The Coyote Howler

Dear CRES Families,

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and winter break with your family. This edition of the Howler includes pictures of some of those adventures and special moments throughout, so be sure to look for those, and thank you for sharing!

Also included is important information about middle-of-the-year performance data and report cards, upcoming events, and more -- thank you for reading!

There's one more day of break for students (teachers and staff worked yesterday and we have training today) -- we look forward to seeing the kids tomorrow morning, Wednesday, at 9:00am!

Shine on,

Deon Davis, Principal

Dear CRES Community,

Included with this letter are your student’s mid-year progress and assessment reports. The progress report, often called a “report card,” provides you with information that you need to know how your student is doing in school, as compared to grade-level standards. Because parents/guardians have access to their students’ progress in real-time through the Infinite Campus Parent Portal, for the past several years, we have only sent a paper copy of the report at the end of the year. That said, we don’t know how frequently parents access that information through the Parent Portal, so we are also including it mid-year. It is always our desire to increase the home-school partnership and this is one of the things we are doing to support that goal.

It is important to remember that this is a work-in-progress report. Students are being rated on their knowledge of the standards at this particular moment in time. These are not final grades. As a reminder, we are using standards-based grading, so you will see numerical scores instead of letter grades. You can learn more about our standards-based grading system here: https://www.tsd.org/academics/standards/elementary. You will also receive a Learner Profile reflection that your student has completed. If you have any questions, please contact your student’s teacher(s), and if you still have questions, please feel free to contact me directly.

Sincerely,

Deon Davis, Principal

We will be hosting a Math Night on Thursday, January 16th from 5:00-6:30 pm. It is going to be a fun night of math games and connection with CRES staff and our school community. Just as we did with our very successful literacy night last year, we will again be providing pizza -- so don't worry about dinner, just come to CRES!

We are very excited to share some easy and fun math activities that you can use at home. Families will be able to move between stations and dinner at their own pace. Students will have a 'passport' to collect stamps from each station they attend. For each stamp, they will receive a ticket which will be put in for raffle prizes!

We will also be hosting a game swap! Think about games your family has outgrown, and bring them to pass along to another family. We hope every family will be able to go home with some ‘new-to-them’ games to develop reasoning, problem solving and number skills.

We hope you all can make it, and we look forward to seeing you there!

The PTO-sponsored family dance is always a fun and well-attended event. This year it will be dedicated to one of our awesome students, Lilah, who is currently battling Leukemia. All proceeds will go to support Lilah and her family during this very challenging time. Lilah is a wonderful girl with a light that seems to shine from within. We look forward to seeing you there! Details below!

New Before School Choir Club starting January 30, 2025.

Ms. Smeltzer will be starting a choir club for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students beginning January 30, 2025 and going through May 8, 2025. Choir will be Thursday mornings before school beginning at 7:00 a.m. and going to 7:50 a.m. Students will be dismissed in time for them to eat breakfast at school. We will have a choir performance at Coyote Ridge on Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. Ms. Smeltzer will send home choir permission slips beginning the 2nd week of January. Please sign and return the permission slip to Ms. Smeltzer before the first rehearsal.

You may access the permission slip here as well

New After-School Club starting January 2025 - Basketball Club!

Join Miss Loew, Thursdays after school to learn all the fundamentals of basketball, ending with a scrimmage! The focus of the Basketball Club is to learn or refine dribbling skills, shooting skills, defensive skills, and teamwork with peers. Basketball will be open to all grades, Kindergarten - 5th grade. The club is limited to the first 20 students to sign up through the link below. We will meet and practice from January 16th - March 13th, 2025. Thursday March 27th, following Spring Break, will be a final scrimmage open to families. Sign up before it closes on January 9th, or until all spots are filled. Sign up for Basketball Club Here

*NEW* After-School Club STARTING JANUARY 2025….FIBER ARTS CLUB!

