PLE Updates

August 27, 2026

Pine Lane Crew,

This week, I want to highlight the work our incredible teachers are doing. Last Friday, we had our first late-start day. As a community, I believe it is important for you all to understand how our Pine Lane Crew is prioritizing this time and making sure that it has an impact on your child.

This time affords our whole staff the ability to collaborate on school goals, analyze data, ensure system alignment, and drive instructional best practices. This year we are focusing specifically on communication skills across content areas. Our goal is to continue to improve our students' writing ability through a very targeted framework. You will hear the following terms and acronyms from your child: “Self Talk,” “Do/What?” “GIST,” TIDE, and CSPACE. The goal is to give students a simple and clear framework to use for communication and comprehension in any subject area. Our time on Friday is focused on this work and will result in more targeted, aligned, and effective instruction. We greatly appreciate the adjustments you all have made to help make this time a priority.

As we move into the year, we want to also encourage you to get involved in our community. We have an incredible Pine Lane Educational Alliance that leads the charge on planning community events and fundraising events. Last year, we were able to raise over $30,000 to put toward playground improvements. We are working now to get a solid plan for how to use those funds. We are so grateful! Next week, they will be hosting our Bear Brunch, which is a great opportunity to connect with other families from your child's class. And soon, we will be kicking off the BEAR Crawl, our primary fundraising effort, which culminates in an amazing day. They have some incredible things planned. This is a great group of fun people. Please check out their website (PLEA - Welcome!) and consider getting involved.

Again, I thank you for your support and collaboration as we get the year underway. I do wish the weather cycle would shift so we are not always wondering if it is going to be a lightning dismissal. Thank you for your patience with us.

Have a wonderful Friday and weekend!

Chris Stairs

Principal

Pine Lane Elementary

Important Dates

AUGUST

27 | Band and Orchestra Rental Night at Mammoth Heights Elementary
28 | Friday Delayed Start | Start time: 9:55am

SEPTEMBER

1&2 | SC Vision & Hearing Checks
2 | PLEA Bear Brunch 8 - 9am
3 | NC Vision & Hearing Checks
3 | 5th/6th Grade PLUM Parent Mtg
4 | Friday Delayed Start | Start time: 9:55am
7 | No School Labor Day
9 | SAC Meeting
11 | Friday Delayed Start | Start time: 9:55am
18 | Friday Delayed Start | Start time: 9:55am
18 | PLEA Bear Crawl
21 | No School for Students - PD day for staff
24 | PLEA Spirit Night at Chick Fil a
25 | Friday Delayed Start | Start time: 9:55am
28 | StuCO Chap Homecoming Parade

DCSD 26/27 Calendar

Bus Cancellations

🚌 Bus Cancellation Reminders

The week your student’s bus is cancelled, please make sure to update your student’s dismissal plan in PikMyKid.

If your student normally rides the bus, change their dismissal to Car Line or Walker.
If another adult will be picking up your student, be sure to delegate that person in PikMyKid.
All dismissal changes must be completed by 3:30 PM.
The office is always happy to help with dismissal changes; however, last-minute changes at 4:00 PM, when dismissal has already started, are very challenging.

⚠️ If you do not update your student’s dismissal plan, it could result in an unexpected trip to the school to pick up your student.

Thank you for helping us keep dismissal safe, organized, and running smoothly for everyone!

Due to a shortage of bus drivers there is a weekly rotation of bus cancellations. Please make sure to update how your student will go home on the weeks their bus is cancelled in Pik My Kid.

Currently cancellations are only posted through Nov. 6th

DCSD Bus Cancellations for the 26/27 School Year

Cancelled :

September 21 -25
October 26 - 30

Cancelled

August 31 - Sept 4
September 28 - Oct 2
November 2- 6

Cancelled

September 8 - 11
October 5 - 9

Car Line Safety

A Quick Note from the Car Line Team

Help us keep drop-off safe, smooth, and moving efficiently every morning! Please take a moment to review our car line guidelines:

Unload Where You Stop: Pull all the way forward and let your child out at whichever station your car stops. Rain, snow, heat, or shine, all students can safely walk along the sidewalk to either the North or South building from any spot in the car line. Moving forward keeps traffic from backing up.
Stay in the Driver's Seat: Drivers and passengers, please remain inside your vehicle at all times. Ensure your children have their backpacks, water bottles, and all items ready, seatbelts unbuckled, and are ready to hop out as soon as you come to a complete stop at the station.
Door Opening: Our staff will often be on hand to open car doors, but students can open their own doors and step out to keep things moving.
Need Extra Time for Hugs? If your morning routine includes a longer goodbye, unbuckling a tricky car seat, or getting in one last big hug, the car line isn't the best fit. Please park in a designated parking space and walk your child up to the front doors instead.

