The Wolf Pack Howl
December 20, 2023
Principal's Message
Dear South Ridge Elementary Families~
Happy Holidays! It’s hard to believe we’re only a few short days from Winter Break. This first semester has flown by and has brought with it some really fun traditions, both old and new. We had our first choir and orchestra concert and it was so fun to hear the joyous music being made by our students and to celebrate all their hard work. We also celebrated being back to school at our Fall Carnival, enjoyed Trick or Treat Street, celebrated One Book One District by learning "How to Be a Good Creature", enjoyed the Holiday Shop and Family Movie Night, and have learned so much together as a school. I know I can speak for our entire staff when I say, we are proud of all that our students have already accomplished.
As we look at our mid year data, we are proud of the growth and progress our students are making. All staff at South Ridge are dedicated to the growth and success of every single student in our building. When we return, grade level teams and our intervention teams will be meeting to review mid year data, to celebrate growth, and to discuss additional supports we can put in place to help set all students up for success. This is a collaborative effort involving classroom teachers, leadership and specialists.
Speaking of data, families will have the opportunity to view your students’ first semester progress through the Elementary Progress Report (EPR). These reports will be available on Saturday, December 23. Here are the directions and links to access and understand your child’s EPR: Directions for accessing the report card are shown below.
Click here to access the DCSD website
Use your Parent Portal credentials to log in.
Then click "View Elementary Progress Report" under your child's picture.
Your child's report card includes grades for content and work habits. The following rating system is used to determine your child's level of performance:
Exceeds - Indicates a high level of achievement. It indicates a student has a strong understanding of the content/concepts/skills taught and it implies a student can demonstrate understanding independently and with very few errors.
Meets - Indicates that a student demonstrates an understanding of content/concepts/skills most of the time and with limited support. Students who are meeting standards make few major errors or omissions when demonstrating a concept or skill.
Approaching - Indicates that a student requires moderate support to demonstrate an understanding of concepts/skills. Students' ability to demonstrate their understanding of a concept or skill is inconsistent or infrequent, which indicates a partial understanding of the content, concept or skill. Students demonstrate more frequent errors or omissions.
Does Not Meet - Students who do not meet standards seldom demonstrate an understanding of concepts and skills taught. The student requires considerable support to demonstrate learning and makes frequent major errors when demonstrating his/her understanding.
*If you are not able to login to your parent portal account or access your child’s EPR, please email parenthelp@dcsdk12.org or call the DCSD IT Support Center at 303-387-0001.
*If you have questions about the content of your child’s EPR or their scores, please reach out directly to your child’s teacher.
We love all of the fun and festivity of this time of the year, along with the generosity this season brings. It is always so heartwarming to see all of the support our school receives from so many of our families and community partners. Because of generous donations, we were able to bless 34 families at the New Hope gift distribution and 30 families at the First United Methodist Church gift distribution held last week, passing out over 300 gifts. In addition, 45 families were blessed with holiday food boxes. Thank you also to Plum Creek Church for the generous donation of 250 beautifully wrapped PJs! There was so much joy and holiday cheer shared among the volunteers and the families as they picked up their gifts. We continue to be grateful for the amazing generosity of our school and town community.
In addition to your generosity to our families, I also want to extend a huge thank you for your generosity extended toward our staff. Your cards, notes of appreciation, delicious goodies, kind words, and thoughtful gifts are so appreciated. Your support and care for our community make South Ridge an absolutely amazing place to work and learn! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We appreciate you!!
It’s hard to believe in a couple short weeks we will be welcoming 2024! It is going to be another amazing year at South Ridge Elementary. We wish you all a wonderful holiday season filled with friends, family, fun, laughs and memories to last a lifetime.
