February 10, 2005

We are entering a very busy season! So much will be happening during the next five months—I thought a list might help to keep it all in perspective.
• CSAP season has begun, and will continue into April. During this time, we ask parents of students in grades 3 through 6 to stay abreast of news from your child’s classroom so you’ll know specific days and times when your child will be tested. And it’s very important to keep stress levels as low as possible. Our philosophy about CSAP is to acknowledge the reality of its presence, but to also recognize that it is only one kind of assessment we use to monitor student academic growth. We do ask that you remember that these assessments are taking place, and understand that we will not be interrupting classes for any reason during testing times.
• We are also beginning to plan for next year. The first step is to work with the school district in determining our staffing levels for the 2005-06 school year. So many decisions are dependent on so many different factors—we will keep you updated as final decisions are made. We know that one of the most important decisions for parents is what teachers their children will have. But please be patient—while we are anxious to have these decisions finalized as soon as possible, we do want to make thoughtful decisions to ensure the continuing high quality of teachers, and this sometimes necessitates more time than we would prefer.
• One of two goals we have been working on will begin to take shape during the late spring and summer. The traffic study is complete, and we are now in the process of acquiring various permissions and allowances so we can move on to the actual construction. See the Update article in this issue of The Chronicle.
• The second goal has been the replacement of our well-used carpeting. That process will also take place in the summer. There is further information about this project in the Update article, also.
A busy season with—you guessed it!-- ample opportunity to model problem-solving, patience, and collaboration for our children!

As we reported in the last issue of The Chronicle, Dylann, Track C 4th grader, initiated a campaign to sell bracelets and turn over the proceeds to the American Red Cross for the tsunami victims. She thought she would make a few hundred dollars. Once again, the Coyote Creek community showed its giving nature; the total amount collected was $1,885.88! Congratulations to Dylan and another huge THANK YOU to our community!

On Thursday, January 27, our students gathered to watch the annual Coyote Creek Spelling Bee. After several rounds of tough words, three top spellers emerged: Jack Z. was the winner and will represent Coyote Creek at the District Spelling Bee on February 23; Katherine R. placed second, and will represent our school if Jack is unable to; Mike F. placed third. Congratulations to these three spellers; we also honor those who took the challenge to stand in front of their hundreds of fellow students, and spell:

Readers are encouraged to submit items for this column. Often we at school do not know the accomplishments of students outside school. Please include your phone number so we can reach you if we need more information.
Back to the Top

BAND AND ORCHESTRA NOTES
Congratulations Sixth Grade Orchestra for a marvelous performance at the 22nd Annual Douglas County Sixth Grade Orchestra Festival on January 12th!
Scott Betts, guest conductor and clinician, led a group of 250 district orchestra students during the day at the Douglas County Events Center at the Fairgrounds in Castle Rock. They performed a grand scale concert that evening.

Ranch View Middle School Sixth Grade Band Festival: Students from five Highlands Ranch Elementary Feeder Schools met with Ms. Jenkins, Middle School Band Director, and their future classmates. Band members rehearsed together and performed an evening concert on January 20th.
We are proud of our Coyote Creek musicians!

Important dates - for the spring:
Saturday, March 19th
District Solo and Ensemble Festival at ThunderRidge High School. This is a wonderful opportunity for musicians to play for a judge and earn a ribbon! Applications are due February 18th -see Mr. Hamaker.
Thursday, May 12
at Coyote Creek: Spring Concert for Fifth and Sixth Grade Bands and Orchestras at 7 p.m.

We have extra Coyote Creek Music tee shirts for sale in sizes from small to extra large! Family members can show support for the program by purchasing (and proudly wearing) our shirts for $10. (Mention this newsletter article and receive $1 off every tee shirt purchased)!

UPDATE on Projects from Jan
New Carpet!
We have been trying to get new carpeting for our building for several years. Unfortunately, the school district has had to put carpet replacement on a rotation system. School buildings that house 4-trrack year-round schools do take a beating, use-wise, and in order to be a good steward over these buildings, the district saw that replacing carpet in a few buildings each year was better than waiting until a lot of buildings needed new carpeting all at once.

However, Coyote Creek’s carpet was still a couple of years from being replaced on the rotation and, as you know, it had reached the condition of being unsafe (to say nothing of being unsightly!). Enter Clay Abla, new Director for the ThunderRidge feeder area. He, of course, noticed the condition of the carpeting when he first stepped into Coyote Creek and, after hearing about our attempts to get the carpeting replaced, began advocating for us with district-level people who were involved with carpet replacement. In less than six months plans were being made to get new carpeting in Coyote Creek!

