PCK Weekly Newsletter

The Academic Calendar for the 2025-2026 school year is now available for your viewing. As you plan ahead, we’d like to bring to your attention a few important changes from this year’s calendar.

The first notable adjustment is the addition of six half-day throughout the year. These half-days will be dedicated to professional development for our staff, equipping them with new strategies and tools to enhance their teaching. Our top priority is to provide your children with a world-class education, and this starts with investing in our teachers' ongoing growth and development. These half-days will be offered in our 2025-2026 Champions Aftercare Program.

Another significant change is that the entire week of Thanksgiving will now be a school holiday. In the past, we’ve had a partial week in session before the holiday, but starting next year, there will be no school during Thanksgiving week, giving families a longer break for celebration and rest.

We believe these changes will positively impact both our staff and students as we continue to strive for educational excellence.

Hello PCK Families!

I hope everyone had a safe, enjoyable, relaxing, and fun-filled fall break! I was able to visit Michigan and see the incredible fall tree colors but I’m glad to be back at school and hearing all about the kids’ break and trips and what they did!

First, I want to thank all the parents who have been working with the school and the Sheriff’s Office with the traffic issues! A reminder for drop off and pick up to please adhere to the prohibited U-turn signs along Pine Drive. When making the right turn out of the parking lot, many of the turn lanes have no U-turn signs to allow traffic on those roads to make the turns safely (42-4-902(3) Made U-turn where prohibited).

Thank you everyone again for doing your part with keeping our roads and kids safe. And as always, please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns.

We are thrilled to invite all veterans in the PCK community to join us for our Veterans Day Breakfast, where we will come together to honor the brave men and women who have served in the U.S. armed forces. Following the breakfast, we encourage all families to attend our Veterans Day Assembly as we celebrate and pay tribute to our veterans.

If your family has a veteran who will be joining us, we kindly ask that you RSVP in advance and provide a full list of the guests who will be attending with them. We strongly encourage all families with veterans to participate, as PCK values the opportunity to give back and show our heartfelt gratitude to those who have made the incredible sacrifice to serve.

In order to make this event a reality, we need volunteers to donate breakfast food for our veterans. Volunteers can sign-up to bring breakfast food the morning of the event below.

In preparation for this special event, we also invite our students to submit their "My Hero" worksheets, where they are asked to choose a veteran in their life who serves as a role model and explain how that individual has impacted them. These worksheets can be returned to the front office by Friday, October 25, and will be featured in a veterans display at PCK.

Before heading off for Fall Break, our third and sixth grade students had the incredible opportunity to participate in a unique, hands-on science experience.

PCK hosted a mobile fossil truck, which brought shale from Florissant, Colorado. This shale was rich with fossils dating back millions of years. This gave students an amazing visual representation of our planet's history and fostered a deeper appreciation for science and how it applies outside the classroom.

Students learned to identify sedimentary rocks that could contain fossilized plants or animals, discovered the materials best suited for fossilization, and explored the types of fossils commonly found in our state.

We are extremely grateful to Ms. Garbett for organizing this amazing event. We hope it left a lasting impression on our students.

Our Art Department has partnered with Square 1 Art to offer K-6 families a unique opportunity to celebrate and preserve their student's artistic excellence. Students have been working on creating a piece of art in class for this collaboration. Families will be able to purchase your child’s artwork on a variety of household items, creating lasting memories and keepsakes.

In the coming weeks, you will receive more information and order forms that will provide all the details and options available. Items such as mugs, pillows, water bottles, blankets, and many more will be offered. Questions about this promotion can be directed to our Visual Arts Teacher, Kate Dulaney, via email at kdulaney@ckcs.net.

NJHS Homework Help will begin next Monday, October 28, at 3:05 p.m. in the Science Lab. Students who register will come to the lab at the beginning of carpool to be paired with an NJHS student who can help them complete their homework.

NJHS Homework Help will meet every Monday and Wednesday from 3:05-3:45 p.m. in the Science Lab. To register your student, please purchase at least one session via MySchoolBucks. The cost is $10/session and the charge must be paid before your student attends NJHS Homework Help.

Students who attend will need to be picked up from South Carpool between 3:45 and 4:00 p.m.

Our lunchroom is looking for assistance with its operations, and we are excited to offer PCK families the opportunity to volunteer. We need a volunteer to assist at the register to ensure that each student’s dietary needs are given the attention they deserve. No previous lunchroom experience is required—our wonderful staff will be there to guide you.

Volunteer shifts are available every Wednesday school is in session, from 10:15 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

If you're interested in volunteering, we would love to have you join us.

We are excited to share that our Theatre Department recently wrapped up its second annual Fall Theatre Camp. This year, our K-3 students had the wonderful opportunity to go behind the scenes of our production of Aladdin Jr. They explored all the elements that make a production come to life, including makeup, technology, backstage procedures, acting, and singing.

Theatre is an invaluable experience for students—it fosters creativity, teamwork, and confidence. By engaging in the arts, students learn to express themselves, think critically, and collaborate effectively with others. These skills carry over into all areas of life and contribute to their growth both in and out of the classroom.

Nominations for the 2025 Douglas County School District Apple Awards will be open until November 15, and we encourage our parents and students to make a nomination. These prestigious awards honor the educators and staff who inspire a love of learning in our students and champion extraordinary innovation within our schools. Nominations for a staff member can be made either through a short video or a brief essay explaining why they deserve this honor.

Categories for nominations include -

Department Employee of the Year

Classified Employee of the Year

Elementary Educator of the Year

Secondary Educator of the Year

Administrator of the Year

We encourage you or your student to take this opportunity to celebrate our amazing staff members who go above and beyond to create a positive learning environment at PCK.

We are excited to host our Trunk-or-Treat event on Thursday, October 31. As we prepare for this fun-filled day, we kindly ask that families who plan on attending as either volunteers or spectators fill out our RSVP form prior to the event.

With a large number of visitors expected, the RSVP will help us reduce wait times for visitor badges at the front office. All visitors must have a badge to be on PCK grounds during the school day, and by RSVPing, we can pre-print your badges and have them ready for easy pickup.

Please note we are still searching for volunteers to create trunk displays, as well as candy donations for those displays. This sign-up can be accessed through the trunk volunteer sign-up below.

Visitors may begin arriving for the festivities at 1:45 p.m. Parents, please remember to send your student to school with a bag so they can collect goodies from the creative trunk displays our volunteers have worked so hard to assemble.

The next SAC meeting is set for Wednesday, November 13 at 8:15 a.m. We welcome your participation and input as we strive to enhance our school community.

If you have any questions about participating in SAC, or if you would like to contribute topics or questions to SAC but are unable to attend, please feel free to reach out to us at our new email, SAC@ckcs.net.

This week, PCK is thrilled to shine our Volunteer Spotlight on Jessica Norton for her outstanding contributions. Jessica played a crucial role in the success of our Scholastic Book Fair, generously dedicating her time as both a Shopper and a Cashier each day the fair was open. Thanks to her commitment, our students were able to fully enjoy the Book Fair experience.

Thank you, Jessica, for your incredible effort. We are fortunate to have you as part of our community!