Elementary News and Updates (02/10/23)

Dear STEM Families,

I can’t believe we are already almost halfway through February. The days are getting a little longer, though still cold, but I can tell spring is around the corner. I always encourage parents to create a partnership with their student’s teacher. This allows for questions and concerns (both academics and behavior) about your student to be addressed immediately. I ask that if you have questions or concerns about your student, to please reach out to the teacher first, as they know your student the best. If you still have questions or concerns after the initial conversation, please feel free to reach out to me or Jessica Manazanares, the dean. We will be hosting parent-teacher conferences the week of March 6-10, which is only three weeks away. Please do not wait until then if you are concerned. We are here to help support you and your student.

Here are a few important announcements:

Valentine’s Day: Valentine’s Day is Tuesday, Feb. 14. Please look for communication from your student’s teacher regarding activities for that day. If you are coming to volunteer, please remember you will need your ID to badge in.

No School February 17 and 20th: There will be no school on Friday, Feb. 17, due to professional development for our teachers and Monday, Feb. 20 for Presidents’ Day.

Hygiene Helper Drive: Elementary student council is hosting a Hygiene Drive to help those in need. Please bring in any toiletries (shampoo, body wash, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, feminine hygiene products, etc.). The last day of the drive will be Thursday, Feb. 23.

Love of Reading Week: Elementary will celebrate the Love of Reading Week from February 27th through March 3rd. Part of our celebration will include guest readers to come and read to various classes. Please be on the lookout for communication on how to volunteer as a guest reader early next week.

We also will be hosting a student book exchange. Each class will go to the book exchange to pick out one or two “new to them” books. If you have any elementary-aged used books that you no longer need, please consider donating them for our book exchange. Bring all book donations to the front office no later than Friday, Feb. 24.

Yearbooks: Families can order the 2022-2023 yearbook by visiting the link below, or going to dr-photo.com, selecting “Order Your Yearbook,” and when prompted, enter: STEM. Click here for the direct link.

Volunteers: We always look for volunteers in the cafeteria, playground or driveline. Please click here to see all of our volunteer opportunities.

Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

In Partnership,

Amie McElroy, Elementary Director

Please take a moment to check the STEM All-Events Calendar on our website.

There are lots of events already scheduled so please take a moment to take a look at the calendar to familiarize yourself with some of the events at the start of school. This calendar will continue to be updated throughout the summer as we get closer to the start of school.

Saturday, Feb. 11, from 2-7:30 p.m.- ES Gymnasium and Secondary Commons

STEM Theater Department is proud to present the middle school production of The Jungle Book as well as an entire Thespian’s Theater Festival complete with stage combat workshops, makeup tutorials, face painting, choreography sessions, a Comedy Club Improv Show, improv workshops, tech demonstrations, crafting stations and more!!! Oh! And pizza will be provided, so students can hang out, have fun, and have dinner before the 6 o’clock show.

Contact: Max.schwartz@https://stemk12.org

Cost: $15

Wednesday, Feb. 15, at 5:30-7:30 p.m. – Mechatronics Lab of P-TECH/KOSON Building

The meeting will also be available to watch via Zoom as a trial. In-person participation is strongly encouraged to help build engagement. Additionally, those who would like to participate in Public Comment must do so in person.

The purpose of the SAC is to inform, encourage and provide opportunities for parent and community members to be involved in the planning and evaluation of the school’s instructional program and quality improvement processes. The SAC makes recommendations concerning the School’s performance, improvement, priority improvement, or turnaround plan, and meets to discuss the implementation of the School’s plan and other progress pertinent to STEM’s accreditation contract with the Board of Education. The SAC makes recommendations to the director for prioritizing the spending of school money.

Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 8-9 a.m. – Elementary Cafeteria

Join us on Tuesday, Feb. 21, from 8-9 a.m., in the Elementary School Cafeteria for our monthly Parent Coffee with Administration event. This is our community’s opportunity to meet the team, ask questions and meet with parents. We hope you can join us. Please email communications@stemk12.org if you’d like to attend so we have accurate numbers for the coffee and pastries.

January 23-February 23 – Elementary School Lobby

Elementary Student Council will accept toiletry donations for a local community partner in need. Take a look at the flyer and please drop off toiletry donations to the box in the Elementary School Front Lobby.

Friday, Feb. 24, from 3-5 p.m. – HS Commons

As part of the STEMShares initiative to give back to our community, STEM UNICEF is hosting February’s STEMShares Event. UNICEF invites the whole school to decorate meal bags for Project Angel Heart. Join the Student Advisory Council in the High School Commons on Friday, Feb. 24, from 3-5 p.m. No sign-up is necessary.

Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 3-5 p.m. – HS Commons

Do you like baking? Do you think you can make the best pie? Do you want to win $25? Bake the best pie (dessert or savory) and compete against your classmates on Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 3-5 p.m. in the High School Commons during the annual Great STEM Bake-off! The esteemed judges, Mr. Moore, Ms. White, and Mr. Kerwin, will judge your pie based on creativity, taste, and presentation! This event is open to all students and families.

Thursday, March 9, from 2-4 p.m. – Secondary Parking Lot

Kick-off Spring Break with a sweet treat from the HipPOPs Ice Cream Truck. The truck will be at STEM on Thursday, March 9, from 2-4 p.m. in the Secondary Parking Lot. Pre-orders are strongly encouraged to reduce wait times and impact to driveline. Click the button below to view the menu and to pre-order. Just put the items in your cart and make sure that you have March 9 as the pick-up date, and any time between 2-4 p.m. as your pick-up time.

FREE lunches are back for students! Starting in August of 2023, students will once again receive free lunches. Students must chose an entree, fruit/vegetable a milk for the free lunch. Snacks are not free.

