Explorer Express
Happenings Around Dry Creek Elementary
Return to In-Person Learning
Happy New Year! I hope that you and your family had a restful and enjoyable winter break. As communicated by Dr. Siegfried, Dry Creek will be returning to in-person learning on Monday, January 11, 2021. We are excited to welcome students back to school and continue to learn alongside them during this unique school year. As a reminder, the remainder of this week will be remote learning from home. All students who are part of the online elementary program will continue to learn online throughout the remainder of the year. As we prepare to return to school in-person, please see the checklist below to ensure your student is prepared for Monday. Thank you once again for the flexibility you have shown this year! See you all soon!
-Mr. Watanabe
Return to In-Person Learning Checklist
- Return all supplies that were sent home, including the art supply kits (plastic bin)
- Plan for breakfast and lunch, FREE breakfast and lunch for all students has been extended to the end of the school year. To see what's for lunch this week, click here!
- Students will continue to follow the same safety protocols as the first 12 weeks of school. Please be sure students have at least two face masks and remind them to continue to practice physical distancing and hand washing while at school.
- Check the Lost and Found! When you drop off or pick up on Monday or Tuesday, check the Lost and Found rack outside the main entrance. There have been dozens of jackets, sweatshirts, and other clothing left at school!
- For a refresher on the Dry Creek In-Person Learning plan, you can download the information packet below!
Upcoming Parent Engagement Opportunities
PTCO - General Meeting TODAY!
Thursday, January 7, 2021 at 6:30pm
P.A.S.S. - Meeting - Wednesday 1/13/2021
Accountability Committee - February 17, 2021
COVID Saliva Testing
All elementary school staff and students are eligible to participate in RANDOM AND OPTIONAL school-based testing through COVIDCheck Colorado at no cost to identify asymptomatic children and adults. For students, this test collects saliva instead of using a nasal swab. The school-based testing will begin Jan. 11 and run through March 12 of this year.
Testing is not mandatory and will not be performed without parental permission, but it is strongly encouraged as a critical safety strategy.
As a reminder, all students, staff and parents can always sign up for a COVID test at no cost at any of COVIDCheck Colorado’s locations.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ONGOING RANDOM AND OPTIONAL SCHOOL-BASED TESTING CLICK HERE: https://www.primarybio.com/l/cherry. PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK “YES” ON THE QUESTIONNAIRE BEFORE THE CONSENT FORM.
Starting on Jan. 11, a small sample of elementary students and staff (K-5th) will be selected each school day for testing in the morning in the nurse’s clinic at school. Students will be supervised by school nurses and health technicians while producing their saliva sample of 0.5 ml (one-tenth of a teaspoon). Participants (students and staff) cannot eat or drink anything for 30 minutes prior to submitting their saliva test.
Please watch this video for more information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIX2tBAIX9s&feature=youtu.be
Parents/guardians will be notified multiple times prior to testing and by phone or email by the school if their student participated that day. Families will receive text or email notification of a negative result and will receive a text/email AND a phone call from a National Jewish Health provider if their student tests positive (so they can review isolation dates, quarantine information for family AND prevent their student from returning to school until their infectious time period is over).
Here are important additional details about the saliva testing process:
- Parent/guardians must provide positive consent (electronically) to COVIDCheck Colorado and CCSD for ongoing school-based saliva COVID testing by signing the form linked above.
- During the week prior to testing, a pool list of potential participants who have signed the positive consent will be sent to the school nurse. This list will contain more participants than will be tested the following week, which allows for absences, illness/symptoms, students who cannot go without food or drink for 30 minutes and families who choose to opt out.
- Parents/guardians of students in this pool list of potential participants will receive an email communication from CCSD informing them their student MAY BE selected next week to participate in asymptomatic saliva testing.
- The communication will state that their school nurse will call them the afternoon before to let them know that their student can test tomorrow if they are present, have no COVID-like symptoms and have not had anything to eat or drink 30 minutes prior to testing (in the morning before 10:30 a.m.), and to confirm that they still want to be tested.
