How to translate Smore Newsletters (English) or Cómo traducir boletines informativos de Smore (Spanish)

Dear CFL Families,

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner! Classes will run their parties on Tuesday February 14th from 3:15-4:00. Look for more information from your child's teacher.

Most classrooms will have simple treats (individually wrapped and prepackaged), a craft time, and may complete a Valentine craft. If you have any questions, please reach out to your student’s teacher.

Parents may submit an Application for Early Access to the local school principal by April 1. Applications can be submitted prior to March 1, but they will be marked as received on March 1st, as this is the official date in which early access requests can be made.

In order to be considered for early access, a child must obtain a score at or above the 95th percentile on both standardized intellectual and achievement tests. However, simply achieving a score at or above the 95th percentile is not sufficient to offer early access to the child. The school must consider a variety of other factors and build a body of evidence that fully supports a decision to offer early access.

Welcome to February. It’s hard to believe we are already here. There are so many activities around this month that it’s hard for a Reading Interventionist not to love it. If you have a chance to check out the local library this time of year with your kids you should take advantage. There are so many fun books for kids about the winter season, and Valentine’s Day.

Here are a few other fun activities you can with your kids to promote the love of reading and writing.

• Help your child write and send valentines to their far away family. Grandparents love to get mail.

• Read a fun Valentine story to your child and have them retell it to you. A great book for this is Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse by Laura Numeroff.

• You tube has a plethora of great read aloud stories for kids as well. Here are a couple.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6W_-1Oz_DyE

Pete the Cat: Valentine’s Day is Cool

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0x3RB1kknpw

Love, Splat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuQ1rLWptfM

Mr. Goat’s Valentine

• Kids love Conversation Hearts. Try buying a little package to share. You can read the different messages to your child, and have him or her read them to you.

Most importantly, spend some time with your child this month enjoying time with your child.

Melissa Bradley

Reading Interventionist

Dear Families,

We have almost 100 of our students participating in afterschool programs. It is great to see so many of our students having fun, learning some new things, and making new friends! This session we were able to offer 10 different programs for the students to choose from. Please call the office before 2:30 if your child is not staying for afterschool programs or if their pickup method (pick up or riding bus) is changing. The office is not staffed during afterschool programs so there will not be anyone available to answer the phones. Also, remember that the programs end at 5:30 so be sure to pick them at 5:30. If you have any questions, please contact me at jjablonsky@garfield16.org.

Thank you,

Mrs. Jablonsky

Hello CFL Families,

Last month we worked hard on different jumping techniques that has led to many of your kiddos learning to use a jump rope. This month we will be focusing on our movement patterns as well as ball progression that includes teamwork. Students will continue to learn new ways to interact and what it means and feels like to be part of a team. As always, please keep sending your kiddos to school everyday with a pair of tennis shoes so they can be safe and successful in our gym. I am looking forward to a great February!

-Mr. Cora

Student Led Conferences will be February 27th and 28th. Please be thinking of what day works best for you. There will be no school on either day.

Dear Families,

Thank you for expressing interest in Preschool for the 2023-2034 school year. I know it seems early to be thinking about next year, but I want to make sure you are informed of some important changes.

Beginning in the 2023-2024 school year, families in Colorado can receive at least 15 hours per week of free, voluntary preschool for 4 year olds through the Universal Preschool (UPK) Colorado program. Some families may be eligible for additional hours of free preschool based on various factors, including income. 3 year olds with qualifying factors are eligible for 10 free hours per week.

• All 4 year olds are eligible for 15 hours/week.

• 4 year olds with 1 eligibility factor are eligible for 30 hours/week

• 3 year olds with 1 eligibility factor are eligible for 10 hours/week

Eligibility Factors are: Having an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), learning English as a second language (ELL), being homeless, low Income (270 percent of 2023 federal poverty guidelines), and being in foster care. Parents who are wanting more programming than what is provided by the state may add hours to their child’s school day with a tuition payment.

One of the biggest changes is that families now need to apply for their preschool funding directly at https://upk.colorado.gov/. I urge you to complete this as soon as possible. The Colorado Department of Early Childhood will respond to the first group of applicants on February 15th. Families will be able to apply later during a second round of applications, but slots depend on availability and funding, so they aren’t guaranteed.

In addition, please complete and return the attached Garfield 16 UPK Orientation form to our CFL office. This information will help us ensure that we have sufficient classrooms and staff to accommodate family preferences.

Please contact me if you have questions or if you need assistance with the application.

Meri Nofzinger