Hello Carver Elementary Community!

Prayers to California and everyone impacted by the wildfires.

What a busy first week back, beginning with the snow day on Tuesday, and dismissal from the gym on Thursday! Thank you for sending your students with hats, gloves, and winter jackets each day; we know how unpredictable Colorado weather is! Students have outdoor recess unless it feels like below 17 degrees.

Basketball practice began last week and will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The YES program for basketball begins on Monday, January 13th and will continue on Mondays and Wednesdays. We met with the YES Program sponsors last week and we are the ONLY school in District 11 that has this FREE, after school opportunity. Please take advantage of this and sign up for an activity below! We plan to continue this program next year!

We are really looking at tardies, attendance, behaviors and how they impact student achievement. We are planning on inviting parents to meetings to discuss our concerns and we appreciate your support with this! We want ALL of our students to experience academic success.

Teachers and staff spent a lot of time reviewing student data and planning for reading, math, and WIN (what I need) groups. Please take time each day to practice letters, sounds, and reading with them. Students also need to be at school, EVERY single day, attendance is directly impacting student achievement. Math facts can be counting, skip counting, by 2's, 3's, 5's, 10's, and done anywhere!

Now that we are in January, the temperatures are even lower in the mornings! Please LABEL your student's belongings with their first and last name. Our Lost and Found is overflowing and we want our students to be warm before school and at recess. Please send your student with a jacket, hat, and gloves because we send students outside if it is above 17 degrees. IF your student is in need of a coat, please let our Community Liaison, Kellie Gasper, know and we will see what we currently have in our Community Closet. If you need items for your family, please reach out!

Reminder, our gym doors open each morning at 7:30 AM for a free breakfast for all students! Please do not drop your student off prior to 7:30 AM. Our first bell rings at 7:45 AM and the second bell at 7:50 AM. Gym doors close at 7:55 AM and you MUST sign your student in at the front office. Learning begins by 7:55 AM each day. Please have your student to school on time to ensure a successful start to their school day!

Our Family Night on Monday, December 9th was rescheduled to Monday, January 27th! Please save the new date! We will have pizza at 5:00 PM and daycare for your students from 5:30-7:00 PM. The community closet will be available from 5:00-7:00 PM also and Scott Pilcher will provide opportunities for you to bond with your child! Please RSVP below:

https://forms.office.com/r/yJ8RBgMQvQ

Tutoring and after school clubs will begin the week of February 3rd. Tutoring may begin earlier, depending on the teacher.

Our School Store is updated! Please click this link to purchase some Carver items to represent our Carver Community! They are having a New Year sale!

https://sideline.bsnsports.com/schools/colorado/coloradosprings/carver-elementary

Our 5 Essentials Survey for parents opens this Tuesday and will be open from January 14th-February 7th. We need your voice and input! Please click on the link on TUESDAY, we want to hear from you!

survey.5-essentials.org/sd11

Again, welcome to Carver Elementary! If you are a returning family or if this your first year at Carver, we are excited to work with you to achieve great results. Please know that our doors are always open for communication, and we look forward to partnering with you in your child's education. Please look for opportunities to participate in the Parent Teacher Association, the School Accountability Committee, and other volunteer opportunities.

Thank you for your support!

Mrs. Bizzell

Proud Principal of Carver Elementary!

Take the 5Essentials Parent Survey to help improve our school.

It only takes 10 minutes!

Scan the QR code or visit survey.5-essentials.org/sd11

by February 7th. Thank you for your feedback!

Responda a la encuesta de padres de 5Essentials para ayudar a mejorar nuestra escuela.

Sólo le tomará 10 minutos.

Escanee el código QR o visite survey.5-essentials.org/sd11

antes del 7 de febrero. ¡Gracias por sus comentarios!

As a quality neighborhood school in D11, the Carver community is supportive and safe as staff, parents, and students are valued and involved in creating engaging, intentional learning experiences that are responsive to student needs and results in a place where everyone wants to be.

