Cherokee Trail

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

SAVE THE DATES   

December 21st: Spirit Night at Urban Air

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THE 8 DAYS OF DECEMBER - SPIRIT DAYS
 

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NOVEMBER TEAM CHALLENGE

With the amazing help of our art teacher, Mr. Barton, our students have created beautiful welcome trees in the hallway outside the gym. The leaves of each tree were created by each student with a self design of their own hand. The EPIC'ER committee has voted and the team that will be earning 100 points for their team is El Antasui! Congratulations!

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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
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: This week our focus is belonging. We will be learning about how to make friends in a positive way and why it is important to be kind.

Grades 3/5/6: We will continue learning about our brain and limbic system, as well as ways to regulate ourselves at school. Grades 4: The school nurse will come in to teach 4th graders about how what we eat matters

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 ....
Holy cow we are definitely in the last few weeks before Winter break. The students are in the midst of their winter diagnostic but there are concerts, assemblies, fire drills, meetings, observations, district visits, and everything else you can think of. On top of that, in the past few weeks, we have received a ton of students coming to CTE to enroll. It has been crazy, I can't remember a time in my 9 years here when we have had so many students come prior to winter break. Of course, we welcome them with open arms and work to make sure we figure them out as learners. Luckily for us, we have had some pretty good weather. As I write this, we had a fire drill and a choir assembly yesterday. The student's behavior was AMAZING. Typically this time of year student behavior is nuts but they were so well-behaved. I couldn't have been more proud.
On the home front, the odyssey of my daughter learning to drive took a monumental turn this past weekend. She not only managed to successfully navigate a car wash but also drove on the highway for the first time. Since she received her permit in July, she has needed to complete 12 hours of driving with me before she can fulfill her driving lessons with the driver's class I signed her up for. This past weekend we eclipsed the 12 hours so I am anxiously looking forward to having someone else sit in the car with her. In all honesty, it hasn't been that bad. She has nearly killed us only a handful of times. While we were on the highway her hands were gripping the steering wheel so hard, her knuckles were white (side note: we were on E-470 with exactly zero other cars on the road). She made it and we arrived alive back at the house. I truly think I get a minimum of 11 grey hairs each and every time she gets behind the wheel.
That is it for this week's edition, stay tuned for next week when hopefully I'll have more time to share some witty and amusing stories from the week. See you next time when the 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.