PCK Weekly News
September 23, 2021
A Letter From Our Leaders
Dear Parents,
It’s been a great six weeks of school! Students and teachers have now developed relationships and routines, sports and clubs are in full swing with huge numbers of participants (chess club has 30 participants!), we had our first PCKproud Day and pep rally, chicks and butterflies were born in the Elementary Science Lab, and nothing gives us more joy than walking through the school hallways and witnessing the fabulous learning happening in all the classrooms. The building practically hums! PCK is busy and the kids bring a wonderful energy every day.
We need to ask for your help and support again. Flu season is upon us and we have noticed an increasing number of students coming to school with cold symptoms. Please help us keep our community healthy by keeping your student(s) home when they are not feeling well, especially when they are experiencing more than one symptom (such as headache and sore throat). Keeping your student home for 24 hours allows you to monitor the symptoms to see if they develop further, or, resolve altogether.
Please keep symptomatic kiddos at home as follows:
If there has not been a known exposure to COVID, keep your student home until symptoms are completely gone and they have been fever-free for 24 hours without medication. If symptoms do not resolve within 24-48 hours, please consult your health care provider regarding a PCR COVID test.
If there has been a known exposure to COVID (at home, school, or other activities) and your student experiences ANY symptoms, they must remain at home. Your student may return after 10 days. Alternatively, your student can take a PCR COVID test 5-7 days after the exposure and may return to school on the 8th day if the PCR test is negative.
Anytime your student is absent, please complete the absence questionnaire on our website. We appreciate parents that are cautious as it helps our community stay healthy and safe.
We will support students that are at home ill or quarantining by:
Opening Google Meets for at least 90 minutes per day. This will take place during math class and other portions of the day selected by the teacher.
a. We will not be trying to replicate a remote learning environment. A Google Meet will simply allow the student the ability to keep track of what is happening in the classroom, even if they cannot see everything or hear every word spoken in the room.
b. The teacher will contact the parent or student in advance of the lesson to let them know there will be a Google Meet.
Posting work in Google Classroom so students can keep up with what they are missing.
Excusing a percentage of the work done during the day in class.
Although we have had numerous confirmed COVID cases in our community since the beginning of the school year, we have been able to limit exposures and avoid outbreaks. I want to thank all the parents that support our community by having their children wear masks in the building. We need to continue our effort in this area as not only do we have a mandate to do so, but, as evidenced by the number of boxes of tissues we have left over from last year, wearing masks makes us a healthier community overall.
We value the health and safety of our students above all else; please help us keep our community healthy and strong. We are better together.
Johanna Harth and Trustin Thompson
See You At Chick-fil-A Tonight
Join us tonight, September 23, from 3:00 - 10:00pm, for a Spirit Night at the Parker Chick-fil-A! Be sure to mention PCK when ordering or include it in the comments section on the CFA app so the school gets a portion of the night's proceeds.
Dress Down Tomorrow
Tomorrow, September 24, is the last Friday of the month so it is an all-school dress down day. Please help your child follow our dress down day dress code.
Supply Collection For Hurricane Victims Ends Tomorrow
Kinley Fox, one of our 5th grade students, is organizing a supply drive to collect hygiene items needed by victims of Hurricane Ida in Louisiana. See a list of needed items here. Tomorrow is the last day to bring your donations to the collection bins located at each school entrance. A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has already donated! We are overwhelmed by the generosity of our community. We already have over 50 complete kits with supplies to make many more. You do not need to donate an entire kit - anything you are able to contribute makes a difference. An organization called Convoy of Hope will deliver our kits to those in need in Louisiana.
Prize Day Is Tomorrow
After working hard getting donations and running their laps, our students love celebrating a successful Fund Run with Prize Day! The big day is tomorrow with individual prizes coming home with students and class events/parties happening at school.
Join Us For Parenting With Love and Logic
We are excited to kick off our 2021-22 Parent Education Series with an introduction to Parenting With Love and Logic! 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 Love and Logic approach to parenting is built around the science of caring and respectful relationships. There is a six-week course for parents that 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 are offering a free introductory class on Monday, October 4 at 6:30pm so you can learn more about the Parenting With Love and Logic program and how it could work in your family. We highly encourage all parents to come learn more about this valuable tool.
