Elementary News and Updates (03/15/24)

Dear Elementary School Families,

I cannot believe we have finished our third quarter of the year. This year has flown by. Thank you for supporting your student(s) by partnering with their teacher during parent-teacher conferences. I truly value your involvement with your student’s education.

We had a successful Wish Week. While we were short of our $3000 elementary goal for our coin wars, we raised $1200 for Bella. The students also had a great time at the Wish Week assembly hosted by our high school students.

CMAS testing is right around the corner. CMAS is the state assessment given to all students in 3rd-11th grade to measure academic success every spring. When we return from spring break, our 3rd -5th graders will prepare for CMAS during April 1-5. Please ensure all appointments, vacations, etc, are scheduled OUTSIDE of the CMAS testing window (4/2 – 4/4) if you have a student in these grades. Please try to be on time so testing can start as planned. Once a testing session has started, students will not be able to access their classroom. Additional information regarding CMAS can be found on our website under State-Mandated Assessments and on the following links:

• State Assessment Excusal Form (Opt-Out) (Please log into IC with your parent log-in credentials and NOT your student’s log-in credentials)
• State Assessment Excusal Form Walkthrough Parent/Guardian
• Here is the testing schedule: 2023-24 CMAS Schedule

If you have any questions regarding CMAS, please get in touch with Julie Adamek at julie.adamek@stemk12.org.

Yearbooks

Families can order the 2023-24 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..

Lost and Found

Each year, we donate 100’s of clothing items (coats, hoodies, sweatshirts, hats, gloves, etc.). Please write your student’s name on their belongings. It helps us return the items when they show up in lost and found. I also encourage you to periodically check the lost and found items your child may have lost. We also encourage students not to bring items of monetary or sentimental value.

Important Upcoming Dates

• March 18 – 22 – Spring Break
• March 27 – 2nd grade field trip to Doktor Kaboom!!
• March 28 – DEI Committee Meeting
• March 28 -29 – 2nd-grade Animal Presentations
• March 29 – 3rd-grade field trip to Skate City
• April 2 – STEM Board Meeting
• April 2-5 – Elementary CMAS Testing
• April 10 – ES Theatre Performance (Peter Pan)
• April 10 – PTO Meeting
• April 11- State of STEM
• April 12 – 5th-grade Move Up to Middle School
• April 12 – 2nd-grade field trip to Denver Aquarium
• April 17 – STEM SAC Meeting
• April 18 – DEI Committee Meeting
• April 25 – PTO STEM Fest
• April 26 – Professional Development Day – NO SCHOOL

Have a wonderful weekend. Please reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

In Partnership,

Amie McElroy, ES 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.

Monday, March 25, from 5-7 p.m. – HS Commons and Zoom

Session Six: Teaching Kids to Complete Chores without Reminders and Without Pay

Participants will learn:

• The connection between chores, responsibility, self-esteem and academic achievement motivation
• Practical tips for encouraging children to complete chores through the use of positive noticing, family teamwork and the establishment of a family focus based on serving others
• Steps for enforcing the completion of chores…without resorting to threats, warnings, anger, or bribes

Wednesday, March 27, at 5:30-7:30 p.m. – KOSON/P-TECH Building (Mechatronics Lab)/Zoom

The meeting will also be available to watch via Zoom. 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 parents 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.

Thursday, March 28, from 4-5:30 p.m. – Room ES 206

STEM’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee will have its monthly meeting on Thursday, March 28, starting at 4 p.m. We will meet in ES206. We welcome all parents, students, and teachers! Email kate.jackson@stemk12.org with any questions.

We’re heading into testing season! Parents, please be sure to check our testing calendar and the State Mandated Testing page on our website to stay in the know of all of the upcoming important dates and how to prepare. Please reach out to julie.adamek@stemk12.org with any questions.

Early Bird pricing is over, but you can still place your order online for an Elementary School Yearbook by Friday, March 29. Click the button below to place your order.

• Please remember that Driveline opens at 7:10 a.m. and that students should not be dropped off prior to that time. The Elementary Aides will come out to open the car doors when we are prepared to receive students.
• School starts at 7:40 a.m., so all students should arrive prior to that time. Any students who arrive at 7:40 or later must be signed in by their parent/guardian.
• In the afternoon, please ONLY come at your designated pick-up times. Click here to review your pick-up times.
  • For families who are coming to pick up for the 2:30 p.m. time frame, please do not park on the street and/or block the business driveways along Barrons Blvd. Prior to break, we noticed many cars blocking driveways and trying to access the driveline prior to 2:30 p.m. If this continues, we will request for the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office to come out to issue tickets to anyone stopping/standing on an active roadway. Please help us be good neighbors by following the Traffic Management Plan.
• Please make sure that your PikMyKid information is up to date and that you have your student’s pick-up mode updated in the app. If someone other than you is picking up your student, please make sure to have your delegations set prior to pick-up time.
• If you are in need of a new placard, please email support@stemk12.org to request a placard. Please include your student’s name, teacher’s name and number of placards requested.

Dear STEM School Highlands Ranch Elementary Families,

We’re emailing all Elementary School Families to request the following support from ANY ADULT who is coming to pick up students during the afternoon driveline.

PikMyKid App Update

• PikMyKid pushed out an update to their app, and some families are not seeing their students any longer.
• Please take a moment to log out and log back into your app.
• If you still do not see your student after logging out and logging back in, please complete the PikMyKid Help Request form.

Delegating in PikMyKid

• If your student is getting picked up by someone else, please remember to delegate your student to that other adult.
• Students who are not delegated will result in us pulling the car out of the driveline so that we can confirm with the parent that the student is allowed to go home with the other adult waiting in driveline.
• When students are not delegated, this creates major delays and inconveniences.
• If you’re unsure how to delegate, please see the tutorials on our PikMyKid webpage.

Announcing in PikMyKid

• Due to the time of year, we have several staff who are out sick, resulting in us being short-staffed for the afternoon driveline. We are pulling staff from other positions to assist.
• Additionally, we are anticipating inclement weather tomorrow during the afternoon driveline.
• It is incredibly important that you announce your student once you arrive to assist our staff and to help keep driveline efficient.
• Announcing your student speeds up the inputting process and allows teachers inside the building to release students quickly.

Driveline Placards

• Please display your placards on your dashboard from the time you enter the driveline to the time you leave.
• Doing so helps our staff during the inputting process in PikMyKid and also helps volunteers make sure that the right student gets in the right car.
• If you do not have a placard, please email support@stemk12.org with the following information:
  • Student Name
  • Student Grade
  • Student Teacher
  • Number of Placards Needed

Coming at the right time

• We’ve asked several times to please only come at your designated time, and we would like to please ask for your assistance with this again.
• Lining up on the street before your pick-up time is not allowed and violates our Transportation Management Plan. It also slows down our driveline because Green Placards get stuck behind those blocking traffic.
• We are understaffed and cannot dedicate a staff member to ensure that cars are not stacking on the street before 2:30 p.m.
• We’ve requested that a Douglas County sheriff’s Deputy assist us with this, and we’ve been informed that any additional assistance will require us to pay to have a deputy come out. We do not have the budget to accommodate this request on a continuous basis and believe that our funds should be better spent on the instruction of our students.
• We are ASKING NICELY FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE to please STOP stacking on Barrons Blvd and only approach the Orange Placard timeslot at 2:30 p.m.
• We cannot say thank you enough to those who are abiding by this and assisting us with following our TMP. We truly appreciate your support and thoughtfulness.

Please reach out with any questions to communications@stemk12.org.

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!

Nicole Bostel, Communications Director