Cottonwood Creek Cougar Chronicle
May 18, 2020
Final Message from Mrs. Johnson of 2019-20
Dear Cottonwood Creek Families,
It is hard to believe another school year has passed. This year has gone by quickly, and I never imagined it would end with remote learning and virtual celebrations. The perseverance and grit you and your children demonstrated during this time is to be commended, and I would like to send one final thank you to our students, staff, and parents who have worked together to make this such a successful year, despite the challenges we faced.
As we wrap up the 2019-20 school year, we are working diligently to finalize progress reports, class lists, and our master schedule, and we are preparing our building for summer. Please watch for more information to come this week regarding progress reports.
Our supply distribution check-out day was a huge success; thank you for helping make that day run smoothly. We never thought that is how we would say "have a great summer", but it was wonderful to see so many of you and your children.
As we continue to plan for the next school year, please know our school district is working collaboratively to prepare detailed plans for multiple educational scenarios based on recommendations from local health experts regarding the potential impact of COVID-19. If you did not have the opportunity to watch the video below from Dr. Siegfried, I strongly encourage to you do so. In addition, I've included the Looking to the Future survey, which was emailed last week. Please take time to complete this survey; your voice matters.
In order to help prepare for the 2020-21 school year, please remember that all families need to update forms online. If your child/children are NOT returning to Cottonwood for the 2020-21 school year, please submit the form below as soon as possible. Parents of 5th graders continuing to a CCSD middle school DO NOT NEED to complete the form. Submit one form for each child. Thank you for taking the time to complete this information.
Again, thank you for your continued partnership. Here’s to a summer filled with play, and as always, take care of yourselves and each other.
Respectfully,
Katie Johnson
Principal
Please click the link below to view a special video from our Cottonwood Creek office staff.
A FINAL MESSAGE FROM MS. BERNER
It was such a pleasure to get to serve as your Assistant to the Principal at Cottonwood Creek this year. 2019/2020 was a year for the record books and one that I will never forget! Many of you have asked about my plans for next year. I am excited to share that I will be serving as the Assistant Principal at Buffalo Trail Elementary School. I hope you each enjoy a summer filled with rest and relaxation, and a little bit of summer reading, of course! My email address will be staying the same, and so please feel free to keep in touch.
Best regards,
Alison Berner
Looking to the Future survey
With the end of the 2019-20 school year drawing near, we are taking time to reflect on the lessons learned over the past two months of this unexpected and unprecedented school closure. As we always do in Cherry Creek Schools, we are also looking to the future.
Over the past year, the district has engaged in conversations with parent groups, community task forces and the Council of Chairs about how we can continue maintaining excellence for our 55,000 students as we face mounting budget challenges related to rising costs and changes to our district such as the likelihood of declining enrollment in the near future. We talked about how to address a $50 million structural deficit and we were preparing to implement your recommendations for cutting costs, finding new sources of revenue and considering a bond and budget election in fall 2020.
The coronavirus pandemic has challenged us in ways we had not previously imagined. We now are tasked with creating a plan for returning to school in the fall with social distancing requirements likely still in place. We must also stand up a remote learning operation that can be activated at a moment’s notice in case of a school closure order. We must find a way to do all of this while also addressing the existing structural deficit as well as increased costs due to the pandemic and the expected state budget shortfall of $3.3 billion, which will significantly impact education funding to the Cherry Creek School District. To put it more simply, our budget situation has grown significantly more dire.
As a district committed to excellence, equity and ingenuity, we believe we will find a path forward. It is what our students deserve. However, we will need your help.
We invite you to participate in this brief survey that will help inform our planning for the future.
Are you moving or transferring to another school? Please complete this form.
YEARBOOK Update
This is a quick update on the 2020 yearbook. Our yearbook committee has been hard at work to finalize the book under challenging circumstances. With COVID-19 restrictions, school closures and a complete turn-around for all members of our school community, the yearbook will be distributed in late June. We appreciate your understanding and please be on the look-out for an email with next step instructions.
Access to Online Resources
While this is our last week of remote learning, we encourage you to continue to read with your children at home throughout the summer. We are working to confirm the online resources your child will have access to over the summer. Please know that teachers will not be monitoring and/or assigning new tasks through any of these platforms. However, students with RAZ Kids accounts will have access throughout the summer. If your child has access to Moby Max through our school account, they will have access until our subscription ends in July. Additionally, iReady access will also be available through the end of June.
Kindergarten Orientation
I'd like to welcome our Class of 2033 to the Cottonwood Creek family. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis, we were unable to hold our Kindergarten Orientation on May 5th. However, it is important that we continue to plan for the 2020-21 school year, and we'd like to take the opportunity to welcome you and your children to our Cougar family. We invite you to take time to learn a little more about the kindergarten experience at Cottonwood Creek by visiting our web site https://www.cherrycreekschools.org/cottonwoodcreek and clicking on the 'Virtual Kindergarten Orientation' link on the main page.
Please be sure to check our website regularly as we will keep it updated with information and/or changes.
Hello Cottonwood!
Greetings from your Specials Teachers! As we wind down distance learning for this school year and start our summers, remember, you truly never stop learning and having fun. If you didn't have a chance to explore all of our lessons these past few months, we will continue to keep all of our links in Google Classroom online during our summer break. On our last few days of school, we wish you all the very best for a safe and fun-filled summer.
Ms. Hammershaimb, Ms. Jehn, Mr. Pedregon, Mr. Rogers and Ms. Thompson
Puzzle of the Week
Congrats to all of you clever thinkers who solved last week’s riddle.
I run around properties, fields, and yard, but I never move. What am I?
Answer: A fence!
JOKE OF THE WEEK
Thank you to everyone who submitted a joke of the week entry last week. This week’s selected joke comes from Lyra Sater in Mrs. Jansen's second grade class.
Why did the tree say goodbye?
Scroll down for the answer.
Do you have a great joke that you think other Cottonwood Creek Cougars would enjoy hearing? Follow this link to submit your entry for the Joke of the Week. One joke will be chosen, and will appear in next week’s CCCC. Choose carefully because you can only submit one joke each week. Bring on the laughs!
Answer to Lyra's joke: It was time to leaf!
From our School Nurse
For next school year:
- Students who may require prescription or emergency medication at school: New medication orders must be completed annually. Forms available here
cherrycreekschools.org > Programs and Services > Health Services
- If your student receives new immunizations, records can be emailed to projec@cherrycreekschools.org
Have a fun and safe summer. Hope to see you all in August!
Cottonwood Creek Elementary School
Email: kjohnson177@cherrycreekschools.org
Website: https://www.cherrycreekschools.org/site/Default.aspx?PageID=31
Location: 11200 East Orchard Road, Englewood, CO, USA
Phone: 720-554-3200