Here it is. YOUR newsletter

Welcome! ¡Bienvenidos! Chào mừng! Добро пожаловать! 欢迎!

The PEACE committee is so excited to put this newsletter together for you. We are committed to providing this space for news and information meaningful and useful to you. Our goal is that YOU, our D49 families, will provide input and direct this space. Your involvement and feedback is crucial. We want you here, engaged with us. Tell us what you want. Send us your concerns and ideas.

We value you and respect you. You are our family! We want to increase your engagement with your school and community across the district.

The mission of the D49 PEACE committee is to support and empower our CLDE families by, listening and acting on their needs, engaging the community, and providing important information regarding the education of their children.

Language Preference

Parents would you prefer to receive district communication in a language other than English?

Please complete this form and our communications department will update your preferences.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe2ci8WGsx-L4ktuxj-EfvKgF6zXNqGiRJpnCNy_s8xIY4XUQ/viewform

*September 27th-Elementary Pro Day- No Elementary Students

*October 11th-Parent Teacher Conferences-No Students

*October 14th-25th- School Closed for Fall Break

*November 8th-Team Pro Day-No students

*November 11th-School OPEN for Veteran's Day

*November 25th-29th-School Closed for Thanksgiving

*December13th-Elementary Assessment Day

*December 19th-20th-High School Finals Schedule

*December 20th-Elem and Middle School Early Release Schedule

*December 23rd-December 31st- School closed for holiday break

*January 1st-3rd- School closed for Holiday break

*January 6th-Professional Development Day-No students

*January 7th-Students return to school

*January 17th-Elementary Professional Development Day-No Elementary students

*January 20th-Martin Luther King Jr. Day-No School

*January 31st-Personal Pro Day-No students

*February 7th-Elementary Professional Day-No Elementary students

*February 14th-Parent Teacher Conferences-No Students

*February 17th-District closed for President's Day

*February 24th-Team Pro Day- No Students

*March 17th-28th-School closed for spring break

*May 2nd- Elementary Assessment Day

*May 9th-Professional Development Day-No Students

*May 23rd-Last day for students-Early release for elementary and Middle school

*May 23rd-Graduation ceremonies for VRHS, SCHS, FHS

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States, and Thanksgiving 2024 occurs on Thursday, November 28. In 1621, the Plymouth colonists from England and the Native American Wampanoag people shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies.

For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasn’t until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. But the holiday is not without controversy. Many Americans—including people of Native American ancestry—believe Thanksgiving celebrations mask the true history of oppression and bloodshed that underlies the relationship between European settlers and Native Americans.

The original meaning of Christmas is a special church service, or mass, to celebrate the birth of Christ. The story of the Nativity, or the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, are particularly important in religious celebrations of Christmas. However, many traditions that are around today have their roots in pre-Christian winter festivals. These include the importance of candles and decorations made from evergreen bushes and tree, symbolizing everlasting light and life.

In Roman times, a mid-winter festival was held. This was a relaxing time with a lot of parties and merry making. It was also common to give other people small gifts, such as dolls for children and candles for adults. This festival culminated with the celebration of the winter solstice, which fell on December 25 in the Roman calendar. In Scandinavia, a festival called Yule and lasting up to twelve days was held in late December and early January. In this time people burnt logs and held parties. These customs have influences how Christmas Day is celebrated today in the United States.

Presidents’ Day, in the United States, holiday (third Monday in February) popularly recognized as honouring George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. The day is sometimes understood as a celebration of the birthdays and lives of all U.S. presidents.

• Elementary School Biliteracy Attainment Award

  Purpose: This award is designed to measure attainment of age-appropriate biliteracy for students who have been in the Dual Language Immersion program.

  Criteria:

  • CMAS English Language Arts at the "Proficient" level or above in fifth grade;

  • Demonstration of proficiency in a language other than English (AAPPL exam).

  • In addition to the requirements outlined above, both the Bilingual Service and Participation Award and the Biliteracy Attainment Award could require students to complete several additional criteria that demonstrate actual use of two languages. These might include, for example:

    • Completion of a set number of hours of community service using primary language skills in service to the school or community and demonstrating the ability to use translation in social situations;

    • A written paper in two languages (translation) with a rubric score of 4 or above at the 5th grade level;

    • A written essay on why bilingualism is important to them personally, to their community, and to the world;

    • Oral presentation about five careers where bilingualism is important and why and how bilingualism is a benefit in those careers;

    • Reading logs signed by their teachers of ten books (at grade level) read independently in English and ten books (at grade level) read independently in a language other than English.

  
  

• Elementary Bilingual Service and Participation Award

  Purpose:

  The Elementary School "Bilingual Service and Participation Award" (BPSA) aims to motivate students on their bilingual journey, particularly those not enrolled in a dual language or bilingual program leading to biliteracy.

  Criteria:

  • Attainment of age-appropriate proficiency in English (CMAS);

  • Age appropriate oral/listening proficiency in the home language for English Learners and in the second language for students whose home language is English (e.g. AAPPL exam);

  • Documentation of active use of two languages (e.g., serving as a bilingual ambassador for visitors to the school, reading books to preschoolers, etc.);

  • Positive attitudes towards bilingualism and understanding that bilingualism has benefits (demonstrated through an essay or oral presentation).

