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Cougar Community Connection
Principal, Shannon McPherson
4/18/24
Dear CRUNFamily,
Just as we thought warm, spring weather was here, in comes another winter snap. Well, the saying in Colorado is that you can truly experience 4 seasons in one day sometimes, and spring is normally when we see it. Fingers crossed for good field day weather, ya'll, but you just never know.
CMAS is complete and we are so proud of our 3rd-6th graders for tapping into their skills of grit, perseverance and stamina. We know that those are important life skills whether it is practiced with test taking, sports or just overcoming obstacles in daily life, they have to experience opportunities to practice these skills of facing these challenges if we expect them to improve in these important skill areas. As an educational team, we begin every year looking at our previous year's iReady and CMAS data in order to appropriately place students on academic pathways. We appreciate our families for having conversations with their kids about the importance of doing your best on these assessments in order for us to measure growth and progress our kids make annually, as well as be able to make instructional decisions for our students based on their data, even before they walk through our doors in August. Up next will be our end of the year iReady diagnostic assessments, which begin on April 29. You will receive copies of your child's annual growth report that will outline where they began in August of 2023 to where they are now in May of 2024. We are always excited to analyze end of the year data to help us adjust and revise our teaching each year, in order to have a continuous trajectory that trends upward in all of the Colorado Academic Standards that we teach our students. Teachers will be sharing details those testing dates with you in their class newsletters shortly. Ensuring a good night's sleep, a focus on doing their best and coming to school with a positive attitude about showing what they have learned, are all things you can do to help. We appreciate your partnership in helping kids understand how important their academic data is in helping us all support them on their academic journey.
Visit from Channel 4 News~ Dave Aguilera
Tune in to Channel 4 News at 6pm TONIGHT and check out our 3rd graders on tv with Mr. Aguilera!!!
Meteorologist Dave Aguilera Channel 4 News
Learning About Weather from a Pro!!!
A Note From PTA
Upcoming Events:
- Saturday, April 20th: Spirit Night at Code Ninjas from 4:30-7pm.
- Wednesday, May 1st: Our May Restaurant Night will be at Cold Stone Creamery and OUR TEACHERS WILL BE SCOOPING the ice cream! How fun! Join us at 9338 Dorchester St, Highlands Ranch from 3:45-7:45pm. CRUN will get 30% of all sales and up to 100% of all tips!!! We raised over $900 the last time we hosted this event, so come ready to tip the CRUN staff generously! :)
- May 6-10 is Teacher/Staff Appreciation Week! The PTA would love for students to write cards, create posters, or bring in small treats. Our theme this year is Hawaiian Holiday. Please deliver cards/posters/treats any time during May 6-10. Thank you!
- Friday, May 10th: Our LAST PTA Meeting of the school year at 8:45am in the Learning Commons or Zoom. Come help us say thank you to our out-going officers: Nate Biggs, Katie Busch, and Craig Livorsi. Your hard work and dedication has been invaluable!
- Thursday, May 23rd: Last Day of School FREE CARNIVAL from 3:30-5pm at Cougar Run Park!
Staff Announcements
Lorie Aksamit- Lorie has been a staple part of our learning community for the past 7 years. Lorie began her work here as a 3rd grade teacher, moved to 6th and will now be back again on our 3rd grade team. We are excited that we are adding a third section to 3rd grade and know that Lorie will be the perfect addition to that team.
Cale Aerenson- Cale will begin his 4th year at Cougar Run next year. He was an RtI specialist when he arrived, and this year jumped into a classroom role as a 4th grade teacher and next year will move to join our 6th grade team, filling Mrs. Aksamit's previous position. Cale will teach math and science along side Wendy Weiss who is the language arts and social studies teacher. We are excited to have Cale work with our oldest age group and these kids already know him from his earlier days as their interventionist.
Tara Boisson- Our beloved Mrs. Boisson has been a staple part of our CRUNFamily for the past 6 years. She has done amazing things with our counseling program but has made the decision to move back to high school which is the level she worked at prior to coming to Cougar Run. Tara will be terribly missed but we are pleased to share that she will be positively impacting lives at our very own Highlands Ranch High School. This means she will get to work with previous Cougar Run students who are now at HRHS as well as serve the kids who will be there later from our school. So, we won't be saying goodbye, just see ya later. We are grateful for all of the wonderful things that Tara has done for our kids and staff here at Cougar Run and we wish her the best in her new endeavor.
Julie Fredrick- And just like that, we found a new counselor with a tie to Mrs. Boisson. Mrs. Fredrick will be joining our CRUNFamily next school year. Mrs. Fredrick is an old buddy of Boisson's and served as her mentor when Mrs. Boisson came to DCSD. Mrs. Fredrick has 18 years of counseling experience here in DCSD and comes highly recommended from all who have worked with her and know her. We are excited for her to continue the amazing things that Mrs. Boisson started and for all of the new ideas she will implement next year.
