Cougar Community Connection
A Newsletter From Your Principal, Shannon McPherson
A Letter From Shannon 5/13/23
Thank you all for your patience and understanding through the mandatory Shelter in Place posture we were put in due to the tornado warning. It was a long 90 minute process, but our kids and staff did a FABULOUS job of dealing with the situation and keeping each other safe. Situations like that are why we practice because we never know when a real emergency will happen. Being as prepared as possible is how we stay safe. It was a double whammy for us because even when there was no longer a threat of tornado, the lightening storm sat right on top of our school for a significant amount of time. All of the protocols that we have in place are to keep your children and our staff as safe as possible. We know SOOOOOO many of you because of your active role in our school and your face to face presence. However, when we are in a lightening dismissal and parents have to come in and check kids out, we recruit as many of our support staff, not supervising children in classrooms, to be up front checking IDs to ensure that the right people are in our building collecting children. Many of our support staff might not be as familiar with you, so checking your ID against our Infinite Campus system is the best way to ensure your child is released to the correct person. Situations like last night are great reminders to all of us to update the Infinite Campus Parent Portal with the people you designate as emergency contacts. Our folks are trained not to release students to ANYONE other than those listed in Infinite Campus for obvious safety reasons. This seems to work great until a situation like yesterday happens and folks want others to pick up their kids. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE be super proactive and get all of your emergency contacts in the system so that we don't have difficulties and awkward moments when we send people away without the kiddos they were told to collect. The last thing for you to know is that we will always communicate with you via email and text in emergencies. Please make sure you have those boxes checked in Parent Portal that allow you to receive our communication. We won't be answering phones or manning the doors during these emergency procedures so the only way you will know what is going on is if you elect to receive our communication in your Parent Portal. Char Lube and Andrea McNamara are the folks in the office who can assist you in doing this. 303-387-6675. They are happy to help!
Spring Fever is upon us and we are definitely starting to feel that from our kids. The desire to be outside, to begin to check out and begin to struggle a bit with how to say "goodbye" or "see you later" are typical things we see from our kids this time of year. Something that happens every year around this time is a bit of an escalation in behaviors of all sorts. As our teachers and our kids are talking about end of year topics, our kids can start to show struggle with processing how things end and new things begin. This is a great time for you as parents to have those conversations with your kids about how we say goodbye and/or see you later. Fear is typically at the root of why behavior manifests as things are coming to an end. Fear of leaving their teacher, fear they may not see certain friends again and even the fear of what next year will look like for them. We see peer to peer struggles, student to teacher struggles and even students struggling with just managing their emotions. The premise behind some of the 'lashing out' type behaviors is that notion that if I am angry with everyone, it is easier to leave. As kids begin to process the end to their "classroom family" they have worked so hard to build, it can elicit emotions of sadness and anger. Talking to kids about how to appropriately say goodbye and give them an outlet to talk about how they are feeling about it, can prove to be a great way to help them process through their VERY real feelings. Validating how your child might be feeling and supporting them through this can help them sort through the confusion and fear they may be experiencing about what comes next. At school, we are very routine oriented, consistency based and predictable. Summer can be filled with fun, but for sure a lack of structure, predictability and consistency, which we know Humans all crave, so that can also be uncomfortable for them to think about. It can help to just get your child talking about how they are feeling as the year is coming to a close and even support them with ways to make a positive end that will launch them into a mindset shift about change, endings and new beginnings. Just being aware that this might be something your babies are struggling with can give you a leg up on how to support the unexpected emotions that you might see from them these next couple of weeks. Let us know if we can help. This is something we have lots of experience with and are happy to brainstorm and support if you need ideas.
#CRUNFamily
1st Grade Author's Cafe
1st Grade Author's Cafe
Muffins with Moms
6th Grade Debate
Green Team "Power of One" Project Collection of "Milk Caps For Moola"
Muffins with Mom
PTA Updates
Thank you to everyone that contributed towards Teacher & Staff Appreciation Week! The whole staff felt loved. There are just a few weeks left!
Upcoming Events:
- Monday, May 15th: Mrs. McP will be decorated as a sundae to celebrate reaching our fundraising goal for the Fun Run! We will be streaming it live in all of the classrooms and a recording will be shared with the community.
- Tuesday/Wednesday, May 16-17th: Kickball Parties!!! Every class was gifted with a Kickball Party from the Auction last November. We would love some volunteers to help with the games: https://signup.com/go/kEKmJki
- 4th Grade: Tuesday, 8:50-10am
- 5th Grade: Tuesday, 10:50-noon
- 3rd Grade: Wednesday, 8:50-10am
- 1st Grade: Wednesday, 9:50-11am
- Kindie: Wednesday, 11:50-1pm
- 2nd Grade: Wednesday, 1-2:10pm
- 6th Grade: Wednesday, 2-3:10pm
Staff Updates~Active Positions Posted
School Tools~ School Supply Ordering
Cougar Run has again partnered with School Tools-a local company that will purchase, package and deliver your child’s school supplies. Forms will be sent in Friday folders NEXT WEEK. If you wish to order through School Tools, please DOWNLOAD the form for the correct grade for next year. Print and fill out the form and drop the form WITH PAYMENT into the mail. We have had great success with School Tools in previous years and it is very convenient for our families. Orders are DUE JULY !!
Volunteer Coordinator Updates
We love our volunteers and are sad the weather put a damper on our celebration of you. We are grateful to each and every one of you for your dedication to our school and we appreciate your time this year helping in ANY way possible!!! We hope you enjoyed the treats that our staff prepared for you. Thank you for being AMAZING!
Upcoming Important Dates
May 16- 11:00ish HRHS CRUN Grads March Through our Hallways
May 18-ROCKS 2nd Semester Awards Assembly (Invitations were sent in Friday Folders)
May 19- 9:30 Kindy Graduation
May 25-9:00 6th Grade Graduation
May 25-Last Day of School