Cherokee Trail

• PSP NEWS
• KINDERGARTEN REGISTRATION
• SPIRIT DAYS
  
• BE EPICER
• WHAT'S HAPPENING IN WELLNESS
• COUNSELOR'S CORNER
• CALENDAR
• FROM THE PRINCIPAL
• NEW FLYERS 

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December 21st: Spirit Night at Urban Air

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FROM THE REGISTRAR - BRI JONES

Kindergarten registration for 2023-24 is still open!

If your child will be 5 years old by October 1, 2023, this is the time to register them for Kindergarten for the 2023-2024 school year. Don't wait - many Kindergarten classes fill quickly!  

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THE 8 DAYS OF DECEMBER - SPIRIT DAYS
   

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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
CONGRATULATIONS to our 2nd quarter EPICER award winners! They were selcted by their teachers as consistently exhibiting all six of our traits.  
Read more on the EPICER page!
This month, we will be focusing on INTEGRITY - Integrity is about making good choices. It is doing the right things for the right reason.  It is about being honest with yourself and honest with others. It is doing what is right when no one is watching. Integrity takes practice!

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN WELLNESS - NOELLE DUNKER

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

Grades K/1/2/3/5/6: This week our focus is on handling tricky social situations during the holidays.   We will role play ways to deal with emotions around holidays Grades 4: We will continue learning about our brain and limbic system, as well as ways to regulate ourselves at school.

With the second quarter of the school year coming to a close, we are reminded that the holidays are quickly approaching.  This is a great time of year to reflect on your family’s values and reconnect with each other.  Check out this list of children’s books that inspire gratitude.

Classroom lessons: I’ve really enjoyed visiting classrooms to teach about career exploration.  So far, I’ve visited all classrooms in grades 3-6 and will soon visit K-2.  Career activities include learning about career cluster areas, career interest surveys, and various occupations.  It is never too early to begin discussing careers and goals.  As a parent, one way to help your child with career exploration is to simply share about your own career and choices you have made (successes and failures).  Your child will begin to understand that their interests and abilities should align with their intended career path.

This month, I look forward to beginning a 3 lesson series on Human Rights with 5th grade students.  In the past, students love this lesson series.  The discussions broaden their perspective to learn about life in various countries around the world and the history of the Declaration of Human Rights.        

Denver Behavior Consultants – Social Skills groups now forming in Parker

PARENT ARTICLES

Managing Parenting Stress Over the Holidays

Parenting and the Power of Gratitude

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 ....
So we have arrived at the last full week of the first semester. This is usually a very crazy time of year and the fact that we are basically in school up until Christmas makes things even more crazy. Having said that, we are doing all kinds of fun, winter, spirit activities, and it is always entertaining to see the students get into the fun. As I write this, it is ugly sweater day and some of these sweaters you just can't unsee. Besides that, we just finished our winter diagnostic, and doing a quick dive into our data finds us with better growth in our students than anytime in the last five years. That is the best news we have had around here in a long time. All of the hard work our staff has been doing is paying off. Normally at this time of year, we would like our students to be at least 50% of the way to make a year's growth. Currently, we have 71% of our students have already made a year's growth and we couldn't be happier. Santa came early this year for CTE!!!
On the home front, not a ton has been happening outside of Christmas shopping and learning to drive. My daughter's Christmas list is stocked full of clothes this year making it the first time in 15 years that there isn't a single non-clothing item on her list. In addition, she has decided that she needs a job. So far she has applied to Sky Zone and Plato's closet. She hasn't had her first job interview yet but maybe over break, she might find something she wants to do. Who knew a 15-year-old could be picky about where she wants to work? She feels as though being a professional babysitter/dog sitter is good enough for now. I guess she is right.
That is it for this week's edition, stay tuned for next week's when the Principal Chronicles continues.....

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.