Cherokee Trail

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• FROM THE PRINCIPAL
• NEW FLYERS 

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!
In January we will be focusing on COURAGE. The indicators for courage at CTE are:

   * I am willing to take risks in my learning

   * I stand up for what's right at all times

   * I have self confidence

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN WELLNESS - NOELLE DUNKER
Grades K/1/2: This week our focus is on what it means to be kind, how to help one another, and how to grow kindness.

Happy New Year!  Wow- I can’t believe we are starting the second half of the school year! What a great time to reflect with your child and discuss what short- and long-term goals they are working toward. Discussions could include refining household habits, academic efforts, or setting personal goals such as increasing physical activity or saving money. 

Classroom Lessons  

This month, I will be finishing a lesson series on Human Rights with all of the 5th grade classes. So far, students have learned the history of how the concept of Human Rights evolved and have begun diving into several of the 30 rights. 

In first grade, I will begin a 7-lesson series teaching different aspects of safety. Topics will include identifying unsafe situations, “trusted triangle” of adults, using an assertive voice, and safe and unsafe secrets. Parents will receive an informational sheet after each topic is presented to be able to reinforce these important concepts within their family.

Kindergarten and first grade classes will also be taught a lesson on career exploration. This lesson is intended to begin widening their knowledge about various career areas and begin thinking about what areas they may be interested in.

Later in the month, I will begin a 4-lesson series with all 6th grade classes on Bully Prevention. I will be teaching the Bully Prevention unit from our Second Step curriculum. This unit will cover topics such as recognizing common types of bullying, different perspectives of bystanders and targets, and using various upstander strategies.  

Family Resources

DCSD Virtual Calming Corner

Life can be challenging at times! The great news is you have the power to overcome these challenges by integrating purposeful pauses throughout the day to calm both your brain and body. Maybe you need a quick nature fix, a guided relaxation practice or some quiet music in the background. Enjoy it all and explore! Be careful, some of these links can be rather mesmerizing -- you may want to use a timer ;-).

Safe 2 Tell Colorado

Do you know how to report a concern that threatens you, your friends, your family or your community? Safe 2 Tell Colorado is an anonymous reporting tool for parents and students. There are 3 ways to make an anonymous report – via website, app, or phone call.

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

The Principal Chronicles continue ...
Holy Snow!! It has been a little while since we have had a snow day but I think I can speak for everyone when they say that we all love a good snow day. The only down side is the copious amounts of shovelling that needs to be completed.
In case any of my loyal readers need to know, these are the tried and true steps which must be followed if there is potential for a snow day - everyone in the house needs to:
1. Put a spoon under their pillow
2. Flush the toilet twice, add ice to the first flush
3. wear your PJ's inside out
If these steps are followed the night before a potential snow day the likelihood of having a snow day goes up a hundred fold - assuming the steps are followed correctly and in the exact order. This is a very closely held teacher secret. We may get another shot Sunday night as it is supposed to snow again.
On the home front my daughter is fully engaged in the world of high school dating. She has been "dating" a boy from a different high school for the last few months. Keep in mind, they have never even met in person and only communicate via text or snapchat. The snapchat portion is what is really strange as basically she sends a picture of half her face or all of her face or one eye or the wall with no words at all. I'm fairly confident that this isn't the basis for a quality relationship but then again, what do I know? I guess they would talk to each other via facetime which at least that is somewhat of a human interaction. Either way, she broke it off with him during the snow day. She said that she wasn't getting her needs met, which I thought was pretty grown up and I was happy to know that getting pictures of half of someone's face isn't meeting her needs.
That is it for this week's episode. Stay tuned for next week's edition 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.