Thank you all for making Teacher Appreciation Week so special! Our staff loved all the special treats, especially the kind emails. Thank you for taking time to celebrate our very committed staff for their hard work.

On May 11, as MSSD’s Parent Appreciation Day, we are celebrating parents!. As you drop your child off at school or meet the bus in the morning, we’ll have a muffin for each parent or guardian as a small token of appreciation for all that you have done to support us!

Have a great weekend!

At the end of a wonderful week celebrating teachers, we also honored our amazing Nutrition Services Department! Each grade level made a special poster, apron with students' hand prints, and presented a gift to each Nutrition Services employee! THANK YOU to Paula, Marci, Judi, Teresa, Valerie, Kara, Carmen, Milicia, and Shannon for all of your hard work making sure our K-12 students are well-fed and loved each day!

Fuel/ED Google Meets with MSES Teachers: Classroom teachers are continuing their Google Meet connections every other week. Please look for communication from your child's MSES grade level teacher about this in-person learning /connection time.

2021-2022 Returning Student Registration Process

Currently enrolled students who will be returning, both resident and non-resident, will be rolled over to the upcoming 2021-2022 school year. You will receive an email notification to complete the registration renewal process in early June.

Here is the first step for you to complete:

Please help us with this process by completing the 2021-2022 Intent to Return Survey using the link below. We ask that all parents and guardians complete this survey regardless of whether they will be attending MSSD14 in the fall for the 2021-2022 school year.

Intent to Return Survey - https://forms.gle/Jc3B3nSVqdm3v8WL

Read about what's happening in our grade-level and exploratory classes at MSES!

Preschool: This week we read books about how seeds persevere through challenging growing conditions: no sun, freezing weather, drought. The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle and The Seedling (that didn’t want to grow) by Britta Teckentrup chronicle the journeys of brave and resilient seeds. What happens when seeds get buried too deep in the soil? When a bird gobbles them up for a snack?

In celebration of Mother’s Day, we planted marigold seeds in tiny pots of soil and sprayed them with water! Did we give them enough water? Let’s find out together!

Kindergarten: We spent time reviewing and practicing skills that we have learned throughout the year as well as done many fun projects and our kindergarten assessments. We are going to have so much fun learning about Presidents and American Symbols starting next week. How much is a penny worth? (one cent). How much is a nickel worth? (five cents). How much is a dime worth? (Ten cents). How much is a quarter worth? (25 cents). What does the author of a book do? (Writes the words). What does an illustrator of a book do? (Draws the pictures). What is the setting of a book? (Where it happens). What is a character in a book? (The person or animal a story is about).

1st Grade: This week we wrapped up our domain A New Nation. Make sure to ask your expert: Who was Thomas Jefferson and what important contributions did he make? (Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States, he was the author of The Declaration of Independence, he was the inventor of the first copy machine and dumbwaiter) When America was a new country, which groups of people did not experience liberty and justice? (Women, Native Americans and African Americans.) What is the significance of our flag, the Liberty Bell, and a bald eagle? (All are symbols that represent our country.) Ask your expert if they can think of any other symbols that represent America. Next week we will be moving Westward into our new domain!

2nd Grade: What is an immigrant? (A person from another country who moves to a new country.) Why do people leave their own country? (Push factors such as money problems, lack of freedom, or war to name a few.) What does E Pluribus Unum mean? (Out of many, one) Where do we see this Latin phrase? (on the back of American coins)Why is the United States called the “Land of Opportunity”? (People had a better chance of finding jobs and living a better life.) What was Ellis Island? (The place where immigrants had to go in order to be accepted into the U.S.) Did everyone get to stay? (No, if you had a disease or couldn’t speak English, you might have to go back to your own country.) What would immigrants look for when getting close to America? (The Statue of Liberty which meant freedom and a better life.)

3rd Grade: May is the perfect month to start our Ecology unit. We begin with the word ecology, which is the study of relationships between living things and their environment. Your expert can explain to you that an ecosystem is everything in a particular environment, both living and nonliving. Students have been learning about a food chain (the relationship of living things as food sources for other living things) and food webs (interconnected food chains). Ask your expert to describe a food chain. They should include the words producers (living things that make their own food), consumers (living things that eat other living things), and decomposers (living things that eat dead plant and animal matter) as they discuss the energy pyramid within the different ecosystems. The more time they spend outside observing natural habitats, the better ecologists they will become, so enjoy the weather and a nice educational hike!