While lunches will be free, it is important for families who need additional financial support to still complete the Free/Reduces Lunch application. Those who qualify for FRL status will only receive the additional benefits (free/reduced school fees, free/reduced trips, priority for scholarships in non-FRL field trips or Enrichment programs, and/or graduation fee reductions, etc.) of the program if they complete the application.

In order to assure that the District and STEM receive accurate data, DCSD and STEM are requesting that ALL families complete the FRL application that opens on July 15, regardless of financial status. A new application must be completed each school year. Families can also still apply for this school year using the link below.

Below are some Winter Weather Facts and Resources for families.

• CDC Prevent Hypothermia and Frostbite
• Frostbite & Hypothermia Infographic
• CDC Winter Weather
• Child Care Weather Watch

Our high school entrepreneurship class is looking for feedback and advice from adults about their business ideas.

Your support would be online (Google Meets) on the following Fridays, though you are not required to attend all sessions to participate:

• March 3, 2023 (any duration between 11:30 a.m. to 12:40 p.m.) – Introduction/Initial Discussion
• March 31, 2023 (any duration between 11:30 a.m. to 12:40 p.m.) – Continued Feedback
• April 14, 2024 (any duration between 11:30 a.m. to 12:40 p.m.) – Continued Feedback
• May 8, May 12 or May 15 (between 11:30 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.) – Final Presentation

You would work with the same 1-2 groups of students throughout the sessions you are available to attend and mentor them through their ideas. You will be provided a mentor guide with ideas for questions and conservation topics.

ADDITIONAL OPPORTUNITY

If you are not interested in this mentorship, we are additionally seeking in-person professionals for our Resume-Building Workshop on April 6th from 3-4 p.m.

Attention Parents! Please make sure that you have the newest version of the PikMyKid App downloaded to your phone. The current app was released in June of 2021. The old app will be discontinued on April 1. Their usernames and passwords will remain the same, making the transition easy. Emails to families still using the old app will be sent directly to the email address on file in PikMyKid, from PikMyKid Support.

Calling all creative K-12 students! Doodle for Google is officially open for its 15th year. We are excited to share that this year’s prompt is “I am grateful for…”. Students are encouraged to take a moment to reflect on what’s most important to them.

Students should be prompted to think about:

• What moments, people, places and things are special to them
• What or whom can they not imagine living without
• What are the things that get them through the day

Not sure where to start? Head to doodle4google.com for details on how to enter and to find lesson guides and videos to spark creativity!

Submission deadline is March 7 at 11:59 p.m. PST.

Don’t forget!! Order your Elementary Yearbook today using the link below. Soft-cover yearbooks at $21 and hard-cover yearbooks are $31.

Reminder!! If you haven’t yet, please log into your MySchoolBucks account to pay your student’s fees. We currently have approximately $30,000 in outstanding student fees, and we anticipate that is due to the technical issues at the start of the school year with Express Check-In. If you have questions about your student’s fees or want to get on a payment plan, please email ashley.westfall@https://stemk12.org.

Reminder STEM Families! If you’re coming to pick up your student early, please do so before 1:45 p.m. Please do not come after 1:45 p.m. to pick up your student early. Exceptions will only be made for parents picking up students in the health room or who were called by the front office to pick up their student.

Unscheduled pick-ups after 1:45 p.m. interfere with driveline operations, as well as make it difficult for the front office to assist. Thank you for your understanding in helping to make our operations in the front office run smoothly.

We are happy to share that we will be offering students who are part of the Free and Reduced Lunch program the opportunity to get a Free Chromebook if the following parameters are met:

• Chromebook is signed out by a parent
• The student must remain enrolled at STEM for three years. (if the student leaves STEM during those three years, they will need to return the laptop)

Laptops can be kept over the summer. For more information, please email ashley.westfall@https://stemk12.org to confirm your Free and Reduced Lunch Program status. Not sure if you qualify for Free or Reduced Lunch? DCSD recommends that you apply regardless so that they can assist you further. Click the button below to access the application.

School photos have been uploaded for families to view. Families can access their photos by visiting the link below, selecting the School Portrait Proofs link, and when prompted enter their private password in the following format: studentid#.

As the winter season approaches, we want to announce updates to the current Virtual School Day for Inclement Weather policy. Last spring, one of our STEM students presented a proposal and justification regarding changes to our current Virtual School Day policy. As a result, the administration and Board of Directors determined that a change is recommended to the Snow Day Policy. We appreciate the leadership and voice our STEM students display and are happy to announce that STEM will follow the DCSD Snow Day policy with a closure. STEM also reserves the right to modify the calendar, schedule, or this policy, due to unforeseen circumstances such as weather or construction that interrupts the required instructional minutes as set forth by the Colorado Department of Education. The following is a reminder of the current policies.

Late Start Schedule

STEM does not mimic the Late Start Policy and schedule put forth by DCSD. In the event that Douglas County calls for a Delayed Opening, STEM’s Virtual School Day Policy will take effect.

Virtual School Day for Inclement Weather

If DCSD determines that the district should follow the Delayed Opening protocol, STEM School Highlands Ranch will abide by its Virtual School Day Policy. When it snows, our school’s operation and instructional expectations will be determined by one of these three scenarios:

• Updated: Snow Day – Douglas County Schools calls a snow day – STEM is closed (check www.dcsdk12.org)
• Late Start Day – Douglas County Schools calls a Late Start day – STEM is closed and implements a Virtual School Day.
• All Schools Open – Douglas County Schools declare Highlands Ranch area schools open – STEM is open and operating to our regular schedule.

In case you didn’t know, families have specific Class Pages on Facebook where they can connect with other families from their student’s grade. You can find all of the different class pages on our Get Connected page of the Parent section of our website. Click the button below to see them.

Please note that these pages are administered by other parents and not by STEM.