Principal's Message
Dear CRES Families,
We are now several weeks into the school year and all is well! Students are settling in to routines and procedures and continue to progress. On Wednesday morning we were visited by a district representative who came to surprise Ms. Wond with a certificate, acrylic "trophy," and announcement that she is a TSD Award of Excellence winner. It is so well-deserved! Mrs. Wond is an exceptional special educator who partners with parents and colleagues to provide high-quality instruction for students.
Our first PTO meeting was a big success and I'm excited about the energy and ideas of our new PTO leadership. You can read more about their first big undertaking, the Coyote Prowl, below. I am also excited to announce the first meeting of the School Accountability Committee (SAC), which will be held on October 8th from 5:00 - 5:45 pm in the library. If you are unable to attend in person please join us remotely. We will be sharing the School Unified Improvement Plan (SUIP) that each school completes as a plan for the year. We will also share our spring state assessment data. I hope to see you there!
As always, thank you for reading the Howler to stay up-to-date on the happenings at CRES. Please note that NEW items are marked as such, and are interspersed throughout the Howler.
Shine on,
Deon Davis, Principal
NEW: The Scholastic Book Fair is Coming!
Book Fair Dates: October 15th - 17th
Volunteers Needed: Please sign up if you can help. Sign Up Genius
NEW: Battle of the Books Parent Coaches Needed!
Battle of the Books Parent Coaches Needed!
We have one coach for a 4th grade team and need parent volunteers in order to have 3rd and 5th grade teams.
Battle of the Books is a fun competition where 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders read books and answer questions in a trivia style game. Teams will practice on Wednesday mornings before competing against teams from other schools.
We're looking for parent volunteers to help coach on Wednesday mornings from 8:00 to 8:45, starting November 6th. The competitions will happen in January and February, with a big district battle in March. If more than one person wants to help, you can share the coaching duties, or you can volunteer even if you can only come part of the time. During practices, the coach will read questions from the books to the team, encourage the kids to come up with their own questions, and make sure the team is ready for the competition. At the battles, the coach will be there to support and oversee the team.
If you would be willing to volunteer as a coach, please contact Mrs. Opfer at kim.opfer@tsd.org.
NEW: Prior year meal benefits will expire on September 27th
Prior year meal benefits will expire on September 27th!
If you haven't completed an application for Free/Reduced Meal Benefits yet this year, we encourage you to complete one now. The new Healthy School Meals for All program is in effect for the 2024-2025 school year. The HSMA program provides FREE meals for ALL students regardless of income. However, families are still being asked to submit an application. New benefits begin as soon as the new application is processed.
WHY should I fill out a meal benefits application? Attached below is a flyer that explains why we’re encouraging families to submit an application as well as more information on the HSMA program. This information is also available on our website: TSD Nutrition Services
There are 2 ways to apply:
Go to Linqconnect.com to complete an online application. This is the fastest way to apply. Provide an email address, and your benefit letter will be emailed to you within hours.
Fill out a paper application, available at all schools. You can turn in your application to the school or to our office at 2890 North Monroe Ave, Loveland. Please allow up to 5 days to process paper applications.
If you have any questions, please contact Amanda Nierman at amanda.nierman@tsd.org.
NEW: You are Invited to the LHS Homecoming Carnival
Join the Fun!! You and your family are invited to the Loveland High School Homecoming Carnival!!!
October 2, 2024 - 4:30pm to 7:30pm in the Loveland High School Pool Parking Lot
There will be games, prizes, an inflatable bounce house, an obstacle course and food trucks.
Game tickets are 10 for $15. We hope to see you there!
NEW: Fall Picture Day at Coyote Ridge
Fall Picture Day at Coyote Ridge will be on Thursday, October 3rd. If your student is absent on picture day, picture retakes will be taken on Thursday, November 14th. Ordering school pictures just got easier. Please click on the Lifetouch link below to get started. Picture Day ID: EVT7QD6R8
NEW: English Course for Adults
Free Classes for parents/guardians/relatives to learn English!
Please click on the link below for more information and to register.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1tUKPrBeg-yNb7yWnWPo9_z5jlmQ2zcAeKEwVXRpKNbw/edit?usp=sharing
This is a BIG Deal! -- We Did It!
We made the paper! We are proud of our students, staff, community, colleagues, and district! The Coyote Ridge ES School Performance Framework (SPF) jumped ~22% last year. That is tremendous growth, and Coyote Ridge has earned the state designation of a "School of Distinction."
It's a great day to be a Coyote and part of TSD!
Congratulations to fellow TSD schools Lincoln Elementary and Carrie Martin Elementary for their tremendous success!
Stay tuned for celebration information!
Reminder: Action and Learner Profile Awards
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).
"Many hands make light work." Can You Help Out?
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.
Mark Your Calendar for Picture Day
Fall Picture Day at Coyote Ridge will be on Thursday, October 3rd. If your student is absent on picture day, picture retakes will be taken on Thursday, November 14th. Ordering school pictures just got easier. Please click on the Lifetouch link below to get started.
We'd Like to Help You Clean Out Your Basement!
Kindergarten is in need of some items for play-based learning, if your child has outgrown any of these items we'd appreciate any of your gently used donations:
Blocks of all kinds: Legos, Lincoln Logs, K'nex, wooden blocks, brain flakes, poles/dots, etc
Dress up items: costumes, props, etc
Kitchen play items: plastic food, plates, silverware, kitchens, cash register, etc
Tweezers, tongs
Small counting items: Beads, erasers, cotton balls, pom poms, googly eyes,
Math: fake money, dice, spinners, dominos
Games: Board games
Plastic animals
Puzzles
Dolls of all colors and sizes
Cars, trucks, trains, tracks, etc.
Feel free to bring these in to the front office or connect with the kindergarten teachers directly:
If items are large, Mr. Davis will be happy to arrange pick-up with his pickup truck!
So What's Going On At CRES?
Have you checked out our very popular after-school drawing classes?
New School Lunch System
Nutrition Services is excited to share that we have contracted with a new software company to manage our meal and application program. My School Bucks is no longer active but the new software is called Linq Connect and all student balances have been moved to the new software. There are many new features that this program offers which weren't available before so we're sure you're going to love it!
As a reminder, school meals are free for students this 2024/25 school year! We encourage everyone to complete a Free & Reduced application as it provides benefits to you and the district such as grants, program funding and fee waivers. If you don't want to create a Linq Connect account and only want to complete a free & reduced meal application, please click this link Online Meal Applications.'
"When You Miss School, You Miss Out!"
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!
IMPORTANT REMINDER REGARDING SCHOOL SAFETY!
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!
Intersection Work @ College and Trilby
The City of Fort Collins is getting started on a project to improve the College and Trilby Intersection, Thank you for planning accordingly.
School Safety is Our Priority -- Please Read About Important Updates
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.
VOLUNTEERING
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.
Parents Sometimes Ask What They Can Do To Help Their Child -- See Below!
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.
Action Item: It's That Time Again -- Action needed
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.
Reminders From the Front Office
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.
Pedestrian/Driver Safety
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.
YOU Can Prevent a Tragedy!
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.
TSD Early Childhood Program Information
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.
AFTER SCHOOL CARE
We partner with the YMCA of northern Colorado to provide on-site afterschool care.
Published by Deon Davis, Proud Principal of Coyote Ridge Elementary, an IB World School
Email: deon.davis@tsd.org
Website: https://www.thompsonschools.org/coyoteridge
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoyoteRidgeIBWorld