PIÑON VALLEY ELEMENTARY
Piñon Valley Elementary
6205 Farthing Drive, Colorado Springs CO 80906 (719) 527-0300
Robin Reintsema, Principal
PRINCIPAL’S CORNER October 2022 EDITION
Dear PVE Families & Caregivers,
WITH DEEP APPRECIATION …
PTO, a heartfelt THANK YOU for the generosity of the teacher and staff grants this year. I know many teachers were wearing a smile all day when they received your email about what they would be receiving. They are all so excited and busily planning how they will enrich their classrooms and programs with your generous gift. Know that we are very thankful for these annual grants, all the treats in the lounge, and your support of our Accelerated Reader program!
IMPORTANT OCTOBER DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR...
Our district and PVE has four elementary student free days in October. October 20th & 21st for a conference preparation day and District PLC Day. And then right around the corner from that, on October 27th & 28th, we will be having our fall “in person” parent/teacher conference days. We cherish this opportunity to connect with our parents to celebrate your children. We will schedule the conferences using the same online sign up platform we always have. You will receive an email blast sign up invitation from us next week. Please remember that our Fall Parade & Parties will occur on October 31st with the parade commencing at 1:45 and parties beginning at 2pm.
SIGN UP GENIUS PARENT/TEACHER CONFERENCE SCHEDULING …
Please remember that we offer invitations to sign up for teacher conferences in a very specific and precise order, and we do this purposefully to ensure that your child has all the right people around the table when we conference. We will arrange a conference for you IF your child requires multiple service providers at the same conference. Please DO NOT change the date and time of this conference (this might include special educators, reading interventionists, counselors, social workers, ELD teachers, etc). Parents of students on ALP’s will schedule a separate conference with Mrs. Dowlin to review and sign ALP paperwork. We will also schedule families who have three or more children under our roof so we can arrange those back to back to minimize the amount of time required to attend all of your conferences. After that, we will invite those of you with two children to schedule and then those of you with a single child here. Please respect our process by not changing the conferences we have scheduled for you and by refraining from forwarding the invitation link to friends ahead of their scheduled time. This will keep the process clean and allow us to have all the people your child works with at your child’s conference. Please and thank you. P/T Conference invitation emails will be pushed to you as follows:
October 18th - Prearranged/Multiple Teachers Required & Three or More Siblings
October 20th - Two or More Siblings
October 21st - One Child
FALL CLASSROOM PARTIES AROUND THE CORNER, PLEASE HELP YOUR CHILDREN FOLLOW OUR COSTUME GUIDELINES…
Please do your best to see that your children follow these general school wide costume guidelines: (1) No weapons, facsimiles of weapons, or overly gory/scary costumes may come to school; (2) Costumes and makeup should NOT be worn to school as students will have the opportunity to apply that prior to our school parties; (3) Masks that are scary or impair vision may be worn during classroom parties but not during our parade unless pulled back and above the face; (4) Please choose school appropriate costumes and avoid adult-themes altogether or just save them for family trick-or-treating.
A DIFFERENT TWIST ON SEPTEMBER CAMP SHADY BROOK EXPERIENCE...
Our students had a delightful experience on all three of their sixth grade camp days. On Wednesday, Camp Shady Brook came to us to run four different blocks with our students: Ute tribe curriculum, team building and ground based initiatives, a station to tie dye our camp t-shirts, camp orientation, “Leave No Trace” and Q&A session. This was an incredibly fun and information filled day for our campers. If you’d like to see how amazing t-shirts turned out, please check our website site as I’ve posted some there. Thursday, we headed up to camp for a long and fulfilling day chock full of camp experiences. We arrived to camp and started right in on our typical camp blocks including: canoeing, climbing wall, high ropes course, survival skills, archery, axe throwing and slingshots (we completed the remaining blocks on Friday). The evening brought with it our singing repeat after me songs, our campfire & smores, and a night hike experience. Finally, Friday, we finished out our blocks and packed up to come home. Thank you to all who supported this cause whether that was at camp supporting our campers as staff and chaperones, or back at school holding down the fort. Please know all of it was greatly appreciated.
