While life these days seems to keep throwing curves at us, those of us who have the honor of spending our days with your children have an antidote for the temptation to wallow in the negative “stuff” swirling around.
Children. They are the antidote. They remind us of the truly important things of life. A child’s spontaneous laughter can bring a smile to our lips in spite of whatever is “bugging” us at the moment. Children also keep us honest. How many times has your child made a candid observation about a situation or a person or—you? --and that observation has been absolutely accurate?
A person once said, “We grow up too fast, we stop dreaming too early, and worrying becomes a finely-honed skill that blocks our vision and keeps our hearts from soaring.” Yes, as adults we do have responsibilities to our families and our society and our nation. But part of those responsibilities include being the best person we can be—and that necessitates a willingness to dream and laugh and truly enjoy the moment.
Here’s to discovering our soaring hearts through the eyes of our children!

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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.

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Teacher Honored
Douglas County Schools has almost 5500 employees. On February 21 the Board of Education honored a few of those employees, including Coyote Creek’s own John Kollar who is now a published author. John teaches Grade 3 on Track A, and recently published his first novel, Three Tomato Brand. This is the culmination of a lifelong dream, but not the end of John’s writing—he’s already hard at work on his next novel! Stop by and congratulate John on his achievement!

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Video and Pictures Needed!

It’s time to start gathering material for the annual Coyote Creek Video Yearbook! The Yearbook will chronicle the 2005-2006 school year in movies, pictures and sound. We are looking for pictures and/or video of ANY Coyote Creek function or activity.
The pictures and videos can be activities from the classroom, special events (Muffins for Mom, Doughnuts for Dad, etc.) or other activities associated with Coyote Creek that show our kids and culture.

Please use on of the following methods to submit material:
Still Images: Preferably digital. Please save to a disk or card. I can read the card and return it to you. If you any have print images please put them in an envelope marked with your child’s name, grade level and track. I will scan them and return them to your child.
Video: Again, preferably digital. Follow the same procedure as the still images. If you save the video to a disk please use the QuickTime format (mov.). If you would like send in the DV tape, I’ll copy it and return it to your child. If you only have analog video send it in- I’ll convert it!
If you have any questions please email Herrick.forsyth@dcsdk12.org or call me @ CCE (303-387-6175). Thanks!!

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INFORMATION BOARD
This is a current listing of all items that can be found on our Information Board, which is located just outside the Music Room. The listing we are providing will give all parents an opportunity to see what is available, and they can have their student pick up any of the items from the main office, or parents can call our office to “order” items that can then be sent home with their student.

• Blue Sky Lacrosse Club
• Bonfils Blood Center
• Boy Scout Information
• Child Health Plan of Colorado
• Curiosity Club Kindergarten Enrichment
• Douglas County Schools Parent University
• DCSD Classifed Pillars of Support Nomination forms
• Girl Scout Information
• Greg & Steve Children’s Concert
• Kids Pages Magazine
• Kidstage Registration
  
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FAQ

Coyote Creek has consistently been in the “High” range on the State Accountability Report. While this is a good rating, I’m wondering what is being done to raise our rating to “Excellent”.

A. The “High” range on the SAR is a wide one. When these ratings first appeared, Coyote Creek’s “High” rating was near the lower end of that range; each year we have been moving up, and are now closing in on the “Excellent” range.

Every year we examine student scores, both on CSAP and on other assessments, such as reading comprehension, writing, and math. Improved technology is now allowing us to monitor students’ progress in achievement. That technology is not yet perfected, but what we do have gives us good information about skills that are strong and those that need some extra work.
We also keep an eye on what is considered “Best Practice” in instruction, and incorporate those strategies into our daily work with students. Coyote Creek’s staff is exceptionally strong in comparison with others across the nation, so we are not faced with huge gaps in instructional quality. We do make an effort to continually refine our instructional skills, and match strategies with what we know about students’ learning styles and their other learning needs.

While we will be very pleased when we do reach the “Excellent” rating, that is not our overall goal. Our goal is to continuously improve our instruction, which will result in higher student achievement, which will result ultimately in an “Excellent” rating.

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Field Trips

March 8 K B
Lookout Mountain Nature Center
March 21 6AB
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
March 23 K C & D
Arvada Center
March 29 KA
Lookout Mountain Nature Center
April 12 6CD
Denver Museum of Nature & Science
May 3 3 A, B & D
Teikyo Loretto Heights
May 18 4ABC
Colorado History Museum

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Reminder
Please remember that use of our playgrounds is restricted: only students are allowed to use these areas during the school day. We have noticed occurrences recently of young children on playgrounds before dismissal time—sometimes while the adult in charge of them is in their car. Thanks for your cooperation!

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District Newsline Digest
SMART BUDGETING GARNERS TOP AWARDS
Financial accountability is a vital aspect of any public entity. Douglas County School District is proud of its Business Services Department for demonstrating excellence in budgeting practices.
Chief Financial Officer Chris Stutler and her department have received a second Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). In addition, the department has recently received a Meritorious Budget Award from the Association of School Business Officials.
These awards are the highest form of recognition in governmental budgeting and represent a significant achievement by the district’s Business Services staff. “We’re excited about the work we do,” said Stutler.

NEW PROCEDURES TO REGISTER FIRST-TIME PRESCHOOLERS
For the 2006-2007 school year, preschool registration packets will no longer be available at elementary school buildings. Beginning March 6, 2006, parents who wish to register their children in a Douglas County preschool for the first time can pick up registration packets at two locations in the district:
Early Childhood Center, 8204 Park Meadows Dr., Lone Tree 80124; 303-387-0802
Cantril Building, 312 Cantril St., Castle Rock 80104; 303-387-0540
Preschool children must be 3 or 4 years of age on or before September 15, 2006, and families must be Douglas County residents. Interested families are required to complete and return the registration form in the registration packet to one of the above locations by the end of the school day on March 10, 2006.
Registration is done through a lottery system. Openings are filled by a random computerized selection process. No money is required at the time of registration. If selected through the lottery, a registration fee will then be collected. Notification letters will be sent to all families the week of March 27, 2006.

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Coyote Creek Leadership Team

Coyote Creek S.A.C.
The School Advisory Council for Coyote Creek meets on the third Tuesday of every month, with the exception of December, June, and July. Current members of the Coyote Creek SAC are:

Voting Members:
Jamie Lavigne
Geniene Moore
Lisa Kounter
Colleen Thompson
Leeanne Super
Sally Helblig
Michelle Haider
Kathy Mallory
Julie Hayes
Jennifer Murtha
Jan Dow

Nonvoting Members:
Kristi Montagriff
Kit Orlowski