A Word From Mrs.Moyle

Dear Redstone Families,

Welcome to a brand-new year! I hope you had a restful and joyful winter break filled with special moments with your loved ones. I enjoyed the slower pace of break and having an opportunity to spend time with family and friends. We started the break with a quick trip back to Nebraska to celebrate wtih family and ended with a getaway to Arizona to ring in the new year with our kids and family friends.

Thank you so much to our entire community for spoiling our staff during the holidays. We felt very loved and appreciated and are grateful for our amazing community. As we settle into January, I’m thrilled to share some exciting celebrations and highlights from our Redstone community.

We’ve hit the ground running, diving back into learning with enthusiasm. This month, we’re celebrating tremendous growth as students demonstrated their hard work and perseverance with impressive mid-year iReady results. These data celebrations reflect the dedication of students, teachers and parents in fostering academic progress.

This week, our teacher teams are came together for data meetings, collaborating to analyze this mid-year data and plan personalized next steps to support every student's growth.

We’ve also kicked off our Leader in Me habit of the month: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood. To inspire students, our assembly team led a fun and engaging assembly, sparking excitement about this important habit.

Additionally, we had the privilege of welcoming student volunteers from Rock Canyon High School and Legend High School, who taught Junior Achievement lessons to our students. These sessions focused on economics, giving our students hands-on, practical insights into financial literacy and the world around them.

Friday, on our professional development day, our teachers came together to continue learning and growing as educators. They dug into how to enhance their instruction through the use of AI tools and further explored the SRSD (Self-Regulated Strategy Development) writing frameworks to support students’ writing success.

As we wrap up the month, I want to wish all our families a fun and cozy four-day weekend! With very cold weather in the forecast, I hope you find time to stay warm and enjoy some winter fun. Thank you for your continued partnership in making Redstone a wonderful place to learn and grow.

In Partnership,
💕Amy

Understanding Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

As part of our Leader in Me journey, we focus on empowering students and families with life-ready leadership skills. Our habit of the month for January is Habit 5: "Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood."

This habit encourages listening with the intent to truly understand others before sharing your own thoughts or opinions. It’s about practicing empathy, paying attention to what someone is saying (and not saying), and seeking clarity without jumping to conclusions. When practiced, it builds stronger relationships and fosters open communication.

How Parents Can Practice Habit 5 at Home:

1. Active Listening: When your child shares something about their day, pause what you’re doing, make eye contact, and listen without interrupting. Reflect back on what they’ve said to show understanding, such as, “It sounds like you felt frustrated when that happened.”

2. Ask Open-Ended Questions: Encourage deeper conversations by asking questions like, “How did that make you feel?” or “What do you think you might do next time?” This helps children feel heard and valued.

3. Model Empathy in Conflicts: During disagreements, demonstrate seeking understanding by calmly asking for your child’s perspective before sharing your own. For example, “Can you help me understand why you feel upset about this?”

4. Read and Discuss Stories Together: Choose books or stories where characters face challenges and talk about their perspectives. Ask questions like, “Why do you think the character made that choice?” or “How would you feel in their situation?”

5. Family Meetings: During family discussions, give everyone a turn to share their thoughts without interruption. Reinforce the idea that each person’s perspective matters.

By practicing Habit 5 at home, you can help your child develop empathy, improve their communication skills, and build stronger relationships both in and out of school. Together, we can nurture these leadership habits to create a culture of understanding and respect.

As we enter into the Cold/Flu season and as we continue to navigate through childhood illnesses on the rise we are asking parents to help us stop the spread of illness through our school.

Please keep your child home for any of the following symptoms that aren’t related to an existing chronic health condition until your child is symptom free for 24 hours without medication and symptoms are vastly improved.

*This includes, fever/pain reducers (tylenol/motrin), cough medicine, and or other medications that improve symptoms for a short time (these will wear off at school)*

Please follow the guidelines below and reach out to our school nurse, Michelle Jahanian (michelle.jahanian@dcsdk12.org), or call our front office at (303) 387-7300 with any questions.

Keep Students Home for 24 Hours if they are experiencing:

• Feeling Feverish, having chills or

• Fever - Temperature of 100.0°F or greater

• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

• Cough

• Sore Throat

• Runny nose or congestion

• Muscle or body aches

• Headache

• Fatigue

• Nausea or vomiting

Keep Students Home for at Least 48 Hours if they are experiencing:

• Diarrhea (Frequent, loose, or watery stools (poop) compared to normal ones that are not caused by food or medicine)

When keeping your child home due to illness, please call our attendance line at (303) 387-7302 or complete this form.

