Go Buffs!


November/December

This Week
Monday - Welcome Back!

Tuesday
* 7:30 Leadership Team committee
* 1:30-3:30 New Director Visit Carrie Stevenson

Wednesday
* Staff Development: Nuts & Bolts - EPR logistics & expectations, Accommodations, Math RtI

Thursday

Friday

Reminders
• Our new director, Carrie Stevenson, will be visiting classrooms on Tuesday from 1:30-3:30.  She is excited to see your great work!  Our visit will focus on critical thinking, technology integration (if its happening) and best math practices.  
• Our "Giving Tree" is in the lounge. If you would like to participate, please choose and purchase a gift, wrap it, and give it to Libby with the tag attached. If you would like to donate money, please give it to Janis and we will purchase the remaining gifts.
• Staff development this week will focus on EPRs, Math RtI documentation, accommodations training, and reading assessments.
• Save the Date! Our holiday party will be on Friday, December 16th at 6:30 at Rochelle Evan's house. More details to follow.

Opportunity
Iron Horse in interested in observing Lucy Calkin's writing on December 9 in the afternoon. Please let Jenny know if you are interested in hosting a group of teachers together.

Happy Birthday
Leslie Hathaway - November 29th

Go For the Gold
• Thank you Karen Warner for renting ramps so ALL kids could bowl!
• Thank you Christy Schwalick for organizing the collaborative games for indoor recess! Thank you EAs for implementing these games in all classrooms!
• Thank you Kylee Lautenbach for being so flexible with the STEAM lab hiccups!
• Thank you Jamie Marchese and Kristi Barta for covering classes!
• Thank you Nicole Moore for sharing your iPads!
• Thank you Gail Golish for a great book fair!
• Thank you teachers for organizing and hosting our celebration of learning!
• Thank you to the team who provided the delicious pumpkin lunch last Friday!

Golden Nuggets
Morning Announcements: Rayens
Lounge Duty: McMillan/Robart

THANK YOU for a great PLC Day!

November 2016

This Week
Monday
* 7:50-3:50 Third grade gemologist in Gold Mine room

Tuesday
* Leadership Team meeting moved to November 29

Wednesday
* There will be no staff development this week, but we do need classroom teachers to share EPRs with all specials teachers (no Megan Fleet) before we leave for Thanksgiving break.
We will have reminder sessions on Wednesday from 7:30-8:15 in the tech lab if you need a refresher on how to do this. 

* Thanksgiving Feast and Celebration of Learning

Thursday
* Libby admin meeting
* 4:30-6:30 SAC meeting

Friday

Reminders
• Click here for Digger's Feast and the Celebration of Learning schedule.  Please make sure your class is on time for Feast.

Opportunities
Holiday Presents for GRE Families
We have been asked to adopt two of our GRE families for the holidays and provide gifts for our students and their siblings. There are two ways to participate if you are interested. First, you can make a cash donation and Libby will go buy and wrap their gifts. The second option is to purchase and wrap the gift on your own and return it to Libby. There will be ornaments hanging in the lounge that will have the specific age/gender/gift idea for each child. You can give the wrapped gift to Libby by December 11th. Please attach the ornament to the gift. Thank you for helping our GRE families!

Stipend for Communicating GRE's Celebrations
Jenny is looking for someone to help share the great things that are happening at Gold Rush with the larger community.  The role would involve sharing information on Facebook, twitter, our website and different community publications weekly and creating and distributing flyers that showcase our great work.  If you are interested in this opportunity please let Jenny know.

District Reorganization 
District Administration further defined their reorganization efforts this week.  The District will be shifting Directors to regions and they will support schools K-12 versus levels (elementary, middle and high school).  The Parker Area will be supported by Carrie Stevenson.  Individuals from other departments (HR, World Class Ed and PD) will also be shifting to regions.  These changes were made to streamline support to schools.  These changes will not impact you directly, but I wanted you to be in the know.  Please let me know if you have any other questions.

Happy Birthday
Gretchen Immen - November 18th
Kim Layton - November 20th
Kristi Barta - November 25th
Anita Rudman - November 27th

Go For the Gold
• Thank you Stephanie Brown, Becca McMillan, Nicole Moore, Jeannette Shepperd, Abbey Lewis, and Ashley Dalcerri for sharing your amazing work during our share shop!
• Thank you Jenny Brown, Nicole Moore, Catherine Graham, Stephanie Brown, Naomi Meredith, Megan Fleet, Kristi Barta, Becca McMillan, Abbey Lewis, Jessalyn Russell, and Allison Hawk for leading tech sessions!
• Thank you Christy Schwalick and Diane Brown for organizing their PLC day!
• Thank you to all staff for your amazing work during our PLC day!
• Thank you Anita Rudman for organizing volunteers for Digger's Feast!
• We are so thankful for our amazing staff! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

If you have anyone you'd like to recognize, please let Libby know.

