PCK Weekly News
October 14, 2021
Dress Down Day Tomorrow
As a thank you to our students for all of their hard work this quarter, Mrs. Harth and Mr. Thompson are giving students a free dress down day tomorrow. Please help your student follow the dress down day dress code. Have a great fall break!
COVID Exposure Notification Update
Starting after fall break, PCK will only send notices of COVID-19 exposures if there is an outbreak in a class (currently defined as five or more connected cases in one class). Under the new public health order, we are no longer required to send notices of individual exposures. Because we have over 800 people in our school community, please assume your child has been exposed daily and watch for symptoms. It is essential that students displaying any symptoms of COVID-19, even mild ones, stay home for monitoring. If the symptoms don’t resolve within 48 hours, your child must be tested before returning to school. Thanks for your help in keeping our community healthy.
Thank You For Supporting The Alzheimer's Association
Thanks to our purple dress down day fundraiser on Wednesday, we raised $737.93 for the Alzheimer's Association. Did you know that more than six million people are currently living with Alzheimer's disease in the United States? The Alzheimer's Association is the largest nonprofit funder of Alzheimer's and dementia research. This organization is dedicated to conducting critical research to develop treatments, prevention, and eventually, a cure. Mrs. Puckett and her family are truly touched by and grateful for your support. Thank you to the student council for organizing this fundraiser.
DCSD Candidate Forum
As you may be aware, elections are fast approaching for our local Douglas County School District (DCSD) Board of Education. There are four open positions on the school board, and many things to consider regarding the best interests of your family and our PCK community. Luckily, DCSD is providing ample opportunities to get to know all of the candidates that are running. If you missed the candidate forums earlier this week, there is still a chance after fall break to get a better idea of where each candidate stands on the issues in our schools. The forum is a student-led town hall that will host both an in-person and virtual opportunity for parents to attend. These elections can have an impact on the working relationship between DCSD and all charter schools within the district. It is important to understand the level of support that each candidate has towards charter schools. With the elections coming up, our community will benefit greatly by having informed and engaged voters. Please save the date for the upcoming forum.
Monday, October 25
Legend High School
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
22219 Hilltop Rd, Parker
Online Link: https://youtu.be/hnjl-jqqauk
You can get more information and RSVP here:
DCSD Student-Led Board of Education Candidate Forum Web Page
Get Warmed Up For Basketball Tryouts
Tryouts for girls and boys JV and varsity basketball start after fall break. Anyone in grades 6 - 8 can try out.
Boys tryouts are Tuesday, October 26, and Wednesday, October 27, from 3:05 - 5:00pm in the Sports Gym. Practices will be on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 3:05 - 5:00pm.
Girls will try out on Tuesday, November 2 and Thursday, November 4, from 3:05 - 5:00pm in the Sports Gym. Practices will be on Tuesdays from 3:05 - 5:00pm.
There are a limited number of positions, so some students may not make a team. We look forward to seeing all interested players at tryouts!
Also, The PCK Athletic Department is selling short and long sleeve basketball shirts. All basketball items will be sent for screen printing on Friday, November 12th, and we will not receive the order for approximately 2-3 weeks, depending on the apparel shortage. Please be patient on these orders. Go Cougs!
Short sleeve: https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/prdembd?ref=ZZHVZS5TX305OUU_ZZ5SH4SKV5WWLCF
Long sleeve: https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/prdembd?ref=ZZHVZS5TX305OUU_ZZ5SH4U0U0XWKIL
Who Is Your Hero?
In today's Thursday Folders, you will find a sheet titled "My Hero Is." Please help your student use this form to tell about someone your family knows who is a veteran or active duty member of the US military. These sheets will be shared on a bulletin board in honor of Veterans Day, so they need to be returned to the front desk or to Mrs. Daniels by Friday, October 29. If you need an additional sheet, you can get one here (note: it prints on legal size paper, so feel free to attach a separate sheet to the bottom if you don't have legal size paper at home).
We are also looking for volunteers to help with our Veterans Day breakfast. Click here to see how you can help!
All veterans and active duty service members, along with their families, are invited to join us on Thursday, November 11, in the Events Gym. We will have a reception with a light breakfast from 8:00 - 8:30am, followed by an assembly at 8:30. Service members who would like to visit a kindergarten - 6th grade classroom after the assembly to talk about their time of service are invited to sign up to share. Please RSVP for the morning here. Those who would like to visit a classroom and talk about their experience in the military can sign up here. Please note, all guests will need to sign in through our Raptor system, so please bring your drivers license or other government-issued ID.
