January 18, 2024

News from Steve

Dear Copper Mesa Community,

Well, Tuesday was certainly an unexpected surprise. I certainly hope you enjoyed the extra day with your children. I spent the long weekend visiting my dad, who is in a nursing home in Texas. I cherish these times I can visit him, well, maybe not the times he beats me at gin rummy!

Since it is a short week, I have only a few items to mention.

Our PRIDE Skill next week is: Collaboration

This week I will mention the following:

Spelling Bee
Personalized Learning Team
Kindergarten Registration

SPELLING BEE

We held our annual Spelling Bee last Friday and wow, all the participants were amazing! I was so proud of every one of them for standing up in front of their peers and spelling some very difficult words correctly. We went through round after round, finally congratulating our winner and runner-up. Our winner, Margarita will represent Copper Mesa at our district spelling bee. If she is unable to attend, Eliza, our runner-up, will represent CME! Both of these wonderful spellers are only fifth graders, so I expect to hear about them again in next year’s spelling bee.

PERSONALIZED LEARNING TEAM

Our Personalized Learning Team deserves a huge shout-out. This team is composed of our special education teachers, counselor, psychologist, English Language Development teacher, literacy and math interventionist, speech/language pathologist, and occupational therapist. I am amazed by their dedication to our students every day. They go above and beyond to support our students. Their patience, flexibility, kindness, and follow-through make them the best personalized learning team I have ever had the pleasure of working with!

KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION

Kindergarten registration is open and if you have not registered your incoming kindergarten student for the 2024/25 school year, you are encouraged to do so. Forms are available on our school website. If you or you know of new parents to CME who would like a tour of our fabulous school, feel free to reach out to us and we would love to show you around and answer any questions you may have.

Thank you,

Steve

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Weekly News

WEEKLY NEWS

Link to CME Website

Link to CME B.A.S.E. Website

Link to My School Bucks

Attendance Line - 303-387-7377 - please call the attendance line if your child will be out

Wish Week 2024 Shirts

Mountain Vista High School is excited to announce that Wish Week 2024 will be held the week of February 5th - 9th! We are so excited for our new Wish Kid (details to come in January and February) and also to grant wishes for other Wish Kids across the state. Last year we granted 26 wishes (once again leading the entire nation) and we would love to surpass that this year. There are currently 30 children waiting for a Wish in Douglas County alone!

As we work on finalizing the design for this year's Be A Good Person shirt, we wanted to let you know that you can pre-order this shirt for yourself, friends, or family members, by clicking on this Wish Week Link . Last day to order shirts is 1/19/24!

If you would like to make a monetary donation to Wish Week, please do so by clicking on Monetary Donation for Wish Week 2024.

Thank you for continuing to support Mountain Vista and Make-A-Wish. A Wish is not only a momentary reprieve from the reality of a critical illness, but also a prescribed treatment by doctors across the country. So help us provide life-changing experiences, a glimmer of hope, and an opportunity for a family to share some time together far away from the confines of a hospital room.

CogAT Screening

DCSD is committed to implementing equitable practices to increase access to advanced/gifted learning opportunities. Based on state and national recommendations and requirements, we implement Universal Screening for students in 2nd grade (February).

2nd Grade Universal Screen

As part of this process, ALL students in 2nd grade not identified for gifted programming will take the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) the week of February 5th, 2024. This assessment indicates the level and pattern of cognitive development of a student in comparison to grade and age mates. These general reasoning abilities, which start developing at birth and continue through early adulthood, are influenced by experiences gained both in and out of school.

If your child is already identified for gifted programming, they will not participate in this universal screen testing. Your Gifted Education Facilitator will contact you directly with information about this process.

Kindergarten/ 1st Grade Gifted Identification Referral Testing

If your child is in K or 1st grade and you believe he/she needs evaluation for Gifted Identification and Services, you may refer your child for testing by initiating the Gifted Identification Process.
Please reach out to Heather Stinnett
NOTE: Requesting this assessment automatically initiates the process to evaluate for Gifted Identification.

Please request CogAT testing for your child by completing the Referral for Gifted Identification linked here.
Upon receipt of this form the Gifted Education Facilitator

February COGAT Testing/Universal Screening. Please reach out to Heather Stinnett with any questions.

Cup Stacking Competition

On February 10th the Colorado Sport Stacking Tournament will be taking place at Douglas County High School in Castle Rock. It is a great opportunity for stackers of all ages and abilities to test their skills. New and experienced stackers are invited to compete, however they are expecting most people attending to be new to the sport! The tournament is also a Junior Olympic Games qualifier and by participating your son or daughter will automatically qualify for the 2024 Junior Olympic Games. Registration is open now until February 1st.

When: February 10, 2024

• Where: Douglas County High School - North Gym

• Both new and experienced stackers are welcome. We expect most attending stackers to be first-time competitors.

• This is a great opportunity to time your stacking unit to end on the weekend of the event. Encourage your students to compete after practicing in class.

• This event is a Junior Olympic Games qualifier. If you participate in the event, you automatically qualify as a stacker in the 2024 Junior Olympic Games.

• Registration is open now! You can register and track upcoming information for the event here: thewssa.com/tournaments/colorado-open/3325/

Class Picture Day

Save The Date! Dorian will be taking our class pictures on February 1st. More information to follow.

Choir Club will be back this February!

Cougar Singers

2nd - 6th Grade Choir Club

When: Tuesdays 7:30 am

Where: Downstairs (Choir Room)

Cost: $50

Dates: February 13 - May 30th

Here is the Thursday PM link:

https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/prdembd?ref=ZZHVZS5TX305OUU_ZZ5RUZKILXYTQL8

And here is Tuesday AM:
https://www.myschoolbucks.com/ver2/prdembd?ref=ZZHVZS5TX305OUU_ZZ5VY7MJV37YXCE

Students will receive a choir T-shirt and will have the opportunity to perform in our Spring concert here at CME for our family and community. The Spring concert is Thursday, May 2nd at 6pm, and Friday May 3rd, at 9am.