Just a reminder that our doors will open for student at 8:30 each day even on very cold days. We do not have supervision for students before this time as our teachers are in meetings and busy preparing for the day. Parents are encouraged to keep students in cars and cozy until our soft start begins.

If your student come early for a club or activity, please be mindful of the start time for the club. Again, students will not be able to come in the building as we do not have supervision for them before their activity sponsor arrives.

We appreciate your help to ensure our students are safe and well supervised at all times.

We love having WatchDOGS at RSE to help out during lunch and recess. WatchDOGS go out to recess with students to help facilitate student games and activities and also to be an additional set of eyes and ears on the playground. WatchDOGS also join their students for lunch in the cafeteria. Our students love having WatchDOGS join us!

If you would like to sign up to volunteer, click here for more details. Moms are also welcome to sign up for a WatchDOG shift!

We are looking for substitute educational assistants (EAs). Our EAs typically help supervise students during lunch and recess and on occasion provide classroom support. We would love to add more folks to our EA pool that we call on when our regular staff members are out. This is a very flexible position and a great way to spend more time at RSE. If you are interested, please use this link to apply and also reach out to Amy at amy.moyle@dcsdk12.org share your interest.

Your child’s Elementary Progress Report (EPR) is now available for you to view. This EPR will give you information about how your child performed on grade level standards in the first semester and also contains personalized comments about your child and their progress.

Your child's report card includes grades for content and work habits.

Teachers spend a great deal of time evaluating students' progress towards grade level standards and providing personalized comments about each student. Please take time to review your child's EPR and you can follow up with any questions during spring conferences or you can reach out before.

To access your child’s EPR, please use this link. If you need support to access your EngagED Parent portal, don’t hesitate to reach out to the DCSD I.T. Department by clicking here, or calling 303-387-0001.

Please note the process for accessing the EngagED Parent portal changed last fall. Details are below.

Parents will need to add “@p.dcsdk12.org” to their current user names when logging into EngagED.

For example, when you log into EngagED, if your current user name is absmith, that will be changed to absmith@p.dcsdk12.org.

Your password will remain the same.

Kindergarten registration for students that live in our RSE attendance area is now open. Please remind your friends and neighbors to register as soon as possible so that we can appropriately plan for staffing and sections for the upcoming school year. Here is the link to register: https://www.dcsdk12.org/schools-academics/schools/kindergarten

Please reach out to Mrs. Yeagle at 303-387-7300 with any registration questions.

Did you know that missing just 10 percent of the school year in the early grades can leave many students struggling throughout elementary school? Or that by sixth grade, missing only that much school is strongly linked to course failure and even eventually dropping out of high school? That’s just 18 days of the school year— or two to three days per month. Every school day counts!

A student who is absent 10% or more of the days they are enrolled during the school year is considered chronically absent. This includes all types of absences—unexcused, excused, and suspensions. The chronic absenteeism rate is the percentage of students enrolled who are chronically absent.

It is essential that students are in school as much as possible to create a consistent and cohesive learning experience. When your child is not well, we ask that you keep the home to minimize the spread of illness. We understand absences due to illness cannot be avoided. We encourage families to schedule trips during our planned days off. With our holiday breaks and summers, we have a significant number of days off during the year. Just looking at our spring schedule, families have three 4-day weekends as well as spring break to plan ski trips and other vacations and outings.

Being on time to school each day is also very important. Our teachers begin instruction and learning right away when the tardy bell rings at 8:40. When students arrive late, the miss instruction and this disrupts the start of their day which can leave them feeling rushed and stressed which is not optimal for learning.

We value and appreciate our partnerships with families. Please reach out if you would like resources or support to improve your child's attendance. Most of all, we love and adore your children and we miss them when they are gone!