Join Mrs. Sandelin and Mrs. Schell, Wednesdays after school to crochet, finger knit, sew, embroider and/or weave! Our focus will mostly be yarn crafts, such as weaving and embroidery stitching, and hand sewing, with possibly an opportunity to sew with a machine (this is new, so we are still working out the possibilities!) The club is open to all 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. Sign up will be limited to the first 20 students to register through SignUp Genius. There will be a $40, one time fee to join the club (that’s only $5 per session) that needs to be paid by the first meeting date. We will have two scholarship opportunities for students who may not be able to afford the fee. Please contact Mrs. Sandelin or Mr. Davis if you would like scholarship assistance.

Additionally, parent/guardian volunteers may sign up to help out each week. We will have supplies available, but you may also bring your own. Fiber Arts Club will meet Wednesdays, starting January 22 through March 12, 2025. Registration closes on January 14th.

Click here for the Fiber Arts Club Sign Up Genius registration page

Please join our community at the Unified Basketball games this coming January!

• Loveland HS vs Thompson Valley HS is on Saturday, January 11th, 2025 (at Loveland HS). The games are at 11:30am (Girls), 1:00pm (Unified), and 2:15pm (Boys).

• Berthoud HS vs Mountain View HS is on Friday, January 31st, 2025 (at Berthoud HS). The games are at 5:00pm (Girls), 6:30pm (Unified), and 7:00pm (Boys).

• Here is a PDF version of the flyer as well.

~Submitted by Dr. María Gabriel, Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. Questions? edi-team@tsd.org

• Please join TSD – in collaboration with Heart and Sol – at this year’s Dr. MLK Jr. Loveland Community Celebration. This year’s theme is “A More Excellent Way, of Love” and will feature PreK-12 TSD student art and writing creations that exemplify the theme. Additionally, the celebration will have Lucile Erwin MS’ Principal, Dr. Olivia Gillespie, serving as a special guest speaker.

  
  

  The event will be held in Mountain View High School’s Auditorium and starts at 6pm on Thursday, January 16th, 2025.

  
  

  The EDI Department will be in contact with the student winners’ teacher, principal, and family by December 20. Please plan to attend and celebrate your student’s creativity!

We all know that weather will fluctuate as we work through the fall. Thank you for keeping an eye on the forecast each morning and sending your child with appropriate outerwear for the conditions.

Students can expect to be outside for recess unless it is less than 15*F, or raining steadily. Students have a nice long lunch recess, and they will not have an option to be inside unless we cancel recess for all, due to the weather just described, so please send them with gear.

Also, please, please, please don't make us throw out your student's nice winter gear! If you label every item, we will return lost gear to your child, but if it's not labeled, we can't help it. Trust us, all black bib overall snow pants look the same! Thank you for helping us to help you by labeling your child's jacket, caps, GLOVES, and snow pants.

The CRES Health Office is in need of gently used girls' and boys' pants, sizes youth XS-L. If your family has some to donate, please drop them off in the front office. Thank you!

Did you know that Coyote Ridge is part of a larger IB continuum within Thompson School District? Coyote Ridge houses the Primary Years Programme but there is also a Middle Years Programme (6th-8th grades at Lucile Erwin Middle School and 9th-10th grades at Loveland High School) and a Diploma Programme (11th-12th grades at Loveland High School). Take a look at this month’s DP Newsletter to learn more about what is happening at the other end of our continuum in the Diploma Programme! If you have any questions about what any of the IB programmes look like in TSD, please reach out to CRES IB Coordinator, Emily Rau at emily.rau@tsd.org.

Spirit wear is still available! Click here for spirit wear.

Here's the link to the article about crocs.

SLEEP

DAYLIGHT Savings time is coming! Here are some kid friendly yoga poses for a good night’s sleep.

Debbie Luithly

deborah.luithly@tsd.org or 970-679-9409

An important goal of an IB education is to see students taking action as they take their learning deeper.

Check out this Action and Learner Profile Award video to see how you can share the action your child is taking at home. Remember, no action is too big or too small!

If you have any questions regarding Action or Learner Profile Awards, please contact your child’s teacher or Emily Rau, our IB coordinator (emily.rau@tsd.org).

Kindergarten Lunch Help Needed!

