CFL December Family Newsletter

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Garfield 16 Overarching Mission Statement:

As a result of our efforts, all students will be successfully prepared for life in a safe and nurturing environment.

Our School Mission Statement:

Engage ~Empower~Improve

Our School Vision Statement:

Our vision is that all graduating first graders leave CFL as critically thinking young citizens with strong academic and social/emotional foundations

Dear CFL Families,

We hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving Break, and now the winter holiday season is upon us! As we reflect on the first half of the school year, I am feeling grateful for the CFL community of students, staff, and parents who all make this a wonderful place to learn and grow!

Reminder: Please support your child in dressing appropriately for the winter weather. On most days, our students will be outside to play which means hats, coats, snow pants, boots, mittens, etc. will be important for them to stay warm and dry! (Be sure to label all clothing, and check our lost & found if you find items missing!)

The last day of school prior to winter break will be Friday December 17th. Winter Break is December 20th -January 3rd. Classes will resume on Tuesday, January 4th. As a reminder, we begin school at 8:40 and end at 4:20.

I want to wish you all a very Happy and Safe Holiday Season and hope you all enjoy a wonderful and relaxing winter break! See you in 2022!

Sincerely,

Kim Frees

As the holiday approaches, there is continued guidance from Public Health regarding outside visitors and homemade food. This means our Christmas Parties will have to look different again this year. On Friday, December 17th, from 3:00-4:00 p.m. classes will have the opportunity to celebrate. Each teacher will send out communication about what this day will look like and how you can support them.

Thanks to all students and families that supported our Wreath Fundraiser. We sold a total of 146 Wreaths for our school! Way to go CFL!

Please- Don't be Late! Please remember that dismissal is Tuesday through Friday is at 4:20. Morning Drop off time is 8:40 am.

Unfortunately, children left waiting for a ride home spend a very long and uneventful time sitting on the bench outside of the office. Also this effects our teachers and the commitments they have afterschool as well.

Parents remember that you need to walk your kids to their lines in the morning. Students are not allowed to just be dropped off. When you pick your child up, please come to their line and make visual contact with your child's teacher. They is to ensure the safety of our students.

December is a very busy month at CFL. All kids will be taking the Star benchmark as well as the Wonders mid year assessment. The information gathered from these tests is critical to making sure that kids are being instructed at an appropriate level. If you plan to be gone at any time during the next three weeks please let the office know as soon as possible, so that we can be sure your child’s assessments are complete before break.

The holidays can be a very busy time, but here are a few simple ideas to keep your child learning over the break and beyond.

• Enjoy a Christmas story with your child. There are many at the public library,

• For a cheap stocking stuffer try bathtub crayons. These are a great way to practice sight words.

• Make a batch of cookies with your child. Talk about how recipes are written steps of how to make something. Share some favorites with your child.

• Have your child write a card to a far away grandparent or other family member. The spelling doesn’t need to be perfect. You can write the correct spellings below your child’s writing so that family members can understand the message.

Have a wonderful break, and enjoy the time with your child.

November was a busy month for our students. We had many students meet their literacy goals this month. When they met a goal they wrote their name on a cutout of a turkey.

Hello CFL Families,

This month in PE we will be continuing to master our Locomotor Movements and you will see students come home with a certificate of mastery. December's focus will be on kicking and trapping. This will be a continuation of our basic ball handling skills. As we move forward, students will achieve a better understanding of PE and how physical fitness is an important part of life. As a general reminder, please have your kiddo come to school with a pair of tennis shoes that they can change into and wear to PE. I am happy to tie shoes and help anybody who needs it. Please reach out to me with any concerns and questions.

-Mr. Cora

Dear Families,

We would love for you to be part of the CFL Early Childhood Parent Advisory Committee.

This is a group of parents, teachers and administrators that meet the last Thursday of each month from 5:30-6:30.

The CFL ECE parent advisory is here to support, encourage and improve the quality of education and the well being of students by:

• Exchanging ideas and information

• Providing information about educational and community matters to parents

• Providing the parental voice to educational decision-making

If you would like to be part of this please call our office at 285-5702.

We hope this newsletter finds you well and that your Thanksgiving holiday was filled with happiness and relaxation! We are excited to be back in session beginning a new month of learning and exploration in our preschool classes. As always, the preschool staff appreciates your constant support and willingness to lend a helping hand! We are unit of study is buildings. As we study buildings, we will learn concepts and skills in science, social studies, literacy, math, the arts, and technology. We will also be using thinking skills to investigate, ask questions, solve problems, make predictions, and test our ideas.

Please continue to watch your child’s folder and/or backpack and your email for important notices and projects throughout the month as we are looking forward to fun filled December!

Wishing You a Safe and Happy Month Ahead!

As always, if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please stop by the office.