Link to DCSD 24/25 Calendar

January 17

• No School-Professional Development for Teachers

January 20

• No School-Martin Luther King Jr. Day

January 23

• RSE Night at Qdoba

January 27-31

• No Bus Week for RSE

February 3

• 4th Grade Field Trip to the Colorado History Center

February 4

• Hip Pops Truck at RSE

February 6

• School Accountability Quarterly Meeting 4-5:30-All Welcome

February 7

• 80s Glow Party 5:30-7:30

February 10-14

• Kindness Week

February 13

• Classroom Valentine's Parties

February 14

• No School-Professional Development for Teachers

February 17

• No School-President's Day

February 21

• 8:45-Principal's Coffee and PTO Meeting

February 24-28

• Spring Conferences

March 4

• Hip Pops Truck at RSE

March 3-7

• No Bus Week at RSE

March 7

• Pastries With Parents 7:45-8:30

March 9

• Daylight Savings-Spring Forward

March 17-21

• Spring Break

March 24-28

• Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Week

March 31

• Class Pictures

April 1

• Hip Pops Truck at RSE

April 2

• RSE Night at Skate City

April 4

• Rockies Spirit Day at RSE

April 7

• CMAS Testing Begins for 3-5th Grades

April 10

• SAC Quarterly Meeting 4-5:30-All Are Welcome

April 18

• Principal's Coffee & PTO Meeting 8:45 in Library

April 24

• RSE Night at Chuck-E-Cheese

April 25

• No School-Teacher Compensation Day for Conferences

April 28

• No School-Professional Development

April 29-May 2

• RSE Staff Appreciation Week

May 6

• Hip Pops Truck

May 23

• Last Day for Students

Check out this amazing story about our very own 3rd grade teacher! Mrs. Emmons and her daughter have connected their classes across the district by being pen pals. This is the perfect way to create an authentic audience for students' writing and to engage them in learning more about a student across the district. We are so proud!

The Redstone Spirit Rock is a fun way to spread any kind of positive message. Rent the rock to help celebrate a student's birthday, thank a teacher or staff member, wish good luck on competitions and tournaments, recognize milestones, etc.

Please note that profanity, advertising, political, and religious messages are NOT permitted. We reserve the right to paint over inappropriate messages.

Rock reservations are on a first come, first serve basis. Reserve the date or dates you want using this sign-up! You may begin painting at 4pm ON THE DAY PRIOR to your reservation. Your rock reservation is from 4pm the day BEFORE you sign up until 4pm the day of event or until the next rock reservation.

You will typically need four cans of spray paint for the base (1 primer/covering coat and 2-3 for base color) and any additional paint for your design. Better brand of paint, better coverage. For more intricate designs, craft paint, foam brushes and stencils may be used. In the case of inclement weather, the rock can be towel dried. The paint will adhere even in the rain/snow, if you want to brave the elements. If painting in the rain or snow is not your thing, revisit the calendar and pick the next available date.

Payment is due at the time of reservations. Cost is $10/per day.

All proceeds go directly into our PTO fund account. These funds support teacher resources, student learning, and community events.

Any questions, please contact Redstone PTO and redstonepto@gmail.com

Click here to reserve the spirit rock

Redstone night at Qdoba

Join us at Qdoba for an easy dinner for a great cause!

Redstone Elementary School will receive 25% of fundraiser sales* during this fundraiser. Participate on Jan 23, 2025 during the scheduled fundraiser time by showing this QR code at the register at this QDOBA location, or by ordering online at this location at qdoba.com using this digital coupon.

*Gift card sales, alcoholic beverage sales and delivery fees excluded.

DIGITAL CODE

QDOBAGIVES

Use the QR code for in restaurant orders

Redstone Elementary School Day at Olive Juice Beauty Bar

It's time for a self-care break on Thursday January 30th. 20% of the proceeds from the day will go back to Redstone (all services included). Just mention Redstone!

3624 E Highlands Pkwy, Highlands Ranch

hello@olivejuicebeautybar.com

(303)- 953-1078

Reserved Parking Spots

Lately there have been a number of people parking in reserved parking spots at drop off and pick up. Please do not park in a reserved spot; these spots have been paid for by Redstone families.

PTO Fundraising Opportunities

• King Soopers Rewards: Please enroll your rewards card under Redstone Elementary. Click the link below - it will require you sign into your account (or register if you have never done so) and search for Redstone Elementary PTO or use our number YB132 under the Community Rewards Section. https://www.kingsoopers.com/account/communityrewards/

• Box Tops: No more clipping - just scan your receipt. See how at: https://www.boxtops4education.com/

• American Furniture Warehouse - shop online or in store, and use promo code SCHOOL with the school ID RES032

Become Part of the PTO Family for 2024/2025

Redstone Elementary's Parent/Teacher Organization (PTO) wants you! There are opportunities for everyone to get involved. Can you only help from home? Want to spend more time in the school building? We have a spot for you! Please let us know if you are interested in getting involved next year by filling out the form below:

