Important Parent Reminders
Please
call the attendance line at 328-4703 if your child will be absent for
school. Leave your child’s name,
teacher’s name, date, and the reason for the absence. If you do not notify the office, the absence
will not be unexcused. Also, if your
child will be late or is returning to school after an appointment, please
walk your student into the office and sign them in.
If
you have not returned the Student Emergency Information card, Emergency
Dismissal Information/Inclement Weather Plan form, or the Generic Standard
Permission Slip, please do so as soon as possible. These forms were included in your student’s
first-day packet. It is very important
that we have these forms on file should your student become injured or ill at
school or if we have an emergency or early dismissal.
The parking lot between the mural wall and the
alley is for District 11 staff parking only.
Also, the medical building across the street on Weber has asked that
parents not park in their parking lot as this space is limited and for patient
parking only. We know that parking can
be hard to find, especially before and after school, but perhaps by carpooling
or arriving a few minutes earlier, some of the congestion can be alleviated.
Please check the Lost & Found whenever you are in the building for
items that may belong to your children.
By checking on a regular basis we may be able to keep our Lost &
Found closet from overflowing.
School Lunches
If
you have questions about your child’s lunch account, please call the lunchroom
manager, Mrs. Alirez-Mimm, at 328-4732 and leave a message. She will return your call as soon as she
can. District 11 Food and Nutrition
Services has a website containing healthy recipes, nutrition tidbits, fun food
facts and healthy lifestyle web sites that may be interesting for both students
and parents. Visit this web site at www.cssd11.k12.co.us/fns/nutrition_tidbits.htm.
For students who were enrolled in the district database and who
qualified for meal benefits on the last day of school in the previous year, all
free and reduced price meals will be continued for up to 30 school days in the
new school year or until a new form has been completed and approved or denied. Households are required by USDA federal guidelines to
fill out new applications each school year. Free and reduced price meal applications were
mailed to households in the district the first part of August. If you did not receive one and would like to
complete an application, copies are available in school office. Only one application per household should
be turned in to the school office. All students are full pay students
until determination on free or reduced meals has been made. Parents are responsible for providing lunches
from home or lunch money. School
District 11 Food & Nutrition Services does not allow charges. Students who forget their money are provided
an alternate meal on a case-by-case basis.
Families
are encouraged to pre-pay for student meals. Pre-payment may be made at either the school
or online at www.d11.org/fns/prepay.htm
, where a credit card may be used, or by calling 1-866-896-7594. Student meal account balances may be viewed at
“no charge” by registering at www.d11.org/fns/prepay.htm.
Questions may be directed to the Food
& Nutrition Services office at 520-2924
Volunteers
Whether you volunteer in your
student’s classroom or for various PTA or school-sponsored activities, all
persons wishing to come into the building to volunteer must complete and sign
a Volunteer Registration form. These
forms were sent home in your student’s first-day packet. A separate form needs to be completed for
each volunteer (i.e., mom, dad, grandma, grandpa, etc.) Additional forms are available in the office
or online at www.d11.org under Volunteer
Services. You may also register online
through this same website; however, the online registration form must be
printed, signed and returned to the office for forwarding to Volunteer
Services.
In order for our Volunteer
Coordinators to properly keep track of our volunteer hours, it is important
that you log in your time on the volunteer tracking form each time you
volunteer at school. You may also log
your volunteer hours through the District 11 website.
Additionally, if you will be
volunteering to drive for a field trip, a Volunteer Drivers form must also be
completed and left on file in the office.
A copy of your valid Colorado Driver’s License and your current proof of
insurance will be made when you turn in this form. If you have any questions about volunteering
at Steele Elementary, please contact our Volunteer Chairperson, Tina Horwitch,
at 520-1646.
Partnership Agreement for Scout Groups
Space is available for
scouting groups to meet after school on alternating Tuesdays. In order to use District 11 facilities, scout
groups must complete a new District 11 Facility Use Partnership Agreement. Reservations are on a first come, first serve
basis and the forms are available in the office.
Entertainment & Gold C Book Sale
Our annual Entertainment/Gold
C Book sale envelopes went home on August
29th. If you have not yet
seen this envelope, please check your student’s backpack. These books usually pay for themselves in 1
to 2 uses and there are also printable offers posted weekly at www.entertainment.com for those who
have purchased Entertainment Books.
Profits from the sale of these books go toward funding various school
activities throughout the school year.
All orders, with payment included, are due by September 19, 2007. You may
also purchase books from the office during the school dayThank you for supporting our school.
Safeway Stores 10% Back to Schools
Safeway stores are once
again offering 10% back to schools for purchases of participating products made
between July 18th and
September 4th, when using your Safeway Club Card. Ask the cashier for your Rewards Certificates
after September 10th and
turn them into the office. For more
information visit www.back2schools.eScrip.com
King Soopers/Safeway Gift Cards
The office will once again be
selling King Soopers and Safeway grocery gift cards this school year. This is a vital part of our fundraising
efforts at no additional cost to you. Cards
may be purchased at face value and Steele earns five percent of the total
sales. Buying and using these
certificates is a great way to help our school. Purchases may be made anytime during the
school day.
Steele Directory
Thursday,
September 6th, is the last chance to submit the form if you
want your information included in the 2007-08 Steele Directory. If you have any questions, please contact
Mary Weeks at 632-9468 or mary@steveweeksmusic.com
Skate City
Please join us for our Back-to-School Night at Skate City
on Thursday, September 6th,
from 6:00 to 8:00 pm
at the Skate City located at 1920 N. Academy Blvd.
School Pictures
It's that time of year again
– capture school memories with portraits by Lifetouch. Mark your calendars and get ready for Picture
Day on Wednesday, September 12, 2007.
