Dear Parent and/or Guardian,

We have had such a great year so far and the time has flown by! Thank you for all of your support as we transitioned three of our part-day programs into full day classes! The students all seem to be enjoying new friends in their rooms. A big thank you to all the families who came out to our October conferences. We had over 88% attendance rate!

Our third annual Touch-A-Truck day was also a huge success. Thank you to all the families and community members who attended. It is one of my favorite days as an administrator.

Our students continue to grow and are learning so many new and fun activities. In October, we wrapped up our first unit on "Trees". The teachers and students had so many fun and engaging activities throughout the study! Our next unit is "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle". Students will learn “What do people throw away?”, “Where does trash go?”, “How do trash and garbage affect our community?”, “How do we reuse junk?”, and “How can we create less trash?”

Our Fall parade and pumpkin patch was also a great success! Thank you to District 8 departments for providing students with fun items to fill their bags. And a huge thank you to Wal-Mart for donating enough pumpkins for every PreK student to pick one from our “patch”. ** We are going to start a costume exchange! More information to follow after PTO meeting. Please keep any gently use costumes you may want to donate. **

If you do not already, please follow our Facebook page to see updates and activities around our school. While the weather is ever changing, there may be indoor recess. Please remember to send coats and winter weather items for your child in case we are outside and it is chilly!

In Service of All-

Laura Browning

ALWAYS have your ID. If there is a sub for your child's teacher, they will be asking for this to compare to the student's approved pick-up adults. All approved adults must be 18 years or older, per DHS guidelines. We will also scan all visitor ID's for any events.***

• If you do not already, please follow our Facebook page to see updates and activities around our school.
• On the first of each month, the students switch playgrounds! While the weather is ever changing, there may be indoor recess. If you do not see your child's class outside at pick-up, you will sign them out at their drop-off doors. Please remember to send coats and cold weather items for your child in case we are outside and it is chilly!

Siblings or children not enrolled as a student at Conrad:

• Siblings and other children are NOT allowed to visit the classrooms during regular school day sessions due to licensing regulations, ratios, potential health concerns, and disruptions to the classroom environment. Please note that this includes the following situations: birthday celebrations, holiday events during the school day, volunteer activities, etc. Additionally, this is relevant for unenrolled children of all ages - including infants and children in strollers/carriers.

• Siblings are welcome to attend outdoor events during the school day (field day, etc.), as well as after-school events such as Family Nights.

To ensure safety of all students, staff, and families:

• No dogs allowed on school property during pick up/drop off times.
• Remember to use the crosswalks and keep your child close to you in the parking lots.

Exciting News! The city of Fountain has put in a cross walk on Jimmy Camp Road by Conrad! The lights will flash when someone pushes the button so please watch for students crossing the street.

Reminder, we visit the library on Wednesday's. Students have an opportunity to listen to stories, as well as check out library books for the week! If you would like to be a Wednesday library volunteer, please visit our website under the PTO tab. You can sign up for any amount of time; it does not need to be an entire day commitment. Books are due back on the following Tuesday.

Please see the flyers below for all upcoming events at Conrad!

Here at Conrad, we all believe in each and every student. Please, reach out if you have any questions in regards to the upcoming events!

'Kids & Screen Time: How to Use the 5 C's of Media Guidance

The 5 C's of media use are based on the child, the content, ways to calm down, what media is crowding out and ongoing communication. 5 C's guidance for each age group starts with information about the developmental stages kids are going through and how this influences media use. It also describes healthy media habits to strive for at home. You can use these to build upon how you're already connecting with your kids.

1. CHILD

Because children are all different, they don't each have the same risks and benefits from media. We encourage parents to think:

• Who is your child, what is their personality? And how does this influence what media they are attracted to, and how it affects them?

• Do they seek out wild content on video platforms, or does media help support a special artistic or musical talent?

• Is social media feeding their social anxiety, or do they have a supportive friend group online?

2. CONTENT

Research shows that content quality shapes whether kids have positive or negative relationships with media. Learn about what your kids play or watch. Help them think about which videos and games they use that have too much violence, rude role-modeling, unrealistic beauty standards or commercialism.

Although these things "trend" on social media, they can influence kids' emotions and behavior.

3. CALM

All kids need to learn strategies for how to manage strong emotions or fall asleep at night, and sometimes media becomes their main go-to strategy. If this is the case, talk to friends, pediatricians, therapists or other supports for other ways to calm their brains and bodies down.

4. CROWDING OUT

Depending on how much media your family is using and what time of day, it might be crowding out other things your family cares about. Rather than just focusing on reducing screen time, help your family think about what they want to get back—such as family quality time, more sleep, going to the movies, playing with pets or time outdoors. Help kids recognize that digital media has lots of "hooks" that keep us online longer than we intended. That's why it helps to have a plan about when and where media is used every day.

