Dear Families:

Happy snow day! I hope you are all finding some time to play in the snow with your family. Sledding in Manitou is one of my family's favorite past times.

As you already know, we are continuing with our conferences today and tomorrow. We want 100% attendance, so please join us at your designated time.

Parents and families are what make Manitou Springs Elementary School such a special place. It is really important to us to get our Parent Advisory Council, PAC, back up and running. Please see the message below from Angie Karr. She has provided some links for you if you are interested in joining a great group of parents.

Please check out the flyer below from PAC on the King Soopers partnership. Just by signing up, our school receives funding for PAC projects at no cost to you.

If you have an upcoming kindergartner at home and you live in district, let us know by calling 685-2195, so we can make sure we have our class lists updated for next year.

We are accepting out-of-district applicants to MSES through March 31st for all grade levels. Preschoolers have a different application process, available in March.

We want to keep our school open with your children. Please help us by sending your child to school no earlier than 7:45am with a mask. If your child is ill, please keep him/her home and fill out the COVID-19 response form listed below.

As always, it is a pleasure serving you and your child. Have a wonderful weekend!

FuelED families:

We continue to miss you and your children at MSES!

Make sure to check our Manitou Springs Elementary Facebook page and the district website weekly! Keep reading our weekly newsletters to stay on top of important updates and happenings at MSES.

• Important change for this week only: there will not be any Grab & Go meals served today, February 18th or tomorrow, February 19th.
  

Pictured below, left to right: Ms. Embery's 5th Graders Kolton W., Alexandria C., Jonas A. and Briannah L. with photos of the historical Black Americans they are learning about this month.

Kolton: "Frederick Douglass was a great man who was born in Talbot County in1818 and sadly passed away in 1895, at age 77. His resting place is Mount Hope Cemetery."

Alexandria: "Sojourner Truth was best known for her speech on racial inequities. She fought for women's rights."
Jonas: "George Washington Carver is known for making over 300 things with the peanut!"
Briannah: "Rosa Parks graduated high school in 1933. She was also involved in the Civil Rights Movement. She was known for not giving up her seat on a bus to a white woman. It was a segregated bus."

Ms. Larsen's 4th Graders were given an optional assignment earlier this week:

"We have been studying geological processes that shape the earth. Make a model of tsunami, volcano, or earthquake. Use whatever you have a home to show the affect these dramatic events have on our earth. You can use Legos, other toys, food, materials found outside, and/or playdough! Get creative."

Here is what they came up with!

Lasagna Love is a program that offers a free lasagna dinner to families in need! Whether it's because a family has some food insecurities, or that life has just been flipped upside-down and cooking a meal is the last thing someone is able to think about or do - anyone can sign up to receive a meal. If you are interested in sponsoring a lasagna chef or volunteer to cook lasagna for families in need, or if your family could use a hand with dinner one night in the coming weeks - go to the Lasagna Love website to find out more!

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

Preschool: In the afternoon class, we talked about animals' three basic needs. Ask your expert if they remember what are a human’s three basic needs? (Water, food, shelter.) Is a human an animal? (Yes.) What are animals' three basic needs? (Water, food, shelter.) jlavigne@mssd14.org

Kindergarten: What is a shelter? (A place that you can go to that gives protection.) What does a thermometer do? (Tells us how hot or cold it is outside.) If it is hot outside, where is the liquid in the thermometer? (Towards the top of it.) What is a meteorologist? (A person who studies and predicts what the weather is going to be like.) When you are our classroom meteorologist, what is your job? (To pick weather words that describe the weather outside, and the class tries to guess what words I picked that describe the day’s weather.) Can weather change throughout the day? (Yes.) If it is lightning outside, is it safe to sit next to a window? (No.)

1st Grade: First graders are becoming geologists! This week we learned about minerals and the three types of rocks! Ask your expert: What are minerals? (Minerals are what rocks are made of.) How are they formed? (Heat, pressure, time.) What are the three types of rocks? (Igneous, sedimentary, metamorphic.) Next week, we will learn more about fossils and dinosaurs as we wrap up this domain!

2nd Grade: Second graders are wrapping up their study of settlers moving west to start a better life for themselves. What was the ‘Iron Horse’? (One of the first locomotives/trains.) What is the Transcontinental Railroad? (Railroad tracks that start on the East Coast and go all the way to the West Coast.) How was this created? (Two train companies built the tracks, one from east to west and the other from west to east. They met in Utah and drove in a golden spike to commemorate the event.) Why did they build all of this track? (So travel could become much faster and safer.) Who actually built the tracks? (Immigrants from Ireland and Asia, along with freed slaves.) Who were the buffalo hunters? (Native Americans called the Lakota Sioux, who hunted and used every part of the bison to live.) How did they feel about bison? (They believed they were sacred animals and only killed what they needed. They also used every part of the animal leaving nothing to waste.) What did the Iron Horse mean to the Lakota Sioux? (The train meant settlers were on their hunting grounds and they were killing bison for sport instead of necessity. If the buffalo die, so will the Lakota Tribe.) What was the Westward Experience on Friday about? (Answers will vary)

3rd Grade: Third graders are continuing on their rocket ship through space as we learn more about the planets and galaxies! Ask your expert to fill in the blanks of these sentences:
There are ________ planets in our solar system. (eight)
Earth is the _____ planet away from the sun. (third)
The four gas giants are _________,,_______, ______, _______. (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune)
The comet belt that lies between the planets Mars and Jupiter is called the ____________. (asteroid belt)

It is scorching on the side of Mercury facing the sun, and _______ on the side facing away from the sun. (frigid)

4th Grade: Fourth graders are learning about the three types of rocks that make up our Earth. Ask your expert what are the 3 types of rocks? (Igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic.) What is the most important thing to remember about each type of rock? (Igneous: comes from volcanoes - both above and below the Earth’s crust. Sedimentary: made up of sediments and have layers. Metamorphic: they were igneous or sedimentary rocks but were changed due to heat, time, and pressure.)