Click to fill out PTO interest form

Calendar

Did you know you can automatically sync your calendar with Redstone’s so you don’t miss important dates? Click the link below to import into your calendar: RSE calendar link

Spirit Wear

Show your Redstone pride and make sure you’re ready for Spirit Fridays! You can now shop for Redstone spirit wear year-round here: Shop Redstone Spirit Wear

Please do not hesitate to reach out any time with questions or concerns. Here are a few ways to connect:

• Email: amy.moyle@dcsdk12.org

• Redstone Website

• Follow us on Facebook-Redstone Elementary School

Our Colorado weather always keeps us on our toes; especially during afternoon dismissal time.

When lightning is in the area (8 miles from the school or less), we are not able to release students as we normally would. Our procedure is to move to a delayed dismissal. During this time, parents can come into the building to sign students out and take them at their own risk, but we are not able to release students until the storm passes. As a school and district, our first priority is always the safety of our students and staff members.

During a tornado watch, we are keeping a close eye on the weather and continuing with learning and business as usual. During a tornado warning, we move to a shelter in place. During this time parents are not able to sign students out from the building until the weather safely passes and the warning is expired.

Lightning Dismissal Procedures

Distance and Danger

A lightning delay will be called when lightning is within an 8 mile radius and students cannot be released safely from school. Students will be released and the delay will be lifted when there is no longer lightning in the area for at least 15 minutes.

Pick Up & Drop Off Procedures

While we cannot release students to leave on their own during a lightning delay, parents/guardians or other adults over the age of 18, who have been given permission in Infinite Campus, may pick up their children/younger siblings during a lightning delay at their own risk.

If lightning is within 8 miles close to our departure time and students cannot be safely released, we will call a lightning delay. Parents will receive notification through our Infinite Campus messenger system via text, email and a phone call. Once you receive this notification, you can come to the front door and go directly to your child’s classroom to sign them out.

For safety, parents are also welcome to come into the building and seek shelter until the storm passes. Siblings under the age of 18 coming to pick up a younger sibling will be asked to stay in the building and will NOT be released until the weather has passed.

Departure From School

Once conditions at the site are considered safe, walkers and bus riders will be released. We cannot guarantee the lightning in relation to all students’ final destinations and parents are encouraged to call and/or come pick students up if they do not want them released.

Communication Plan

We will try to make a decision about a delay as soon as possible; however, as you are aware the weather changes very quickly in Colorado and at times we may need to make a last minute call to keep our students safe. In the event of a weather delay, we will send an IC message by text, phone and email. Once the message is received, parents are welcome to come into the building and begin to sign students out. When the storm has passed and students are released, we will send another message to let you know.

While we love to see your sweet furry friends, our district policy is that animals are not brought on school grounds. We have many children with allergies and animals can also act in unpredictable ways when they are scared or surrounded by many people. If you want to bring your pet when you pick up your students we ask that you stay on the sidewalk above our parking lot and have your child walk up to meet you.

Please help us teach and model safety when crossing paths or intersections. At places where we have a staff crossing guard, we ask that all traffic including parents wait to be directed by the staff member.

Just a reminder that our soft start time this year is 8:30. We do not have staff supervision outside before this time so please do not leave students unattended until you see the front doors open at 8:30. Students seem to be arriving very early after being dropped off, riding bikes or walking. We will be asking students who arrive early to come and call parents for pick up as it is not safe for students to be out front unattended. Thank you for helping us to keep students safe in the mornings by not leaving them before 8:30. Our BASE program is a great option for parents who need to get to work and drop off before 8:30.

If your child arrives at school after our tardy bell at 8:40, please walk them to the front door to sign them in. This additional security layer is to be sure students get into the building and staff are aware they have arrived.

Drop off and pick up is a very busy time of day at Redstone. We need your help to ensure that our drop off/pick up runs safely and smoothly. Please review the items below:

1. Please stay in your car. Do not get out to open the car door for your child. Our staff members will help children in and out of cars.

2. Pull all the way through the crosswalk and as far up the Kiss ‘n Go lane as possible before stopping.

3. Do not let your child exit your car on the driver's side.

4. Please do not drive through our bus lane or do u turns in the school zone.

5. If you need to get out of your car for any reason (to give your teacher a note, to talk to a bus driver, to help your child put their backpack on), please park in the upper parking lot and walk your child through the crosswalk.

