine a light on the important work of early learning providers during an extraordinary time in our world. We will discuss how to identify red flags, build resilience, and seek support despite the limitations this pandemic has created. Concrete resources and activities will be provided during these interactive virtual trainings.

January 12, 2021, 6-7:30

Young Children and Families in a Pandemic-What do we know and what can we do?

Living in a Pandemic has impacted every person in our local community and abroad. How has limited social contact, mask wearing, and separation impacted young children and families? We will explore concerns to look for and unexpected benefits of experiencing the pandemic. Learn how providers can help themselves while supporting the littlest learners.

February 9, 2021, 6-7:30

Social Emotional Development-Looking for Red Flags and Supporting Growth

What is social-emotional development and why is it important? How can we support children returning to early childhood programs in the midst of a pandemic? This workshop will help providers recognize social emotional concerns in young children, create activities to help this growth, and consider community support resources. This interactive training is designed to give you practical information you can use.

March 9, 2021, 6-7:30

Building Resilience in Young Children

Resilience describes the handling of stress, trauma, and adversity. We all experience varying levels of challenges in our lives and the way we bounce back from them demonstrates how resilient we can be. We will explore why resilience is important, activities that promote resilience, and how caregivers can build their own capacity for resilience during difficult times.