If you ever wonder what the kindergarten lunchroom experience is like, check out this funny video--it pretty much nails it. Our newest students need lots of help--some of them can't even see over the salad bar! They're awfully cute, and awfully slow, so please come help if you can. You are welcome to stay through all the lunches, but the biggest need is from 10:45 - 11:30a. If you are able to help, even just once, on any day of the week, please call or email our faculty assistant, Myriah Groover ("Mrs. G.") at: myriah.groover@tsd.org. Many thanks to the awesome parents who have been helping out already this year!

Crosswalk Help Needed

Can you help keep our students safe? We have had wonderful community volunteers join our staff members in ensuring crosswalk safety for our students. All it takes is 20 minutes per week, unless you would like to do more.Please view the options in this Crosswalk Monitor Interest Form.

Please review the revised family student handbook!

1. October 8th: SAC from 5:00 - 5:45; PTO @ 5:45pm

2. November 12th: SAC from 5:00 - 5:45; PTO @ 5:45pm

3. January 14th: SAC from 5:00 - 5:45; PTO @ 5:45pm

4. February 11th: PTO @ 5:45pm

5. March 11th: PTO @ 5:45pm

6. April 8th: PTO @ 5:45pm

7. May 6th: PTO @ 5:45pm

Did you know that we have a new Chromebook insurance option! Details can be found on our Tech 4 All website. Let us know if you needmore information.

Please note that, due to staffing shortages in our Nutrition Services department,

we will not be able to offer the Thanksgiving family lunch this year.

Here is the updated Year at a Glance document. It will be revised as events are added and dates are confirmed. Thank you for taking a look!

Have you checked out our very popular after-school drawing classes?

We will be continuing this year to partner with and ask for your support in ensuring that your child is in school each day. You did a great job last year and our chronic absenteeism rate fell, but I know we can still improve on it.

The unfortunate reality is that, although we try, there is no way to actually "make up" the learning that is missed when a student is absent, whether that is due to illness, appointments, or other reasons.

Students that miss just two days per month are considered to be chronically absent and at risk for academic and social difficulties.

Students are in school for 170 days per year. This means that there are 195 days each year that they are not in school. Students are literally out of school more than they are in school. Thank you for reviewing the district calendar and planning trips and outings during non-school times. Thank you!

The short version:

Students and families should only use the crosswalk(s) south of the school parking lot. The crosswalk north of the parking lot will not be supervised, and should not be used.

The backstory:

Parents, we made this important change to our safety procedures last year, for students who walk to and from school. There are three crosswalks near the school on Avondale. One is north of the school parking lot and two (perpendicular to each other) are south of the parking lot.

As our neighborhood has aged and we have been able to accept more choice students, we have fewer walkers than in previous years who use these crosswalks. Student safety is a vital concern and we want to ensure that there is always an adult crossing guard, but we have had an increasingly difficult time finding enough staff and volunteers to serve as crossing guards at the north and south crosswalks each morning and afternoon.

Our solution is simple. We are asking our students and parents to use only the south crosswalks when walking to/from CRES and to NOT use the north crosswalk, which will not be supervised. This presents no real inconvenience to walkers since students and families need to enter and exit the playground area from the south end of the school, near the garden, anyway. This change will also reduce the number of students crossing the driveways into the parking lot -- another hazard to pedestrians.

If you live on the east side of the school and your children will be walking, please instruct them to use the south crosswalks. We will have staff out there at the start of the year to redirect crossers to the south crosswalk. Thank you for helping us to keep all students and families safe!

The City of Fort Collins is getting started on a project to improve the College and Trilby Intersection, Thank you for planning accordingly.

Please be aware that we will be asking all visitors to show ID to the camera and state the reason for the visit before being admitted to the building. While this is not an entirely new practice, the biggest difference is that we will require it for all parents, even those that we recognize, so thank you for understanding the necessity of this practice and bringing your ID with you to the door. We continue to welcome our volunteers and awesome parent community in the building, we just need to do everything we reasonably can to ensure controlled access to our school.

The TSD VITAL program encourages parents and community members to share their time and knowledge with Thompson students by becoming authorized volunteers. We welcome and appreciate your involvement. If you are new to volunteering in the Thompson School District, please register at https://www.thompsonschools.org/volunteer.

