From the Fox Den
December 7, 2022
December 7, 2022
Principal's Message
Dear Families,
Welcome to the first edition of From the Fox Den! What an exciting few weeks it has been!
I want to start by thanking everyone for your engagement and enthusiasm in the process. It truly was a community effort starting from the very first survey in which we asked, "Arrowhead is the story of..." We took all of the mascot nominations and used the feedback from our survey to identify three mascots that aligned with who we are as an Arrowhead community. From there, it went to our voters!
There were so many people involved in the process who helped make this a special celebration for our community. I especially want to thank one of our Arrowhead parents, Ty Brayton. Mr. Brayton volunteered to design our school logo and did so with a short turnaround time so that we could get the t-shirts ordered. Thank you, Ty, for sharing your time and talents with us!
The t-shirts your child received are yours to keep! If you would like to order more, we are working on setting up an online store with our t-shirt vendor to order more spirit wear. We will let you know when that is all set up! We encourage students and staff to wear their spirit wear on Fridays for "Fox Fridays!"
This month brings more celebrations for Arrowhead! On Thursday, Arrowhead will receive the National Banner Award from Special Olympics Colorado, which is a national honor awarded to a small number of schools each year. Their announcement can be found below:
Special Olympics Colorado has announced that Arrowhead Elementary, a Special Olympics Unified Champion School, is receiving National Banner Recognition for its efforts to provide inclusive sports and activities for students with and without disabilities. Arrowhead is receiving this honor as a result of meeting national standards of excellence in the areas of inclusion, advocacy and respect. An award presentation will take place at the school on December 8, 2022. Arrowhead will be amongst a select number of schools to receive this distinction. They will be presented with a banner to hang in their school and be included on a list of other schools around the country who have achieved this distinguished status.
Thank you to Mrs. Barry and Mrs. DeVries for their leadership of Project Unify, to our ILC paras for their support of the program, and to our Project Unify students who are student leaders of inclusion, advocacy, and respect. Congratulations to all!
On Thursday we will also be celebrating our STAR Award recipients, who are students identified as being students who exemplify the 5 core values at Arrowhead. We are lucky to have amazing STAR students at Arrowhead and we look forward to celebrating more students as the year goes on!
I also wanted to share that this month we have some changes happening in our office. Our Office Manager, Michelle Tena, will be moving to our district's Human Resources Department. This is a great opportunity for her, but we will certainly miss her! We are in the process of hiring a replacement now as well as filling our administrative assistant position. While we are working through the hiring and onboarding process, we will be short staffed in the office or we may have substitutes who are not as familiar with Arrowhead. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as we work through this challenge. Once the hiring process is finalized, I will be able to share with you more about our new office staff!
Have a wonderful month ahead!
Kind regards,
Kelsey Jones
Principal
Arrowhead Elementary
Announcements
Partnership for Academically Successful Students (PASS)
Arrowhead's PASS (Partnerships for Academically Successful Students) Committee is comprised of parents/guardians, teachers and administrators, and community members.
Our goal is to foster an inclusive and safe environment to support the success of students of color. We do this by:
- Engaging community members in meaningful and effective partnerships
- Building relationships between schools and family communities
- Providing parents and guardians of students of color voice and direct access to the administration
Our next PASS meeting will be held this Friday, December 9th at 8:00 am in the Arrowhead Library. Coffee and donuts will be provided! If you are planning to attend, please fill out this form to RSVP.
There is also a District PASS Committee that meets monthly. Their next meeting is January 25 from 6:00-7:30 pm at Cherokee Trail High School. Email CCSDEquity@cherrycreekschools.org for more information.
Lost and Found
Please be sure to check the Lost and Found before Winter Break. We will donate all items left in the Lost and Found over Winter Break.
PTCO Announcements
Help us show our appreciation for the Arrowhead Staff! We will be hosting a hot chocolate bar on December 20th to thank the staff for all that they do. We are in need of donations of hot chocolate supplies. Please click here to sign-up!
Save the date for the following PTCO events:
December 22- Pajama Day! Bring $1 and wear your pajamas to school!
January 18- Skate City Night
January 24- Chipotle Night
Free or Reduced-Price Lunch and Breakfast!
It's not too late to apply for free or reduced-price lunch and breakfast! The federal government is no longer funding free breakfast and lunch for all students. If you would like your child to purchase breakfast and lunch at school, they will need to pay for it unless your family qualifies for the National School Lunch Program (free and reduced-price meals). Information about school meals can be found here: https://www.cherrycreekschools.org/Page/4035
To apply for free or reduced-price school meals, please complete this application as soon as possible. You can apply the following ways:
Online: https://family.titank12.com/application/new?identifier=7E9BB5. The application is available in English, Spanish, Burmese, Chinese, French, Korean, Russian, and Vietnamese.
Download a paper form and return to school: English Spanish
Pick-up a paper copy at school: We have paper copies available in the Main Office.
Instructions for filling out the paper forms can be found here:
Further information about the National School Lunch Program can be found here: https://www.cherrycreekschools.org/Page/4041.
