We had lots of fun with our Red Ribbon Week dress-up days last week and Mesa kids showed up with many creative costumes on Thursday for our Halloween dress-up day.

This week, we will continue with food collection for the FFC8 food drive. Please help us by sending in boxes of cornbread. Mrs. Sabala plans to work with our students in creating another fun activity with all of our donations. The more boxes, the bigger the activity! Boxes can be sent in to students' classrooms for collection. Stay tuned for information on the prize for the winning class.

With the weather quickly changing to feel more like winter, it is important for students to come to school with jackets, gloves, hats, etc. Mesa students go outside for recess unless the temperatures (with wind-chill) fall below 20 degrees or there is inclement weather (heavy rain or snowfall). If your son/daughter is missing their outside gear, please have them check our lost and found...it is VERY full.

This week, students will continue to practice our Mesa PRIDE (persevere, show respect, be independent, be dedicated to keeping Mesa safe, and empathize with others) expectations across all settings of the school building, playground, and entry/exit areas. Our characteristics for the month of November are dedication to safety and social-awareness, as well as the character traits of staying on task, accepting 'no' for an answer, practicing using the appropriate tone of voice, and understanding the perspective of others. Please feel free to share the ways you and your family are practicing a dedication to safety and positive character traits with your student's teacher. We love to hear from you and to see our Mesa students practicing these skills outside of school.

In order to keep up-to-date on local information including road closures, weather, and police activity, we recommend signing up for Peak Alerts. It is common for Fountain PD to publish alerts through the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. These agencies use Peak Alerts to quickly notify the public. You can fill in your information via this link. Alerts go out via text and/or phone call.

Please be sure to contact us with any needs or questions. We look forward to all this school year has to offer and the opportunity to work with each of you to help our students to Dream BIG, Work Hard and Make it Happen!!

Megan Oleson

***Please let your son/daughter's teacher know your plan for after school pick-up.***

Car Riders (drop-off/pick-up)

Car drop-off/pick-up will take place in the north parking lot in front of our main entry doors. The west lot is not a drop-off/pick-up option for car riders. We ask that parents keep traffic moving as quickly as possible by remaining in their vehicles while students exit. If there is a need for a parent to assist with a student exiting, please park in a visitor spot in the north lot. In the AM, parents should pull as far east (closest to the gym) as possible in the lot. Mesa staff members will be there to open doors and welcome students. Students will then enter the building. In the PM, students will be with their grade level (as indicated in the photo). Parents should still pull as far east as possible. A staff member will check in with you as you pull through the line and will call for your student(s) to come to your vehicle.

If you are using Monterey Way and turning onto Camino Del Rey, please be mindful to not block the entry/exit to the west parking lot (on Monterey Way) as buses will be using this lot and will need enough space to get in and out of the parking lot.

Please reference the photo below for guidance on our drop-off/pick-up procedures this year.

Walkers

Any students who are walking home with a parent will meet on the east playground. Students will be separated by grade level. Parents may approach teachers to pick-up their student(s). Students are also able to walk home without being picked up by a parent. Students walking alone and needing to head west out of the building will be allowed to leave in this direction with the grade-level staff member walking kids out in that direction. Students heading east at the end of the day will be able to access the paved walkway out to Camino Del Rey to then head east towards Fountain Mesa.

Front Office Access:

Our main office is located on the north side of the building. Parents needing to enter the building should do so at our main-entry located at the north doors with a large Mesa paw print.

Essential Skill Focus: Social-Awareness

Now through Nov. 14: Food drive - cornbread collection at Mesa

Railroad work/closure to railroad crossings across Fountain over the next two weeks:

• Thursday, October 31 - Friday, November 8: Old Pueblo Road, Loren Lane, Ray Nixon Road
• Monday, November 4 - Wednesday, November 13: Private Crossing near Fountain Sanitation Indiana Avenue, East Ohio Avenue
• Tuesday, November 5 - Wednesday, November 13: Comanche Village Drive
• Wednesday November 6 - Friday, November 15: Duckwood Road
• Thursday, November 7 - Friday, November 15: Fontaine Boulevard
• Friday, November 8 - Monday, November 18: Main Street in Security

Save the Date:

Nov. 11: Veterans Day - district closed

Nov. 14: Progress Reports sent home (grades 2-5)

Nov. 15: Parents invited in for morning meetings in classrooms (7:40-8:20am)

Nov. 18: PTO meeting in the cafeteria at 3:00pm

Nov. 20: Thanksgiving Feast during lunch (watch for information on how families can join)

All students have access to free breakfast and lunch at Mesa. (Students pick-up breakfast and return to their classrooms to eat when they arrive.) Only if students request a second helping of breakfast and/or lunch will their account be charged.

Email: moleson@ffc8.org
Website: https://www.ffc8.org/Mesa
Location: 400 Camino Del Rey, Fountain, CO, USA
Phone: 719-382-1370
Facebook: facebook.com/MesaElementaryFFC8
Twitter: @MesaElemFFC8

What an amazing start to our 2024-2025 school year! Thank you for helping me keep our kids safe! It has been awesome to watch the patience and kindness shown to each other as we process procedures at arrival and dismissal.

Quick reminders:

• we have almost 700 kids now and there is so much traffic. Treat our long lines like a sporting event or concert and take turns, allowing every other car in-we are all going to the same place
• one lane drop off in the morning, two lane pick up in the afternoon
• please remember basic traffic laws - 20 mph in the school zone!!
• remember, if you are close to late or running late, speeding is dangerous, there will be tickets issued
• speed limit is 10mph in a parking lot, even a long parking lot!
• cross walks, driveways and intersections are not to be blocked; If you cannot completely clear those areas....wait
• GOING INTO ONCOMING LANE OF TRAFFIC IS COMPLETELY ILLEGAL AND UNSAFE-DO NOT DO THIS FOR ANY REASON

Thank you for working together to be great role models for our kids.

MEDICATION: All medication must be brought into the building and picked up from the building by an adult- students are not allowed to bring medication into the building. All medication must be approved by a prescribing physician with the appropriate forms signed. These forms can be found on the district website or by contacting your school nurse.

FEVER: Fever is defined as a temperature of 100.4 or higher. Students who have a fever should stay home and rest until they have gone 48 hours fever free without the aid of medication such as ibuprofen or Tylenol. If your child has a fever that lasts longer than 48 hours, please reach out to your school nurse to help problem solve what your next steps might be.

COVID Testing: * If anyone in your home has symptoms and is being tested for COVID, please keep all D8 students home from school until the results from the person being tested are received. Please notify your school nurse if you are keeping a student home while waiting for a household member to get results for COVID testing.

Keep up the good work! Our goal is to keep our Mesa community healthy and safe… and in person learning!