Dear Families:

Spring is a time of new beginnings, growth, and hope. After a long winter, we welcome the longer days, warmer weather, and the blossoming of nature. As parents, we want to inspire our children to embrace this season with optimism and hope for the future. Let's encourage our children to set goals, take risks, and pursue their dreams in our beautiful weather!

As you know, grades 3, 4, 5 have been participating in CMAS. CMAS, Colorado Measures of Academic Success, is an assessment tool that public schools in the state of Colorado use to ensure that students are learning. The intermediate grades are assessed in reading and math. Fifth grade is the only grade participating in Science and will be done early next week.

We have the School of Excellence Night on April 20th. On this exciting evening, student work is showcased throughout the building. You are welcome to peruse the halls and watch our Spanish presentation at 6:00pm. Science Fair projects will be on display in the gym and multiple classroom exhibits will be on display. You may also join us for dinner from Adam's Mountain Cafe. Dinner will be served at both 5:30pm and 6:30pm. The cost is $18.00 for adult meals, and $10.00 for children. You are welcome to come for the evening even if you choose not to eat with us.

Our PAC, Parent Action Committee, has been a terrific support to our staff and students. The group funds so many wonderful opportunities for our students. This year, they have funded equipment, field trips and much more.They are hosting a Trivia Night, May 6th, with questions from our students!

A reminder that school begins at 8:00am. There is no student supervision before 7:30am and we do not provide after school supervision on the playground. Your children are welcome on the playground with supervision. Lastly, we do not allow dogs in or around school to maintain the safety of all staff and students. Thank you for your understanding on these matters.

Thank you, families, for stocking the break room this week. We are all so appreciative for the wonderful treats!

Warmly,

Maria

Did you know we have a new security guard, Ben Newton. He is a great addition to our school and helps keep students and staff safe. He works full time and joins our SRO, School Resource Officer Mandy Strider and Security Director, Janie Anderson. Together, the trio of folks maintain our safety. As you know, all adults are required to check in at the front office to obtain a name badge.

Preschool is learning all about the life cycle and friendship. This crew really enjoy playing and supporting one another.

Kindergarten students are learning about ways to take care of the earth! This week, we discussed the things that make up the earth and all of the creatures who share it. We also learned about where trash goes after the trash truck collects it from our homes and school. Everyone was shocked to learn about the landfill! Then, we began learning about ways that we can work together to reduce the amount of trash that ends up in the landfill and other ideas to protect our natural resources. Here are some questions that you can ask your expert about their learning:

• Where does all of our trash end up if we do not recycle it? (in a landfill)
  
• Who is responsible for making all of the trash that goes into a landfill? (people)
  
• What is a natural resource? (Something that the earth gives us. It is not made by humans).
  
• What are some examples of natural resources? (water, trees, air, fish, oil, soil, coal)
• What are the "Three R’s” we learned that can help us take care of the Earth? (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)
  
• What kinds of materials can we recycle? (paper, plastic, metal, glass)

Kindergartners were also given an Earth Day Challenge to help them practice opportunities that are good for the earth! We are excited to GO GREEN!

Second grade mathematicians deepened their understanding of addition and subtraction as they work within 1,000. We reasoned about place value, properties of operations, and the relationship between numbers as they chose the best strategy for their brains. In our next module starting on Monday we will be studying money, data, and customary measurement.

In Social Studies, we have begun studying about what a community is, and what natural and physical features make up our community. We will then begin studying our surrounding areas both within Colorado Springs and the state of Colorado.

We are also learning about the human body and will have our organ lab next Thursday where students will have a hands-on opportunity to learn about the different body systems. We can't wait to have this fantastic learning opportunity.

In Fourth Grade, we are wrapping up our exploration of Geology! We are writing a five-paragraph informative essay about the three rock types. Ask Your Expert: What is one big idea that you shared about the three rock types in your essay? (EX. Rocks are created and changed in a continuous cycle; all rocks are created by the Earth; volcanic activity and different processes shape and form the three rock types in different ways). In Social Studies, we learned all about the silver boom and bust of Colorado! This unit culminated in a final project in which students displayed a boom or bust scene in a shoebox diorama. These projects, alongside many other projects from fourth grade, will be on display during MSES's School of Excellence Night! Come check them out!

SRO Strider and Safety and Security Director Janie Anderson have added information to the Manitou Springs School District 14 website that parents may be interested in.

Some of the information that has been added is about threat assessments, how to monitor your child's phone and other safety information.

If you have ideas on what other information you would like to see please email Janie Anderson at janderson@mssd14.org or SRO Strider at astrider@mssd14.org

Saludos/Greetings from the Spanish class!

Fifth graders made books in Spanish and then read their books to our preschoolers.

Fourth and fifth graders are learning the letters of the alphabet and practicing those sounds in words.The students wrote and illustrated a Spanish book called "Mi librito"/ "My Little Book."

Second and third grades read the book prepared by Maestra Lillemon, "La Gallina Dice." For example, "La gallina dice... 'Estoy triste."

First graders studied geometric shapes and applied them to the parts of the house. For example: "The roof is triangular, and the door is rectangular." (El techo es triangular y la puerta es rectangular).

Kindergarten was introduced to traditional American games translated into Spanish, "Ring around the Rosie."

Help Kids Make Friends and Interact Safely Online

Soon after kids start reading and writing, they often begin interacting with others online. Whether they're chatting within games or texting family members, kids need the skills to interact respectfully. These skills will help kids -- and the people they're communicating with -- have positive experiences online.

Check out these 4 tips

Give them the right words.

Kids learn about appropriate verbal and physical communication from watching you.

But online conversations can be invisible. Occasionally, narrate as you're writing
texts or social media comments when your kids are in earshot.

Play a game of telephone.
Discuss how a message can change depending on the person delivering it or the
delivery method. Read a question like "What are you doing?" with different tones of
voice. Talk about how emoji and punctuation can help communicate tone and
emotion in text messages.

Help kids navigate online friendships.

In the beginning, you might limit all communication with strangers online. As kids get
older, you can monitor any online chatting. And once they're more independent, you
can discuss which methods of communication are appropriate as well as which types
of information to keep private from online-only friends.

Develop their instincts.

Help kids trust their guts so they can exit iffy or inappropriate online conversations.
Discuss different scenarios and ask how they would feel and what they would do.