Thank you for voting for our new logo and Carver Elementary is proud to be the Heart of Our Community!! Our staff recently attended the Capturing Kids' Heart training and we are excited to build relationships, challenge ourselves and our students, and truly become the Heart of Our Community! We will continue to partner with local businesses, resources, and community members to enhance our identity statement and challenge our students to be the BEST they can be, every day at school. We are providing intentional learning experiences that involve and engage all of our students and our staff. We look forward to this school year and partnering with YOU!!

January 13th-February 5th YES Program Basketball

January 14th-February 7th Parent 5 Essential Survey

January 20th No School-MLK Day

January 23rd Basketball game at Carver vs Rudy 3:30-5pm Concessions will be available.

January 27th Parent Child Opportunity 5:00-7:00 PM

January 31st MTSS Parent Meetings

February 3rd No Students District PD Day

February 17th No School-President's Day

February 25th Skate City 5:00-7:00 PM

Breakfast in the cafeteria 7:30-7:45 AM (cold breakfast 7:45-8:10 AM)

Office Hours: 7:30 AM-3:45 PM

Carver School Hours: 7:50 AM-2:50 PM

Tardy bell rings at 7:50

Students will have a 15 minute recess, prior to lunch.

10:50-11:10 Kindergarten and First Grade

11:10-11:30 Second and Third Grade

11:30-11:50 Fourth and Fifth Grade

Under the Healthy School Meals for All program the State of Colorado provides free meals for all D11 students. Please take a moment to fill out our Free and Reduced Meal Application regardless of whether you think you would qualify or not. This program benefits the school as well as your family. Our goal is 100% participation. As a reminder, Carver is a free breakfast and lunch school. If you have any questions or concerns please contact the front office. Carver is currently 85% free or reduced lunch and we receive Federal Funds for this.

https://linqconnect.com/public/meal-application/new?identifier=JX9G3Q

K/1 12:10-1:00

2/4 1:05-1:55

3/5 2:00-2:50

Essentials: Art, Music, PE, Technology

Adaptive PE/Art: Fridays from 9:00-10:05 AM (Selected students)

Band for grades 4th and 5th (Tuesdays and Wednesdays)

Orchestra for grades 4th and 5th (Mondays and Wednesdays)

We are still accepting interested students for BAND and ORCHESTRA! Please stop by the front office for a permission slip!

We LOVE having family members in the building! Please complete the link below if you have some time to volunteer to help at school. Some activities include: cutting, tearing out workbook pages, reading to students, testing sight words, and sometimes just helping in class.
Please join us!

What are Caring and Thoughtfulness?

Being kind and thoughtful means making ourselves aware of the needs and feelings of others and then taking action to help them. It means taking the time to stop thinking about ourselves, to put the spotlight on somebody else’s needs, and to think “What can I do to make that person’s life a little better or easier?”

Sometimes we can’t do anything to solve somebody’s particular problem but just the act of showing concern and compassion can help to comfort them and make a difference. For example, your friend might be worried or sad about something that is happening at home. Even though you cannot solve that problem you can spend some time listening to your friend’s worries and supporting them as much as possible.

Caring and being thoughtful means letting things matter to us; not just for people that we know but also people that we have never met before. It means that we also value the needs and well-being of animals and the environment. Caring means that we have a concern when we see problems and unhappiness and wanting to help; from very simple gestures like buddying with a new pupil at school right through to spending your free time as a volunteer to help a good cause.

*So why should we be kind and thoughtful to others?

One ENORMOUS benefit of doing so is that it encourages other people to act in the same way. We can’t put it any better than the famous American pilot Amelia Earhart who once said:

“No kind action ever stops with itself. One kind of action leads to another. A good example is followed. A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions, and the roots spring up and make new trees. The greatest work that kindness does to others is that it makes them kind themselves.”

So – like a domino effect – we find that a simple act of kindness creates another act of kindness which creates another and another and another ……. and before you know it the world is a better place because everybody is taking the time to care about everybody else.

As you start to look around and deliberately look for chances to be kind, thoughtful, and helpful you will be amazed at how many opportunities there really are. Start with the small things like holding a door open for somebody, visiting a lonely relative, offering to help with somebody else’s task, or offer for somebody to step in front of you in a queue. Do it with a smile and you’ll be amazed at how easily you can make other people smile whilst setting a good example for others to follow.

