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Southmoor Elementary

Priincipal Post for November 2024

11/01/24, 11:02 AM

 

PRINCIPAL POST

                                                                          NOVEMBER 2024

 

Dear Southmoor Families,

I want to express my deep gratitude to each of you for being a valuable part of our school community. Your dedication, involvement, and support help make Southmoor a joyful, safe, and inclusive space where every child feels welcomed and valued. Through your partnership, we bring our vision to life, as we work together to build a school that sees and celebrates the diverse perspectives and experiences each of us brings.

Our shared beliefs and collective practices are having a meaningful impact on our students. Every day, your trust and involvement reinforce the positive, supportive environment in which our students thrive. Thank you for your grace and understanding as I step away to enrich my leadership through professional learning. While away, I’m proud to see our staff and leaders demonstrating their integrity, responsibility, and commitment, working tirelessly to ensure our students and families feel supported and engaged.

As part of my learning journey, I would like to share a poem that captures my stance as a leader in service to our community. This poem reflects my commitment to lead with purpose, compassion, and an open heart for each of you and all our students.

Thank you for your continued partnership and for being an integral part of the Southmoor community. Together, we are building a school that celebrates every child’s potential and prepares them for a bright future.

In service of the most important person in the world - YOUR CHILD, 

 

Jonell Pineda

Principal

Southmoor Elementary School

3755 South Magnolia Way, Denver, CO 80237

720-424-3930 | Fax: 720-424-3955



CELEBRATIONS

 

  • Evyenia Pappas and Bethany Gensrich together with our paraprofessionals Lara Ledezma, Melissa Hartman, Miranda Bandy, and Sara Crippen for having started our intervention program for both Reading and Math serving a total of 12 Reading groups and 6 Math groups across all grade levels.   

  • Jacqueline Person and Elena Saenz for supporting our work in enriching our students' social-emotional learning, implementing restorative practices that enable our students to engage in collaborative problem-solving, and most importantly, building their skill set in increasing their social-emotional competence.

  • Laura Eley, a DPS Partner,  for leading our work in Career Development with our students. Click HERE to learn more about her work.   

  • Southmoor PTO for engaging the families with a variety of events such as Parents at the Park and more and for the school projects like Chromebook cart projects to support our proper storage of student devices.   

  • Southmoor CSC and families for engaging in meaningful conversations during the Fall Forum.  Click HERE for the agenda.   

  • Michelle Nelson in coordination with Stacey Grapengator and the support of our Parent Volunteers for leading and supporting the Clothing Drive. 

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

  • Weather-Appropriate Clothing:  As we move from fall into winter, please help your children stay comfortable and prepared for the colder weather by ensuring they come to school with warm, weather-appropriate clothing. Layers, hats, gloves, and coats will help them stay cozy during outdoor activities and transitions throughout the day. 

  • Thanksgiving Lunch:  We are excited to welcome you on Wednesday, November 20, 2024, as you join your child for Thanksgiving lunch.  Please take note of the details below if you would like to be a part of this event. We only have 160 tickets available for the family dinner. Tickets will be sold on a first-come first-serve basis.

    • Menu: Roast Turkey, Whipped Potatoes with Gravy, Bread dressing, Fruit, Cranberries, Dinner Roll, Sweet Potato Cake, With Cream Cheese Frosting

    • Tickets: You may purchase lunch tickets in the main office. CASH ONLY - $6.00 for non-DPS students (children)  and $7.00 for adults. Tickets can be sent home with your student or you can pick them up from the main office.   We encourage everyone to reserve their tickets in advance. Reservations Due by November 6th

    • Lunch Schedule: 

      • 10:20-10:40    Brown, Burnett, Gichuru (K)                                          

      • 10:45-11:05    Henninger, Borick, Brettler, Waters (ECE & 1st) 

      • 11:05-11:25    Peleg, Berry, Coursey   (4th)                                                   

      • 11:30-11:50    Christou, Haydon, Ryder (2nd)                                

      • 11:50-12:10    Thornes, Stockton, Ripley (3rd) 

      • 12:15-12:35    Riley, Wei (5th)

  • Family Teacher Conferences:  We are excited to invite you to our upcoming Family Teacher Conferences taking place during the week of November 11-15, 2024. These conferences are a valuable opportunity to learn more about your child’s progress, celebrate their achievements, and discuss meaningful ways to partner with our teachers to support their success.  During your conference, we encourage you to ask questions that provide insight into your child's academic growth, social development, and engagement in the classroom. Topics such as how your child is interacting with peers, their strengths in different subject areas, and areas for improvement are great starting points. You may also ask the teacher for specific ways you can reinforce learning at home, and work together to set achievable goals for your child.  To ensure our conversations are accessible to all, interpretation services are available. If you would like an interpreter to assist in your conference, please reach out directly to your child’s teacher to request in advance.

