Cougar Community Connection

Dear CRUNFamily,

Happy Halloween weekend. It was a spooky and fun day at Cougar Run on Thursday. Thank you to all who came and joined us for the annual tradition we have at CRUN of a costume parade. It is always so fun to see the fun and creative costumes our kids come up with. A special thank you to all of our room parents who put so much time, energy and creativity into the parties you ran in our classrooms today. Our teachers are so busy and you taking on this task is so helpful and appreciated!

We need to send out another reminder about not having dogs on campus. Believe me, WE ARE DOG PEOPLE, but it is a district policy to not allow dogs to be on campus for safety reasons. Thank you for helping us out by leaving fido at home when you come to pick up your kiddos or drop them off here at school..

We have a fun event this weekend at HRHS on Sunday at 3:00. The Harlem Wizards professional basketball team will be here playing a hilarious game versus our staff and the staff of the other schools in our HRHS feeder. It's a super fun time and our kids will love seeing the Wizards play a game against Coach Kish, Mrs. Hinkle and Mrs. Leeper!! Check out the section below where you can purchase tickets to the game. We hope to see you all there!

Hello #CRUNfamily
Happy Halloween week! We all hope you enjoy dressing up & celebrating responsibly!
As a reminder, our next PTA meeting will be next Friday November 8th, please feel free to join us in person or join on Zoom. We always love seeing new and returning faces!
Also next week will be Tuesdays Restaurant Night at Lazy Dog! Stop in & enjoy a meal all while helping benefit the school!
Don’t forget to check out the PTA website for all things PTA, reserve the Rock, and keep up to date on School happenings!

As always, THANK YOU to our business sponsors this year!!! We are so grateful for the community support you provide:
Wanderlust with Laura
AGG Law Firm
Math Tutoring
Dr. Holt Orthodontics
Sunny Party Rentals
Spenga
School of Rock
Bad Boy Boards
Children's Wellness Center of Colorado
Andy's Frozen Custard
McMannis Wealth
Aaron Lebovic, Realtor
Playwell Group
Strive Learning
Master Je Taekwondo
-Have a great rest of the week!

The CRUN PTA

Allena is an incredible resource in our building with all things second language. Her skills as a teacher only scratch the surface of what this talented human does for our kids, staff and families here at CRUN. Allena is a true advocate of ensuring that people feel welcomed and belong here in our CRUNFamily. The learning curve for kids who are acquiring English is intense and she softens that with her love, compassion and true advocacy for preserving the cultures they come from. Our kids make tremendous growth and progress in her care and we couldn't be more grateful for Mrs. Kendall and all that she does for our community.

The holidays are right around the corner and the first one that is approaching fast is Thanksgiving. Our ROCKS Council spearheads community outreach projects and would like to partner with Boy Scout Troop 373 to have a very quick food drive next week that will benefit local food banks in the Denver Metro area to fill pantries of families in need for Thanksgiving. From November 4th-8th we will have boxes in the front atrium at Cougar Run to collect non-perishable food items that the Scouts will pick up on Saturday, November 9th and deliver to the food banks. We have a specific request to please include peanut butter in your donation list. ROCK Council has their monthly meeting on Thursday, November 7th and will be organizing the items we receive to that point and will ensure it is ready to go by the time we leave school on November 8th for the weekend. Thank you in advance for helping our kids use their "Power of One" to make a difference in our community.

The Open Enrollment window for the 25-26 school year is opening on November 1 - December 2nd. This is only for families who live outside of Cougar Run boundaries and have a NEW student for next school year. IF you have a NEW student who you would like to attend Cougar Run for the upcoming 25-26 school year AND your address is out of the Cougar Run boundaries, then you will need to apply for Open Enrollment for your NEW student. You can go to this link to apply for Open Enrollment.

All current students will be automatically enrolled into the next grade level. No need to enroll your current Cougar Run student for next year.

Funding Needs in our School District
Did you know that the Douglas County School District has 92 schools and a $300 million backlog of capital investments that are needed in these buildings – this includes our school! Please take a couple of minutes to watch this brief video where our Superintendent explains in more detail. Learn more at https://funding.dcsdk12.org/bond-overview

Have You Turned in Your Ballot?
Election Day is fast approaching. Please be sure to turn in your ballot by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 5. You can track the status of your ballot and find the locations of ballot boxes and other polling centers at www.DouglasVotes.com. Remind your friends, family and neighbors to turn in their ballots as well!

The high-flying Harlem Wizards (think Harlem Globetrotters!) trick basketball team is coming to

Highlands Ranch High School on Sunday, November 3 rd ! The Wizards are playing Highlands Ranch

elementary school teachers for an event filled with tricks, hoops, and alley-oops! Part basketball game,

part hilarious antics with audience participation, and all fun for the whole family!

Check out a sneak peek of what’s in store for this unforgettable evening!

Enhanced Experiences are also available:

 Courtside Seating that includes a pre-game meet & greet with 2 Harlem Wizards and souvenirs!

 Warm Up with the Wizards by purchasing a replica jersey to become a “Wiz Kid” and step onto

the court with the Wizards before the game!

Game starts at 3pm and the doors open at 2pm. Tickets start at $15 and go on sale October 1 st .

