Mustang Tales

Dear Families,

It was wonderful to see many of you at Open House, highlighting student work. It was a wonderful time, though you all faced rain coming or going from MSES. Thank you for spending your evenings with us.

This week, we hosted our first Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting along with our first School Accountability Committee (SAC) meeting. We had several families attend wanting to serve on one or both of these committees. Our next meeting for PAC is October 7, at 10:00am with the SAC meeting following at 11:00am.

First grade students have been involved in Kidpower. "Kidpower is the global nonprofit leader in personal safety education for all ages, teaching skills for strong relationships and the prevention of harm."

In addition, we have been celebrating International Day of Peace by making pinwheels for peace and learning about nonviolence through workshops on the library lawn. We have had wonderful contributors supporting our education including Katrina Toews and Annaken Mendoza-Toews, Hannah Martin and the MSMS staff and students. Thank you Ms. Dunlap and Ms. Lawson for bringing these programs to our school!

Wednesday, September 22 is a Late Start Wednesday for grades K-5. School begins at 10:00am. Since lunch begins shortly after arrival, we will not be serving breakfast on Late Start Wednesdays. Students in preschool continue to come at 8:00am for preschool on Wednesdays.

Have a lovely weekend!

Warmly,

Maria

• Sep 21 - International Day of Peace
  
• Sep 22 - Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay)
• Sep 29 - Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay)
• Oct 6 - Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay)
• Oct 15 - No School - Staff Work Day
• Oct 21 - 12:30pm Dismissal - Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Oct 22 - No School - Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Oct 27 - Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay)
  

*On Late Start Wednesdays, breakfast will be served once to students in childcare from 7:30-8:00am. If your student is arriving at the later time and does need breakfast, please contact the front office.

*If you live in Manitou Springs and have a preschooler, we have some MSES PreSchool openings. Reach out to Julie Lavigne at jlavigne@mssd14.org.

*We have openings for kindergarten for both in district and out of district families.

Tuesday, September 21st, is the International Day of Peace. This day became an annual international celebration after an agreement was signed by the United Nations in 1981. Manitou Springs Elementary School Art students have celebrated Peace Day for the last nine years by creating Pinwheels for Peace. The pinwheels are thoughtfully decorated with messages of peace, kindness, love, respect and friendship. The pinwheel becomes the catalyst for carrying our messages across the community when the wind blows.

The International Day of Peace always falls on September 21st, which provides a natural way to start a school year off with positive community building and awareness of respect for ourselves and others. This year, Manitou Springs Middle School 8th grade artists collaborated with MSES 3rd grade artists from Ms. Elm's class in making Peace Pinwheels together. They ended their celebration by creating a human peace sign! MSES teacher Jenny Romano was kind enough to take a rooftop picture.

The pinwheels we have created will be shared and gifted to others as an extension of peace and friendship. MSES students are invited to wear clothes that celebrate kindness and peace next Tuesday, and invite anyone from our community to dress up for peace as well!

Breakfast and lunch are free for all students. We would still like all families that qualify to fill out the Free and Reduced Lunch form on our district website.

Breakfast and lunch menus are available online here.

Manitou Springs School District 14 follows the CDE Concussion Management Team/Return to Learn model at all schools.

If you have questions or concerns about your child who has had a concussion, please feel free to contact our school nurse or school counselor:

Nurse: Sarah Lee 719-685-2154

Counselor: Ashley Root 719-685-2160

Email: mmasone@mssd14.org
Website: mse.mssd14.org
Location: 110 Pawnee Avenue, Manitou Springs, CO, USA
Phone: 719-685-2195
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Manitou-Springs-Elementary-212896538758987/