All students will be
individually photographed and group class pictures will also be taken on this
date. Watch for order forms to come home
in your student’s backpack.
Building Advisory Accountability Committee (BAAC)
WHAT IS THIS BAAC THING???
The Building Advisory Accountability
Committee is an oversight committee designed to be a communication link between
school and the community. We meet
monthly to assess educational needs of the school and how these needs influence
achievement. We monitor and evaluate the
school improvement plan, or SIP, and report the educational performance to the
Steele community. We review safety
issues and how they impact both students and staff. We review building priorities and goals, and
give recommendations to staff and the Steele community at large. The BAAC is really the nuts and bolts of
Steele Elementary. We need parents, teachers, grandparents, friends and members
of the neighborhoods we serve to participate in BAAC. Only with a broad representation of our
community and involvement from individuals like you can we continue to keep the
tradition of excellence at Steele.
We will meet on the third Tuesday of the
month at 2:45, usually in the library.
Our next meeting will be on September
18th, at 2:45 pm. Please stop by, see what we do in BAAC, and
make it a part of your involvement at Steele.
There are so many ways to be involved here, this one really can make a
difference and we need your input! If
you can’t attend a meeting but would like to know what’s going on, we would be
happy to email you with the minutes of the monthly meeting. Just fill out the pink information sheet
passed out at the Back-to-School night (extras are in the office) and return it
to Pat or Carrie in the office. You can
also drop me a line at thelongshouse@yahoo.com
and I will be happy to include you in our monthly emails. As always, if you have any comments or
concerns, please stop me at school (I’m here a lot!) or call me at 471-4752.
Thank
you for your involvement is your child’s school.
Dana
Keys
BAAC
Chairman
Steele School Barbeque
The
annual Steele Barbeque will be held on Friday, September 21st. All are welcome to join their students for
lunch (11:30 am - Grades K-2; 12:00 noon - Grades 3-5). Cost is $1.85 for children and $2.55 for adults. Come join the fun! Look for more information to come home in
your student’s backpack.
Used Book Sale
Start cleaning out your
bookshelves! We need your old books. The Used Book Sale will be held on Friday, September 28th, from
2:30-4:00 pm in the Steele gym. Kids
can start bringing in their donated books after Labor Day, on Tuesday, September 4th. Each classroom will have a well-marked box to
collect the books. At the sale, books
will be priced at $.50 and $1.00. We
will also be selling milk and cookies. The proceeds go to our library. If you are interested in helping out, or if
you have any questions, please contact Tina Horwitch at 520-1646.
Parent Sounding Board
Dr. Terry Bishop will meet with District 11 parents on the
second Thursday of each month from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at Tesla Educational
Opportunity Center. All District 11 parents are welcome
to bring issues, general concerns, questions and good things happening in
District 11 schools to Dr. Bishop’s attention.
In turn, Dr. Bishop will share with parents the latest information about
programs and projects in D-11. Concerns
about individual students are not appropriate for the sounding board and are
better addressed by the student's school or the Division of Instruction.
Dr. Bishop’s first parent meeting is on October 11th, from 5:00 to 6:30
p.m. at Tesla EOC, 2560
International Circle. Call 520-2005 for directions or more
information.
Art Strokes
I am a “transplanted”
Chicagoan from a large family that is now scattered throughout the
country. My mission is to recognize and
develop the unique, strengths and skills of students maximize learning to
produce resourceful learners visual arts through cross curriculum projects and
to recognize, their developing talents.
Welcome to a fun-filled year
where we’ll “travel the world” via our projects. Each quarter will be focused on cultural
themes that apply to many grade levels; 1st quarter-Hispanic
Heritage, 2nd quarter-Native American Indian, 3rd
quarter-Africa and 4th quarter-Asia. Interspersed through the year,
art activities will include projects that are topically current and/or
teacher/class suggestion.
The art program will always
accept materials and supplies to enhance the program, such as; fabric,
polyester fiberfill, notions, yarn, ribbon, old shirts (for paint shirts),
glue, scissors, paint
The art program will always
accept volunteers to display, take down and/or help in the classroom throughout
the year. Please see me or leave a
message at my phone (or the school office).
I truly appreciate any time that you take from your valuable schedule to
make the art program a successful feature at your child’s school and
educational journey.
GT News
Thursday, September 20, 2007, from 5:00-5:30
pm, there will be a short, informative meeting for interested parents
explaining D11 policies and procedures for identification of gifted students. All 3rd grade students will be
given the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) in October.
Come to this meeting to learn
more!
Terry Hays, GT facilitator
PE News
The Steele Running Club
started practice on August 28th.
Practices are usually held after school on Mondays and Thursdays, and a
series of meets will be held on Tuesdays at other locations. If you need more information, please contact Mary
Beth & Chris Cipoletti at 471-0220 or Vic Bridgman at 290-3636. Registration information is available in the
office.
Track & Field Day will be
held on Thursday, September 27th, at Colorado College.
A parent volunteer sign-up sheet is attached to this newsletter.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Alden
Challenger Learning Center
The Challenger Learning
Center, located at 10215 Lexington Drive Suite 110, will be having an Open House
on September 22 from 9 -12. There will
be a signing of the book Space Wars by William Scott, Michael Coumatos,
and William Burnes. You could also be
one of the first earthlings to have a drink made by materials from space!
Samples of Antimatter Energy Drink and Space 2 0 Electrolyte water will be
available. The first 30 people (10 and
older only) can sign up for a Rendezvous with a Comet mission. Prices are $18 for students and $20 for
adults. Junior Astronauts 9 and under
can do exciting space activities for $5/child. (must be accompanied by an
adult). Please call Denelle Hartt
at 598-9755 to register or for more information.
