
Cougar Community Connection
A weekly newsletter from your principal, Shannon McPherson
11/10/23
Your CRUN Staff are OVER THE MOON appreciative and feel so loved by our community. With your support, Measure 5A passed which gives all employee groups in DCSD a much needed raise. We aren't quite to the compensation of our neighboring districts, but we are closer than we have been in a VERY long time. This will help us recruit and retain the best staff in Colorado! Thank you for your support and your love. This CRUNFamily is special and you are a HUGE part of this family. Thank you for taking care of us and helping us continue to keep these fantastic humans in our sweet little school.
We want to make sure that we give a HUGE shout out to our military families and veterans as we celebrate Veterans Day this weekend. We can't thank you enough for your service, past or present and value you in our Cougar Run Family! We had a lovely celebration/recognition at school today with our Boy Scout Troop leading a flag ceremony, our Cougar Run Choir sang a patriotic song and we served bagels to our Vets and active duty folks and honored them for their service. Mrs. McNamara gave a fantastic speech and we had recognition messages posted on the pillars in the front atrium. Mrs. McNamara, our school secretary, will be mailing the other letters to vets who weren't able to make it to our celebration. Thank you to all who joined us for this ceremony.
5th Graders At Young Ameritowne
Boy Scouts Presenting the Flag for Veterans Day
Veterans and Active Duty Military Being Honored for Veterans Day.
Choir Singing For Veterans Day
A Note From PTA
Upcoming Events:
November 14th CRUN Restaurant Night~ Red Robin
Chow down at Red Robin in Highlands Ranch (63 Centennial Blvd) anytime, all day on Nov 14th and 20% of your food purchase will benefit the CRUN PTA which funds much of our school programming and curriculum resources.Take a peak at the menu and you'll see there's something for everyone including vegetarian, allergen-friendly and lighter options like burger wraps and salads.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE: See Flyers Below
- Dine-in: show the flyer or mention the CRUN PTA fundraiser at check out.
- Online orders: add the fundraiser menu item to your cart, along with your food order, before completing your purchase.
Thursday, November 30th - Art & Cultural Night - 5-7pm -
More info in a below section of the newsletter. Start thinking about your favorite cultural dish, cultural dress, cultural holidays or cultural informational flyers to help us learn about the background of folks in our CRUNFamily! Reach out to Allena Kendall: aakendall@dcsdk12.org if you are interested in having a table to represent your family's cultural background helping us all to get to know each other even better!
Spotlight on~ The "B Team" Boisson, Bowman and Becker
Art and Culture Night November 30th
Memos From McEachen~Your Volunteer Coordinator: Upcoming Book Fair
Not Receiving Texts from DCSD/CRUN?
Opt In for Text Messaging DCSD
How do I update my emergency contact information?Log in to the Infinite Campus Parent Portal (campus.dcsdk12.org) and click on “More” in the left-hand column. Navigate to “Family Information” and review your contact information. If you see an incorrect phone number or email, please update it in Infinite Campus, or contact the registrar at your child’s school to request an update.
How do I sign up for emergency text messages?You must select to receive text messages from our system. Confirm that you have selected to receive text messaging (SMS) for emergency and/or school notifications through Infinite Campus Parent Portal.
If you previously opted out and would like to opt-in, text “YES” to 68453.
What phone number will my caller ID show when I get calls?When you receive communication from the DCSD SchoolMessenger system, the number displayed will depend on the type of message. The two types of communication include:
Emergency Notifications - 855-695-9448
For critical communications such as SRP
Standard/School Notifications - 877-279-4061
For general communications such as lunch balance, event reminders, etc.
You may wish to add both notification phone numbers to your contacts.Have additional questions?Should you have additional questions, please contact the IT Support Center (303-387-0001) to ensure you receive emergency notifications accurately and quickly.
Counselor's Corner~ Mrs. Boisson
Enrichment topics/lessons this week (Blue 11/13 - 11/17)
K: Gratitude
1: Gratitude
2: Gratitude
3: Gratitude
4: Gratitude
5: Gratitude
6: Gratitude
The Denver Counseling Center is offering free counseling services through December. Please vist their site at https://www.denvercounselingcenter.org/ for more information.
Open Enrollment Deadlines (Out of our Attendance Area Families)
Hello Cougar Run family,
This message is for our out of CRUN attendance area families only:
Application for Open Enrollment for the 24-25 school year is opening up soon. IF you have a NEW student who you would like to attend Cougar Run for the upcoming 24-25 school year AND your address is out of the Cougar Run boundaries, then you will need to apply for Open Enrollment for your NEW student.
Once a student is accepted for Open Enrollment they are accepted at our school through 6th grade - you do not need to apply each school year. This means that your current Cougar Run Elementary open-enrolled student is good through 6th grade But if you have, for example, a kindergarten student for the 24-25 school year, you will need to apply for open enrollment for your kindergarten student.
You can check your address here to see which Elementary School is associated with your address.
If you want to apply for Open Enrollment for your NEW student for the 24-25 school year you can go to this link starting November 1st. The Open Enrollment application window opens November 1st and closes December 1st at 4pm.
Feel free to contact our registrar, Charlene (clube@dcsdk12.org) or Choice Programming (303-387-9506) if you have any Open Enrollment questions.
Charlene Lube
Cougar Run Elementary
Registrar
2023-24 Apple Award Deadline is SUNDAY!!!!!!
As of today you will find the 2024 Apple Award Nomination link LIVE on your school's page on the FoundationDCS.org website. The 2024 Apple Award Nomination window will be open from Monday October 2, 2023 through Sunday November 12, 2023. We invite our DCSD students, teachers, staff and community to join us in nominating their favorite teacher(s), principal, classified employee and department employee. After the Nomination window closes on November 12th we will return the list of nominees to each school for your own selection of this year's school representatives. Each school may submit one educator and one classified representative to be considered for the 2024 Apple Award!
Upcoming Dates to Remember
November 12-Deadline to Nominate Staff for the DCSD Apple Award
November 13-17- Fall Book Fair
November 14- CRUN Restaurant Night: Red Robin
November 20-24- Thanksgiving Break-No School
November 28- 9:00 Cougar Run SAC Meeting
November 30-5:00-7:30pm Art and Cultural Celebration Night
December 8-9:00 PTA Meeting (Welcome to all parents)
December 11-15 Holiday Shoppe
December 11-15- CRUN Bus Canceled
December 15- ROCKS Assemblies 9:00 prek-3rd/ 2:15 4th-6th (ROCKS Invites will come home in Friday Folders the week of December 4 for any student who was chosen for ROCKS this first semester. )
December 22-January 8-Winter Break No School
January 9-Classes Resume at CRUN