Dear Families:

What a wonderful week of school with your children! Manitou Springs Elementary School is busy with great experiences and we are so glad to have your family at MSES!

Mrs. Goldman's fourth grade class celebrated achievement in reading by going camping under the stars! Their class goal was to earn over 200 points on AR (Accelerated Reader) by taking reading comprehension quizzes about the books they're reading for fun at home and in school. They earned a WHOPPING 348 POINTS! Way to go, Mrs. Goldman's class! On Friday, they built tents, listened to a crackling campfire, read by flashlight and snacked on S'mores. It was a great way to celebrate the excitement of getting lost in a good book!

It's Open Enrollment for our entire school district and we are currently accepting applications for all in district and out of district students. Become a Mustang here! Choice Enrollment

Morning drop-off is improving. We continue to provide extra staff outside to guide drop off and pick up. We are working with the City of Manitou Springs to increase sign visibility and update painting around our school. Check out the new school signs and our painted guard rail on Prospect Place to ensure our local fire truck can get through our streets. Please give a shout out to city employees Eric Karlson and Roy Chaney for their support in maintaining a safe and welcoming school environment.
quick response to our needs.

Spring is in the air and we have a lot of spring events scheduled. Monday and Tuesday, Ms. Lawson and first and second grade students will present Music in March, here in-person. In addition, we will be hosting Space Night at MSES for all third graders and their families on March 15th.

With spring comes busy bus drivers. Our bus drivers need to focus on driving and we need your support. We will be following clear bus guidelines to ensure student safety. If students are not following bus rules, you may be asked to transport your child for three days. Please read the rules below and help your child be successful.

Our new student resource officer, Mandy Strider, is providing a virtual training on cyber-bullying. She will teach you how to support your child to safely navigate the web March 9th at 5:30. See the link below.

You can view our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Manitou-Springs-Elementary. We are updating the site with important announcements and pictures of your children.

Next Wednesday is Late Start Wednesday.

Have a fun weekend!

Warmly,

Maria

• Mar 7 & 8 - 1st and 2nd Grade Music Recitals

• Mar 9 - Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay)
• Mar 9 - Mustang Parent Connection (virtual), 5:30pm-7:00pm
  
• Mar 16 - Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay)
• Mar 21-25 - Spring Break
• Mar 30 - Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay)

First Grade has jumped into our domain Animals and Habitats! Chat with your expert and learn more about the following: What three things do all habitats need? (Food, water, shelter) Why do living creatures adapt to the environment in which they live? (Answers may vary, but should include the fact that animals need to adapt to survive in the climate of their habitat. They also need to adapt in order to find sufficient food, shelter, and water) See if your child can name some animals that live in the Arctic and Sonoran Desert habitats, as well as what adaptations these animals have. To wrap up our week, the Pike’s Peak Children’s Museum visited our classrooms! Ask your kiddo to tell you all about our in-school field trip!

Third graders are traveling through space. Ask your expert to name the planets in our solar system in order! (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) Your expert should also be able to tell you the 5 requirements in order to be a planet, and why Pluto has been demoted. (Large spherical mass, it travels in a path or orbit around a star, it has cleared the debris in its path, it is made of rock or gas or a combination of both, and it does not make its own light but instead reflects the light from the star it orbits) Students have learned about the differences between solar and lunar eclipses. In a solar eclipse the moon comes between the sun and the Earth, in a lunar eclipse the Earth comes between the sun and the moon. They should also be able to explain rotation and a planetary day, versus orbits and planetary years. Students are busy showing what they have learned about our universe, with impressive projects designed at home and coming in daily. This is always a favorite CKLA unit for everyone!

This week, fourth graders went on a field trip to Garden of the Gods! This field trip supports our current CKLA domain, Geology! We learned all about the three rock types, the processes of weathering and erosion, as well as how the Earth has changed over time to form such beautiful red rock formations. After our exploration sessions, we enjoyed the afternoon sun on a hike into the park!

Fifth grade students wrapped up their Renaissance unit by researching a person from that time period. Students focused on the historical figures life, contributions, and fun facts. Students then presented their biographical information via google slide show or written paper! Pictures below are of Saige and Amberlin from Mrs. Kazmier’s class presenting their biography slide shows!

This month, the Intervention Team encourages our Mustang Families to find joy! In their book The Power of Joyful Reading: Help Your Young Readers Soar to Success, Eric Litwin and Dr. Gina Pepin explain why successful reading depends upon joyful and engaging shared reading experiences.

“Encouragement and praise are powerful tools that help your students learn to read. Your students are highly motivated by your words. They take them to heart.

“I love listening to you read.”

“I love the way your voice sings when you read aloud!”

“When you read, I feel excited!”

Praising them along the way helps them realize that everything takes time, effort, and concentration.” Learning to read is a journey. Let’s find the joy!

New to Canvas!

In our continuing efforts to partner with parents for the academic success of students, the district is providing parents with the ability to access Canvas. Canvas is the Learning Management System being used at all schools.

The District hopes that these resources will provide you with specific information about your student’s curricula, so you have a better understanding of the work that teachers and students are doing. We hope you use this information to communicate to students that the skills and content identified in these courses are important to master. In addition, we hope this information provides parents with an opportunity to ask students to share ideas and opinions about what is being learned and keep track of attendance.

Canvas Videos

Here are a few short movies on how to set up and use Canvas for parents and guardians.

Canvas Overview for Observers (Parents and Guardians)

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Video-Guide/Canvas-Overview-for-Observers/ta-p/383797

Account Registration and Student Pairing

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Video-Guide/Account-Registration-and-Student-Pairing/ta-p/383813

Canvas Parent App

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Video-Guide/Canvas-Parent-App/ta-p/383772

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Cat Olimb

Director of Technology

colimb@mssd14.org

March is Music in Our Schools month, and we’re celebrating at MSES with in person recitals with our 1st and 2nd grade students! Concert times and dates are as follows, in the auditorium:

Monday, March 7th

12:40 Teacher Wood’s Class

1:10 Mr. Pletsch’s Class

1:45 Ms. Huffman’s Class

Tuesday, March 8th

1:10 Ms. Carley’s Class

1:45 Ms. Monk’s Class

2:15 Ms. Walsh’s Class

We are excited to show you all we have learned and are especially looking forward to audience participation! Masks are encouraged, but not required.

Current 2021-2022 MSSD14 students who will be returning, both resident and non-resident, will be rolled over to the 2022-2023 school year and will receive an email notification to complete the registration/renewal process in early June.

Here is the first step for you to complete:

Please help us with this process by completing the 2022-2023 Intent to Return Survey using the link below. We ask that all parents and guardians complete this survey regardless of whether they will be attending MSSD14 in the fall for the 2022-2023 school year.

Intent to Return Survey

https://forms.gle/C5qe4HmauBbiV13P6

Timeline for Parents/Guardians

• March - Parents/Guardians complete Intent to Return Survey.
• June – Online Registration/Renewal Snapcodes and instructions will be sent to Parents/Guardians
• June, July, August – Information about the new school year is sent to Parents/Guardians from each school.