 

  • Scholastic Book Fair: It's almost time for the Southmoor's Scholastic Book Fair! Do you remember the anticipation for book fairs at your school? And on that glorious day--the smell of the books, the pens, the novelty items... the intense negotiations! Your eager readers now need to create their memories, too--and you need to be there (for emotional and financial support... of course). Here are the details:

 

The best part is that the benefits of this event extend beyond our children. Up to 50% of the sales proceeds go to replenishing Southmoor Elementary's well-loved library books and for books for children in need within our school. Last year the generous families of Southmoor helped us reach both of these goals!

Due to the positive feedback we received last year, the event will once again be held during Fall Conferences during evening hours to accommodate our busy families. So, if you are looking to pick up a few books on the sly for Christmas or want to enjoy a little extra family time perusing the new titles, this could be your perfect opportunity! Additionally, we will have coloring stations in the hallway near the library where you can temporarily drop your child/children while you attend conferences.

Of course, this is contingent upon our ability to get volunteers, so find the Signup Genius and background check links above! We currently have ~3 hr. time slots, but we can accommodate your schedule if needed. One note: you will need to pass a quick background check (using the link above) before arriving for your shift, but it will allow you access to any future Southmoor volunteer efforts for a full school year.

Finally, we have all of the teachers' eWallets created to simplify the process. The link for their eWallets is listed above, along with the link for the Scholastic Book Fair itself, where you can set up an eWallet for your student as well (just scroll down a bit to find the link). If you have any questions, please contact Nicole Berry at 303.564.0364. See you at Southmoor's Book Fair!

  • Parent Education Series:  We’re excited to announce an upcoming Parent Education Series designed to support you in helping your children thrive at school! This series will cover a variety of topics focused on enhancing student success. To help us tailor this series to best meet your needs, please take a moment to read the topic descriptions and complete a brief survey. Your input will be invaluable to the Southmoor Community Partnership as we develop a plan moving forward.

  • WE LOVE OUR VOLUNTEERS!  There are many ways for parents and family members to be involved in our school. For volunteer opportunities and to sign up please check in with your student's teacher or our amazing PTO who are always looking for volunteers.  If you will be in the classroom working with students, chaperoning a field trip, or helping with a special event at school a background check is necessary. Visitors who are here for school functions, parties, etc. will not be required to have a background check. These background checks are good for 1 calendar year and will have to be re-submitted every year for updated information. Reminder: All volunteers no matter how big or small their roles are must have a current volunteer background check on file. https://equity.dpsk12.org/get-involved/volunteer-services/

*GOOD DEED CODE: We do not publish the Good Deed Code, so we direct volunteers to start at the DPS Volunteer Services website.  The purple Volunteer Background Check Portal tab is hyperlinked to the Sterling Volunteers DPS prepaid account landing page.  When using this link, payment is not required. If you are having trouble with the application please contact Sterling Volunteers directly for assistance. All of their information is on the application page. 

 

MONTHLY EVENTS 

 

NOVEMBER

1 Non-Student contact day | NO SCHOOL

4-8 Monthly IStation Progress Monitoring

5 PTO Meeting (6:00 pm)

8           Picture Retakes

8 RRCK’n Moose - Willy Wonka

8 Fall Picture Retakes

11-15 Family/Teacher Conferences

11-15 Scholastic Book Fair

TBD Community Dine Out:

21 Southmoor Student Awards

TBD Middle School Night

15 RRCK’n Moose - Cartoon Character

19 Family Board Game Night #1

22 RRCK’n Moose - Turkey Trot Fun Run

25-29 Thanksgiving Break | NO SCHOOL

TBD Community Dine Out

 

 

 

RESOURCES   

 

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