- The number of times your student is tested will depend on how many people at your school signed consent forms to allow testing. On average, it will be about once a month and a student will not be tested more than once every 14 days.
- Families may opt out of testing at any time by emailing or calling their school nurse or principal.
- The school nurse and/or principal will notify Michelle Weinraub, Director of Health Services, of families who opt out so they can be removed from the potential testing list (and then will no longer receive communications about saliva testing at school).
Registration Information
Kindergarten Round Up
Incoming Kindergarten families to Dry Creek are asked to register for Kindergarten between February 1-February 5, 2021.
School of Choice Applications
The Cherry Creek School District gives its district residents the opportunity to apply for enrollment in the Cherry Creek school/program of their choice. Families may request that their child attend a Cherry Creek school outside the assigned attendance area. The School of Choice application is available online during the month of January. Please do not wait until the last minute to submit your application as late applications will not be accepted.
There are NO PAPER FORMS available for the School of Choice application process.
Applications are considered based on lottery and space availability. Priority is given to students with siblings currently attending the requested school and projected to return the following year. Priority is also given to children of district employees. There is a limit of one (1) application per student and all information is verified for accuracy.
Parents are notified of the results by March 15th. Appeals may be submitted in writing to District Admissions by April 15th. The Appeals Committee will review all letters received, and parents will be notified of the final decision by May 15th.
Free Breakfast and Lunch Extended to the End of Year
Food and Nutrition Services will continue to operate meal distribution sites on Mondays, starting January 11th. Breakfast and Lunch are FREE for all students 18 years and younger in any of the learning model through the end of the school year.
Connect with Us
Email: kwatanabe@cherrycreekschools.org
Website: https://www.cherrycreekschools.org/drycreek
Location: 7686 East Hinsdale Avenue, Centennial, CO, USA
Phone: (720) 554-3300
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drycreekelementaryccsd/
Twitter: @DryCreekCCSD
Language Translation Resources
Families who need Dry Creek Elementary communication translated, please contact the liaison listed:
English:
Please contact Jill Exley at jexley@cherrycreekschools.org for support with this resource in your language.
Amharic:
እነዝህን መረጃዎችን በተመለከተ በቋንቋዎ ዕገዛን ለማግኘት ከፈለጉ እባክዎን ተሊሌን በዝህ እሜይል ያግኙዋት thirpa@cherrycreekschools.org
Arabic:
يرجى الاتصال بـ (جميعة صباحي أو جاودة العلمي) على (jsebbahi@cherrycreekschools.org أو
jdajanialami@cherrycreekschools.org للحصول على الدعم مع هذا المورد باللغة العربية.
Chinese:
如有需要,请经由ahan10@cherrycreekschools.org,与韩馥联系,以您的语言获得此资源的支持。
Korean:
귀하의 언어로 이 자원에 대한 지원을 원하시면 (리아 리) 에게 (llee6@cherrycreekschools.org) 로 문의하십시오.
Russian:
Пожалуйста, обращайтесь к Ларисе Бака по адресу: lbaca3@cherrycreekschools.org для получения поддержки с помощью этого ресурса на своём языке.
Somali:
Fadlan la xiriir Omar Nur cinwaanka emaylka-onur2@cherrycreekschools.org si aad u hesho macluumaad ku qoran luqadaada.
Spanish:
Si necesita ayuda con este recurso en su idioma, póngase en contacto con Ilse Chavez Maldonado en ichavezmaldonado@cherrycreekschools.org, Rosa Han en rhan4@cherrycreekschools.org, Helena Gognat en hgognat@cherrycreekschools.org o Milagro Nuanes en mnuanes@cherrycreekschools.org
Vietnamese:
Vui lòng liên hệ với Thuý Ngọc tại Lchung2@cherrycreekschools.org để được hỗ trợ về tài nguyên này bằng tiếng Việt.