Children ages 3 and under are FREE!

Our school earns $2 per ticket, so this is a great way to support our school!

We also have volunteer opportunities available for this event. Volunteers receive FREE admission to the

game AND receive a 20% discount on Wizards merchandise! Sign up here to volunteer at the game!

ORDER HARLEM WIZARDS TICKETS

NOTE: Link for video above is: https://vimeo.com/343307058

NOTE: Link for ticket sales above is: www.harlemwizards.com/tickets/highlandsranch

CRUN Families,

Monday November 11 is our Veterans Day celebration. We are going to have a small celebration in the morning. We also invite any active duty and veteran service members to join us that morning!

If you are active duty or a veteran (or any family members or friends that you would like to recognize)the recognition forms are attached and also available at the front desk.

Thank you and your family members for your service! Please send them in or fill them up this coming week!

Our event November 11 begins at 7:45. There will be a gathering near the flag pole out front (weather permitting). Our students who are in Boy Scout Pack 696 will ceremoniously raise the flag. Our choir will be performing. Afterwards we will host bagel slices and coffee for our Active Duty and Veteran parents and community members that attend.

Here are the Veteran or Active Duty Recognition Forms for you to print, fill out and return to the office.

Any questions, please contact Andrea McNamara

As of today you will find the 2024-2025 Apple Award Nomination link LIVE on your school's page on the FoundationDCS.org website. The 2024-2025 Apple Award Nomination window will be open from Monday October 1, 2024 through Sunday November 11, 2024. We invite our DCSD students, teachers, staff and community to join us in nominating their favorite teacher(s), principal, classified employee and department employee. After the Nomination window closes on November 11th we will return the list of nominees to each school for your own selection of this year's school representatives. Each school may submit one educator and one classified representative to be considered for the 2023 Apple Award!

Put these dates on your calendar!

October 1, 2024 - November 11, 2024

NOMINATION WINDOW OPEN!!

CRUN Families,

This is our last call for spirit wear orders! You've seen our staff wear the very popular "Life is Better at Cougar Run" shirts. They have been so popular that our whole community has asked how to get one! The Cougar Run Online Popup Store is READY, and now is the time to get your spirit wear with this year's theme, "Life is Better at Cougar Run!" We have T-shirts, long-sleeve T-shirts, crewneck sweatshirts and hoodie sweatshirts in both youth and adult sizes!

Go to the top right button where it says Login/Register and register for the first time to place your order. The store will remain open until Monday, November 4th and all orders will be delivered to Cougar Run for pick up.

cougarrunelementary.aiacompanystore.com

Dear Families,

We will be having a cultural celebration on December 5th from 5:00-7:00. We would love to have your family participate. In the gym, we will provide a table for you to display your family’s culture. You will present information from your country through dress, food, a drink, a craft, and/or flags. For the food, it would be a bite-size finger food of an item. Please let me know if you are interested or if you have any questions about this event. I will send more details once I hear back from you. Please email me at aakendall@dcsdk12.org.

Thank you,

Allena Kendall

CogAT Universal Testing and Referral Information

DCSD is committed to implementing equitable practices to increase access to advanced/gifted learning opportunities. Based on state and national recommendations and requirements, we implement Universal Screening for students in 2nd grade (February) and 5th or 6th grade--a student's final year of elementary school (November).

6th Grade Universal Screen

As part of this process, ALL students in Cougar Run not identified for gifted programming will take the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) on November 5 & 6. This assessment indicates the level and pattern of cognitive development of a student in comparison to grade and age mates. These general reasoning abilities, which start developing at birth and continue through early adulthood, are influenced by experiences gained both in and out of school.

If your child is already identified for gifted programming, they will not participate in this universal screen testing. Your Gifted Education Facilitator will contact you directly with information about this process.

Gifted Identification Referral Testing

• If your child is in grades 3, 4, 5, and you believe they need evaluation for Gifted Identification and Services, you may refer your child for testing by initiating the Gifted Identification Process.

• NOTE: Requesting this assessment automatically initiates the process to evaluate for Gifted Identification.

• Please request CogAT testing for your child by completing the Referral for Gifted Identification linked HERE

• Upon receipt of this form the Gifted Education Facilitator will connect with you to discuss next steps in the gifted identification process.

Parents,

We are excited to create a memorable keepsake for students this year, but we cannot be everywhere to photograph every event nor every classroom. We have to depend on YOU to submit photos in order to create this keepsake. Please submit your information and photos to this form. You can fill out the form as many times as you would like! Thank you for being the eyes and the photographers to make this successful!

HERE is the Yearbook Submission Form.

November 8th- PTA Meeting 8:45 in the Learning Commons

November 12- CRUN Restaurant Night

November 18-22- CRUN Book Fair

November 25-29- NO SCHOOL THANKSGIVING BREAK

December 2-6- NO CRUN BUS THIS WEEK

December 9-13- CRUN Holiday Shoppe (Hosted by PTA)

December 12- ROCKS Assemblies 9:00 PK-2nd Grade, 2:15-3rd-6th

December 20-January 6- NO SCHOOL WINTER BREAK-School Resumes January 7th