Cougar Community Connection

Dear CRUNFamily,

What a great week we had at Cougar Run. Thank you to all of our families who joined us for Back to School Night on Thursday evening. The rekindling of our Back to School Night was a great success and we loved the PTA event that was attached to it. The food trucks and bounce house along with face painting was a great way to celebrate our community along with getting great information from your teacher about what life is like in their classroom each day. The beginning of the school year is about building the partnerships between school and home and Back to School Night allowed us to kick that belief we have on such a high note. Have a fantastic weekend!

Do you love to paint? We need some of our CRUN Family to volunteer to paint the spirit rock for PTA events. Email crunpta@gmail.com for dates and details.

Upcoming Events:

• Friday, September 8: PTA Meeting at 8:45am in the Learning Commons or by Zoom
• September 18 & 21: Fall Conferences --> We are going to try for potlucks BOTH nights. We will have the sign-up soon!
• Friday, September 1: FUN RUN Launch Date
• In the past, we have done 3 big fundraisers throughout the year. This year we want to have just ONE!
• We are doing this fundraiser all in-house, so we won't be paying outside companies 40%+ of our profits!
• We are asking for a minimum of $150 per student
• Friday, September 29: FUN RUN --> Where the Cougars Run!
• Donations close for the FUN RUN this night
• Monday, October 2: Rewards Assembly
• This whole week will be packed with surprises!

Did you know?

• King Soopers does easy Community Rewards for cash back to Cougar Run every time you use your King Soopers card! Just go to the Community Rewards Directions link to set up your digital account and sign up for rewards. We are listed at Cougar Run Elementary, organization RJ276. The money adds up so quickly! Add it once, and you don't need to worry about it again.

Have you heard of Watch DOGS?

• Fathers and father-like figures are providing additional support for our own children, all students of CRUN, and the CRUN Faculty. You are encouraged to sign up and show up at least one day a year to be in the classroom, lunch room and halls of Cougar Run. It's an action packed, fulfilling day loaded with fun activities. Each Volunteer is given a free t-shirt to wear during your day at school.

  Sign up HERE: https://signup.com/go/gAuoewK

Mr. Scott Barnes is certainly not a new face around Cougar Run as he has been on staff here for a decade as a superstar EA 4 supporting our SSN students. His background was in engineering prior to him taking the oath of service for our students. His skill set is GRAND and what he is bringing to our school thorough our digital education programming is INCREDIBLE! His ideas and plans span from coding and robotics to ensuring that our students have the basics needed to thrive in this digital world. We are excited to watch him in action this year as our new Technology Enrichment Teacher.

If you are a family who would like to connect with other families around carpooling on the weeks that our bus is canceled, HERE is a google form for you to fill out to be added to the list.We are going to group you by bus stop and share the list with all of you who are interested in reaching out to each other to set up a carpool. Please fill out the form with your contact information and we will create and distribute the contact info to you.

Processes and Procedures

Just a reminder for signing out your child from school prior to the end of the school day:

• Please ALWAYS bring your photo ID

• Come to the front office window and sign your child out on the attendance sign out sheet.

• Wait for the office to call your student to the office.

• We ask that parents not sign their child out after 3:15. At this time teachers are giving instruction and homework to the students for the night.

• If someone besides a parent is picking up your child, please call and notify the office and have that person bring their photo ID.

Calling all dads and important men in your lives!

If you have participated in this program in the past, you know how valuable it is to our school. We will have an informational meeting soon (stay tuned for details!), but for our Veteran DOGS and any new Dads ready to jump in, please sign up HERE. Thank you for all you do for Cougar Run!!

In case you didn't know.....WE HAVE AN INCREDIBLE BUILDING ENGINEER!!! Mr. Jason has a skill set like no other. He is truly the "Mr. Fix It" man and takes care of things in our building far outside of his job description. Because of this, he is in need of tools that are beyond the scope of what our budget allows. If you have some of the listed tools lying around that you would be willing to donate to him, we would be so grateful. Check out the list below.

Jason Wish List

-Cordless Circular Saw.

- Cordless Hammer Drill.

- Hammer Drill Bit Kit. (Carbide Tipped)

- Twist Drill Bit Set.

- 1/4 Ratchet.

- 2' and 4' Level.

- Needle Nose Pliers.

- Channel Lock Pliers. (Slip Joint)

As most of you are aware, our school district is in desperate need of passing the Bond/MLO measure that will be on this year's November Ballot. The bond measure directly impacts the maintenance of current schools and the construction of new ones. The Mill Levy impacts staff compensation. Both measures would allow us to be where the other neighboring large school districts currently are when it comes to operation costs and staff compensation. Recruitment and retention of staff continues to be a challenge because our teachers on average make 10,000 dollar less than the school district right across County Line Road. We need your help! Below is a website that DCSD has put together to allow you as taxpayers to understand how school funding works. Please take a look as we need our community to be the voice to those who don't understand the impact these measures have on our neighborhood schools.

DCSD Funding Website

Parents and Volunteers!

Are you ready to jump right in and start volunteering at school?! The first opportunity is right around the corner with Vision and Hearing Screenings on August 16, 2023.. You do NOT need to have prior experience and will be provided training for your shift. Please sign up HERE and reach out to Beckie McEachen with any questions about this opportunity!

Volunteers like YOU help to make Cougar Run the AWESOME school that it is!!

Homework Club will start on September 6th for 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. It will be every Wednesday from 3:30-4:00 in the LC. Eighth graders from Cresthill will come and help the students. Please fill out this form to sign up. Reach out to Allena.kendall@dcsdk12.org with any questions.

September 4-District Closed Labor Day, No School

September 8- 8:45 PTA Meeting in the Learning Commons

September 12th- CRUN Restaurant Night

September 13-15th- 6th Grade is at Outdoor Ed

September 14- 5:00pm Watch Dog Dads Information Night in the CRUN Library

September 18-21-CRUN Bus Canceled

September 18-21-Conferences will occur all week, but two designated nights for those who need nights.

September 18-4:00-6:30 Parent/Teacher Conference Night

September 21st-4:00-6:30 Parent/Teacher Conference Night

September 22- NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS- District Staff Professional Development Day

September 26- 9:00 CRUN SAC Mtg

September 29th- SCHOOL WIDE FUN RUN FUNDRAISER EVENT

October 16-20- No School Fall Break

November 6-10--CRUN Bus Canceled