Welcome back to school, Sparrow Hawks!
School Benefits Form (Formerly Free and Reduced Lunch form)
D6 will be participating in the Colorado Healthy Meals for All program beginning in the 2023-24 school year. This means that all D6 students enrolled at Greeley-Evans School District 6 may eat breakfast and lunch at no cost! However, look for a D6 School Benefits Application sent to families via email in early August. Completion of this application may provide your family with waived D6 course and athletic fees and will also provide D6 with additional state and federal funding.
SCHOOL BENEFITS FORM (ENGLISH)
Upcoming PTG Meetings
We would like to extend a warm welcome to all new and returning families for the 2023-2024 academic year!
We cordially invite you to attend our Parent Teacher Group (PTG) meetings. For those of you who are not familiar, PTG is a group of parents, educators, and support personnel who are committed to our children's education. We had our first meeting on August 30th. We will continue to meet once a month at 5:00 p.m. We will offer the meetings both in person, in the Shawsheen Library, and on Zoom.
This academic year, we will meet on the following dates:
September 27th, 2023
October 25th, 2023
November 29th, 2023
January 31st, 2024
February 21st, 2024
March 20th, 2024
April 17th, 2024
We are excited to get to know everyone who would like to get involved with PTG this year!
**We will be creating a group email for all PTG members. If you missed our first meeting and would like to be added, please email larcemendez1@greeleyschools.org.
Preschool
Dear Preschool Parents,
Welcome to an exciting new school year at Shawsheen. We are delighted to have your children join us for their first few days in preschool. These initial days are full of discovery, learning, and friendship-building. We wanted to take a moment to share with you some highlights of what your children have been up to in their first days at preschool.
Getting to Know Each Other: Our little ones have been busy making new friends and getting to know their classmates and teachers. We’ve engaged in icebreaker activities, circle time, and play sessions that promote social interaction and create a sense of belonging.
Exploring the Environment: The preschool environment can be both exciting and overwhelming for our young learners. We’ve taken the time to explore the different areas of the classroom, from the reading library to the art center. This helps the children become comfortable in their new surroundings and encourages them to express their creativity.
Routines and Structure: Preschool life introduces children to routines and structures that offer a sense of stability. Our daily schedule includes a balance of learning activities, playtime, breakfast/lunch time, and outdoor play. This routine helps children feel secure and know what to expect each day.
Family-Teacher Connection: We believe in open communication and value the partnership between families and teachers. If you have any questions, concerns, or insights about your child’s first days at preschool, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’re here to support both you and your child.
Looking Ahead: As we move forward, we are excited to dive deeper into our curriculum, engage in more interactive learning, and nurture the unique qualities that each child brings to our preschool family.
Thank you for entrusting us with your child’s early education. We are honored to be a part of their growth and development. Here’s to a fantastic year filled with exploration, learning, and joy!
Warm regards,
April Jennings and Hannah Halferty
Kindergarten
Welcome to kindergarten! Our school year is off to a great start, and the children are eager to learn new things!
Our first reading module, Toys and Play, has been a big hit with the new kindergarteners. During writing, we are learning to express ourselves through drawings and beginning to sound out words. We are strengthening our fine motor skills in writing, concentrating on proper pencil grip with letter formation. In addition to learning the toy preferences of ourselves and others, our class is working hard on letter names, letter sounds, and rhyming.
In math, we are working on recognizing numbers and quantities. Our main focus is on reading, writing, and counting objects to ten.
Our class is exploring how people learn and work together to be good citizens in social studies.
Family-Teacher Conferences will be held all day on October 9 and after school on October 12. We look forward to discussing your child’s growth and development with you soon!
First Grade
New Language Arts Program
We are working on building phonemic awareness, phonics skills and fluency within our new EL program.
We do not have homework with this new program but we would still like to stress how important it is to read with your child every night at home. It builds comprehension and reading skills and when you spend your time reading, it shows your child that reading is important.
MATH
We’re working in Unit 1- Adding, Subtracting and working with data.