Christina Wu- Christina has been a school psychologist here in DCSD as well as in Jeffco for the past 20 years. She is currently the school psych at one of the charter schools here in DCSD and will be joining our CRUNFamily 4 days a week next school year as an addition to our mental health team. Mrs. Bowman will now have a partner in our work to serve our kids though Social/Emotional wellness skill building. Christina's colleagues also had glowing things to say about the special connections she made with kids and families and we are excited to have her join our CRUNFamily next school year.
Kylie Morris- Kylie is not a new face here at Cougar Run as she was a speech language pathologist here assisting Mrs. Dinkins last school year. She moved to Fort Collins this past year and is going to be back next year joining our team full time as an additional speech/language pathologist on our special education team. Mrs. Dinkins is excited to have a partner to do the amazing work with students that they do together.
Shalene Henderson- Our student population continues to grow here at Cougar Run and therefor we are continuing to add sections to grade levels as the numbers allow. We will have an additional section to 5th grade next year and Shalene will be our 5th grade social studies and science teacher. Shalene joins us from Idaho where she served as a middle school social studies teacher for many years. She was a beloved member of her staff in Idaho and comes to us with glowing reviews from her previous principal and school team. Shalene is invested in Cougar Run as she is also a parent to an incoming kindy next year and a third grader. We are excited to welcome her to our CRUNFamily.
Shalene Henderson, 5th Grade Teacher
Kylie Morris, SLP
Julie Fredrick, Counselor
Counselor's Corner~ Tara Boisson
Does your child need a new backpack to either get through the rest of this year or a new one for next year? If yes, please contact me at Tboisson@dcsdk12.org and I will get one for you.
Enrichment topics/lessons this week (Silver April 22nd - April 26th)
K: Empathy & Kindness
1: Empathy & Kindness
2: Empathy & Kindness
3: I-messages/Conflict Resolution
4: I-messages / Conflict Resolution
5: I-messages / Conflict Resolution
6: Transition to Middle School
Spring Portraits and Class Group Photos
Spring portraits and class group photos are now available for viewing and purchase! DR-PHOTO has uploaded the galleries for families to access, view, and order their portraits. Families can access their photos by visiting the link below and entering their private password which is your child's Student ID#. Simply click on the direct link provided here: https://shop.imagequix.com/g1001106055. Get ready to relive those memorable moments captured during the spring season!
Lost and Found
We wanted to bring to your attention the overflowing lost and found items currently in our school. There are mountains of coats, jackets, lunch boxes, water bottles, and various other belongings that have been left unclaimed.
We kindly ask that you take a few moments to check the lost and found area to see if any of the items belong to your child. It is important to label your child's belongings with their name and contact information to prevent them from being misplaced in the future.
No Dogs on School Grounds
This one pulls on our heartstrings as we are dog people here at Cougar Run. However, the district has a strict policy about dogs not being on school grounds. The rationale is certainly rooted in safety as dogs, even on leashes, from time to time can become agitated etc and unfortunately could potentially cause harm. Allergies etc are the other safety risk so we appreciate you understanding this and helping us not have to have the awkward conversation we have to have when ask folks to take their pets off campus. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!
Volunteer Coordinator~ Katie Busch
We can’t say THANK YOU enough to our volunteers. But, we are incredibly thankful for all of the parent and community support. We hope you enjoyed the coffee and pastries this morning to celebrate you.
Upcoming Volunteer Opportunities
- FIELD DAY - On Friday, May 3rd, Mrs. Hinkle is requesting help from two parent volunteers per classroom for this year’s Field Day.
- Please see the times below and sign up by clicking the link.
- 9am-10:30am - Kindergarten, 1st Grade, & 2nd Grade
- 10:40am-12:10pm - 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th Grades
- Field Day 2024 SignUp
- CARNIVAL - On the last day of school - Thursday, May 23rd, the PTA is hosting a Carnival. If you are interested in helping right after school hours, please contact Katie Busch at kbusch1@dcsdk12.org.
A Note From Char-Our Registrar at CRUN
Registration for the 24-25 school year is now open!
If you have an incoming kindergarten student or know of someone who has a NEW student to register for the 24-25 school year - NOW is the time to register! Spots are filling up quick for open enrollment so be sure to tell your friends that when that window opens again on January 22nd, they need to HURRY to get a spot!
Go to this link to register your NEW 24-25 student.
See our Registration Page for more information.
Upcoming Dates to Remember
April 19- No School for Students/ Staff Compensation Day
April 26-No School for Students-Teacher Professional Development Day
May 1-CRUN Restaurant Night- Cold Stone- Teacher Scoop Night
May 3- Field Day!!!!!!
May 6-10 Staff Appreciation Week
May 10-PTA Meeting (All parents welcome!)
May 16- ROCKS Assemblies (Invitations will come in April) 9:00 LC, K, 1, 2, 3/ 2:15 4th-6th
May 17- 9:30 Kindy Graduation
May 17- 6th Grade DCSD Hexathalon Competition
May 20-24 CRUN BUS CANCELED
May 23- 9am 6th Grade Continuation
May 23- Last Day of School for Students
May 23- 3:30 End of Year Carnival Sponsored by PTA