Cherokee Trail

• WHAT'S NEW AT CTE
• PSP NEWS
• EPIC'R INFORMATION
  
• FROM THE SCHOOL COUNSELOR
• UPCOMING CALENDAR HIGHLIGHTS
• FROM THE PRINCIPAL
• NEW FLYERS
  

We are a 2020 i-Ready Distinguished School, awarded by our partners at Curriculum Associates, for our i-Ready usage and Diagnostic data last spring! We are honored to receive this accolade and thank our staff, students, and families for their hard work last spring. Congrats to our entire learning community!

Read4Fund$ FUNDRAISER We are excited to welcome you to our 1st Annual Read4Fund$ fundraiser. The Read4Fund$ is more than just a fundraiser – it will be an all student participation Read-A-Thon that will be fun, promote reading, and drive school spirit. Your student will watch a video assembly at school to learn more about the Read4Fund$ and prizes they can earn. They can start their reading minutes and collecting donations now!

* Go to r4funds.com/schools/cteread20/ to easily send out emails to potential sponsors, make online donations and check online totals. Password: stallions

* Track your reading minutes on the Enter Minutes tab on your website. 

* Spirit Shirts will be sent home with every student 9/21 & 9/22 

* 9/23 & 9/24 Reading/Spirit Shirt Day: Students and staff will wear their Spirit Shirts and read in class today!

This month's EPIC'R trait: ENTHUSIASM

   * I show a positive attitude at all times

   * I am eager to learn

   * I show active engagement throughout my day

COUNSELOR'S CORNER - SEPTEMBER

Did you know that ALL CTE students can have lunch from the cafeteria free daily through December effective immediately?  You can also pre-order weekly lunches for e-learning days at home. Click here for more information.

The school year is officially underway!  I am currently in the process of visiting each cohort in each class to teach a guidance lesson on building a classroom community and relationships.  I have also had the pleasure to meet with our newest students to Cherokee Trail.  It has been fantastic to see the students again!

Now that students are spending more time on electronic devices, it is wise to know some of the sites & apps that your child may come across.  Check out the articles below to become more familiar with them….

Parent Articles:

Parents’ Ultimate Guide to Tik Tok

Parents’ Ultimate Guide to YouTube

Parents’ Ultimate Guide to Snapchat

Parents’ Ultimate Guide to Fortnite

Pre-Order Your Weekly Meal Bags - Free for students who qualify for free/reduced lunch

Did you know that you can pre-order meals from the district that can be picked up weekly?  Meals are free of charge for hybrid AND e-learning students who qualify for free/reduced lunch.  Please read here for more information and to order.  To apply for free/reduced meal benefits, click here for the application.

Mental Well-Being During COVID-19: Managing Stress & Building Resilience

You are invited to a Live Town Hall on Monday, Sept. 21 at 5:30 p.m. presented by the Board of Douglas County Commissioners and the Douglas County Mental Health Initiative. Join in this community conversation with Amber Berenz, licensed professional counselor and program manager for AllHealth Network’s Colorado Spirit Program, as she answers your questions and shares skills, tips and resources to help you tap into your inner resilience and navigate the stress that life during the pandemic brings.

The Principal Chronicles continue ... As I write this, it is Wednesday morning and today is one of our "Read4Funds" days. Everyone is dressed up and ready to participate but it seems a bit odd to not have the building buzzing with parents and staff and having the students anxiously waiting their turn to go run laps outside. I guess this is our new normal, but at the same time, it makes me pleasantly happy to see how many things we are able to do. As not fun as this pandemic has been, it's also given rise to so many people figuring out creative ways to do things. As a STEAM school, one of our core values is creating problem-solvers, and now more than ever this rings true. We want our students to be able to think creatively so when you are in a situation like a global pandemic you can still figure out what to do and how to get your needs met. Essentially, think your way out of any obstacle that might occur. As I have told our staff many times this year, this very well could be our best year ever. 

On the home front, things are returning to normal. After George passed, things were a little lonely especially for Larry. Luckily for us, Larry isn't the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree so he is essentially back to normal. Which for him, is basically being just happy to be here. As Renee would say "He's Larry". 

The only other thing we did this past weekend was yard work. In case you don't know, I loathe yard work. I find no joy, or zen, or sense of accomplishment in pulling weeds. To me they are pokey and gross and I hate doing it. So when I got back from my run on Saturday morning, I saw the "to do" list had yard on it, my hopes of a great weekend went south pretty quickly. From there I spent the next three hours digging my fingers into the dirt and bending my 6'2" frame all the way down on the ground to pull up literally millions of tiny weeds (plus a few bugs as well as quite a bit of dog poop, which allegedly had been copiously picked up according to my two daughters). The worst part was, 90% of the weeds we get aren't even from the plants in our yard. Since our house backs up to open space we always seem to get these weird forms of weeds growing in random places in our backyard. In the corner of our yard there was a section of these tall mini tree looking things that were seriously connected to the very core of the Earth. I consider myself somewhat strong, as I lift heavy things often, but some of these tree things really taxed me. How could something so small and dangly be so hard to pull out of the ground? More times than I care to count I ended up on my back when the silly tree thing finally came loose. I can't even tell you how awesome that was lying there on my back in the dirt, covered in gross bugs and weed juice from pulling out a 400lb tiny plant. Hurry up winter and get here so I don't have to go through this mess anymore until next year. One more thing, I was sore on Sunday from pulling weeds. How sad is that? 

That is it for this week, I'll see you next time, when the Principal Chronicles continue ...

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.