OTHER
The cafeteria provides a fruit or vegetable for snack Tues-Friday, however, you are welcome to send a healthy snack from home with your child each day instead if you choose. We have our snack time each day from 1:45pm to 1:55pm.
Thank you for all you do!
Gratefully,
Mrs. Kotalik, Ms. Beeman and Ms. Cruz
Second Grade
Welcome to the September edition of our School Newsletter! As the new month unfolds, we are thrilled to share the exciting curriculum themes and learning objectives that your children will be exploring.
EL Modules:
Exploring Schools and Communities Module 1 in our English Language curriculum will focus on the fascinating topic of Schools and Communities. Through engaging activities, discussions, and projects, your child will learn about the role of schools in communities and discover the diversity of education.
EL Skills:
This month, your child will explore CVC
(consonant-vowel-consonant) words, open and closed syllables, long vowels, and vowel teams.
Math Adventures: Adding, Subtracting, and Working with Data
In our Math curriculum, we'll be diving into the world of addition and subtraction. Along with learning how to work with and interpret data through interactive activities, real-life problem-solving, and engaging games.
Here's to a September filled with exciting discoveries, valuable lessons, and memorable moments!
Warmest regards,
The 2nd Grade Team
Ms. Johnson, Ms. Dillehay, and Ms. Shultz
Third Grade
In third grade, students will be introduced to multiplication through the context of picture and bar graphs. In literacy, students are exploring why books, reading and education are important and how people all over the world can overcome learning challenges.
Mrs. Lenart & Ms. Johnson
Fourth Grade
Hello Fourth Grade Families,
We would love to share what we are learning over this next month. In our Math block we will be working on Unit 2: Fraction Equivalence and Comparison. The goal of our second math unit is that “Students can generate and reason about equivalent fractions and comprare and order fractions with the following denominators: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 100." Additionally our reading and writing curriculum is together this year and we call this block our Literacy - EL Block. We are currently in Module 1: Poetry, Poets, and Becoming Writers. Over the course of this module students are working to answer the overarching questions "What makes a poem a poem?" and "What inspires writers to write poetry?" We are thrilled to be looking at poetry and have loved reading and analyzing the novel Love that Dog by Sharon Creech.
Mrs. Apparito & Ms. Wikoff
Fifth Grade
Reading: In our new EL Education Reading Curriculum the 5th graders are reading the book Esperanza Rising and making connections on how the characters actions are related to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Both of these texts are very challenging but the students are already enjoying them and keep asking when we get to read more!
Art
Hello! My name is Danna Fryer and I am the Art Teacher for Shawsheen. I believe in the process of artmaking rather than the finished product. In the art room, we explore and experiment with a lot of different mediums and techniques. My hope for our artists is that they learn to problem solve, use mistakes and failures to grow, and discover their unique voice in order to express who they are.
There are two district art shows that take place in the spring. Please reach out anytime if you have questions!
Physical Education
Hi Shawsheen Families! It has been so awesome working with all of the students. This month and next we are working on locomotors (movement patterns), fitness testing, and throwing and catching. For older students, we will work on 4-square as well.
Intramurals are an extracurricular opportunity before school for 3rd-5th graders. A permission slip is required to attend. See the intramural program letter sent home with students for the slip. There is one correction on the letter for the meeting times. (Correct times are below)
Mondays - 7:50-8:25
Wednesdays - 7:00-7:35
Music
Kind regards,
Mrs. Small
Student Council
SparrowSingers
Mrs. Small and Ms. Shultz are thrilled to begin another year starting on Tuesday, September 12th at 7:00am in the music room. SparrowSingers is a before school club for students who would like to sing, play instruments, and so much more. Permission slips were sent home on Thursday, August 31st and are due to Mrs. Small or Ms. Shultz by Monday September 12th. SparrowSingers meets all school Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-7:30 in the music room. Our first concert is December 5th! For more information, visit our website on the Staff "Small, Emily" page. Thanks singers!
Free Dental Care