Sincerely,
Jill Casas
Principal
South Ridge Elementary
Upcoming Events
December
22- Jan. 9- Winter Break
January
9th- First day back to school
15th- Martin Luther King day- NO SCHOOL
Rolling Cancellations for Buses
Upcoming Community Events
Upcoming Discounted Community Events include:
- Gaylord Hotel - Discounted Stay &/or ICE: A Christmas Story
- National Western Stock Show - Jan 6th - 21st, 2024
- Denver Nuggets - 2/2/2024, 2/28/2024, 3/11/2024
- Chicago/DCPA - 2/3/2024, 2/4/2024
- Hairspray/DCPA - 3/8/2024, 3/10/2024
- Frozen/DCPA - 6/22/2024, 6/28/2024
Link to purchase tickets or for more information is: https://www.foundationdcs.org/community-events
Kindergarten Enrollment 2024-2025
Kindergarten enrollment for the 2025-2025 school year began Monday, November 28, 2023. If you or someone you know has a student to register for Kindergarten, please click on the above picture. DCSD Preschool Students enrolled before January 1, 2023 will automatically be registered for Kindergarten at their neighborhood elementary school.
https://www.dcsdk12.org/cms/one.aspx?portalId=220484&pageId=5759955
Lightning Dismissal Process
Students in our mobile classrooms can be checked out in the cafeteria.
All walkers and bike riders will be held until the lightning is at least 8 miles away or a parent/guardian comes to sign them out.
All bus riders will also be held until it is safe to enter the bus.
Shelter in Place Information
In the case a "Shelter in Place" is necessary, please "Shelter in Place" where you are and we will "Shelter in Place" at school, following all our procedures. In the case you are already at school when a "Shelter in Place" is called, we will ask you to stay and shelter with us. Please do NOT come to the school asking to pick up your student due to the "Shelter in Place". Taking care of those in our building is our first priority. Managing those entering our building diverts our attention from our priorities and the safety of those in the building.
Parking Lot Closures & Options at South Ridge Elementary
South Ridge is a unique school with unique parking challenges and we need your help to keep our parking lot open to the vehicles that need to or may need to access our school on a regular basis or in the case of an emergency.
Please only park in designated parking places in our front lot or around our school. If you are unable to find a designated parking place, please exit our school lot and find a place to park on the street.
We realize the challenges this can cause and ask that you follow the guidelines, even if you're "just running in".
Our parking lot is also closed from 8:50-9:10 during our arrival processes and from 3:50-4:10 during our dismissal processes. We do this to ensure the safety of those walking AND to allow our buses to get to where they need to be on time. Thank you for honoring these closures.
Family and Cultural Liaison News
Adult English Classes at South Ridge: Five-week sessions are offered throughout the year. To register, please click this link.
Helpful Links:
Internet Access Resources in Spanish
Internet Access Resources in English
DC Department of Health - WIC services
Reading Tips in Spanish from Colorín Colorado
Grupo de Padres Conexión - Uniting Spanish-speaking families with the Douglas County School District.
Conexión's Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration
What is the role of a Family/Cultural Liaison?
Family and cultural liaisons encourage family-school partnerships to help ensure student success and healthy development. Our Spanish-English bilingual family liaison is Martha Cisneros. She can be reached at 303-818-7768.
Attendance Matters
Attendance matters! We believe in positive attendance at South Ridge. Did you know that daily attendance and engagement in learning is essential to student success at all grade levels? Colorado law directly connected to attendance focuses on compulsory school attendance, truancy and school finance.
If your child is going to need to be absent from school, please call our Attendance Line at: (303) 387-5077
If your child is going to be late or will need to be checked out early, please come into the school and check your child into or out of school.
News from the Kitchen
Free & Reduced Lunch - Your $$ to our School
Free and Reduced is more than a meal! It waives bus fees, field trip fees, and increases school funding and student access to various opportunities. To apply click here www.myschoolapps.com
If you have questions or need support, please call Ms. Jen in the kitchen.
YO IMPORTO
La terapia funciona. Es gratuita. Es confidencial. Por estas y otras razones, Yo Importo ha
beneficiado a muchos jóvenes de Colorado. Visite YoImportoColorado.org para obtener más información.
Contact Us
Español: 303-387-5100
Weather Line: 303-387-7669
Email: jccasas@dcsdk12.org
Website: https://soe.dcsdk12.org/
Location: 1100 South Street, Castle Rock, CO, USA
Phone: 303-387-5075
Facebook: facebook.com/SouthRidgeDCSD
Twitter: @SouthRidgeElem