6. Have your child/ren ready to exit your car quickly (coat on, backpack ready, shoes on…)

7. If your child is unable to exit your car independently, please park in the upper parking lot.

8. Do not motion for your child to walk unattended through the crosswalk to the upper parking lot.

9. Walkers, please wait for the crosswalk attendant to acknowledge you before crossing.

10. For our students and staff safety, please stay off your cell phone while driving on school property.

11. Thank you for cooperating and being respectful to our staff who work so hard everyday to make sure your children are safe and our Kiss 'N Go Lane moves efficiently.

Please pass this message on to grandparents, babysitters, siblings etc….

1. Cars arriving for pick up in the afternoon will form two lanes in the kiss and go lane. Cars will not be released until all cars in both lanes are loaded with students.

2. Please put your car tag with your family name on your rear view mirror. You can pick up a car tag at meet and greet.

3. Please stay in your car and wait until staff motion you to pull away. Again no cars will be released until both lanes are loaded.

4. If your child is a car rider, please remind them to come quickly out to the front pick up area when the afternoon bell rings so traffic is not delayed. Students will line up on the red dots on the sidewalk to wait for their car to arrive.

**If you will be using the car lane for afternoon pick up, please get a car tag to hang on your mirror to help our staff quickly identify families.

Having our students at school on time and for full days is always a priority. Classroom routines are in place and learning is happening from the moment students arrive until the end of the day. Scheduling appointments outside of the school day when you are able to is always ideal. If students are arriving late or being checked out early, please follow the procedures below.

• For late arrival-Students after 8:40 parents must walk students to the door and ring the bell. Our Campus Security Specialist, Mr. Dave, will have a sign in for students.

• For early dismissal, please call the front office (303-387-7300) when you are on your way to pick up your students. The office staff will call them out of class. When you arrive, you can call to ask your student to be released or ring the buzzer to let them know. Office staff will walk students to the door and make sure they connect with their parent. Parents are asked not to come into the building to check students in or out to limit school traffic.

• When students are ill or will be absent from school, please call the attendance line (303-387-7302) and leave a message or fill out the Attendance Google Form which is also linked on our RSE website homepage. The office staff will review attendance each morning and make calls home when students have not been called out and are not in attendance. Students’ safety is always our top priority so letting us know when your child is absent helps to make this process go much more quickly to ensure all students are accounted for each day in a timely fashion.

School breakfast and lunch will continue to be free for all students this year through the Healthy School Meals for All program (Proposition FF) in Colorado.

Breakfast

Students who wish to eat breakfast at school can enter through the cafeteria doors starting at 8:15. They will be supervised in the cafeteria by staff and then will head to class at 8:30 when soft start begins. Students will not be able to come for breakfast if they arrive after 8:30 as the tardy bell rings at 8:35.

Lunch

Students are welcome to eat school lunch or bring lunch from home. School lunch consists of at least two main dish choices including a vegetarian option. There is also a harvest bar daily where students are able to access unlimited fresh fruits and veggies. Lunch is free of charge for students. If students want to get a second entree or snacks, these are available for purchase. You can find the daily lunch menu at the RSE Menu website.

Any father figures (or moms) are welcome to sign up to be Watch DOGS. The goals of our Watch DOGS program are:

1) To provide positive male role models for the students, demonstrated by their presence that emphasizes how education and commitment in school is important.

2) To provide an extra set of eyes and ears to school security

Watch Dogs are asked to sign up for a shift from 10:45-1:15. During this time, our WDDs are helping to supervise and interact with students at lunch and recess. We really appreciate the extra set of eyes and hands during this busy time of day and students love playing with our Watch DOGS on the playground.

On your Watch Dog day, dads can bring lunch from home or purchase a school lunch from the cafeteria for $5.00. Don’t forget to bring a water bottle too as the kids will wear you out on the playground 🙂. Please bring your ID and check in at the front office when you arrive.

WDD coordinator- Casey Hall

We love celebrating and recognizing students’ birthdays at RSE. Due food allergies and restrictions, we ask that families not bring in food treats for student’s birthdays. Our priority is always to keep our students safe and it is just too challenging to monitor all of the ingredients in birthday treats.

Students’ birthdays will be recognized and celebrated on our morning announcements and on the outside marquee. Teachers will also recognize birthdays in their classrooms. Teachers will let you know how they recognize birthdays and if you are able to send in non food treats if you choose to do so. Parents are also welcome to rent our PTO spirit rock to celebrate student birthdays.