Secondary 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 https://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 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Secondary Driveline Placards will be available for pick-up on Thursday, Aug. 5 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the West side of the School. Placards should be used during our dismissal process and the placard will need to be displayed on your dashboard during pick-up. If a staff member is not outside to give you your placard, please park and pick up your placard from the Elementary School office.

Monday, Aug. 9, from 9-11 a.m. or 12-2 p.m.

New students to STEM (and students who were new to STEM last year who attended virtually) who will be entering secondary school (grades 6-12) are invited to participate in our Secondary Spartan Launch!

Come meet new friends, learn about STEM School’s culture and student expectations, team building, and tour the school. Participation in Spartan Launch will help prepare all new students for their first school day on Tuesday, Aug. 10. This event is for students only. Please enter through the Middle School Doors. Click the button below to sign-up for one of the two sessions being offered.

Wednesday, Aug. 18, from 5-7:30 p.m.

Parents are invited to come to school and follow their student’s schedule for the evening. They will attend each of the student’s classes and hear a brief presentation about the class content and expectations from each teacher. Parents only please.

Please park in the Middle School Parking Lot and enter through the Middle School Entrance. No sign-up is needed.

Thursday, Aug. 19, from 5-7:30 p.m.

Parents are invited to come to school and follow their student’s schedule for the evening. They will attend each of the student’s classes and hear a brief presentation about the class content and expectations from each teacher. Parents only please.

Please park in the Middle School Parking Lot and enter through the Middle School Entrance. No sign-up is needed.

Every car that enters our East Driveline needs to use a placard. Placards will be pre-printed at the start of the school year and will be made available for pick-up on Thursday, Aug. 5 from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Placards must be visible in the front window to assist our driveline staffers with identifying that your car should be in the driveline at that time. In order to be good neighbors, we need to divide our Secondary pick-up into two groups to prevent stacking on Ridgeline Blvd. The first timeslot is from 2:55-3:05 p.m. The second timeslot is from 3:05-3:15 p.m. Please do not enter the parking lot prior to your designated time.

How do I get a placard?

For Secondary only families, please complete the Secondary Driveline Placard Sign-Up form to request your timeslot. You will then receive instructions on how to pick up your placard. If you would like to take part in our Secondary Carpool Program, please follow the steps below. If you are a family with students in our Elementary and Secondary schools, please reference the Driveline information in the Elementary News/Updates Section.

Carpools enjoy special Driveline perks! There is a carpool “express” lane in the East (Secondary) Driveline Loop. Carpools (meaning three or more students, or three or more families riding together) will need to obtain a carpool sticker to use the carpool lane. The school has partnered with “Way To Go: School Pool” to help families find carpool groups. In order to register, follow the instructions below.

1. Log into DCSD Infinite Campus Parent Portal, select a student and then click on transportation on the left menu.
2. Use the secure link to get to the Way To Go site and create an account. For security reasons, this link is the only way to enter the syhttps://stem for STEM School Highlands Ranch. You can register with a nearby intersection instead of your home address.
3. Using the Way To Go website, create an account to find interested STEM families in your area.
4. Click the button below to request a Carpool Placard if you will be the one picking up the carpool.

2020-21 Secondary 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. If you can’t make any of these dates, we will provide additional dates for yearbook pick up soon. If you didn’t purchase a yearbook and would still like to, we have a limited supply still available. Please bring a check for $55 to the Middle School Office to purchase your yearbook.

Senior Yearbooks Update! If you moved out of state, please email your new address to communications@stemk12.org so we can mail it to you. 2021 Seniors can pick up their yearbooks from the Middle School Front Office on Wednesday, July 28 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

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

As is a tradition at STEM, your class shirts for the 2021-2022 school year are now available for purchase! Please use the links below corresponding with your incoming class to order today! All orders close on May 5, so make sure to order soon. If you have any questions, you can email tavin.turner@s.https://stemk12.org.

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.