Elementary News and Updates (07/30/21)

Mark Your Calendars!

STEM PTO is inviting ALL students, families and staff to the STEM Community Night at Civic Green Park on Tuesday, Aug. 3 from 5-8 p.m. Pack a picnic. Bring your frisbee or soccer ball. PTO will set up games and tents. The water features will be on so bring a towel. Meet your classmates and community. HipPop will be at the event selling their awesome handcrafted gelato pops!!

Get in the STEM Spartan Spirit by wearing your class colors:

• K- Blue
• 1- Red
• 2- Green
• 3- Yellow
• 4- Purple
• 5- Grey
• MS- Black
• HS – White or their Graduation year shirts

Welcome to the 2021-22 School Year

To help our new and returning families be as prepared as possible for the start of the new school year, we will be offering five Welcome Back to School – Parent Info Sessions the week of Monday, Aug. 2 through Friday, Aug. 6 from 12-1 p.m. each day. Each session will cover important topics, outlined below, that all families should know in order to start the school year off on the right foot. Following a brief presentation on each topic, we will allow families to ask questions related to that topic. Each session will be over Zoom. We will record each session so that it will be available on the stemk12.org website for those who couldn’t attend.

• Monday, Aug. 2 (12-1 p.m.) – Driveline Procedures & PikMyKid (Elementary Families) – Zoom Link (Passcode: 628475)
• Tuesday, Aug. 3 (12-1 p.m.) – Getting Informed (Attendance line, using IC, visiting STEM, Student/Parent Handbook, Fees, School Photos, etc.) – Zoom Link (Passcode: 628475)
• Wednesday, Aug. 4 (12-1 p.m.) – Getting Connected (Communications Pathways, who to contact when?, communications at STEM, etc.) – Zoom Link (Passcode: 628475)
• Thursday, Aug. 5 (12-1 p.m.) – Getting Involved (volunteering, donating, STEM PTO, STEM SAC, etc.) – Zoom Link (Passcode: 628475)
• Friday, Aug. 6 (12-1 p.m.) – The STEM Experience (Enrichment and Athletics) – Zoom Link (Passcode: 628475)

Reach out to communications@stemk12.org with any questions.

Thursday, Aug. 5, from 3-4 p.m.

Elementary families interested in dropping off Classroom Supplies for teachers to use can do so on Thursday, Aug. 5 from 3-4 p.m. Teachers will be present to greet parents and receive those items. Items include:

• Kleenex
• Ziploc Bags (all sizes)
• Paper Towels
• Clorox Wipes
• Kickballs
• Soccer Balls
• Jump ropes
• Sidewalk Chalk

Thursday, Aug. 5, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Driveline Placards will be available for pick-up on Thursday, Aug. 5 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. We use the PikMyKid app to run our dismissal process and the placard will need to be displayed on your dashboard during pick-up. Please come to the Elementary School entrance to pick up your placard. No need to request one, as we will be printing placards for every family. If a staff member is not outside to give you your placard, please park and pick up your placard from the Elementary School office.

All new to STEM Elementary School students are invited to spend a portion of their day on Monday, Aug. 9 at STEM to kick off the year. Students will meet all the teachers and staff, tour the school, and engage in STEM activities.

Students in grades first and second will be invited to attend the morning session from 9-11 a.m. Students in grades third, fourth and fifth will be invited to attend the afternoon session from 12-2 p.m.

All STEM kindergarten students are invited to spend an abbreviated school day at STEM to kick off the year. Students will meet all the teachers and staff, tour the school, engage in STEM activities, and be informally assessed for classroom placement. We ask that all kindergarten students attend one session on either August 10 or August 11.

Available session options will be:

August 10

• AM Session from 8:30 – 10 a.m.
• PM Session from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

August 11

• AM Session from 8:30 – 10 a.m.
• PM Session from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Parents will receive classroom and teacher notification on the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug.11. The first full day of kindergarten will be on Thursday, Aug. 12. In order to ease parents and students in the initial drop-off and the start of kindergarten classes, we ask that kindergarten students be dropped off at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday and Friday of that week only. Teachers will meet students in the gated sandbox area to the north of the Elementary School Entrance driveline drop-off area. Please be on the lookout for an email from our kindergarten team of teachers later this summer.

Thursday, Aug. 12, from 9-10 a.m.

Kindergarten parents are invited into the cafeteria for coffee and treats after sending their little ones off to their first full day of kindergarten. It will be a way for parents to connect. Families should park in the Elementary School parking lot. This event is following Kindergarten’s first day of School Drop-Off.

Wednesday, Aug. 25, from 5:30-7 p.m. – Kindergarten through Second Grade

Thursday, Aug. 26, from 5:30-7 p.m. – Third Through Fifth Grade

Parents are invited to come to school and follow their student’s schedule for the evening. Parents may tour the building, meet administrators, visit their student’s teacher, and see a grade level presentation. Parents only please. Please park in the Elementary School Parking Lot and enter through the Elementary School Entrance. No sign-up is needed.

Elementary Yearbooks are ready for pick up!

Families can begin picking up their yearbooks from the Middle School Office on Wednesday, July 14, Wednesday, July 21 and Wednesday, July 28. Hours for pick up are from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. The students can also get their yearbook when school starts on Tuesday, Aug. 10 from the Elementary School Office. We have a few extras, so if you are interested in buying one click the button below.

We are looking for volunteers to support our teachers as they get ready to return to school. Volunteer opportunities could include: helping with staff breakfast, helping with PD games and events, helping teachers set up rooms. If you are interested, please provide us with the dates and times you are available and we will partner you with a teacher or event. Are you cleaning out your closet? Think about donating some of your used items to STEM for our staff PD. Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up. Items can be brought to the Main office on Monday

Nutrition Services is excited to start the new 2021-2022 School Year. After a year of so much change, we too are looking forward to a return to “normal” operations. We wanted to make sure all Building Leaders were aware of how Nutrition Services will be operating this year. Below are some highlights of what you can expect from this upcoming year:

• USDA has extended Meals at No Cost through June 30, 2022. This means that breakfast (where offered) and lunch will continue to be provided at no cost to all students.
• Remote meal bags will no longer be provided once the school year begins. All meals will be served in school cafeterias to students.
• Nutrition Services will resume use of our Harvest Bars, allowing self-serve bulk fruit and vegetable options for kids at all levels to increase consumption. Self-Serve procedures are all Tri-County Health Department approved. Hand Sanitizer stations and gloves will be available on all serving lines for customer use.
• Nutrition Services has raised our starting wages for Kitchen Assistants to $15 per hour and Kitchen Managers to $18.26 per hour to assist in our hiring. Central Office
• Age-Appropriate Smart Snack-approved Ala Carte items will be served at all school sites in conjunction with breakfast and lunch. Parents can opt-out as well as add limits to their child’s account at any time by contacting Nutrition Services at paula.wilson@dcsdk12.org.

In addition to these operational changes, Nutrition Services will be resuming our fun, in-person events, such as Colorado Proud Day on September 15th, our Turkey Day feast on November 17th, National School Lunch Week October 12-16th and our Nutrition Services Taste of DCSD Open House (timing TBD). We hope to see more of you all this year as we work to provide delicious, nutritious meals alongside a sense of normalcy for our students.