We will be sharing more information about volunteering at CRES soon.

Please note: Even if your only volunteer activity is to attend a spring field trip, you must complete this process. Toward the end of the year, they close this window and we'd hate for you to miss the trip because you hadn't signed up in time.

Have you ever had concerns that your child lacks patience, seems easily distractable, or has difficulty getting along with others? Perhaps s/he struggles with multi-step directions or tends to have very "black and white thinking?" Would you believe that you can help your child develop and grow these important skills in a way that is actually fun for all involved? Well, believe it!

The traits described above may indicate that your child would benefit from practice in developing her/his executive function skills.

"Executive function and self-regulation skills are like an air traffic control system in the brain—they help us manage information, make decisions, and plan ahead. We need these skills at every stage of life, and while no one is born with them, we are all born with the potential to develop them."

A really great way you can help your child build these important skills is by simply playing board games! It could be a family game night or just the two of you, but board games teach important skills, including: taking turns, perseverance, dealing with setbacks and frustration, fair play, communication, and so much more. Importantly, it is much better with actual games rather than computer-based games.

Talk about a win-win situation -- your child develops skills while all of you have a fun time playing games!

If you would like to learn more about executive functioning and how you can help your child develop these important skills that will have a life-long impact on her/him, see this link to Harvard University's website about it.

Annual Family Check-In (AFC)

Once again it is time for families to review their Annual Family Check-In (AFC) information. It is important to complete this step as we start gearing up for the next school year.

The Annual Family Check-In is required for ALL current students in Thompson School District. Families are required to have a parent or guardian in the student’s current primary household review and sign permission forms and update (if needed) the student’s household information, emergency contacts, and health information.

Annual Family Check-In is located in the Parent Portal Account. For assistance, please contact Portal@TSD.org.

Parents, a few reminders:

The Attendance Line is 970-679-9490. Please leave details in your message concerning why your student is out that day, including illness symptoms.

Cutoff time to order Hot (#1) Lunch is 9:30 am. If your student will be late due to an appointment, call the office by 9:25 to notify the cafeteria.

Those new to CRES may not realize that one of our students was tragically struck and killed by a distracted driver several years ago. Please do your part by staying off your phone, keeping your eyes up, driving slowly and responsibly in the kiss and go lane and on Avondale -- even after you drop off your own child -- and by not parking in or blocking the crosswalks. Thank you!

A few years back one of our 5th-grade Exhibition groups selected Safety/Distracted Driving as their topic, and they created this video as part of it. It's only three minutes long. It may save a life. Even if you read nothing else in this update, please watch this.

Erica’s Law

We the students of Coyote Ridge Elementary School

hereby proclaim that any person riding anything with

wheels (besides a car, bus, plane, or train)

must wear a helmet and follow the safety guidelines

of the road

AT ALL TIMES!

This rule will be called Erica’s Law,

in memory of a dear friend we lost.

Please help us keep our students safe by driving slowly around the school and please do not text and drive. If dropping students on Avondale, please be sure that they use the crosswalks.

We had a few close calls last year, and I know we can do better. Please help us to keep all students and staff safe by observing these safety protocols.

If you are parking in the lot and walking your student around, please use the kiss-and-go crosswalk which is near the office.

Please note that the kiss-and-go crosswalk is not monitored. Therefore adults must walk their child across, in either direction. Please do not drop your child off in the parking lot and send them on their own to cross. There are two lanes of traffic in the kiss-and-go lane and it is very difficult to see children crossing.

Also, please instruct your children to use the crosswalks in Avondale and not run across the street elsewhere.

The TSD Early Childhood program is currently accepting applications for 2024-25. Here is the website for information about the program: https://www.thompsonschools.org/preschool. You are also welcome to call the office at 970-613-5052.

Link to EC flyer.

We partner with the YMCA of northern Colorado to provide on-site afterschool care.

YMCA REGISTRATION LINK

If you find yourself wondering, "...where did I see that?" check out the archive! This archive contains newsletters from last year and this year.

Email: deon.davis@tsd.org
Website: https://www.thompsonschools.org/coyoteridge
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoyoteRidgeIBWorld