Posted October 30, 2024
Happy Monday Columbine Community,
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. We had a week full of JOY last week at school. Our kindergartners had their first Celebration of Learning for their Toys Module. Our 2nd graders enjoyed a field trip to Bluff Lake. We ended the week with our Student of the Month Assembly for EMPATHY and we named our first ever teachers of the month, Tyler Mimken (kindergarten) and Danielle Zuroweste (4th grade). This is a new tradition we are excited to continue. This week we keep the JOY going with a 4th grade field trip to Ameritowne, ECE 3 field trip to see a play, 1st grade celebration of learning, and and our Halloween Parade on Thursday!
We hope you’ve had a chance to pop into the front lobby to enjoy our school Ofrenda. On Friday, November 1st during our whole-school crew circle, we will celebrate Dia de los Muertos with some community members who will be coming in to teach us more about the history and traditions of this holiday.
We hope you will join us this Wednesday, October 30th from 5:30-7:00 pm for our Columbine Academic Night. The design of this night is a multi-session, differentiated option approach so families can select content that is most meaningful for them. We will have sessions focusing on Foundational Early Literacy Skills, EL Literacy, Math, English Language Development, iReady Assessment/Instruction, and Special Education. Our goal is for families to gain a better understanding of the curriculum and instructional approaches we use for learning as well as learn what they can do at home to continue learning and support their children outside of school. We hope you will join us! Childcare and dinner will be provided.
We will start all together in the cafeteria at 5:30 and then move to our sessions:
Session #1 5:45-6:05
Session #2 6:10-6:30
Session #3 6:35-6:55
Halloween 👻
We will have our Halloween parade on Thursday from 1:00-1:30 pm. Students may wear costumes to school but will keep accessories in backpacks until our Halloween parade. At 1:00, we will start our Halloween parade. Families are invited to line the sidewalks on 28th, Columbine St, and 29th, to see our amazing costumes and kid cuteness. For costumes, we ask for no full masks that cover the student’s face, no blood/guts/gore, and no weapons.
Black Excellence Family Dinner – November 4th 5:30-7:30
This event is for our Black families, families of our Black students, and anyone who is looking for a space to be in support of and in community with our Black families. We will be catering a dinner from a local Black owned business and eating a family dinner in the cafeteria. We will be discussing our school’s Black Excellence Plan, and engaging in dialogue on how we ensure inclusion, belonging, and academic achievement for our Black students and families to ensure their excellence shines and their brilliance knows no bounds.
Columbine Multilingual Education Parent Advisory Committee (MLE PAC)
On November 12th from 5:30-6:30 our ELD teacher Sara Hanlon will be hosting our first MLE PAC meeting of the year. All district run schools have an MLE PAC and these meetings are open to all families of students in an MLE program. These meetings provide opportunities to increase communication between school and families. We will be using this time to design the vision for our PAC and discuss the experience of our LatinX students to ensure excellence in all of their school experiences. We hope to gain input, feedback, and reflections from our MLE families to better inform our support of our MLE students and community.
Columbine Community Inclusion and Belonging
Last year, we engaged our community in multiple sessions that centered learning about true inclusion and belonging in a diverse community. Almost 30 of our community members took the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI). As a staff and community, it is our personal and professional responsibility to engage in equity work and professional learning to ensure we are providing each of our students the most authentic, meaningful, and impactful educational experiences. One essential component of our professional and personal learning and work has been through our engagement in the Intercultural Development Inventory (IDI).
In support of collective responsibility and shared accountability, we are excited to invite families to engage in this learning and work along with us. On November 13th, at Columbine from 5:30-7:00 we will be joined by Michael Atkins, Director of the Black Student Success Team, and Dr. Ellen Miller-Brown (professor and partner at University of Denver). This will be an evening for information sharing about an opportunity for community members to engage in the IDI (free of charge) with individual debriefs followed by DEI sessions. Even if you don’t know what this work will look like, regardless of whether you feel ready or hesitant, I hope you will join us for this informational session.
☕Our next Coffee with Corey will be Friday, November 8th, and following that will be Thursday, November 21st. ☕
In Crew,
Corey Jenks
Principal
Columbine CSC
Last week, our Columbine CSC met to discuss a variety of topics, specifically:
-Our Columbine UIP
-Progress monitoring reports and data reporting processes
-Community engagement strategies and commitments
-Interim principal during Corey’s maternity leave
Please see the CSC Minutes Here:
Our next meeting will be on November 20th at 5:00 in the Columbine Library
All information about our Columbine CSC can be found on the CSC page of our Columbine Website!
BESS Window Extended
If you have not yet completed the BESS survey for your student, there is still time! Please use this QR code or this link to access the BESS survey. We hope to have one from every family! If you need you child’s student ID number, please call the office or log into parent portal. Additionally, here is a BESS FAQ for more questions about this survey and how it is used by schools.
Upcoming Events
| October 30th: 1st Grade Celebration of Learning 2:45-3:30 pmOctober 30th: Columbine Academic Night 5:30-7:00 pmOctober 31st: Halloween Parade 1:00-1:20November 1st: Whole-School Crew Circle and Celebration of Dia de los MuertosNovember 4th: Black Excellence Family Dinner 5:30-7:30November 6th: 5th Grade Celebration of Learning 1:30-2:30November 8th: ☕Coffee with Corey ☕@ 8:00am in the library November 8th: 4th Grade Celebration of Learning @ Whittier Cafe 9:30 amNovember 12th: Multilingual Education Parent Advisory Committee Meeting (MLE PAC) 5:30-6:30 November 13th: IDI – Belonging and Inclusion at Columbine Info Session November 20th: Family Turkey Lunch @ Columbine November 20th: Columbine CSC Meeting @ 5:00 pm and PTA Meeting @ 6:30November 21st: ☕ Coffee with Corey ☕@ 8:00am in the library |
| 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 |
Columbine Cougars PTA Update 10/27
Please see the Columbine Cougars PTA Newsletter here!
Looking to stay in touch? Follow some of our Columbine Elementary social media accounts. columbine_cougars dadsofcolumbine columbinecougarspta |