A FEW GENTLE BUT IMPORTANT SAFETY REMINDERS …
Student drop-off is NO EARLIER THAN 7:40am and pick-up is NO LATER THAN 3:05pm. These times coincide with teacher supervision and your children’s safety is a huge concern and our greatest priority. Additionally, students may only disembark from vehicles at yellow curbs and on the curbside (the school side) of your vehicle. When there are extenuating circumstances and you need to pick your child up late, please remember to call us so we don’t worry needlessly.
Weather is turning … be prepared for your children to go outside for most recesses. We believe getting fresh air and getting the wiggles out is essential for optimal student learning. Please label all of your child’s belongings so they can be quickly reclaimed when they land in our school’s “Lost and Found.”
FOR THE MOST UPDATED SCHOOL/CLASSROOM INFORMATION...
Please visit our school’s website @ pve.cmsd12.org and your teacher’s webpage. Our school calendar is current and updated weekly to keep you apprised of the latest happenings.
PVE SAFETY CORNER …
Thank you for doing your part to help keep our staff and students safe as they arrive and leave school each day! Please continue to symptom check your children at home before sending them to school. All of your communication and understanding has been greatly appreciated and is essential to our continued success in this realm. For your convenience, I have linked the symptom screener and “How Sick is Too Sick” documents here for you: How Sick is Too Sick
Additionally, we are in the middle of our annual “Safety Week” where each day of the week brings with it another opportunity to practice a different student response protocol. So far this week, we have run our evacuation to a separate location drill, and our shelter in place drill, which leaves us with our hold drill (previously referred to as lock out), our secure drill (previously referred to as reverse evacuation), and our lockdown drill. Hopefully, you’ve read your daily email blasts this week so that you can answer any pertinent questions your children may have.
PLEASE CHECK OUR LOST AND FOUND SOON...
We will have all of the belongings in our lost and found out, clearly marked, and on display during our parent/teacher conference days. Please take the time to stop by the tables and look for anything your child(ren) might be missing. Labeling your children’s clothing is an easy and effective way to avoid losing things, especially given how many layers are necessary here in Colorado.
HARVEST OF LOVE FOOD DRIVE COMING BACK IN NOVEMBER…
From November 1st to November 18th, our school will be collecting food for our Annual “Harvest of Love” food drive. More explicit information regarding food drive specifics will be coming home soon. We will be collecting food and/or cash donations again this year.
THIS YEAR’S WALK TO SCHOOL DAY WAS A HUGE SUCCESS …
We had a larger than expected turnout for our annual “Walk to School” Day which always makes the event that much more enjoyable. I’d like to thank Black Bear Coffee House and our PTO for working together so seamlessly to make this cherished event happen. I know it means a lot to our students and staff and it’s a fabulous way to promote personal fitness. THANK YOU!!!
IMPACT AID FORMS …
Please make sure you turn these back into school if you haven’t done so already. These important forms have everything to do with us receiving our funding for October Count Day. If you have lost your form, please call our front office and we will send another one home immediately. These forms should be in already, so please help make your child “count” make this a high priority if we don’t have your impact aid form(s) yet.
BOOKS, BOOKS, BOOKS - SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR RETURNING THIS YEAR ...
We are excited to once again able to host a Scholastic Book Fair during our parent/teacher conferences. The book fair will be up and running from Tuesday, October 25th through Friday, October 28th. Students will get a preview of books in the book fair prior to it officially opening for business. Please be on the lookout for book fair information that will be coming home soon.
PVE CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM …
Piñon Valley has a building crisis team that meets monthly. At this meeting, we review whatever was covered and discussed at the monthly D12 Crisis Team meeting. A member of our district’s security team always attends our building level meeting. Agendas can include security updates, standard response protocol reviews, table top practice scenarios, pertinent reminders, debriefings, and our annual crisis team task list. Recently, our crisis team completed and submitted our building vulnerability assessment. These monthly meetings are an ideal way to stay out ahead of the curve when it comes to the safety of our staff and students.
MINDFULNESS, AN IMPORTANT MISSION OF OUR STAFF …
Several of our staff are participating in The Mindfulness and Positivity Project coaching course for the fall. The MPP’s desire is to reach every school in the district and this is their third time offering the course to our PVE teachers and staff. This course meets for 45-minutes after school one day a week, for six consecutive weeks. In the past, we have found participation to positively impact everybody enrolled, and of course, that positivity is paid forward in our classrooms and programs in a variety of powerful ways.