Upcoming Dates
December 8- STAR Awards Ceremony 1:45 pm, Choir Concert 6:00-7:00 pm in the Arrowhead Gym
December 9- PASS Parent Coffee 8:00-9:00 am in the Arrowhead Library
December 19-22- Spirit Week (see flyer above!)
December 23-January 9- Winter Break (No School)
January 10- First day back from Winter Break
January 11- PTCO Meeting 6:00 pm in the Arrowhead Library
January 12- Special Education Advisory Committee 9:30 am at Fremont Building, 5th Grade Musical 6:00 pm in the Arrowhead Gym, IPAC Meeting 6:00 pm (location TBD)
January 16- No School (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
January 17-20- No Name Calling Spirit Week
January 18- Skate City Night
January 24- Chipotle Night
January 25- District PASS 6:00 pm at Cherokee Trail High School
We Are Hiring!
Severe Needs Para Educator (7 hours/day): Support students in our ILC program by providing accommodations, academic modifications, and supporting students in self-care as needed. Experience is preferred but not required, as new para educators will be provided with extensive training.
We are also always looking for substitute para educators who are able to fill in when one of our para educators is out. Please contact our Assistant Principal, April Hrovat, at 720-886-2806 or ahrovat@cherrycreekschools.org if you are interested.
For information on working for Cherry Creek Schools, please visit the Cherry Creek Human Resources page: https://www.cherrycreekschools.org/domain/1417
District Announcements/Events
Indigenous Parent Action Committee (IPAC)
The IPAC committee is comprised of Indigenous parents/guardians and staff. The committee meets monthly and focuses on the following:
• Illuminating the presence of CCSD’s Indigenous community
• Affirming and honoring Indigenous students’ presence and cultural identities
• Amplifying the voices of the Indigenous community by working directly with district leaders to make changes necessary to better serve Indigenous students and families
• Forming cross-district partnerships to strengthen the Indigenous community network
• Naming the continuous problems of practice embedded in the CCSD learning experience interfering with Indigenous students’ academic and social-emotional success
Further information and meeting dates can be found here.
Parent Information Network (PIN)
PIN’s mission is to provide informative local and national speakers on topics relevant to current parenting and youth-related issues and to provide a forum for parents to connect and create a caring community. Presentations are held throughout the year at 9:15 am at the Fremont Building (14603 E Fremont Ave, Centennial, CO 80112).
More information can be found at: https://www.pinccsd.org/
Ongoing Reminders
Volunteer Application
Arrowhead volunteers need to go through our background check process by filling out the district's volunteer application. It can take some time for it to clear through the system, so please fill it out 24-48 hours before you will be volunteering. We can only have volunteers who have filled out that application. Thank you for your cooperation and helping to keep our students safe!
School Hours
8:00 am-2:45 pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
8:00 am-1:45 pm Wednesday
The school day ends at 2:45 pm on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. On Wednesdays, the school day ends at 1:45 pm. Students will exit from the same doors they entered.
If you are interested in our before and after school child care program, please contact Bobbie Smith at 720-886-2853. They open at 6:30 am to provide before school care and are open until 6:00 pm to provide after school care. They can only accept students who have been registered in advance. They accept Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP) for families who qualify and give discounts for families who qualify for free or reduced price meals.
Attendance
Dogs on School Grounds
Please note that dogs are not allowed on school grounds. If you would like to bring your dog to drop-off or pick-up your child, please remain on the sidewalks around the perimeter of the school or in the field past the last goalpost.
Safe Driving in School Zones
We have 460 students that we need to get safely to and from school each day. Please help us by driving safe in the areas around the school. Both South Ceylon Way and East Bates Avenue are no u-turn zones. Please do not make u-turns in those areas. Please also slow down, use crosswalks, and do not double park. If you see unsafe driving, please report it to Aurora Police. We have requested that they patrol this area.
Parking Lot Procedures
Please help us keep kids safe by following our parking lot procedures. Please refer to the map of our parking lot below for where you can safely drop-off/pick-up.
Drop-Off/Pick-Up (Teal): This is a space for you to quickly drop-off and pick-up at the beginning and end of the day. This is a fire lane, so you must remain with your car at all times. Students should enter and exit the car on the curb side (right side), as cars will be passing in the through lane on the left side of the car.
Red Curve: This is a no parking or waiting zone, as our buses need to be able to get around that corner safely.
Bus Parking (Yellow): Only buses may park here. Cars parked in this space will be asked to move to make room for buses. Once the buses have departed, this may be used as additional space for pick-up.
Through Lanes (Green): These lanes should continuously move. Please do not wait or park here and at no time should cars be double parked.
Parking: The only space where you may park is in a marked parking spot. If there is not a spot available, please park on the street and walk in.
Right Turn Only (2:45-3:00 pm): When exiting the parking lot during afternoon dismissal, all cars need to turn right out of the parking lot and loop through the neighborhood. For safety reasons, please do not make a u-turn in the areas around the school (signage indicates where u-turns cannot be made).