5th Grade: Fifth grade students are beginning their CKLA Unit on the Renaissance. Students will be focused on understanding and interpreting informational text. Ask your expert what does the word “Renaissance” mean? (Rebirth.) Where was the center of the Renaissance when it began? (Italy.) Did the Renaissance occur before or after the Middle Ages? (After.) What continent experienced the Renaissance movement? (Europe.)

Art: Kindergarten artists continue to use the Elements of Art in order to represent seasons and weather. Artists learn to use lines that create the illusion of wind, rain and sunshine as well as using colors that symbolize temperature. Through mixing the primary colors together in different combinations, artists create rainbow trees in Spring and fallen leaves in Autumn.

cdunlap@mssd14.org

Spanish: Third grade is learning about the Cumbia dance. The origin is from Colombia, and it is a blend between European, African and indigenous cultures. It was born on Colombia's Caribbean coast where it was originally an African courtship dance that evolved with the addition of African, European and indigenous instruments and indigenous dance steps.

In the Spanish class, they finished unit # 7 "Soy Especial"/"I am Special". Students also worked on the formation of simple sentences using the words: especial/special, también/also, tu eres/you are, ¿cuál?/which one?, favorito/ favorite.

alillemon@mssd14.org

Music: First graders are continuing their exploration of African American Music. We’ll be listening and playing early 20th century rock and roll, funk, hip hop, rhythm & blues and soul. Ask your expert which style, artist, or song they most enjoyed this week.

elawson@mssd14.org

PE: We have finished up our basketball, juggling, jump ropes, speed stacking domains with all grade levels. The next units we will be working on are volleyball and tennis (racket skills). We will, as always, practice our stretching and strengthening exercises as well!

rniebuhr@mssd14.org

TEAMS: This week in TEAMS, fourth and fifth grade students continued working toward their Typing Pal goals practicing 20 minutes each class. We also worked on a program called Tinkercad to design a dream house including the frame of the house, doors, windows, furniture, driveway, etc. All students were to be sure their building would actually stand (90 degree walls and proper measurements) so it would be able to print. We have worked on the proper way to create space, such as a door, window, or even a swimming pool, so that the 3D printer will know to create “space” rather than print filament.

abradbury@mssd14.org

Reading/Math Intervention:

This week we are Dibels testing our readers. Then we are going right back to work on math and reading. In reading, we are working on another type of syllable, the ‘r’ controlled vowels. In math we are working on our multiplication facts, and on ratios and fractions! Question of the week for our 3rd and 5th Grade readers: What kinds of syllables have we been working on so far? Answer: Closed, open, vowel teams, VCE, and r-controlled.

Check out the flyer below for a fun project from Ms. Romano! Reach out to her with any questions at jromano@mssd14.org.

Check out these photos of some of our talented students at MSES:

Kindergarten students learned about "Safety in Storms" during the Seasons & Weather domain.

Breakfast and Lunch Menus

We ask that everyone continue to use the MSSD COVID Intake Form. 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. Click the link below to access the form:

• Feb 18 - Snow Day - Parent/Teacher Conferences (afternoon)
  

• Feb 19 - No School - Parent/Teacher Conferences
• Mar 3 - No School - Staff Work Day
• Mar 22 - 26 - Spring Break
  

Dear MSES Parents and Guardians:

We are currently working to organize the PAC, Parent Action Committee, for the remainder of the school year to build communication with the families and support our astounding teachers, staff, and students. The purpose of PAC is to represent the families and encourage one another as a community. During a typical school year, we would send information about various fundraising activities and opportunities. This year looks a little different, but we would still like PAC to be available for community support, a place to ask questions, retrieve information and build up support for Manitou Springs Elementary School.

If you would like to receive notifications and emails from the Parent Action Committee, please email msespac@gmail.com with your name and email, giving permission to send information and notifications to your email.

If you would like to be a part of the Parent Action Committee by being a member and attending meetings, please contact msespac@gmail.com with your name and email, and someone will contact you with meeting times and opportunities to get involved.

Thank you for being a part of the Manitou Springs Elementary School community! We look forward to hearing from you!

Sincerely,

Angie Karr

Please consider participating in our grocery fundraising program! There is no cost to you, and MSES receives funding for school activities if you register your grocery card. Read below for the easy instructions. Thank you!

Full-color, 52 pages! $24.00 each

To order with debit/credit card, please go to:

https://ybpay.lifetouch.com/

Enter School ID: 9518221

or search for our school

To pay with cash or check, email mwoytko@mssd14.org for an order form or send it in an envelope with your child's name and teacher name.

Please call or email with any questions. 719-685-2172 or mwoytko@mssd14.org