Golden Nuggets
Morning Announcements: Dalcerri
Lounge Duty: Zankey/Martino

November 2016

This Week
Monday
* 2nd Grade plan day

Tuesday
* PLC day
* Click here for the Agenda
* Click here for the Technology Session Descriptions - Please Read Prior & Come with an Idea

Wednesday
* No staff development

Thursday
* 7:30 Mathematical Mindset book study
* 8:00 Admin meeting Jenny
* 1st Grade plan day

Friday
* 3rd Grade plan day
* Book Fair set up
* 8:45 Fire Drill

Reminders
• The library will be closed 11/11-11/18 for the Book Fair.
• See the Digger Family Feast and Celebration of Learning Schedules below.  Please share this
   information with your families on your classroom blogs / webpages.

Thanksgiving Feast & New Celebrations of Learning

We celebrate Thanksgiving as a larger school community by hosting a Thanksgiving feast for students and their families.  Our feast will be held on Wednesday, November 16.  The cost for parents and siblings is $4.00 per person.  You are able make a reservation online now by clicking here.  Gold Rush students will pay using their lunch accounts.  Please bring your printed receipt as your meal ticket . 

This year we are inviting families to the classroom 30 minutes prior to their feast time to celebrate their child's learning.  Some of students' work will showcase learning they've done using their own technology device.

Resources
• Click here for the article 7 Principals of an Effective Math Classroom.

Happy Birthday
Kylee Lauterbach - November 11th

Go For the Gold
• Thank you teachers for hosting great Halloween parties!
• Thank you Justin Brakefield for rolling out to carloop duty and wearing a tutu!
• Thank you Megan Fleet, Allison Hawk, Naomi Meredith, Jeannette Shepherd, Abbey Lewis, Nicole Moore, and Kylee Lautenbach for facilitating Appy Hour!

Golden Nuggets
Morning Announcements: Hawk
Lounge Duty: Marchese/Wilson

October / November 2016

This Week

Monday: Halloween

Tuesday: 8:00-10:00 Principal's cabinet

Wednesday: SD Build a common understanding in Math

Thursday: K plan day

3:30-4:15 Apply Hour - Tech troubleshooting

Friday: Fourth grade plan day

Reminders

• We will continue our math conversations in staff development this week.

• Appy Hour: "Help!" This Thursday from 3:30-4:14 in the tech lab, there will be multiple experts ready to conquer those "help" moments.

• Click here for a draft of the PLC day schedule and click here for a description of the afternoon tech sessions.  Please review the tech sessions prior to our PLC day.  The technology sessions will be run in a workshop format so please come with an idea that you can work on for each session.

• 3rd-5th grade teachers, please start thinking about your students who are on a formalized plan and receive accommodations in the classroom. We will need to begin documenting this Dec. 1. If your students would benefit from text-to-speech, you will need to document this as well. This could include RtI students or anyone else who receives this accommodation consistently. We will have accommodations training in November. 

Happy Birthday

Missy Coyne - November 2nd

Cindy Bell - November 7th

Go For the Gold

• Thank you Karen Petty for covering first grade during the Digger Dash celebration!

• Thank you to our Fat Friday group for the delicious chili lunch!

• Thank you Mathematical Mindset book club for your participation!

Golden Nuggets

Morning Announcements: Lautenbach

Lounge Duty: Hurley/Brown

October 2016

This Week
Tuesday - 7:30 Leadership Team meeting in the Gold Mine room
7:30 Tech committee meeting in the STEAM lab, room 130
Wednesday - SD - Building a common vision of best math practices.
Thursday - 7:30 Mathematical Mindset book study in the Gold Mine room
Libby admin meeting
Friday - Fat Friday - Spooky Chili Cookoff

Reminders
• Halloween parties will be the morning of October 31st from 8:30-9:15. Our school parade will follow at 9:15. The parade route will be in your box on this week. Please remind all families that students are to change out of their costumes at the end of the parade and masks, weapons, and face paint are not permitted.
• Fat Friday's lunch will be provided by Jeannette, Becca, Missy, Shannon, Diane, and Kim. The theme is Spooky Chili!

Happy Birthday
Heather McKinney - October 25th
Lauren Meier - October 29th

Go For the Gold
• Thank you everyone for your thoughtful math discussions!
• Thank you to everyone who sent Kristi pencils for Math Olympiad! You are appreciated!
• Congratulations Heather McKinney on your wedding!

Golden Nuggets
Morning Announcements: Rayens
Lounge Duty: Braden/Evans

WELCOME BACK!

This Week
Monday - Digger Dash
Tuesday - Tech visits to Heritage
Wednesday - 7:30 Staff Meeting
Thursday - Jenny admin meeting
Friday - 3:00 Digger Dash Winner Assembly

Reminders
• Please make sure your CITE 6 formative data and goals are entered into InspirED by Monday, October 17, at 9 AM at the latest.
• Please give Libby your revised EPR sheets.

