April Newsletter- 2021

Greetings CACFP participants,

We are excited to share an update on the Pandemic-EBT (P-EBT) benefit. P-EBT is a program created by Congress in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Last year, it provided $50 million for around 180,000 Colorado children to cover missed Free and Reduced-priced school meals, and this year it has been reauthorized.

We are hopeful that the benefit will be extended for families with children under six years old who participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP is an on-going monthly food benefit that helps eligible Colorado families access healthy food when budgets are tight.

The Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS), the Colorado Department of Education (CDE), and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) are currently working to develop Colorado’s plan to issue P-EBT benefits this spring.

While P-EBT plans are finalized, we would welcome your support in communicating some important information.

Here are some steps that you can take:

· Encourage families to apply for SNAP benefits as soon as possible. They can apply online using the Colorado PEAK website or on a smartphone using the MyCOBenefits app.

· Families with concerns about immigration should be encouraged that receiving SNAP benefits for eligible children (such as US Citizen kids) does not impact public charge.

o For more information on public charge and immigration and benefits, visit KeepYourBenefits.org.

Please share the attached flyers from the Colorado P-EBT Outreach Toolkit with families for more information on SNAP enrollment.

The Colorado Department of Human Services will continue to provide updates on P-EBT as they are made available.

For more information, please visit https://cdhs.colorado.gov/p-ebt.

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Hello everyone-

I would like to welcome our students back to in-person learning! It has been a difficult task to figure out a way to educate our students while keeping everyone safe. I really believe we have done a good job in our district with implementing a quality learning environment during these difficult times. Now we are finally able to come back to school all week long (Monday- Thursday). Some new research has come out about schools and safety.

We feel that our district has a plan and we are ready to implement a safe system for in-person learning at Center High School. Our school provides more than academics at Center High School. In addition to teaching reading, writing, math, language skills. We offer a safe and simulating place to learn and grow. We try to involve other trades and electives for each individual student.

We try and support them through their social and emotional issues as well. This is a place where they can be socially active, receive healthy meals and access to quality internet. We have high quality instructors that will plan and prepare to teach your students. The pandemic has not been easy on anyone and it is evident that our school needed to be in person immediately. We recognize that we are still involved in the Covid 19 pandemic.

We have instilled some successful protocols for our students. We need each parent/guardian to keep students at home if they display any symptoms involved with Covid 19. We will continue to screen the students when they walk in the door. We will wear masks, keep them distanced and address any medical situations immediately with our school nurses. Our hope is we can get back to normal as soon as possible.

We need your parent/guardian support to hold your students accountable for attending school, doing their allotted work and checking on their attendance/grades through our Infinite Campus portal. As a school we are held accountable for teaching each student that walks through our door.

We need parental support to help ensure your student receives a quality education. As the high school principal we will do what is necessary to accommodate all students with their learning goals. Let’s work on this process together.

If you have any questions. Please do not hesitate to call me at 719-754-2232

Thanks-

Kevin Jones

CHS Principal

April is the month that we test students in the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades for College Board exams, as mandated by the State of Colorado.

This is one measure of college readiness and is given according to student grade level placement at the beginning of the school year. The 9th and 10th grade students take the PSAT 9 or PSAT 10, respectively.

From their results, they can compare their scores to where they should be scoring for their grade level. For juniors taking the SAT, their scores determine whether or not they are ready to take college courses without prior remedial work.

It is important that students try their best, since low scores mean students intending to go to college would need to pay for remedial courses without getting college credit for them.

Adele ALfson

Happy Spring everyone! I hope you all have had some time to get out and enjoy the nicer weather. A few reminders as we near the end of the school year:

· 5th graders will need to get a Tdap vaccine over the summer before entering 6th grade. A note will also be sent home with 5th graders at the end of the year as a reminder

· All Pre-K students who will be entering kindergarten next year need to make sure they are up to date with their vaccines before they can attend kinder.

· We are able to perform rapid antigen COVID-19 tests at school for students who have symptoms of COVID-19 or who have been exposed to COVID-19. This will help keep students in school and shorten the quarantine time.

We had a busy March! March 9th & 10th we had a registered dental hygienist with Mobile Smiles, LLC preform dental screening exams as well as provide fluoride varnish for free. We had about 80 students participate in this free event.

We have had nursing students from ASU and TSJC join us in the health office to learn about school health. Thank you to both ASU and TSJC for allowing us to show you how great our students here at CCSD are!

We are also working on the Open Airways for Schools course.

This course is designed for elementary students, who have asthma, to learn about their asthma, their triggers, and how to treat their asthma.

We usually host this class in person but because of COVID restrictions we have been doing an at home leaning method this year. If your child has received asthma packets at home please make sure to complete the paperwork and return it to school.

As always, if you have any questions of concerns please reach out to me at wrue@center.k12.co.us or by phone at 719-754-2232.

Have a great April!

Wendy Murillo, BSN, RN