4th Grade: Fourth Graders are finishing up our American Revolution unit. After we read the content/nonfiction chapters, the students had an opportunity to read a folktale that was written and set during the late 1700’s. We read “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving. Ask your 4th graders, “Why do the people believe a headless horseman haunts the village of Sleepy Hollow?” (The area bounds with tales, haunted spots, and superstitions.) Also, “What do you think happens to Ichabod Crane?” (Answers may include: Brom Bones was dressed as a headless Horseman to scare Ichabod Crane; it works because Ichabod runs away scared so Brom could marry Katrina.) We also read about famous and infamous heroes and villains of this time period! Who was a hero that stood out to you, and why?

5th Grade: Fifth graders continue to work on Midsummer Night’s Dream. Students learn how to use their bodies to show the characters’ “power” in a scene and how to move in ways that let others know who their characters are. Students also learned that Shakespeare left the determination of the characters’ looks up to the director of the particular play, allowing for a broad range of correct interpretations and themes. Ask Your Expert: How do you move like Oberon? (Powerful, stand up straight, speak with confidence) What does it look like when the fairies move? What is the current love interest set up? (Helena loves Demetrius. Demetrius loves Hermia. Hermia and Lysander love each other.) How does Puck change things? (Puck enchants Lysander by mistake making him fall in love with Helena complicating everything!)

Art: Fourth grade artists used this last week of art for the year to complete an origami star project that they started before quarantine last Spring. They are using a decoupage technique to apply colored tissue to their stars. This was the last week that I will be with my Fifth grade artists! Some of my students have been in my art classes since Kindergarten and others I was just beginning to know. I will miss each and every one of them as they venture off to Middle School. It has been such an honor and privilege to teach and make messes with these students. During our last week together we had focused on Color Theory and Color Mixing. We reviewed color terms like Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Color as well as introducing new terms such as analogous and monochromatic. We were so fortunate to learn a color mixing technique using oil pastel from 5th grade artist, Ronan M. He was a natural teacher as he demonstrated his original technique to his peers. Remember 5th Graders... You are a piece of art! There never has been or ever will be another YOU! You are unique, colorful and full of creativity. I will miss you ALL!

Love, Mrs. Dunlap

Spanish: Hola amigos! Among other topics, first grade studied unit #6, "Hola ¡me gusta!"/“Hello, I like it”. Students also had a lot of fun jumping rope while counting to 30 in Spanish. Vocabulary: ¿Qué?/What?, hace/does, hacer/to do, ¿Te gusta?/Do you like it?, Me gusta mucho/I like very much, salto/I jump.

Music: This week, Kindergartners explored the Colorado Ballet’s Every Body Move warm-ups and mindfulness exercises. In the piano lab, we played Frog Jumps Down and Grasshopper. We also played ukuleles, wrote a haiku, and set our original poetry to music, creating a beautiful soundscape., Ask your expert, “What did you enjoy most in Music class this week?”

PE: First graders this week are doing 4 different activities in 4 days. This will be a review of things we have done through the year that will involve kicking, throwing, catching, etc. They will also be taking home with them a Field Day Activity Log! I will go over it with them all on Friday. It is a list of activities they can do at home throughout the summer, by themselves, with any family members and friends.

Reading/Math Intervention: As mentioned last week, we are busy working on our End of Year Dibels testing. It is exciting to see how the students have grown! We are working hard to get testing completed so we can get back to working with groups. We will be working with our groups up until the last minute we can. This has been a challenging year and we are working hard to finish strong!

We ask that everyone continue to use the MSSD14 COVID Intake Form only when your student or someone in your household has COVID-like symptoms. This form is used only for students and staff who are absent due to unexplained or unexpected illness. This new process allows us to have consistent communication with staff and parents, which ultimately contributes to a stronger contact tracing process and the continuation of in-person learning.

Breakfast and Lunch Menus

Please support the PAC by participating in the grocery rewards program (details below).