Check out this beautiful video : https://video.link/w/vl6532f375955ef#

“People often forget what we say and usually what we do, but they always remember how we made them feel.” – Maya Angelou

If you have any questions, please reach out to me 719-328-2171

With kind regards

Mrs. Gio (Giovanny) Franco-Diaz, MA, LPCC

School Counselor - 504 coordinator , Student Council Advisor

Phone # 719-328-2171

We are a PBIS (Positive Behavior and Support School) and we will continue to practice our School Wide PAW expectations.

P- I am Prepared

A-I have a great Attitude

W-I Work hard

S-I am Safe

Thank you for supporting Student Council, KIDS NIGHT OUT was a success, so we will be doing another one on THURSDAY FEBRUARY 13th, from 3pm -5pm - $10 per student $15 per family (includes pizza and a drink) Different areas for students to enjoy movie and games, while you have a nice dinner or time for yourself. sign up ASAP https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=FjejtSMeM0u6mmGKVudqGCsMen_Vn0ZLglynP-2oXIJUREVON1o2RVpOVkJVNDA2UllET1daNU1ZTS4u

STUDENT COUNCIL: New applications are now open, there will be one application per class 4th – 5th due January 22.

Thank you for those that supported our first fundraiser at Dickey's BBQ! We are looking for a fun game night in January and we will have computers available to complete the Parent 5 Essentials Survey. We appreciate your feedback.
Thank you to those that completed the PTA feedback form of the day and time that works best for you! We are planning our February meeting now!

Our PTA board is:

President: Brittany Shelly

Vice President:

Treasurer: Betty Barnett

Secretary: Kelly Dawson

Our next meeting will be on February 13th. Please complete the PTA feedback form and send back to school!

All our welcome to attend our meetings!

Safety is our top priority at Carver Elementary School, and we are committed to ensuring the well-being of all students, staff, and visitors. We now have a secured entrance to monitor ALL visitors and a fence that surrounds the back of the school. To this end, we follow the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) to prepare for and respond to various emergency situations. We conduct monthly and quarterly drills to practice these protocols, ensuring that everyone in our school community knows what to do in case of an emergency. Here is an overview of the SRP we follow:

• Hold - In Your Classroom or Area

• Directive: "In Your Room or Area"
• Purpose: This protocol is used when hallways need to be kept clear of occupants. Students and staff remain in their rooms or areas until further notice.

Secure - Get Inside. Lock Outside Doors

• Directive: "Get Inside. Lock Outside Doors"
• Purpose: This protocol is used to safeguard people within the building by securing all exterior doors. Normal activities continue inside the building.

Lockdown - Locks, Lights, Out of Sight

• Directive: "Locks, Lights, Out of Sight"
• Purpose: This protocol is used to secure individual rooms and keep occupants quiet and in place. Doors are locked, lights are turned off, and everyone stays out of sight.

Evacuate - To a Stated Location

• Directive: "Evacuate to [Location]"
• Purpose: This protocol is used to move people from one location to a different location, either within or outside the building. The specific location will be communicated during the drill or emergency.

Shelter - State the Hazard and the Safety Strategy

• Directive: "Shelter [Hazard] and [Safety Strategy]"
• Purpose: This protocol is used for group and self-protection based on the specific hazard (e.g., tornado, hazmat). The safety strategy will be clearly communicated.

Monthly Drills:

To ensure we are prepared, we conduct monthly/quarterly drills for each of these protocols. These drills help students and staff practice the appropriate responses and become familiar with the procedures. Your support in reinforcing the importance of these drills at home is greatly appreciated.

Communication:

In the event of an actual emergency, we will communicate with families promptly. Please ensure that your contact information is up to date in our records so that you can receive timely notifications.

Thank you for your cooperation and support in keeping our school safe. If you have any questions or concerns about our safety protocols, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Together, we can ensure a safe and secure learning environment for all our students.

Carver Elementary is a Title I school.

The purpose of Title I is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments.

If you have any questions, please reach out:

https://www.d11.org/TitleI

Email: lisa.bizzell@d11.org
Website: https://www.d11.org/Page/69
Location: 4740 Artistic Circle, Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Phone: 719-328-7100
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/carver.d11.org/