A Letter From Our Music Department
Dear Parents,
The PCK Music program has always prided itself on excellence in all areas of Music Performance. However, in the last few months, the impact that COVID has had on our program has become clear, particularly in our elementary grades. Developmentally, our students are not ready to perform at the excellent standard we have set for ourselves and our students; we need to catch up.
Mrs. Myers and Mrs. Waltz need more time to teach, practice, and develop the skills lost during the time when we were not able to sing last year. Therefore, we have made the hard decision to cancel holiday performances in grades K-4 this year. While we recognize that this is disappointing for many, we aim to rebuild our program without the added pressure of performing on both our students and teachers.
This year our children are enjoying and practicing their voices, and we hope to be able to share them with you, in a melodious tune, in the near future.
The Foundation Needs Your Help
Do you or someone you know have experience writing grant proposals? The money we raised from the Fund Run is a great start to funding our new playground, however we are going to need a lot more. We would like to apply for a grant, but need help writing the proposal. If you can help, please contact Niceta at Niceta@harrisfamilylaw.com.
Stay In Touch With Our New Directory
The new school directory is here! You should have received an email from DirectorySpot with the directions to set your password. Please carefully review the information on file for your family. If you need anything added or changed, or should you wish to opt-out, please email bhaines@ckcs.net.
Get Even More Love and Logic
Thanks to everyone who came to our introductory session on Parenting With Love and Logic. The session gave parents insight into the principles of the Love and Logic philosophy. The nuts and bolts of the philosophy, and advice on applying it to your own family, are detailed in a six-week course.
The class starts Wednesday, October 27 and runs from 6:30 - 8:30pm for six weeks (we will take a break the week of Thanksgiving, so the course runs through December 8). It is taught by Kim McNulty, the same trainer who led our introductory session. The fee of $150/person or $200/couple can be paid directly to the instructor at the first class with cash, check, or Venmo. Register for the course here.
The principles of Love and Logic are used school-wide at PCK, and many of our teachers have had the Love and Logic For Educators training. The six-week course for parents provides practical tools and techniques to help you form a foundation of good behavior and healthy decision making. You will gain knowledge and strategies to make parenting more fun, increase the odds of raising responsible kids, and prepare them for the future. The Love and Logic approach uses humor, hope, and empathy to help you create calm and loving solutions. We highly recommend this course for parents with students of all ages.
Thank You, Volunteers
Thank you to all of the parents who volunteered at the school during the first quarter - we love having you back!
Special thanks goes to the three volunteers who logged the most hours:
Desire Ferguson - 28 hours, 15 minutes
Holly Steinman - 25 hours, 28 minutes
Deepika Shrestha - 18 hours, 21 minutes
These three volunteers can stop by the front desk to pick up a token of thanks from all of us at PCK.
NJHS Is Looking Good
The members of NJHS and Mr. Robbins extend a very special thanks to the Eravelly family for providing them with special NJHS shirts for the 2021-2022 school year. Our honor students have never looked so sharp! Thank you!
Experience Life At PCK Firsthand
If you've ever wondered what a day at PCK is really like, become a substitute teacher and find out! Substitutes are paid $125 per day, and right now it is easy to get a sub license. Watch this short news clip about getting a sub license, and get your questions about a one-year license answered here. You can set up an account to apply for a license online from the Colorado Department of Education Licensing here. We'd love to have you apply for our sub team, and you can submit your application to PCK while you're waiting for your sub license so both processes can move forward at the same time. Apply at ckcs.net/careers.
Connecting With Character
This week many of our classes started a unit on empathy. It includes several lessons on identifying and understanding one's own feelings, as well as the feelings of others. Use the Home Links below to continue the conversation at home.
Kindergarten - Being assertive
First grade - Identifying feelings
Second grade - Identifying feelings
Third grade - Showing compassion
Fourth grade - Conversation and compliments
Artists Wanted For Yearbook Cover Contest
All students are invited to enter their drawings for the Yearbook Cover Contest! The theme this year is "Level Up" to a Great Year at PCK! Get the details here. Entries are due after fall break on Monday, October 25.
Get Social With Us
Girls Basketball Coaches Needed
The PCK Athletic Department is in search of two volunteer girls basketball coaches for the upcoming season. Coaches need to know the skills, fundamentals, and game of basketball. Team tryouts will be in November, with a couple of pre-season games in December. Regular season games are in January and February. There will be JV and varsity teams.
If you are interested, please email Heather Brownell at hbrownell@ckcs.net for more information and a possible interview.
Stand Up For Safety
Thank you to Anthony Santaguida and Kevin Ferm for being our Safety Dads this week. Our students love having dads here making sure our perimeter is secure, helping with lunch and recess, and assisting with other activities as needed. Dads can stay until 1:00 or for the whole day. Click here to learn more about being a Safety Dad or to sign up.