The replacement will occur during the Summer Break and a few days before and after that break. The exact schedule is still being developed; we will be providing updates as we get closer to when the actual project will take place.

Traffic Study
The traffic study is complete, and a new configuration for our parking lot has been developed that will increase safety for our children. We are now in process of getting approval from various entities to go forward with the plan. How will this project be funded? As I’m sure you know, many avenues have been attempted to work with the school district and the county to accomplish safer traffic patterns. Unfortunately, those avenues did not yield any funded part of the project. After five years of trying one idea after another, and not finding assistance or funding, and constantly worrying about the safety of our children before and after school, I finally succumbed to our PTA’s consistent offers to support the project. Funding for such a project cannot come from our instructional funding (taxpayers’ dollars), which is as it should be. The other fund we have is our Activity Fund, which is built up with donations, revenues from renting our facility to other entities. While this fund could help support this project, it cannot carry all of it and still maintain a balance that serves our students.

Also, while our PTA raises wonderful amounts of money for Coyote Creek, the dollars needed for this project go beyond what even they raise annually! So they are planning a separate fundraiser to support the modifications to our parking lot. As soon as we get all necessary approvals, you will see a diagram posted in our main hallway. You’ll also begin hearing about the funds needed and PTA’s plans for the special fundraiser.

Back to the Top

Lost & Found
Check our Lost and Found barrels near Door #4 (by the cafeteria). There are many lunch boxes and miscellaneous coats and jackets to be found there!

Field Trips

Feb. 18 2 A & B
The Wildlife Experience
Feb. 23 K A & B2
Lookout Mountain Nature
Feb. 24 K B1
Lookout Mountain Nature
Feb. 25 4 A & B
Museum of Nature & Science
April 13 5th & 6th
ACD Paramount Theatre
April 22 Kindergarten
Greg & Steve
May 25 K A, B2, C
Teikyo Loretta Heights

Awesome Volunteers!
October has us naming two Volunteers of the Month; LeeAnn Super and Kim Thoutt. They are two dependable and reliable volunteers that run the Star Math program in Mrs. Miller’s classroom. This is a weekly math unit done in the classroom. Both LeeAnn and Kim have been very involved volunteers since their children began attending Coyote Creek. LeeAnn’s two children are Anthony in Mrs. Miller’s 2B class and Kathryn in Mrs. Mitchell’s KB Class. Kim has had children attending Coyote Creek for several years. Her 2 oldest attended Coyote Creek and are now high school students! The three that are still here are Bradley in Ms. Braun’s 4th grade class, Kaylee in Mrs. Miller’s 2nd grade class and Tysen in Mrs. Mitchell’s kindergarten class. Thanks to both LeeAnn and Kim for all the time donated to our school. Coyote Creek is a better place because of volunteers like you!

Our Volunteer of the Month for November is Kerry Pirk. She is the Room Parent for Mrs. Cunningham this year, and has gone above and beyond the call of duty. Kerry organized the Holidays Around the World Celebration, and, she contributed quite a bit of food and paper goods to make sure it was a success. Kerry also volunteers on a regular basis in the classroom, and even organized a surprise baby shower for Mrs. Cunningham! She has been a reliable volunteer in the classroom since her two children, Mason in Mrs. Gleichmann’s 1D class and Halee in Mrs. Cunningham’s KD class, began attending Coyote Creek. Thanks, Kerry, for being the giving volunteer that you are. We appreciate you!

Our December 2004 Volunteer of the Month is Denise Elder. Since the start of this school year, Denise has stepped in to help at a moments notice. Besides being a great volunteer for many activities in the classroom and out, Denise stepped in to help with the picture retakes and the retakes of the retakes! Since her children started attending Coyote Creek, Chloe in Mr. Kollar’s 3A class and Spencer in Mrs. Emmons’ 1A class as well as a preschooler, Denise has always been a reliable volunteer. And she enjoys herself, so the kids do too! Thanks, Denise, for being such an energetic, dependable volunteer. It’s appreciated by all of us here at Coyote Creek!
Coyote Creek’s Volunteer of the Month for January 2005 is Gina Beasley. Gina has been a wonderful volunteer this month. She has traded days with other volunteers as needed and that flexibility is appreciated. She has helped Mrs. Verbsky by checking students’ spelling on an assignment dealing with animals. (Gina admits that writing and spelling are not her areas of expertise - yet she did this with no complaints and volunteered to come back to finish up.) She is willing to go the extra mile – and in a subject matter that is not her first choice. Gina has always been a consistent volunteer since her two girls started here. Gianna is in Mrs. Verbsky’s 2A class and Julia in Mrs. Emmons’ 1A class. Thanks, Gina, for being an adaptable, generous volunteer and it is truly appreciated by all.