* Please sign up for your formal evaluation cycle if you have not done so already. This cycle includes the following:

* Pre Observation Meeting (20-30 minutes)

* Observation (60 minutes)

* Post Observation Meeting (40 minutes)

Click here for the  pre observation document and click here for our school look fors in math. Please email your pre-observation doc to Jenny or Libby  a day before our initial meeting so they have time to review it before our initial meeting. 

Digger Dash Schedule
8:45 – 9:00            Stretching (Preschool and Kindergarten)
9:00 – 9:15            Race  (Preschool and Kindergarten)
9:10 – 9:25            Stretching (1^st and 2^nd grades)
9:25 – 9:55            Race  (1^st and 2^nd grades)
9:50 – 10:00         Stretching (3^rd and 4^th grades)
10:00 – 10:45       Race  (3^rd and 4^th grades)
10:40 – 10:50       Stretching (5^th grade)
10:50 – 11:35       Race  (5^th grade)

Wednesday, October 18 Staff Meeting Focus @ 7:30

We will build a common understanding of the key computation concepts and strategies K-5 as outlined in Investigation 1.  Please come prepared to talk about the following:

• Describe the Key Math Concepts Taught in your Computation (Unit 1)
• Describe the Strategies Students Use to Solve Computation Problems.
• Go Online and share a game, problem or routine that best shows computation at your grade level

Halloween

* As a school we celebrate Halloween with breakfast parties from 8:30-9:15 AM.  Our all school parade follows (route to come).  Please remind parents helpers of the timeframe for our parties.  Please also remind all families that students are to change out of their costumes at the end of the parade and the masks, weapons and face paint are not permitted.

Welcome!
We would like to welcome our new EAs, Amy Jay and Ashley Peterson. Amy will be here Mondays and Wednesdays and Ashley will be here Tuesdays, Thursday, and Fridays.

Technology Plans for Round 2

Kindie

First Grade

Second Grade

Third Grade 

Fourth Grade

Fifth Grade: This lesson is an extension of our first rotation so you just have to scroll down the page for this rotations lessons. 

Go For the Gold
• Thank you for two great nights of conferences!
• Thank you for being flexible with our Digger Dash date!
• Thank you Karen Warner and Diane Brown for all of your hard work with running club!

Golden Nuggets
Morning Announcements: Dalcerri
Lounge Duty: Brakefield/Carmack

October 2016

This Week
Monday: 5th grade planning day
8:00 -8:15 Heritage Visit Planning
Tuesday: 8:40 Fire drill and shelter in place drill
2nd grade planning day
Wednesday: K planning day
Parent/teacher conferences
Thursday: Digger Dash - please see the schedule below.
Friday: Happy Fall Break!

Reminders
• On Tuesday morning at 8:40 we will have our October fire drill. This will be immediately followed by our mandatory shelter in place drill. 
• Please have all CITE 6 formative scores entered in InpirED by the end of fall break at the latest.
• We will have our coffee guy, Sylvester, the morning of Digger Dash as a THANK YOU for a great parent teacher conference!
• Please sign up for your observation cycle on the calendar on Janis' desk by fall break. This includes a pre-conference, an hour observation, and a post conference.
• Please give Libby your revised EPR sheets by fall break.
• We will have a staff meeting the Wednesday after break, 10/19, at 7:30 in the Gold Mine room.
• There are specially priced Denver Nugget tickets for all teachers, family, and friends.  Click here for more information about teacher appreciation group nights with the Denver Nuggets.

Opportunity
We are looking for a teacher to take the lead in the Energy Action Incentive program. If GRE reduces it's energy consumption, we get a portion of the savings back! This is an easy way to earn money for our school! Please let Libby know if you are interested.

Digger Dash Schedule
8:45 – 9:00            Stretching (Preschool and Kindergarten)
9:00 – 9:15            Race  (Preschool and Kindergarten)
9:10 – 9:25            Stretching (1^st and 2^nd grades)
9:25 – 9:55            Race  (1^st and 2^nd grades)
9:50 – 10:00         Stretching (3^rd and 4^th grades)
10:00 – 10:45       Race  (3^rd and 4^th grades)
10:40 – 10:50       Stretching (5^th grade)
10:50 – 11:35       Race  (5^th grade)


Happy Birthday
Jilla Emadipour - October 3rd
Kim Gopsill - October 3rd
Christy Dismang - October 4th
Jen Dale - October 6th
Amanda Widdeson - October 11th
Megan Wallace - October 13th

Go For the Gold
• Thank you for all of the time and effort you put into parent conferences!
• Thank you to the Fat Friday team who provided the delicious soup and potato bar!
• Here's to these three staying healthy!

Golden Nuggets
Morning Announcements: Hawk
Lounge Duty: Petty/Simpson