Dunstan Newsletter

May 5, 2022

Greetings Parents and Guardians of 8th Grade Students,

We are deeply proud of our 8th graders, the class of 2025-26! The past couple of years have been challenging for everyone, especially our students. In spite of the challenges our students have grown and maintained a strong focus. Our end of this school year and the conclusion of their middle school experience is going to be busy with learning and several upcoming events to honor our students. We want to make you aware of the events and also inform you that these events are earned celebrations. We know that maintaining strong expectations for positive student behavior and learning are important to adhere to throughout the next few weeks. Students who are not able to demonstrate positive behavior choices from now through the end of the year will be uninvited from any or all of the following events; should we need to remove an event or more than one, we will do so on an individual basis and with parent/guardian communication.

Friday, May 19

6:30-8:00 pm - At Dunstan

ALL 8th grade Dunstan students are invited to attend their end-of-year dance. This is a Free event organized by Dunstan WEB Leaders and supported by our PTA, and we encourage students to dress their best. The theme is “Tropical Paradise.” There will be great music, free pizza and snacks, and LOTS of giveaways, including $25 gift cards, gift baskets, etc. We will also have a Kona Ice Truck, so students are welcome to bring money to purchase a snow cone. The cost is $5-$7 per snow cone. This event is ONLY for 8th grade students who attend Dunstan.

Thursday, May 25th

During School Hours - At Dunstan

Our PTA and local School Resource Officers are sponsoring a Pancake Breakfast for our 8th graders. We are excited to host this event to honor our 8th grade students and celebrate together. They will also get their yearbooks at this time.

6:00-7:30 pm - At Green Mountain High School

End of Year Celebration Ceremony - this is an inclusive event to honor all 8th graders. While we would appreciate it if students could dress a bit nicer (dresses, pants, collared shirts, etc), it is important that we include all. Please let us know if you have any questions about dress code.

Friday, May 26

Due to participating in our End of the Year Celebration Ceremony, 8th graders DO NOT have school. May 26th is a half-day for all 6th and 7th graders. Dismissal will be at 11:45 am.

Thank you for supporting the school-wide expectations we maintain at Dunstan. The spring of 8th grade is a time of celebration, closure, and anticipation for their transition to high school and beyond.

Please let me know if you have any questions and/or concerns.

In partnership,

Jennifer J. Pennell

April

• 25: Professional Development Day for staff (NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS)

May:

• 5: On-Track Letters

• 7: PTA Meeting 6-7 PM @ DMS

• 9: 8th Grade Dance 6:30-8:00 PM

• 12: Elementary/DMS Orchestra Concert, GMHS auditorium, 6:00 PM

• 12: On-Track Letters

• 13: 5th Grade Band Concert, DMS gym, 6:00 PM

• 14: On-Track Appeals

• 14: Dunstan Band and Jazz Band Concert, DMS gym, 6:00 PM

• 15: Dunstan Choir Concert, DMS cafeteria, 6:00 PM

• 16: GMHS Graduation

• 21: On-Track Celebration

• 22: 8th grade last day of school

• 22: 8th Grade Continuation @ DMS from 6:00-7:30 PM

• 23: Last day of school for 6th and 7th, Early Release

Hello!

Please help us celebrate our wonderful 8th grade students, and the class of 2029, on their last day of middle school at Dunstan on Thursday, May 22nd. We plan to BBQ some hot dogs and hamburgers (veggie burgers will be provided) and celebrate our 8th graders heading off to high school next year! We are accepting donations, so please click the link HERE to sign up.

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The sixth-grade Outdoor Lab teachers need your help to win $1,000 for our school from the Outdoor Lab Foundation. If our middle school and elementary feeder schools can add 17 people to the Lab Card Program, our school will be entered to win one of five $1,000 prizes.

The Lab Card Program supports tuition assistance to ensure every sixth-grade student, regardless of financial capacity, can attend Outdoor Lab. To join the program, you simply need to link your King Sooper’s shopper’s card to the Outdoor Lab Foundation through the King Soopers Community Rewards Program. Visit the Foundation's website to find instructions. It takes about 3 minutes.

Once enrolled, any purchase moving forward with your Shopper’s Card will allocate a portion of King Soopers’s annual donation to the Outdoor Lab Foundation. The more people participating on behalf of the Outdoor Lab Foundation, the more money they can provide in tuition assistance to our students.

This is not only important for our families so that they can offset or eliminate a financial burden, but it is also important to your colleagues. This prize money can be used for various purposes such as booking engaging evening presenters for the students, paying for a sub day for lead teacher Outdoor Lab planning, buying supplies, etc.

Please take a few minutes to enroll yourself in the Lab Card Program and spread the word to your networks.

Thank you!

Dear families:

The 7th grade Healthy Decision Making unit will be taught beginning Monday, May 5, 2025 and ending about Wednesday, May 21, 2025. This unit is a continuation of the 5th grade Growing & Changing unit but with a greater emphasis on how to make responsible and healthy decisions. Students will learn a decision making process that can apply to situations related to alcohol, tobacco, other substances, and sexual health.

This unit will consist of the following topics:

• The Teenage Brain & The Impact on decision making

• Puberty

• Gender & Sexual Identity

• Healthy & Unhealthy Relationships

• Internal & External Influences that can impact decision making

• Consent & Communication

• Understanding sexually transmitted infections and transmission

• Pregnancy and Prevention (Birth Control Methods)

• Substance Misuse

In order to uphold our Jeffco values and to be in compliance with Colorado state law, the unit will emphasize:

• Inclusivity of all students

• Positive youth development

• Medical & scientific accuracy of information

Because we value the family and school partnership, we encourage you to have conversations with your student about your own family values and beliefs around these sensitive topics. Also, all values-based questions that are asked by students will not be answered but we will encourage students to ask their families about the questions not answered during class.

All assignments will be due no later than Wednesday, May 21, 2025.

If for any reason you are uncomfortable with your student participating in this unit or you have additional questions, please email your student’s science teacher BEFORE Thursday, May 1, 2025. After that date, all students will have access to the unit via Google Classroom.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Carey Fisher-Marmot Team

carey.fisher@jeffco.k12.co.us

Jessica Bennett-Pika Team

jessica.bennett@jeffcoschools.us

CLICK the Picture for the Honors newsletter.

Learn about what's going on at the high school.

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, things you would like to add to the newsletter or if you notice any errors, please reach out directly to Leslie Pruitt at leslie.pruitt@jeffco.k12.co.us or Michael Kitch at michael.kitch@jeffco.k12.co.us. Thank you!

We are looking for volunteers to fill important roles on the Dunstan PTA next school year:

• President
• Vice President
  
  

Learn how these PTA roles support our community at https://sites.google.com/view/dunstanpta/about-us

You can support the Dunstan PTA even through the summer by linking your King Soopers card to the PTA. It's an easy way to support our school - at no cost to you!

Simply log in to Community Rewards and search for us: https://bit.ly/2R6y1mk.