Posted September 23, 2024
Happy Sunday Evening Columbine Community,
I hope you’ve all enjoyed a wonderful weekend and a Broncos WIN!!
On Friday, we started the day with a wonderful community breakfast celebrating Mexico’s Independence Day and in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month. Thank you greatly to all those who attended and especially to those who hosted, provided food, and shared a bit about your family journey and heritage story.
For Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month, our initiative will focus on Dia De Los Muertos and many of the beautiful traditions that go along with it! Teachers will be using crew time to lead learning about what Dia De Los Muertos is, why it is important, and how it is celebrated. As a whole school project, each grade will be assigned a small art project to contribute to our school Ofrenda. Below are the projects each grade level will engage in:
The Ofrenda will live in our entryway showcase leading up to Dia De Los Muertos on Nov. 1st and 2nd.
In addition to our teachers leading lessons, we are inviting our Hispanic and LatinX families in to share their experiences, enrich our learning, and broaden our understanding of their culture and traditions. Additionally, each week, I will highlight a different staff member from Hispanic / LatinX heritage. This week, we will be highlighting our one and only Claudia Sanchez! Please look on Bloomz for this staff spotlight!
Here is a resource for Denver festivals, events, and celebrations for Hispanic Heritage Month 2024. Additionally please see these resources Hispanic-Latinx Heritage Month Resources 2024 put together by our Community Resources Team.
Additionally on Friday at 9:40, we held our semester one lockdown drill. In the morning before our drill, I visited all classrooms and reminded students of the purpose of our drill. I demonstrated for them what it would sound like when I was testing the door during the drill, and I reminded them that it is ME behind the door! Right before our district automated recording came on for our drill, I got on the announcements to say – hey columbine students and staff, it is time for our drill. You’ve got this, you are ready, and you are safe! This is just a drill.
Our crews did an amazing job during our drill. The Climate and Safety Officer and I provided some in the moment feedback and adjustments to a few rooms and we were released after just a few minutes.
At 10:00 we were visited by Liberty and Hank, two trained service dogs who visited every classroom to provide some love and joy to our students and staff. At the end of the day, we did a staff circle up and were joined by Dr. Jane Lineman who is a Student Safety Coordinator and Director in the Mental Health team specifically related to crisis, trauma, and safety incidents. She offered space to any staff who wanted to talk, check-in, debrief, ask questions, or discuss ongoing support. In our circle, staff shared they felt the drill went as well as it could, students and adults felt prepared, and we ended the day with some Friday laughter.
If you have ongoing questions about our emergency drills and protocols, please reference this Columbine Emergency Procedure Guide. This is the guide that will be included in all of our sub plans and distributed to new staff when they begin at Columbine.
We are all happy the drill is behind us! Additionally, we are excited about the cooler weather and fall leaves. Please see info below for updates on upcoming events, beginning of the year data reports, and SPF updates.
Reminder – no school for students this Friday, September 27th!
In Crew,
Corey Jenks
Principal
SPF Information and Upcoming Touchpoints
Update- Columbine HAS been recommended by the district for the Request to Reconsider process with the state. We will know what our final rating is in November/December. There is no action needed at this point by the school.
Thank you to those who attended our virtual SPF Q&A session on September 18th. We discussed the following report that was sent out last week. From this meeting, I have created a SPF FAQ document that I will continue to update. Please see below.
Spanish Columbine SPF / CMAS Report
Our next touchpoints on our SPF will be:
CSC meeting on September 30th from 5:00-6:15 pm.
Any questions that you have in the meantime can be submitted to this Columbine SPF form or directly to me at corey_jenks@dpsk12.net.
Columbine CSC **Change of Date**
Our next CSC meeting will be on September 30th from 5:00-6:15 pm before our PTA meeting at 6:30. At the upcoming CSC meeting we will be discussing our 24-25 Unified Improvement Plan in conjunction with our 2024 School Performance Framework. We will also be discussing our Fall Adjustment final enrollment numbers and any implications to our school budget.