  
  

Click the link for more information.

District 49 is hiring bus drivers. A school bus driver is responsible for the safe operation and transport of school-aged children to and from school. A full-time bus driver position is fully benefitted and has a guaranteed minimum of 5 hours per scheduled workday. A commercial driver's license (CDL) is required, however, paid training is provided to obtain that license.

More information is available in the job listing.

Para Educator (teacher’s aide) - This is a position where you would work with students under the supervision of a teacher. Required: Associate’s degree, 48 semester credits, or pass district approved para test preferred (required for Title positions).

Nutrition Services (cafeteria worker): Would need a high school diploma or equivalent; no experience required; experience in school food services or restaurant preferred.

Click here to see job openings: https://www.applitrack.com/d49/onlineapp/default.aspx

In September, our Community Liason's hosted a Cooking Matters class. Families had a wonderful time preparing and eating some delicious recipes.

CLDE Multicultural Fair

Our annual CLDE Multicultural Fair is an opportunity to highlight the diversity among our CLDE population. This year, we will be hosting the event at Sand Creek High School to allow for spacing between student presentations, performers, and food. This is a great opportunity for your families to share their culture with the whole district. We'll also be highlighting our DLI program at Stetson Elementary School. Please mark your calendars and, if you are willing, consider volunteering on the day of the event to help make everything smooth for our students and families. If you are interested in helping out, please connect with Yudelki or Stephanie.

Event Information

Save the Date: CLDE Multicultural Fair

When?

Friday, Feb 7, 2025, 05:00 PM

Where?

Sand Creek High School, Carefree Circle North, Colorado Springs, CO, USA

The SCHS CLDE team would like to recognize Zexiang Guan (senior) for being offered an $18,000 scholarship to play woman’s soccer for CMU (Central Methodist University) in Missouri!! I have verified this with Zexiang and she has shared the coach’s comments with me (Coach Schmidlin). Ms. Lugo and I would like to recognize Zexiang as the CLDE Student-of-the-Month for September for this outstanding achievement!! She deserves this recognition by both SCHS and CLDE…and a huge shoutout in the monthly CLDE PEACE letter!! Thank you for recognizing this amazing CLDE student!!! She certainly reflects the best of SCHS and of CLDE!! She is absolutely amazing and I am beyond proud of her!!! Congrats, Zexiang!! You ROCK!!

The students at Woodmen Hills Elementary School have had a great start to the year! Empower FZ learner profiles helped our students learn more about their strengths, interests, and goals for their futures. Here are a few examples of possible careers that some of them would like to pursue. After Fall Break, we will be celebrating growth in English proficiency with our 2nd Annual Awards Event. I am proud of our tornadoes! Keep up the great work.

The ML students at Meridian Ranch received achievements awards for their growth in English acquisition last year. Awards were presented in their classrooms with their peers. Students received gift cards compliments of the PTA and certificates. So proud of how hard they all worked and how much growth they showed. Keep up the good work!

Here is a project my classes did for Multicultural night. It was called the Wall of fame. I had the QR codes underneath their pictures and then you scan the QR codes and the kids did a video where they talked about their culture.

Jess Vignery

CLDE 2nd-5th graders enjoyed the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo!

SRES 3rd graders dissected owl pellets!

SRES 1st graders practiced cuneiform writing!

Ms. Roberts and Mrs. Holloman had a home visit at the Santiago home. They were treated to dinner with the family.

Beginning of the year bulletin boards at IVES

Families came together in August to celebrate last years achievement and growth in their children's English language acquisition. We had so much fun celebrating and welcoming our new families

Dual Language Immersion Now in 2nd Grade!

Our exciting Dual Language Immersion program at Stetson has expanded to include 2nd grade this year! This program fosters bilingualism and biculturalism, opening doors to new opportunities. Learn more about the benefits, and if you're interested in more information, go to www.d49.org/owl. You can contact the Dual Language Immersion Specialist, Patsy Dowell, at patsy.dowell@d49.org.

Students in the Dual Lanuguage Immersion program celebrated National Hispanic Heritage Month!

They also celebrated Dia de Los Muertos

Color in Coloradohttps://www.colorincolorado.org/families

Pikes Peak Work Force https://ppwfc.org/

CLDE Website https://www.d49.org/Page/498

Parent rights https://www.d49.org/Page/8344

Parent Educational Resources https://www.d49.org/Page/6202

Family Resources https://www.d49.org/domain/2764

Parent Teacher Association https://www.d49.org/domain/420

Your student is learning language and content at the same time. In order to do both effectively, they may need additional help from an educator. The CLDE Office pays educators across the district to provide tutoring. Not all schools offer tutoring, Please check with the CLDE teacher in your child's school to see if tutoring is available.

If you're interested in great Cuban food with beautiful presentation, Arelita is a great destination. Located on Platte Ave, the restaurant has only been open for six months, but the chef brings flavor and style to the dishes. Generous helpings on mofongo, ropa vieja, traditional Cuban sandwiches and delicious desserts make this a worthwhile experience for anyone wanting to try island flavors with a reasonable price.