Safety and Security Update August 2022

Welcome back to all of our returning families! For those families that are joining us for the first time, we are excited for the opportunity to work with you this year!

My name is Josh Hawkins and I am the Dean of Students at Padilla Elementary. My primary role at Padilla is to ensure the safety of every individual that enters our building. As a parent of four myself, I am kept up at night often thinking about the worry and stress that shouldn’t come from sending our kids to school. With that, I want to take this opportunity to inform our community of Padilla’s commitment to the safety of our students and staff.

We are very fortunate to have a building that was built with the security and safety of our students and staff in mind. We have over twenty cameras throughout the campus that allow us to monitor all areas of our building. We have a secured entry that allows us to control who enters our building at all times throughout the day. All exterior doors are locked at all times. These doors are monitored throughout the day by teachers, our custodial team and myself to ensure they are always locked and closed.

We practice drills regularly and communicate with our community as often as possible about the progress of each. Our staff is very clear about their role during any of our emergency drills and will prepare our students very quickly about their roles as well.

Students need the opportunity to go outside and play multiple times a day. During these times we will always monitor while being vigilant of our surroundings. With that, if your family uses the school grounds for any reason (park, basketball courts, grassy areas for your dogs), we ask that you refrain from doing so during school hours.

The safety of our students and staff will always be our top priority at Padilla Elementary. Please reach out at any time throughout the year with any question or concern you may have. We would love for our community members to join us for any of our drills throughout the year. If interested please reach out to me at jhawkins@sd27j.net or 303-655-5103.

Thank you!

Josh Hawkins

If you do not have an Infinite Campus account set up, please email Yuliana Perez at yperez@sd27j.net to get the access information!

Class lists will also be posted at Back-to-School night!

Preschool students will be contacted directly by their teacher in the next two weeks for details about their classes.

This is an open house style event, so you may come to visit the school at any point during that timeframe!

Students and families are strongly encouraged to bring school supplies with them during Back-to-School Night to be dropped off at their classroom!

School begins at 7:50 AM and students may be dropped off at school no earlier than 7:30 AM. School ends at 3:30 PM.

During morning drop off, families should use the front parking lot only to drop off students. Students may be dropped off in the drop off lane only. Students should be prepared to get out of the passenger side of the vehicle and exit onto the sidewalk without assistance.

For students requiring assistance exiting vehicles, or for families who wish to walk their child up to the building, please park your vehicle in the parking lot or off school property and walk your child (using the crosswalks, please!) to the building.

Students will meet their teachers in front of the school. 1st Grade through 5th Grade students will meet in the areas in front of the main entrance and two-story portion of the building. Kindergarten families will meet their teachers near the fenced-in, preschool playground at the far end of the front parking lot.

For the first several days of school, teachers will have signs with them to help students and families identify where they will be during arrival. At 7:45 AM, students will walk with their teachers to their classrooms. A map with more details about where individual teachers will be located will be sent out next week!

Students wishing to eat breakfast may enter the building at 7:30 AM and head directly to the cafeteria.

Families will not be able to enter the building with their students in the morning. This allows for students to transition more effectively to school.

If you know anyone who should have received this message because they are planning on attending Padilla this year, but did not receive it, please have them reach out to Yuliana Perez at yperez@sd27j.net!

Girls on the Run is returning to Padilla this school year!

Practices will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30 to 5:00.

Girls on the Run Registration Opens Monday, August 1st at 9AM.

To Sign Up:

1. Go to www.girlsontherunrockies.org

2. Click the “Register Now” button.

3. Find and select your school in the drop down menu.

4. After completing the form, hit “submit”. **You will receive a confirmation email from Pinwheel. Please make sure to check your spam folder in case the email went there. If you do not receive this email, chances are you did not fully complete the registration form.