Meri Nofzinger~Director of Preschool

Supporting our Building Study

What You Can Do at Home Study your house or apartment building with your child. What materials were used to build it? How many floors or stories does it have? How many rooms, windows, and doors does it have? Don’t forget the basement if you have one! How old is your home? Who built it? What are its dimensions? Talk with your child about the buildings that you see together. Keep a list of the buildings that interest your child. Help your child investigate questions similar to the ones we mentioned above. At the end of our study, we will have a special event to show you what we’ve learned. Thank you for playing an important role in our learning

Color Recognition

• Play “I-Spy” with colors. Take turns looking around the room and choosing an object. Don’t say the object out loud, but instead say “I Spy something (color of object)”. Have your child guess what object it is that you are thinking of. Make sure to give your child multiple chances to guess the object before you tell them the answer – gives them more chances to practice. Once your child knows their colors let them choose the object for you to guess.
• Sort your child’s laundry by color.
• Go on a scavenger hunt outside. Staple together different colors of construction paper to make a rainbow book (one piece each of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, black, brown, and white), and bring along tape. Take a walk outside and see if your child can find something to represent each color paper in their book. When they find an object they can tape it into their book on the correct page (i.e. Tape a green leaf on the green paper).

Number Recognition and Counting

• Count snacks. Whenever you give your child a snack have them count, or count together, the amount of snack pieces they were given
• Write numbers with a sharpie on bubble wrap. Put one number on each bubble. Name a number, have your child find it and then pop that bubble on the bubble wrap
• Measure how much water different containers can hold. Give your child a one cup measure. Let them fill different containers with water, counting how many cups each container needs to fill up before overflowing.

Shape Recognition

• Play “I-Spy” with shapes. Same rules as above, but instead of guessing colors, guess a certain shapes
• Build shapes that have flat sides by connecting pretzel sticks and mini marshmallows.
• Cut and paste magazine pictures onto a shape sorting mat. To make a sorting mat, simply draw different shapes onto a piece of construction paper. You can pre-cut pictures from a magazine or have your child look through a magazine and cut out shapes together as you go.

Each year, as the weather begins to change, we want to remind parents to make sure that children are dressed appropriately before heading to school each day.

Our Colorado weather can change on a moment’s notice, and students need to be prepared for the changes. At CFL , our policy states that students will be sent outside for recess each day unless:

1. The outside temperature and/or wind chill is below 0

2. It is pouring rain.

3. An emergency is called by the Weather Service.

Recesses throughout the day last between 20-25. If students bring hats and gloves in their backpacks, they can be ready for any drastic weather changes.

Through our Family Resource Center, we have hats, mittens and coats available for students and families in need. Please come in and visit with us if your child is in need of warm winter clothing.

Please help your child remember to bring the necessary items so they can be comfortable and enjoy their time outside at recess during the cold weather.

If you would like to donate any new or lightly used winter clothing, please contact the Family Resource Center.

Our hope is that every student at CFL will be prepared for the cold winter ahead, and we thank you for doing your part at home to make sure that happens.

Mrs. Frees

Check out the link about support and scheduling appointments at the Resource Center

COVID SAFETY PROCEDURES

Student Safety during COVID:

As with last year, we will continue to follow guidance and recommendations from state and local officials. This year brings some changes for our students, parents and community as we continue working towards creating a safe environment for students and staff members.

For the remainder of the COVID 19 Pandemic, there are numerous safety precautions we will follow as proposed by CDC,CDPHE, and GCPHE. This is to ensure student, staff and community safety.

As stated in the "Opening Schools Plan" masks are encouraged but not required. Please keep in mind this is subject to change based on COVID-19 numbers and guidance from local and state health departments.

We are dedicated to returning to school as normal as possible. We believe in-person learning and socialization are key in developing a great education. We will follow all local and state-level mandates. The Garfield 16 Plan for Opening Schools can be accessed directly using the link below.

Health Screenings

As always, if any member of your household is being tested for Covid or has tested positive for Covid, please keep all family members at home and contact the school immediately for next steps.

As students enter the building we will continue to screen for symptoms and send home ill students. (Please keep your student home if they are ill.) If a person answers yes to any of the screener questions they will need to return home for further monitoring by their personal physician.

❏ Feeling feverish, having chills, or temperature 100.4°F or higher.

❏ New or unexplained persistent cough.

❏ Shortness of breath.

❏ Difficulty breathing.

❏ Loss of taste or smell.

❏ Fatigue.

❏ Muscle aches.

❏ Headache.

❏ Sore throat.

❏ Nausea or vomiting.

❏ Diarrhea.

❏ Runny nose or congestion.

Email: kfrres@garfield16.org
Website: https://cfl.garfield16.org/
Location: 100 E 2nd St, Parachute, CO 81635, USA
Phone: 970-285-5702