Dear Families:

We had an amazing week celebrating Read Across Manitou! Our week started with an assembly honoring our local elementary authors as well as a Colorado Springs author, Micah Lorenc. Thanks you MSES students and Micah Lorenc for inspiring students to write, become authors and dream big!

We continued our love of reading on Wednesday, in our pajamas! Classrooms hosted multiple guest readers from Manitou Springs and Colorado Springs. Our celebrity readers inspired students with a story and then answered questions about their careers. Several classes were featured on the news celebrating our love of reading! A huge thank you to our guest readers:

Nova, Living Local

Josh Helmuth, KRDO

Nick Sullivan, Gazette

John Graham, Mayor of Manitou Springs

Jeremy VanDermerwede, Manitou Firefighter

Mandy Strider, Manitou Police, SRO

Corey Sevene, Manitou Police Chief

Avery, KVOR

Diane Derby, KOAA

Thursday, staff and students dressed as their favorite book character and today, students read with their buddy classes. It was a terrific week!

On March 16th, all students are invited to learn more about science and space at the Space Foundation, Your entire family is welcome to come and enjoy the Space Foundation Discovery Center FREE. MSES and PAC have worked together to offer this cool event for the entire family!

We have a late start on Wednesday, March 8th and class pictures on Thursday, March 9th.

Thank you for sharing your children with us. It is both a privilege and a pleasure!

Warmly,

Maria

• Mar 8: Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay for Students)
• Mar 9: Class Picture Day (individual photos by order only) Picture Day ID: EVTPG39GP
• Mar 15: Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay for Students)
• Mar 16: MSES Space Night! @ Space Foundation Discovery Center, 5-7pm
• Mar 22: Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay for Students)
• Mar 24: Fitness Friday 7:30am-8:00am
• Mar 27-31: SCHOOL CLOSED - SPRING BREAK!
• Apr 5: Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay for Students)
• Apr 6: 5th Grade Science Fair
• Apr 12: Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay for Students)
• Apr 20: MSES Night of Excellence SPED Fundraising Event
• Apr 21: No School - Staff Work Day
• Apr 26: Late Start Wednesday (2 Hour Delay)
• Apr 28: Fitness Friday 7:30am-8:00am

There are three scheduled in-person opportunities for students, staff, families, and community members to provide feedback in the superintendent search process which are outlined below.

3/6 - 3:15-4:15 UPES

3/7 - 3:45-4:45 MSMS/MSHS at the HS Media Center

3/9 - 3:15-4:15 MSES

Link to Manitou Springs School District 14 Stakeholder Survey

This week, in first grade we have been learning all abut animals and their habitats (the place where animals and plants normally live and grow). We have learned all about The Arctic Tundra and Arctic Ocean, Sonoran Desert, East African Savanna, and The Temperate Deciduous Forest. Mrs. Bones from the Pikes Peak Children’s Museum came to visit us and taught us all about birds, their habitats, and their adaptations.

Ask Your Expert: What do all animals need to survive? Food, water, and shelter. How have walruses, seals and polar bears adapted to keep warm? They have fur coats and a layer of blubber under their skins. Which habitat would you like to live in? Answers will vary.

Ask your third grade expert about Space! In CKLA, third grade students have been learning to read and summarize informational text about the Universe. Ask your expert to name the eight planets in order from the sun. (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune) Third grade experts also learned what a galaxy is and which galaxy we live in. (Milky Way) Take your expert outside to stargaze and see what they can tell you!

5th grade has been busy. We are reading and writing different kinds of poetry in our CKLA poetry unit. Ask your expert: What are types of comparisons in writing? (Similes (using words "like" or "as") and metaphors). What did the worms represent in our "Advice" poem by Dan Gergin? (the worms represented words in the poems metaphor). What are you writing your metaphor poem about? (answers vary). 5th grade is also very busy with Science Fair. We are through all the deadlines for our prep work (writing out hypothesis, research, materials, procedure), and students should all be conducting their experiments at home right now. Our next deadline is all of our experiment data and results, due 3/16. Be sure to pick up a tri-fold presentation board (48x36 in) while you're out around town... all the Springs schools are in Science Fair prep right now as well.

In Music, students are playing, describing, and creating music utilizing studio habits of mind, which include (but are not limited to) : developing craft, engaging and persisting, envisioning, expressing, observing stretching & exploring and reflecting. In these photos, 2nd graders Elizabeth and Avery perform for classmates on the harp and keyboard during a special "in class" recital.

Third graders are very excited to complete a long awaited Colosseum project after studying Ancient Rome! We have recently been wrapped up in three different projects and we circled back and students are over the moon about designing their own!

We will be 3-D printing them in the next few weeks!

Striking Balance With Technology:

How do we ensure we keep a healthy balance in our digital and regular lives?

With phones and other digital devices, we have technology that gives us access to media any and everywhere. We all love easy access to entertainment, and we need technology to keep in contact and communicate with each other. It's important that we help our kids utilize these tools and explore their independence, but also make sure that they don't overdo it. There is an abundant amount of stimuli we can consume without noticing things like auto-play, scrolling short video apps, and mobile games, but it's also easy to keep tech in check with a few simple practices.

5 great ideas to help balancing:

• Set specific times of the day when electronic devices must be turned off, such as during homework or family time.

• Create a digital detox schedule where you spend some time each day without any electronic devices.

• Prioritize real-life activities that you enjoy and make time for them, such as sports, hobbies, and spending time with friends and family.

• Use apps or tools that track, monitor and limit your device usage, so you can become more aware and reduce the amount of time you're spending on your devices.

• Establish a healthy balance between online and offline social interactions. Instead of only communicating with friends through social media or text messaging, make plans to meet up in person or talk on the phone.