Elementary News and Updates (02/12/21)

Deadline extended to February 28, 2021

Do you Intend to Return for the 2021-22 School Year?

For enrollment planning purposes, please let us know, either way if your child plans to return to STEM School Highlands Ranch next year.

Please complete this form for each of your currently attending STEM students. If you are currently enrolled at STEM please let us know that your child is returning. You do not need to “open enroll” to remain at STEM. If your child is currently attending STEM, they will be automatically enrolled for next year. Please also complete the form if your student is planning to seek enrollment at another school so that we can have an accurate count of returning students.

Do you Have a Sibling Who Wants to Attend STEM Next Year?

Does your current STEM student have a sibling who is interested in attending STEM for the 2021-22 school year? Did you know that they have priority on our waitlist? Please add them to our waitlist now! STEM’s open enrollment is now open and we will begin notifying families of accepted spots for the 2021-22 school year beginning Tuesday, Dec. 1.

Now Accepting Names for the 2021-22 School Year!

STEM is now accepting names for the waitlist for 2021-22 and beyond. Please spread the word to your family and friends. They can add their child to the waitlist here! We will begin notifying families of accepted spots beginning on December 1, 2020. Please note that STEM does not follow the Douglas County Open Enrollment process.

Intent to Attend Your Neighborhood School

If you wish to attend your neighborhood school, you must return this form to that school no later than January 5th. This will allow your child to attend that school in the fall of next year (2021-22).

Questions? Please call the MS office at 303-683-7836 or check the website for more enrollment information.

Whether you’ve never before addressed mental health issues, have started to see symptoms, need additional/different resources, or just want to ask questions, STEM Highlands Ranch is committed to ensuring that everyone in our community has easy access to all the mental health resources we can make available. We can provide support for in-school services and out-of-school services, as well as general information and answers to specific questions.

Please contact Elizabeth Brown, our Recovery Coordinator, at Elizabeth.Brown@stemk12.org, or via phone at 303-884-1576 (cell), or 303-683-7836 ext 1583.

Yearbooks for this school year are ready for purchase. Click here to order. The deadline to order is March 12, 2021. There is also a mail home option for the yearbook.

In late August/early September of 2020, STEM had to make an adjustment to its Academic Calendar to extend the school year by a few days in order to account for our delayed start. The last day (half day) for Elementary is Friday, May 21 and the last day (half day) for Secondary is Tuesday, May 25. You can view the updated Calendar here. Additionally, graduation has been moved to Thursday, May 20 at 2 p.m. at EchoPark Stadium.

Due to the delayed start at the beginning of the school year that has impacted our required academic minutes, if DCSD calls for a SCHOOL CLOSURE due to weather, STEM will operate on a Virtual Day Schedule instead. This decision was made to prevent having to add additional days at the end of the school year to make up for a snow day. If DCSD calls for a DELAYED START due to weather, STEM will operate on a Virtual Day Schedule.

Students will be holding a Book Exchange during the week of March 1-4, as part of our Love of Reading Week. We are asking that students bring in gently used, grade-level appropriate books sometime during the week of February 22-25, and drop them off in their grade level’s box in the Elementary School lobby. The following week all students will have the opportunity to select a new book or two to take home. Any leftover books will be donated to classroom libraries.

Don’t Delay! Show your STEM Spartan Pride by ordering from the NEW gear that is available in the SpartMart Store. Check out the flier to the right for more information. The SpartMart is operated by STEM students and the gear is designed by STEM students as well.

Make sure to designate your Pick-Up Mode and your Delegates (if necessary) prior to 1:45 p.m. each day.

Pick-Up Modes:

• West Driveline Pick-Up Mode – ALL students being picked up by car
• Walker – Meeting your student at the ES Doors
• Sibling Pick-Up – ES students with Secondary Siblings that are walking

Remember to only enter the Driveline at your designated time and display your placard. To help our driveline volunteers, please keep your placard up until you leave the parking lot. Also, to help us be good neighbors to our business park neighbors, please do not stack along Barrons Blvd.

