Cougar Community Connection
A Newsletter From Your Principal, Shannon McPherson
A Letter From Shannon 9/9/2022
Short weeks always fly by, but we were busy, busy, busy. Our baseline school data is in and teachers were busy this week analyzing where our students are academically and what direction we will be going next to ensure continuous improvement. We call these meetings "PLCs", Professional Learning Communities, and the focus is on student data and instruction any time we meet as a "PLC". Our teachers meet weekly in "Grade Level PLCs" to look at ongoing common grade level assessments that help us make continuous, focused decisions about our instruction as we are teaching in the moment. Bottom line, this is how we plan for instruction weekly. We meet monthly in "Admin/Teacher PLCs" where our leadership team facilitates and participates in data analysis protocols using more formal assessment data like CMAS and iReady. This allows us to uncover our school wide focus/goal for academics for the year and ensure that we are on the same page K-6 when it comes to what academic domains we want to see the most growth in our students. We also meet bi-monthly with our grade levels and intervention teams around a table, collaboratively looking at data and making decisions about intervention and enrichment support needs and tweaks. Where as a school, we are always showing success with our data, we never cease to want to improve our practice to support our students. iReady beginning of the year data reports will be in Friday Folders this week for grades 1-6. Our kindies are finishing up their baseline assessments and those will be sent home shortly. Parent/Teacher Conferences will be the time where teachers are using reports to help you understand where your student is starting their year academically and what direction they will be going to support growth and progress. Discussions around social/emotional growth will also be a focus as we know that our kids learn best when they feel socially and emotionally sound at school. We are committed to supporting the whole child at Cougar Run and strive to do this each and every day.
#CRUNFamily
PTA Updates
We are half-way through the READ-A-THON!
- Our goal is to raise at least $13,000, which will cover the iReady program that the school uses at all grade-levels.
- To reach our goal, we would love each student to collect $75 in donations
- Your student gets 15% of their donations to use at the Prize Store
- Everything is ONLINE: registration, logging reading sessions, collecting donations, and ordering from the prize store. REGISTER HERE
- Log-in & Record Reading Sessions HERE
Friday DJ is BACK! Would your student like to choose the song for the Friday dance party in the morning announcements? The Fridays in September are currently available for a $25 donation. We will be uploading the Fridays for the rest of the school year soon, so check on Monday for later dates. FRIDAY DJ LINK
There are still a few spots left for our Parent-Teacher Conference POTLUCK!
Let's provide a yummy taco bar for our hard-working teachers! Sign-Up HERE
If you would like to help, but can't make it to the store, then please consider donating towards the pizza and salad dinner provided to the teachers on 9/14. DONATE HERE
Having an after-school conference and getting dinner on the table can be hard. The PTA will be providing easy dinner options on the two conference nights with a cute, outdoor cafe.
JOIN US FOR THE PARENT-TEACHER CONFERENCE CAFE:
- September 14: Jimmy John's meal deal ($8) for a sandwich, chips, pickle, and a cookie
- September 22: Papa John's Night - Pizza by the slice ($2) - You can also order pizza at home. CRun promo code coming soon!
Spotlight On~ Our Mental Health Team
DCSD Calendar Survey
DCSD Academic Calendar Feedback Survey: 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 School Years
Dear DCSD Families and Staff,
Thank you to our calendar committee, composed of DCSD parents, students, leaders, teachers, and classified staff members, who have been working since January 2022 to develop four possible academic calendar options for the 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 school years. Now, we welcome feedback from our entire community (including parents, students, and staff members) on four calendar options for each of the above-mentioned school years. Here’s how you can participate.
Take a few minutes to complete our Calendar Feedback Survey (English and Spanish) (Mandarin Survey, Russian Survey) You will be ranking the options for 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years separately.
The feedback collected from the survey will be used to help the Calendar Committee select the calendar that will be presented to the DCSD Board of Education for approval and adoption.
Please complete the survey by Monday, September 19 at 11:59 p.m.
Thank you in advance for your feedback.
Douglas County School District
Cougar Run Choir is Back!!!!