WARM FALL WISHES …
May October, and fall, in general, bring only blessings to each of you and your families! At PVE, we are all looking extremely forward to putting our head and hearts together with yours in a few weeks to celebrate all of your children’s accomplishments at our upcoming parent/teacher conferences! Thank you for making this opportunity a priority. Know that it allows us to partner with you best.
With Deep Respect,
Robin Reintsema
PVE Principal
PVE school hours are 7:50am-2:50pm. Students cannot arrive earlier than 7:40am. At that time they will be led into the school & go directly to their assigned classroom & read quietly. If your child is sick, call the front office to report their absence by 8:30. If your child has an appointment during the school day, call the front office 15 minutes in advance & your child will be ready when you arrive. 527-0300
The Free Little Library outside the school always needs books. Please donate your books, take a book, and leave a book.
Please pay attention to our crosswalks and intersections where our crossing guards are assisting your children to and from school. Their sole purpose is to help children safely cross the street and remind drivers of the presence of pedestrians. They are trained to find a gap in the traffic and/or obey the rules at lighted intersections but not permitted to act as a traffic control officer directing vehicles in any way. Our crossing guards are committed and serve a vital role in our community. Thank them for their service!
This is a friendly reminder to send your child with the appropriate clothing for our ever changing Colorado weather. Please send hats, gloves, boots and a heavy coat because we will have outdoor recess if the temperature is 20 degrees or above. And always label their items so it does not end up in the lost and found.
Students with Allergies/Anaphylaxis
We in the Cheyenne Mountain School District understand that many students are diagnosed with potentially life-threatening allergies & anaphylaxis. To address this issue & meet state law requirements concerning the management of allergies & anaphylaxis among students, the Board of Education has adopted requirements for health care plans, reasonable accommodations, & access to emergency medications & staff training. For further information on these requirements, please refer to the Cheyenne Mountain Board of Education Policy Manual at www.cmsd12.org.
Piñon is a Pet Free Campus
Our school campus is pet free due to increasing numbers of student allergies and fears. Specifically, this means pets aren’t allowed inside our school or outside anywhere on campus throughout the school day. Please help us keep our children safe, happy, and comfortable by honoring this school policy. This will allow ALL of our children to start and end their school day without worry or illness.
All of the PVE Newsletters are posted on the PVE website each month.
If you require a hard copy of the newsletter, please let the front office know.
Cheyenne Mountain School District uses Safe2Tell which is an organization to help our students, parents & community members anonymously report any threatening behavior that endangers students, friends, family or community. Call 1-877-542 SAFE (7233) or visit safe2tell.org.
FERPA
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents and students certain rights with respect to education records. Complete information on FERPA can be access on the “Laws and Policies” page of the District 12 WebSite or a hard copy of this information is available in the school office upon request.
Birth to 5
Are you concerned about your infant, toddler or preschoolers development? CMSD provides Child Find services for families who reside in the school district & are concerned with their child’s development ages birth through 5 years of age. Child Find is the identification, assessment & determination of eligibility for services for students who may have a disability. If you have concerns about your child’s ability to communicate, learn, socialize, interact, see, hear or move, you are encouraged to call Linda Knight, Child Find Coordinator at 475-6140 or the district’s Student Services Office at 327-2823.
Ages 5 to 21
If you are concerned about your child’s ability to learn, communicate, socialize, interact, see, hear or move, you are encouraged to contact your school administrator to determine whether a Child Find is necessary in addressing your concerns. Child Find is the identification, assessment & determination of eligibility for services for students who may have a disability.
SPIRIT WEAR
Every Friday is Spirit Day! Send your child to school in their PVE duds or school colors!
Please put your child’s name in their coats, hats, gloves, water bottles & lunch boxes as our lost & found gets overflowing with these items.
Physical Education
Every student will participate in our Physical Education classes. We encourage students to be properly prepared on the days that they have PE by wearing appropriate tennis shoes and clothing that will allow for physical movement. The PE schedule is on the PVE website under Coach Johnson’s tab.