• Green – K-1 Grades Only – 2:20 p.m.
• Orange – 2-5 Grades (with K-1 sibling) – 2:30 p.m.
• Yellow – K-5 with Secondary Sibling – 2:55 p.m.

DCSD will be providing weekly remote meal bag pick-ups at all neighborhood Middle Schools in Douglas County (pick-up not available at STEM). Meal pick-ups do NOT require pre-order. Simply pull up to our curbside pickup locations and request a meal for kids, just like our Summer Feeding sites. Kids do not need to attend DCSD Schools and do not need to be present for pickup. Please see the flier to right for more information.

DCSD Nutrition Services is hiring! They are offering four- and six-hour per day Kitchen Assistant positions in Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock and Parker. Partial or full benefits are available with pay starting at $12/hr. Nights, weekends and school breaks off! Click the button below to apply.

PAWSTHETICS is a curated experience designed with and inspired and informed by subject matter experts from 3D printing. Our third-grade students, STEM teachers (Ms. Swihart and Ms. Martin), and STEM experts and collaborators (Ms. Basu and Dr. Cannady) have been collaborating and working with Debra Wilcox CEO at the 3Dprinting Store, and Adam Hecht Co-founder and Designer at DiveDesign, to 3D design prosthetics for pets. Students will apply 21st-Century skills to solve problems, professionally communicate to experts, and pitch their solutions.

Students have been researching the topic and preparing for each meeting. Students are working on the designs and learning new software to use the 3D printers at the school. The road of 3D printing in third-grade at STEM has begun.

Elementary Virtual Book Club

School pictures for students that do not have a current photo for this school year:

We will be offering a picture day at STEM on February 16 & 17 (Elementary on the 16th only)

• Elementary students will go with their class at a time of their teacher’s choosing (teachers will communicate the time with their e-learners).
  • There will be a Class Composite created for each class.
  • Parents will have the opportunity to purchase individual and class composite photos.
• Secondary students should go to the gym during their lunch hour to have their picture taken.
  • Please remind your student on picture day as they will not be called down.
  • E-learners should come in their cohort day between 11:15 a.m. – 1:15 p.m.

If your student is unable to take advantage of this picture day at school, please set an appointment to have their picture taken at the photographer’s studio.

• The deadline to have the updated picture included in the yearbook is February 17, 2021

Friday, Feb. 17 – National Acts of Kindness Day

Wednesday, Feb. 24 – Submission Deadline

Whether you’re giving or receiving it, kindness can make you feel better, do better and make the world a better place. So let’s show, share and inspire kindness and see just how kind we can be. Visit the website below and upload an original photo, drawing or video, or tell a story about what kindness means to you. We’ll share your submissions on our site and social media, and we’ll all celebrate kindness together. Submit your photo, drawing, video or story by Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021.

February 18, 2021, by 8 p.m.

The annual STEM’s Got Talent event will take place on March 10 and there’s still time to turn in your audition submission for consideration. By sure to do so by Thursday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. to be considered. Use the form via the button below.

February 25, 2021 – All Day!

The Kindies will be celebrating 100 Days of Learning by dressing up like 100-year-olds and completing fun learning activities. All are welcome to join in the fun. Email kelly.thatcher@stemk12.org with questions.

February 25, 26 and 27 from 7-9 p.m.

STEM School Highlands Ranch is proud to invite you to our very first live virtual theater performance. Digi-Tales is a collection of four short live digital shows in various genres designed for Zoom. Each performance will be a live broadcast from the comfort of each actor’s home, and streamed to you, to bring you theater you can watch with your sweatpants on.