Field Day Update
This year's Field Day is right around the corner .... Don't miss your chance to join in the fun and volunteer!! We need YOUR help on September 16th to make this an EXCITING and SUCCESSFUL event for our students!!!
Sign up HERE!
ROCKS Council
Calling all 4th, 5th & 6th Graders!!
ROCKS Council is back for 2022 - 2023 School Year!
Cougar Run ROCKS Council is a student leadership opportunity for students in grades 4 - 6. ROCKS Council members will model and promote the core ROCKS traits throughout the building and during the educational day, work together to create philanthropic events that support local and broader communities and organizations, and grow communication and leadership skills through authentic opportunities with peers and teacher leaders.
Come join us for our informational meeting on September 15th from 3:30 - 4:30 pm in the Learning Commons!
Battle of the Books
2022-2023 Intra-School
BATTLE OF THE BOOKS
GRADES 3, 4, 5 & 6
Is your child in 3rd, 4th, 5th or 6th grade and an avid reader? Do they enjoy getting together with classmates to talk about the books they are reading? Do they get excited about friendly competition? If you answered yes, then Battle of the Books is for them!! Bring your child to the Battle of the Books Student/Parent informational meeting:
Thursday, September 15th at 7:45am
in the Learning Commons!
You don’t want your child to miss this FUN, FREE enrichment program (Thanks to our PTA)! Join us and find out more information and battle dates! If your child attends this meeting, they will get to create their team with their friends and check out their first Battle Books of choice!! Parents must be present for the first 15 minutes for your child to sign up!
See you there!
Mrs. Wendy Jo Woody - CRUN’s BOTB Program Coordinator/
BOTB 3rd/4th Grade Coach
Mrs. Alyssa Ohrtman - BOTB 5th/6th Grade Coach
Art Contest Opportunity
Does your kiddo like to draw in their free time at home? Does your kiddo have a piece of artwork that you think is amazing? The CASB (Colorado Association of School Boards) is hosting their annual student art contest and exhibit. All submissions are due by Friday, October 14th. Please contact Lindsay Barlow (lbarlow@dcsdk12.org) if your kiddo is interested in participating and would like more information.
Safety Reminders
Parent/Teacher Conference Sign Up/ Cougar Run Cafe Night
Cougar Run Cafe-
During Parent/Teacher Conferences on Wednesday, September 14th and Thursday, September 22, we are excited to offer our "Cougar Run Cafe" night where families can join each other out front of the school where we are creating a "cafe atmosphere" for our families. A boxed dinner for purchase (8.00) will be available from Jimmy Johns on September 14th. There will be a sandwich, chips, pickle and a cookie in a boxed dinner allowing families to come to conferences and not have to cook dinner afterward!! They are also serving pizza by the slice on Thursday, September 22.Thank you PTA for making this possible for our families.
November 8th Bond/MLO
As you may know, the Douglas County School District is considering an initiative to help address funding challenges in our school district. Additional funding would be critical for us here at Cougar Run. Our staff is amazing and absolutely dedicated to our students and they deserve pay that is more competitive with other school districts - this will help us retain the amazing teachers and support staff that work with your kids every day. Additional funding would also enable our school to continue to make necessary upgrades and repairs to provide your student with a comfortable and safe learning environment.
Please watch this video and share it on your own social media page(s) so others can understand how schools such as ours are funded. Talking to our taxpayers in Douglas County will take all of us working together!Upcoming Important Dates
September 2-16- Read-a-Thon Fundraiser
September 9- 11:30 PTA Meeting (Virtual and In Person)
September 13-CRUN Restaurant Night
September 14-4:00-8:00 Parent/Teacher Conferences
September 14-CRUN Dinner Cafe For Families (Front Walkway of the School)
September 16-Cougar Run Field Day
September 22-4:00-8:00 Parent/Teacher Conferences
September 23--NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS District Professional Development Day
September 28- Watch Dog Dads Safety Night (Time to be Determined Soon)
October 7-7:30-8:25 Donuts with Dads
October 17-21-Fall Break
October 28-Halloween Parties/ Outdoor Costume Parade
October 31-NO SCHOOL FOR STUDENTS-District PD Day