Hawk Highlights
February 21 , 2024
From our Assistant Principal
Dear Friends and Family of the Hollys,
We hope you and your families enjoyed a few days of rest and recharge. Conferences are almost here- please look out for information from your child’s teacher and sign up for a time the week of March 4th. We will have conferences Monday and Wednesday night as well as all day Thursday, March 6th. Please keep in mind that if you need a virtual meeting, we are happy to accommodate. Spring conferences are a great way to reconnect and check on the progress of your child.
We have a lockdown drill this Friday afternoon at both buildings so please check out the letter below and reach out with any questions. District Safety and Security will be on site to support the training. CMAS is also quickly approaching so I have included information below on the purpose and value of this assessment.
We look forward to seeing you on Thursday at the Celebration of Cultures event from PTCO.
Together in Education,
Kelly Park
Assistant Principal
The Hollys Lockdown Drill
Dear Staff and Parents,
On February 23, 2024 we will be practicing a HOLD-after-LOCKDOWN active threat drill. The intent of this drill is to simulate a situation in which a LOCKDOWN is rendered safe and there is no further need to have staff and students hiding quietly in their safe places. An example of when this method might be used is during a false activation of LOCKDOWN, a swatting incident, or any other situation in which the LOCKDOWN is no longer necessary but incident commanders still need to maintain control of the building by keeping everyone in their room. We would direct the school to move into a HOLD position.
During an active threat situation students, staff, and visitors must take decisive and immediate action to find safety from the threat and create time barriers that allow first responders to stabilize the situation. Unlike drilling for less rapidly evolving emergencies, action must be taken quickly and smoothly, with coordination and purpose. Therefore, it is critical to practice and train the appropriate responses to gain confidence and understand how to safeguard students, staff, and visitors during such an event.
In the HOLD-after-LOCKDOWN drill, we will initially move the school to LOCKDOWN and then transition the school to a HOLD. We understand the sooner we can tell staff and students they are safe, and move them out of a LOCKDOWN posture, the better they will recover from the incident. Having this flexibility to use these directives in combination with each other helps with both physical and psychological safety of all involved. A parent handout detailing all of our Standard Response Protocols (SRP) is included below for your review. Please take a few minutes to review these with your student(s) at home.
As always, the drill will be supported by School District Security, School District Administration, Law Enforcement, and Fire/EMS personnel who will assist us in checking doors and classrooms and coaching us through the process. This is important as all of them will have a part in responding to help. Each drill should take approximately 30 minutes as we practice all aspects of our emergency procedure.
At the conclusion of the drill, our building Safety Team will debrief the drill to discuss lessons learned and provide us with strategies to improve our response. We invite all staff and students to provide feedback and ask questions about the process so that we can continuously improve our practice.
Thank you for participating with us in this important training event. Please feel free to Kelly Park or or our District Security Team if you have any questions.
Spring State Assessment Administration
Beginning this spring, the Cherry Creek School District will administer the Colorado Measures of Academic Success (CMAS) English Language Arts and Math tests for students in grades 3-8. Additionally, the CMAS Science tests will be administered to students in grades 5, 8 and 11.
The test windows for our school will be April 1-April 26th.
For students in grades 9-11, the Colorado PSAT 9, PSAT 10 and 11th grade SAT assessments will be administered on April 12.
Purpose and Value of State Assessments
CMAS and PSAT/SAT are the only common assessment for Colorado students that measure real-world skills like problem-solving and critical thinking. Because the assessments are aligned to the college and career readiness standards that are taught in our classrooms, teachers do not have to “teach to the test.” Instead, good instruction based on the standards will be the best preparation for students.
In the Cherry Creek School District, results from the state assessments are combined with local assessments and other student information to create a full picture of your student’s learning experience in our schools. This helps parents and educators answer important questions such as:
● Did your student meet the expectations at their grade level to be on track for the next level of learning?
● Does your student need additional services and/or support?
● How well did your student perform compared to other students across the state?
● How well did your school do overall in meeting performance and growth goals throughout the year?
To ensure your student has the best experience on test day, please make sure your student is well-rested and has a good breakfast.
For more information about state testing in Colorado, click HERE.
Parent Exemptions
While state testing provides valuable information about your student’s academic achievement and growth, Colorado statute does allow parents to exempt their students from testing without consequences to the student, school, or district. If you plan to exempt your student from state testing, please login to your my.cherrycreekschools.org parent portal and click on the “State Assessment Exemption” tile.
PTCO News
SEE YOU TOMORROW AT THE HOLLYS CELEBRATION OF CULTURES!
February 22 | 6-8 pm | Hollys Hills Elementary
Bring a dish to share!
Perform a song or dance!
There is no need to register to bring a dish ahead of time. Just bring your food - and song or dance! - from your culture or heritage and join us!!
And if you are available to help set up, clean up, stamp kids' passports or take pictures...please consider signing up for a volunteer role here!
SAVE THE DATE!
HOLLYS MOVIE NIGHT
March 28 | 6 pm | Holly Hills Elementary
Movie: Elemental
Pizza, drinks and popcorn for sale.
Colorado Rockies Discounted Tickets
Hollys Families - See below for great deals on discounted Colorado Tickets.
The Holly Hills Choir will be performing at the Saturday, April 20 game against the Seattle Mariners. Don't miss out on seeing the hard work our Hollys singers have put in!
Celebrate the end of the school year at Coors Field! The Colorado Rockies and the Cherry Creek Schools Foundation would like to invite you to Cherry Creek Schools Appreciation Night at Coors Field! A portion of each ticket sold will benefit students in Cherry Creek Schools. This is a great opportunity to enjoy a game at Coors Field while supporting your local community!
Saturday, April 20 at 6:10pm vs. Seattle Mariners – Discounted tickets starting at just $15!
Alternate Games Available:
Sunday, May 12 at 1:10pm vs. Texas Rangers
Monday, May 27 at 2:10pm vs. Cleveland Guardians
Saturday, June 15 at 7:10pm vs. Pittsburgh Pirates
For questions or to purchase more than 12 tickets, please call 303-ROCKIES (726-5437) or email grouptix@rockies.com. Phone and email hours are Monday - Friday from 9am to 5pm.
The Hollys Field Day
Cherry Creek Reads 2024
It’s time to celebrate reading during Cherry Creek Reads 2024, a districtwide celebration of reading, coming up March 11-15, 2024!
The theme for the week is “Read Together, Inspire Together” which is based on the book, Words of Wonder from Z to A, written by Zaila Avant-garde and illustrated by Keisha Morris. Avant-garde is a young adult author who presents an inspiring picture book filled with her favorite words, from Z to A. The book features motivational words like KINDNESS, HOPE, and RESILIENCE, alongside Zaila's own uplifting reflections.
Words of Wonder from Z to A prompts us to wonder and ask questions like, What’s one word that inspires me? Do the words I use inspire others? How are our words perceived?
Cherry Creek Schools students, parents, teachers, staff, friends and family members are encouraged to read for 68 minutes or more during the week of the event. That’s one minute of reading for every CCSD school. Some other activities students and families can do at home are visiting your local school or public library and find some amazing new books, have a device free evening where family members are reading together, or work together to identify a word that represents your family.
So grab a book and join us for Cherry Creek Reads 2024!