Digi-Tales is a collaboration between Middle School and High School, and includes the following four shows:

• ‘The Magic of Zoom’ is Hogwarts meets Zoom! Visit our magical student’s in their first day of Professor Snope’s classroom.
• ‘The Edge of Noir’ is a dark detective mystery in the digital world.
• ‘Who’s There?’ is a suspenseful tale of high schooler’s stuck at home when things go bump in the night.
• ‘Attack of the Zumitrons!’ As a fleet of starships returns home from a mission, they are ambushed by angry Zumitron aliens.

Tickets for the Youtube Live performance are available at $10 per household. Click the button below to purchase tickets. Links to the live shows will be sent in the receipt email, but please reach out to Sara.Phelps@stemk12.org with questions.

March 1-5, 2021

We’re preparing for our Love of Reading Week coming up from March 1-5, 2021. We’re looking for local, regional and national celebrities to help read to our students via Zoom and show their Love of Reading. If you know someone who may be interested in reading to our students, please use the sign-up form via the button to the right.

Spirit week activities surrounding Love of Reading Event:

• Monday, March 1 – School Spirit STEM Pride Day (First grade will dress like 101 Dalmatians for 101 days of school)
• Tuesday, March 2 – Dress like your favorite Book Character
• Wednesday, March 3 – Dr Seuss Day
• Thursday, March 4 – Pajama Day (Wear pajamas and be ready to snuggle up with a great book)
• Friday, March 5 – Hat Day (Hats off to Reading)

March 1-5, 2021

Our annual Scholastic Book Fair will take place 100% online this year. It will take place from March 1st – 5th. More details to come soon!

March 10, 2021 – Zoom Webinar

STEM’s Got Talent will go on this year with some slight modifications. We will record the students on March 3rd and 4th and air the recording via a Zoom webinar on March 10th. Awards will be announced that evening. More details to come soon!

*Due to COVID 19, no visitors or volunteers are allowed inside the building at this time. Volunteer requirements will be adjusted as needed. If you are making a donation, please keep track of your donated items for the time being until we provide additional instructions on how to log your hours.

Volunteer opportunities below are all outside of the school building.

We would like to invite parents to help during outdoor lunch & recess time each day. Recess starts at 10:50 a.m. and ends at 1 p.m. If you are interested, please enter through the Elementary School lobby, register as a visitor and complete the health screening form.

After completing the registration form, we ask that you meet grade levels at the Elementary School playground on the East side of the school. Masks are required.

If you have some extra time in the mornings or afternoons, please consider signing up to volunteer for our Elementary School Driveline. We need volunteers to help from 7:20-7:50 a.m. with unloading students from their cars and getting them to their class stones. In the afternoon, we need volunteers to help from 2:10-3:10 p.m. with loading students into their cars.

If you are interested, please enter through the Elementary School lobby, register as a visitor and complete the health screening form. Masks are required.

Staff Feedback Team Donations

The Staff Feedback Team is seeking “treat” donations for staff. If you are interested in donating any of these items, please bring to the MS Office labeled “SFC Treats” – thank you so much!!

Individual bags of:

• Mixed nuts
• Pretzels
• Vegan Variety pack
• fruit leather
• oreo snack packs
• BBQ Lays
• Justin’s Nut Butter squeeze packs
• Olives to go
• pickles to go
• Sparkling water
• regular water
• small soda pop cans
• bottles of tea
• chips
• goldfish
• cookies
• crackers
• rice crispy treats
• jerky sticks/pouches
• non-food options: lip balm and lotion.

ES Healthroom Donations

We are in immediate need of underwear and pants (girls size 5-8) for students who have an accident. Please sign up using the link to the right. Donations can be dropped off at the Elementary School Office.

ES Counseling Donations:

• Water beads refill
• Assorted sports beads
• Craft beads like these or any of these
• Plastic funnels

Please bring to the ES Office labeled ES Counseling. Thank you!

Additionally, we have an ongoing need for classroom and health room donations. Click the link to the right to see all of the donation items that we are collecting for, and to sign up.