5. COMMUNICATION

Talk about media early and often. This is one way kids build digital literacy, and it helps you identify when your child or teen is struggling. It's normal to find this a stressful topic, so take a deep breath, try to be open-minded and ask questions. This helps reduce guilt and increases your problem-solving mindsets.'

Pack The Pantry: This month we will join all Fountain-Fort Carson D8 schools in collecting Thanksgiving foods and Turkeys in collaboration with the FFC8 food pantry. Conrad is collecting Canned Cranberry Sauce. Please bring donations to the front office of Conrad before November 14th!

Happy November! Here are calendars with some ideas of activities you can do with your children to promote speech and language development.

Jessica Meyer M.S. CCC-SLP Marina Kelly M.S.CCC-SLP

jmeyer@ffc8.org marinakelly@ffc8.org

'Gross Motor Halloween Activities for Kids!

Spider Web: Balance Activity

Using duct tape, painters tape, or chalk outside make a large spider web with connecting lines to resemble a spider web. You can use little play bugs to pretend they are “trapped” in the spider web and your child must save the bugs from the web by walking along the spider web lines similar to walking on a balance beam!

Ghost Balloons: Body Awareness/Coordination Activity

Drawing a ghost face on a white balloon and challenging your child to keep the balloon in the air. This practices navigating around their environment safely when your child is visually looking at other things (the balloon). This is important for example, when walking in the grocery store looking at the aisles, or at school in the busy hallways without losing our balance and falling. You can make this activity more or less challenging by playing in an open space or adding obstacles your child must avoid – still ensuring the environment is safe throughout the activity!!

Witches Broom: Endurance/Coordination/Body Awareness Activity

Pretend you are flying on a witches broom and practice skipping, galloping, or running! You can increase the challenge when running by saying “stop” and seeing how quickly your child can come to a stop while running! This can help work on body awareness and increase safety when your child is playing in their environment!

Monster Walks: Global Strengthening Activity

Practice walking as different “monsters” by doing crab walks, bear crawls, penguin walks (walking on heels), crawling, rolling, or any other creative ideas you and your child come up with! Can play fun Halloween music as well!'

By:Chelsea Mihm, DPT

'As a parent, you might find that calming your angry child can be one of the biggest challenges of parenting. There are many things that make children angry, and children feel anger in different ways — just as adults do. Perhaps you were taught as a child that being angry was not “allowed” or that anger was “bad.” It is important to teach your child that it is normal to get angry. Often, the first step parents must take is to set aside what they themselves were taught as children, and choose to teach their own child something new. As with all emotions, when you help your child recognize and name his anger you have helped him take the first step toward being able to control his own behavior. When your child is able to recognize the feeling and say, “I’m angry!” it reduces the chances that he will act out. 'Here is some information on helping your child recognize and understand anger.

Get to know our staff at Conrad!

Where were you born?

Longmont, CO

What is your roll at Conrad?
Early Childhood Special Educator

What is your favorite part of working at preschool?
Getting to be a part of a child's first school experience!

Do you have any Pets?

I have one cat named Emmy. She is a Siamese/Maine-Coone that has a big personality!
Do you have any hobbies?

I love reading, hiking, and spending time with my family. They all bring me joy!

If you had to enter a talent show, what would be your act?

Claw machines!
What is your favorite type of food?

I love Italian food!

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go and why?

I'd love to go to Ireland! It has always been a dream of mine to see the Giant's Causeway.
What is a quote that inspires you?

"And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should."

Is there anything else you want to share about yourself?

Life goal: Own a German Shepherd and a Bernese Mountain Dog!

What is your name?
Fantasia Stevens

Where were you born?

Colorado Springs, CO
What is your roll at Conrad?
Paraprofessional

What is your favorite part of working at preschool?

The joy of little ones.

Do you have any Pets?

Two cats, calico, named Xena, and a black and white cat named Tangerine.

Do you have any Hobbies?

Hiking, reading, & family time.

What is your favorite type of food?

I love burritos or burrito bowls.

If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go and why?

Anywhere outside of Colorado. I have not traveled much except to see family in Kansas.

What is a quote that inspires you?

"Nothing is impossible, the word itself says "I'm Possible!"

Is there anything else you want to share about yourself?

I have always worked with special needs since I was 17. Ever since then I have loved everything to do with special needs.

Click on the picture to sign up 👉

Parents may sign up to help out on Wednesdays in Conrad's school Library.

• We need one volunteer per week
• Help kids check in & check-out library books
• Clean and reshelve library books
• Wednesdays during the AM or PM session

Reminder: children may NOT accompany the volunteer.

Please review the available slots click on the button to sign up.

Thank you!