Our New Directory Is On The Way
We are excited to announce a new app, DirectorySpot, for our School Directory. The directory will contain student names, grade levels, and teachers, as well as parent names, home phone, home address, and parent email addresses. The app is very secure and only parents and staff of PCK will be granted access. Each user will log on with their authorized email address and will set their password. If you would like more information on the security features, please visit https://www.directoryspot.net/security.php.
If you would like to “opt out” of the directory and NOT have your family information included, please email bhaines@ckcs.net by October 1. The data and users in the app can be updated at any time throughout the year, so you can always opt out or opt back in later.
The new directory is accessible on both iPhone and Android devices, and you will be able to call, text, or email other parents or teachers with one click, right from the app. Once we have all of the data loaded, you will get an email with instructions on how to download DirectorySpot and set your password.
We hope you will love this new Directory. If you have any questions, please contact Becca Haines at bhaines@ckcs.net.
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 try-outs 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.
Come One, Come All, To The Greatest Book Fair Of All!
PCK is hosting our fall Scholastic Book Fair! Let's come together, find wonderful new books, and create lasting memories for students. Please visit our scholastic homepage for detailed information about shopping hours, volunteer opportunities, student eWallets, and the virtual book fair. Click here to get more information about the Book Fair from Mrs. Harth.
We still need a few volunteers. Please consider signing up to support your student and PCK.
https://volunteer.scholastic.com/#/signup/B9jrpeqny
Happy reading!
Do You Have A Future Kindergartener?
While it feels like the school year just started, before you know it we will be preparing for the 2022-23 kindergarten class! If you have a student who will be in kindergarten next year, please make sure that student is registered in SchoolMint so we can send you an offer letter if we have a spot for your child. Even though you already have a student at PCK, each sibling waiting for a spot needs to be registered with SchoolMint. You can sign in at ckcs.schoolmint.net/signin to double check your child's registration.
Don't Miss Your Chance To Prepare For The School Board Election
There is an important election on November 2nd that will decide on four new members of the Douglas County School District Board of Directors. This election will have a direct impact on our school. Our partners at the Colorado League of Charter Schools are hosting an hour-long on-line training to ensure you know what it means to be a charter school, how the DCSD Board of Directors and their decisions affect us, and the steps you need to take to be able to participate in the election. The same training will be offered twice this week. We encourage you to register by clicking on the date and time that work best for you.
Homework Help Is Here
National Junior Honor Society is excited to announce that they will be offering homework help to interested K-6 students! Volunteers belonging to NJHS will work one-on-one with your student, spending 30 minutes working through their homework with them. Homework help sessions will take place from 3:10-3:45 at Core Care Club. Following the session, students who aren't staying in C3 will exit to the south parking lot for pick up.
If you are interested in having an NJHS student help your child with homework, please email njhs@ckcs.net. In your email, please specify your student's name, grade, the number of sessions of homework help you want, and the day(s) of the week you would like your student to receive help. An NJHS representative will assign your student to one of our members for the number of sessions you requested.
Each homework help session costs $10, and you must pay for your sessions in advance. Sessions are paid for through MySchoolBucks, and a link to purchase sessions will be provided once you have been assigned an NJHS student.
Order Today For Free Shipping
It is time to order your child's school photos! To view the different poses of your student, use the code you received in your Thursday Folder or via email from Van Gogh Photography (if you can't locate the email, please check your spam and trash folders). Enter this code at vangoghco.com, view your child's images, and place your order. If you missed picture or day or need your child's photo to be retaken, retake day is November 2. Place your order by tomorrow, September 24, to get free shipping! Orders placed after tomorrow will include a $3 shipping charge.
All About High School
If you are the parent of a middle schooler, you won't want to miss PCK's High School Information Night from 5:00 - 6:30pm on September 29. Representatives from most of the area high schools will be on hand to answer questions about their schools so you can make an informed decision about where to send your student after PCK.
Check Out The PCK Chick Cam
The adorable chicks in our elementary science lab are YouTube stars! You can watch their antics here. They are growing quickly, and are having lots of fun exploring, snacking, and cuddling with each other. If the camera is off when you try to watch them, it means the chicks are either playing outside or taking a break from the action. Please check back a little later.
News From Our Littlest Learners
A friendly reminder that preschool doesn't have class tomorrow because it is a teacher work day. Have a great weekend!
Stand Up For Safety
Thank you to Scott Schoenig for being our Safety Dad 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.