CFL April Family Newsletter

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As we head into the final stretch of the school year, we will be taking a close look at our most recent data to ensure our instruction remains focused and that students continue making strong progress in both ELA and math. With just over eight weeks remaining, this is also a meaningful time for both students and staff to reflect on the incredible growth and accomplishments achieved throughout the year.

I am so proud of all that our students have accomplished, and I want to sincerely thank our teachers for their continued dedication, support, and encouragement. Their commitment to nurturing students’ academic, social, and emotional growth makes a lasting impact each and every day. This work is truly a team effort, and our partnership with families is essential in helping students build strong character, make thoughtful choices, and show kindness toward others.

Please continue to stay connected with your child’s teacher, especially if there are things at home that may be impacting your child’s school experience. If a teacher reaches out to schedule a meeting, we encourage you to take that opportunity to show your child that we are all working together and deeply value their success and well-being.

I look forward to all that these final weeks will bring. Wishing you and your family a wonderful spring season!

Sincerely,

Kim Frees

Principal

Dear Preschool Families,

Thank you for being actively involved in our Family Math Learning!! We truly appreciate the time you are taking at home to support your child’s foundational math skills. These include oral counting to 20, understanding groups and how they connect to number names, and recognizing and identifying numbers. These early math skills are incredibly important and help set your child up for success as they transition to kindergarten or continue another year in preschool.

As we continue building these skills, one great next step is practicing subitizing. This is when children can instantly recognize how many items are in a small group without counting. You can practice this at home in fun, simple ways—try holding up fingers and having your child quickly say how many, or use dice to show a number and have them identify it right away.

In addition to math, we are seeing wonderful growth in letter recognition and letter sounds! You can support this at home by asking your child to name letters they see around the house or in the environment (on signs, books, or labels). As your child prepares for kindergarten, it is helpful for them to know the letters and sounds in their name.

We have also started an exciting new unit on Pets! Your child will be learning about different types of pets and how to take care of them. This is a great opportunity to start conversations at home—ask your child what they are learning and what they know about caring for animals.

We will be announcing details soon for our Preschool Family Engagement Celebration—we can’t wait to share that with you!

Thank you again for your continued support and partnership. If you have any feedback or questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Warmly,
Ms. Hills
Preschool Director

🎨🖍️🖌️📚🍎🚌🎨🖍️🖌️📚🍎🚌🎨🖍️🖌️📚🍎🚌🎨🖍️🖌️📚🍎🚌🎨🖍️🖌️📚

Our final DIBELS benchmark assessment will take place during the week of April 28. Recently, our staff participated in coaching provided by the Colorado Department of Education to strengthen our understanding of this assessment and enhance instructional practices to support student achievement.

Teachers have been using DIBELS data to identify one specific skill area for each student and are engaging in targeted, explicit small-group instruction to support growth in these areas. Our school-wide goal is to increase PSF (phonemic segmentation fluency) by 10%.

How to Help at Home:

• Practice listening for sounds in words (for example, ask your child to say the sounds they hear in simple words like cat or dog).

• Read together daily and talk about the sounds letters make.

• Play simple word games, such as rhyming or breaking words into parts.

Your student’s benchmark results will be shared with you during our May parent-teacher conferences.

Be on the look out for order forms in Wednesday Folders

Spring Parent-Teacher Conferences are scheduled for April 6th. During this time, we will share updates on your child’s learning and progress. These meetings provide an important opportunity for us to have meaningful conversations about your child’s academic and behavioral growth. If you receive an invitation, it means we will be discussing your child’s READ Plan, ELD progress, or academic performance. Please note that not all families will be scheduled for a conference during this session.

April

• April 3rd ~Spring Pictures
• April 6th ~ Conferences, Read Act Parent Meetings~Invite only
• April 20th PK Round Up 9:30-11:30
• April 22 Bus Driver Appreciation Day
• April 24th Coffee with the Principals

May

• May 4th Student Led Conferences
• May 5th-8th Teacher Appreciation Week
• May 5th Cinco de Mayo
• May 11th Student Led Conferences
• May 10th Mother's Day
• May 23rd GVHS Graduation
• May 28th Field Day
• May 28th Last day of school

Email: kfrees@garfield16.org
Website: https://cfl.garfield16.org/
Location: 100 E 2nd St, Parachute, CO 81635, USA
Phone: 970-285-5702