Regional Educational Engagement on Executive Limitation 18 and Declining Enrollment in DPS
This November, the Denver Public Schools (DPS) Board of Education will consider a recommendation of consolidating or closing some of our schools. As part of the school consolidation process, the district is engaging with the community to answer questions and address concerns.
During the community engagement phase of the school consolidation process, they are hosting six regional community meetings from late September to mid-October. Interpreters for the eight most spoken languages (Spanish, Vietnamese, Arabic, Amharic, Dari, French, Nepali and Somali) will be present at each meeting. Dinner and childcare will also be provided.
Below are the dates and locations of the six regional meetings. If you are planning to attend one of these meetings, please complete this form.
Southeast Regional Engagement Meeting: Tuesday, Sept. 24, 6-7 p.m. at South High School.
**Central Regional Engagement Meeting: Wednesday, Sept. 25, 6-7 p.m. at Manual High School.
**This is the meeting many of our Columbine staff and community members are planning on attending**
Northwest Regional Engagement Meeting: Monday, Oct. 7, 6-7 p.m. at CEC Early College.
Southwest Regional Engagement Meeting: Monday, Oct. 14, 6-7 p.m. at Abraham Lincoln High School.
Far Northeast Regional Engagement Meeting: Tuesday, Oct. 15, 6-7 p.m. at Montbello High School.
Virtual Engagement Meeting: Tuesday, Oct. 22, 6-7 p.m. virtual via Zoom.
Beginning of the Year iReady Reports
On Thursday, in our Thursday Folders K-5th grade families will find their child’s beginning of the year iReady Reports. iReady is our assessment platform for Literacy and Math. Along with your child’s report, you will find a family letter explaining how to read and interpret your child’s data. Please reach out to your child’s classroom teacher if you have additional questions.
Fall Conferences
We will have our Fall Family-Teacher Conferences on October 1st and October 9th. This is such an important time for teachers to meet with families to discuss how students are doing in all aspects of school. Teachers will discuss Literacy and Math data in addition to the genius and joy of each child.
Please be sure you sign up for a conference on Bloomz!
🍂Fall Festival – October 19th!🍂
Get excited and mark your calendars for our annual Fall Festival on October 19th. This is SUCH a fun and special event at Columbine. Our teachers will have booths set up for kids to come and play games, win prizes, take pictures, and have FUN! Food will be provided and tickets will be up for purchase. Please see PTA email for more information!
Upcoming Events
| September 25th: Student of the Month Assembly (2nd-5th 8:15-8:45)(ECE-1st 2:45-3:15)September 25: Regional Community Engagement Meeting @ Manual 6-7September 27th: PD Day – NO SCHOOL for students September 30th: CSC 5:15-6:15 and PTA Meeting 6:30-7:30 October 1st: Family-Teacher Conference Night 1October 9th: Family-Teacher Conference Night 2October 10th: PD Day – NO SCHOOL for studentsOctober 11th: No SchoolOctober 14th: Conference Comp Day – No School October 19th: Fall Festival 11-2October 23rd: CSC @ 5:00 and PTA @ 6:30October 25th: Student of the Month Assembly (2nd-5th 8:15-8:45)(ECE-1st 2:45-3:15) |
| Community Resource Team If you are looking for resources, book recommendations, and entry points into the essential learning about race, gentrification, cultural competency, and racial history in our country, the CR team has compiled a recommended book list. Book List Here The CR Team will host another Plant Exchange & plant raffle on the 4th of October! More details to come via Bloomz. |
Columbine Cougars PTA Update
Want to join the PTA? Interested in joining a committee? Interested in joining the Dads of Columbine? Ready to vote on important upcoming items like the budget? Please join the PTA here!
Looking to stay in touch? Follow some of our Columbine Elementary social media accounts. columbine_cougars dadsofcolumbine columbinecougarspta |