Cherokee Trail

• PSP NEWS
• ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR PARKER SCHOOLS
• SAC MEETING MINUTES
• BE EPICER
• CHOIR SIGNUP
• WHAT'S HAPPENING IN WELLNESS
• COUNSELOR'S CORNER
• CALENDAR
• FROM THE PRINCIPAL
• NEW FLYERS 

BE EPICER @ CTE
At Cherokee Trail we focus on six traits, teaching and fostering them in our classrooms and school-wide in order to create learners who are strong academically and socially. They are:
ENTHUSIASM * PERSEVERANCE * INTEGRITY * COURAGE * EMPATHY * RESPECT
Read more on the EPiCER page!

This month, we will be focusing on ENTHUSIASM - here are the indicators of how this trait might look at school:
* I show a positive attitude at all times
* I am eager to learn
* I show active engagement throughout my day

Last call for Choir Sign ups.
Choir will be for students in grades 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th and be capped at 45 students for the winter semester. Rehearsals will be in the music room in the mornings from 7:40-8:25 on Tuesdays between September 27th and December 6th. We will be performing our winter concert on December 6th at 6pm. More information and the sign up google form can be found on Mr. Halley's music page, on the CTE website, and also HERE.
Also, directing a choir is challenging enough without having to play the piano at the same time, so if a parent would like to volunteer to be our piano accompanist for the choir season that would be greatly appreciated!

All Wellness students: Please wear shoes that slip off and on easily for our stretching portion of Wellness.

Grades K/1/2: We will focus on understanding and calming our anxiety. A Little Spot of Worry Feelings Song
Grades 3/4/5: We will learn about Kaizen: The Art of Continual Improvement. Grade 6: Sixth graders will practice showing up as our best self within our families and friendships.

Hello Families!  We are off to a great start to this school year!  Over the past few weeks, I have visited every class in grades 3-6 to talk about my role as a school counselor and how I can support them.  I will be visiting the rest of the students over the next few weeks to do the same.  Our lesson included what domains I work with students in (social/emotional, career, academic).  I also shared that I visit classes to teach lessons and meet with some students in small groups or individually.  

Classroom teachers also teach weekly lessons from our social-emotional learning curriculum called Second Step.  Second Step’s units cover skills for learning, empathy, emotion management, and problem solving.    

Does your child need additional support to learn/practice social skills?  Denver Behavioral Consultants facilitate social skills groups in the Parker area. Click for more information

IMPORTANT LINKS

Family Resources:

Weekly snack/food bags provided by Parker Task Force – If your family is interested in having a bag of snacks/food sent home in their student’s backpack weekly, please fill out this brief form.

Families with housing instability

Free/Reduced Meal Benefits

Parent Articles:

Tips for Back to School Anxiety

The Principal Chronicles Continue ....
This past week we had our annual Fun Run. Going out and watching the different grade levels run laps reminded me of how supportive our community is of this school. All through the pandemic our community was either not allowed in the building or was limited in what they could do to support our school. This year our community has been back in full force and it was on full display during the Fun Run. We had parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, friends, and relatives out to support our students. They cheered, sprayed water, and handed out wristbands. It was so special to watch. On top of that, our community has truly embraced the staff with food in our lounge, volunteers in the classroom, and supporting our fundraisers.
I realized watching the Fun Run, that I kind of forgot how active and involved our community is. It makes me so happy to see student families in and around our school. I loved seeing the smiling faces and truly appreciate the support. Just another reason why I feel honored to be a part of this community.
On the personal side, last weekend was Homecoming for my daughter, and the first time since she has been with me for the dance. Luckily she already had her dress so I got to skip that slow death and only had to deal with the football game and the dance itself. The football game was fairly uneventful, other than that their football team got their buns kicked which is never a good thing for homecoming.
On the day of the dance I took my daughter to get her nails done. Since her preferred nail place (it does hurt my heart a little bit that she has a preferred nail place) is a ways from our house, I decided to stay and wait while she was at her appointment. First of all, I have no idea what type of chemicals are used with nails but I can't imagine working all day smelling all of those toxic fumes. I tried to sit by the open door so I didn't die of affixation but after about five minutes some crazy employee came over and shut the door. I looked around and not a person in the whole place seemed even the slightest bit concerned with the smell. Not only that, who knew that nail places have giant chairs where you get your toenails painted and rubbed by the nail tech and dip your feet in a miniature foot hot tub? Plus those chairs sit about six feet off the ground so you look like you are sitting on a throne.
After inhaling toxic fumes for 40 minutes we were on our way home and my daughter announced that she was going to down to her room to start to getting ready for the dance. Keep in mind it was 1:00 PM when that statement was made. Yes, that is a full six hours PRIOR to the dance starting. When she finally emerged from her room, it was off to picture taking which I didn't realize was a thing. I took my daughter's picture at our house but apparently that wasn't good enough, so we had to travel down to the Parker Library to take even more pictures. This time with the group of friends she was going with. So there I was with three families I'd never met in my life before, all standing around listening to three 15 year old girls decide where they wanted their picture taken. We went to the stage, by trees, by the giant red ball and jacks, we went across the street and finally ended up in O'Brien park with half of the student body of Legend high school.
After pictures, it was off to dinner. Since my daughter is pretty high class and only eats food prepared by five-star Michelin chefs, she and her friends went to IHOP. It was there that I turned her over to another parent to take her off to the dance as I would rather cut my own arm off than consume anything from IHOP. 
At roughly 10:00 PM, with me barely awake as it was way past my bedtime, I received the come to pick me up text. As I drove to pick her up I quickly realized that homecoming night means that any driver under the age of 18 is out on the road and the speed limit is simply a suggestion. I arrived in the Legend parking lot at 10:30 PM after four near-death experiences and let her know I was there. While I was waiting for her to come out, I watched a bit of the dance which consisted of large amounts of teenagers listening to large amounts of bass-filled music at a very high volume. Not only that, there were kids everywhere. In the school, out of the school, in the parking lot, in the fields, literally everywhere. Eventually, at 10:35 PM, my daughter sat down next to me in the car. After all the prep, the nails, the food, the dance, the pictures, her response to the question of how was homecoming? "Meh" True story.
That is it for this week's edition, stay tuned to next week when the Principal Chronicles continue .....

NEW FLYERS

NONDISCRIMINATION NOTICE: The Douglas County School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, age, marital status, genetic information, or physical characteristics, disability or need for special education services in admissions, access to, treatment of, or employment in educational programs or activities. The School District’s Compliance Officer is Ted Knight, Assistant Superintendent, 620 Wilcox Street, Castle Rock, Colorado, [email protected], 303-387-0067. Complaint procedures have been established for students, parents, employees, and members of the public.