Cottonwood Creek Cougar Chronicle
January 5, 2021
A Message from your Principal, Katie Johnson
Hello Cougar Families,
Here’s wishing you a happy 2021! I hope you enjoyed your break and were able to appreciate the time with the ones you love. Our family had a wonderful break; we found time to go sledding, do some painting around the house, and we played several rounds of Pictionary AIR with the girls. Regardless of what we did, I tried really hard to be present in each moment.
With that being said, we enter 2021! We are looking forward to welcoming our students back to remote learning on Wednesday, January 6th, but even more excited to welcome our students back to and to in person learning Monday, January 11th.
Our students have not been in-person since November 11th – exactly two months ago! So, help bring the Cougar Spirit to school next week with our Winter Spirit Week. See the schedule below and don't forget to send your child to school wearing his/her mask.
Much Appreciation,
Katie Johnson
Principal
Help thank our CCSD Board of Education
January is National School Board Appreciation month. CCSD Board of Education members are unpaid volunteers who spend countless hours working on behalf of students and staff. You can send a message of thanks to the board via Appreciation@cherrycreekschools.org.
Important Information from our Superintendent, Dr. Scott Siegfried
COVID Testing Available to ALL Student and Staff
Please get your student and family tested this week to help us open successfully!
All elementary school staff and students are eligible to participate in OPTIONAL school-based testing through COVIDCheck Colorado at no cost to identify asymptomatic children and adults. For both students and staff on-site, this test collects saliva instead of using a swab. The testing will begin Monday, January 11 and run through Friday, March 12 of this year. Parents and guardians of elementary students will be sent an electronic consent document to give permission for their children to participate. More information, including an informational video, will be sent to elementary parents this week.
Testing is not mandatory and will not be performed without parent/guardian permission, but it is strongly encouraged as a critical safety strategy.
Additionally, middle and high school students and staff and ALL parents can receive no-cost COVID tests at either of our drive-up facilities at Cherry Creek High School and our Instructional Support Facility located next to Thunder Ridge Middle School. Below are the sign-up links for anyone in the Cherry Creek family who needs a test:
- For Cherry Creek Students:
https://www.primarybio.com/r/ccstudents?registration_type=student - For Cherry Creek Staff:
https://www.primarybio.com/a/cherry - For friends and family of Cherry Creek:
https://www.primarybio.com/l/cdphe
Vaccinations for Educators and School Staff
Through a partnership with Centura Health, Cherry Creek Schools becomes the first school district in Colorado to begin vaccinating educators and school staff against COVID-19. This month, all CCSD educators and school staff will be given the opportunity to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccination of CCSD school nurses and health techs began last week on New Year’s Day. The vaccination of educators is a critical strategy for ensuring we open schools safely and successfully in January, and that we keep them open moving forward.
This important step also allows us to move toward a full In-Person schedule for secondary students by the end of this year. This will not happen immediately, but I will keep you informed on our progress.
We spent winter break working with Centura Health to provide this opportunity at the earliest possible time and I want to personally thank them for supporting our staff and our desire to get back to school. I also want to thank Governor Polis for prioritizing educators for vaccination as the essential nature of the educational system is more evident than ever!
Help Us Keep Community Spread Low
It is more critical than ever for everyone in our community to follow public health guidelines and do our part to minimize the spread of COVID in our neighborhoods. The lower our incidence rates, the easier it will be for us to operate schools during this time and keep schools open for students who choose In-Person learning. It is also important as a measure to protect the health and wellness of K-5 Online and Cherry Creek Elevation staff, students and families who live in our community as well.
CULTURAL CONNECTIONS - SHARE YOUR HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS!
CULTURAL CONNECTIONS brings you PANDEMIC HOLIDAY CELEBRATIONS!
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa! Please share photos of your Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa celebrations with us! We would love to see and share your celebrations with the Cottonwood community, so please send pictures to culturalconnectionscot@gmail.comto be highlighted in next week's Cultural Connections holiday celebrations in bringing our community together - virtually!
We hope you had a safe and meaningful holiday season! Many families chose to stay home and have a low key celebration with their loved ones.
SHARE YOUR PHOTOS FOR THE 2020-21 YEARBOOK!
Share photos of your Cottonwood Cougars for the yearbook! Please use the link below to SHARE and UPLOAD your photos of 1st Day of School, Spirit Wear Fridays, Spirit Week, and Remote Learning. Let's embrace this different year and share those screenshots, pod learning activities, share pics of parents with their "co-workers," and any other remote learning fun! Thank you to the parents and teachers who have already provided photos for the yearbook!
Upload your photos here:
https://tr5.treering.com/school/139988/photos/shared-photo-folders
Support in your Native Language
English:Please contact (name of liaison) at (email) for support with this resource in your language.
Amharic: እነዝህን መረጃዎችን በተመለከተ በቋንቋዎ ዕገዛን ለማግኘት ከፈለጉ እባክዎን ተሊሌን በዝህ እሜይል ያግኙዋትthirpa@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.