I appreciate your cooperation in keeping our students safe and our morning line moving!

Dress Code

Pine Lane Elementary Dress Code Reminder

At Pine Lane Elementary, we pride ourselves on the appearance of our facility, students, and staff. Our dress requirements reflect our belief that school is a dedicated place for teaching and learning. Please review the key expectations from our student handbook below:

Tops & Shirts: Must reach the belt line or be long enough to tuck in. Midriffs must remain fully covered.
Pants, Shorts, & Skirts: Pants and shorts must be worn at the waistline with no visible undergarments. Skirts and shorts should be a reasonable length (mid-thigh length is a helpful guide).
Footwear: Tennis shoes are strongly recommended for PE class and daily playground activities.
Prohibited Items: Hats and costume-like apparel are not permitted outside of designated spirit days. Apparel with emblems, symbols, or graphics promoting alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or illegal activity is strictly prohibited, as is any clothing that disrupts the learning environment.

What Happens If There Is a Violation?

First Steps: We will send a paper reminder home to notify you.
Alternative Clothing: The school may provide your child with a temporary change of clothes (such as a school T-shirt) to wear for the day. Please wash and return any borrowed school clothing the following school day.
Parent Contact: In some cases, staff may call home so a parent or guardian can bring a proper change of clothes.

Thank you for partnering with us to maintain a focused, respectful learning environment for all students!

Color Week for our Kinde Crew!

Help our Kindergarten Crew learn their colors! 🌈

Students can practice their colors by wearing the designated color on the days below. Let’s have some fun learning our colors together! 💚💛🩷💙

PLEA PTO

Bear Crawl Color Run Coming Soon!

Complete details and schedule coming soon!

🐻☕ BEAR BRUNCH IS COMING! 🥐🍩

Join us for one of our favorite PLE traditions! 💚

📅 Wednesday, September 2

⏰ 8:00–8:55 AM

📍 Pine Lane Elementary

Bring the whole family and enjoy a delicious morning with donuts, pastries, coffee, and juice! 🍩🥐☕🧃

✨ Drop by when you can!

Just remember to stay with your students until the bell rings at 8:55 AM.

Let’s kick off the morning together, connect with our PLE community, and enjoy some yummy treats! 🐻

Restaurant Spirit Nights

Coming in September!

Chick fil-et on the 24th!

PLEA receives a portion of profits back from all Spirit/Restaurant Nights which will go towards the general fund for playground improvements

Join Our BAND App

As always, feel free to connect with our PTO group, Pine Lane Educational Alliance, via email at pleabears@gmail.com or by joining The Band app using this link: https://band.us/n/aaacb479N4c1o, or click on the PLEA image.

School Assessment Coordinator

Welcome to the 2026–27 school year! Jene’t Pappalardo, is serving as Pine Lane Elementary’s School Assessment Coordinator (SAC) this year.

Please review her Welcome Letter and detail information here: PLE State Mandated Testing

Band and Orchestra Rental Night

The rental night will be Thursday, August 27 from 6:15-7:45pm at Mammoth Heights Elementary. It's a drop-in meeting where students can try the instruments again and rent one from a reputable music company. They can also meet their band or orchestra teacher and ask questions.

If the parents cannot attend, they can send questions to their teacher:

Band: Mary Mixter (marymixtermusic@gmail.com)
Orchestra: Dian Petersen (dianjpetersen@gmail.com)

They can visit dcyo-eim.org for details, registration links, and for info about scholarship instruments and financial assistance.

We recommend these music stores for renting an instrument:

Golden Music: 10395 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood, CO 80215, (303) 279-1111
Music & Arts: 8475 S Yosemite St Suite B, Lone Tree, CO 80124, (303) 799-1253

Quick Links

Snack Purchases Students 🍎

We are asking our families to please add funds to your student’s MySchoolBucks account for any snacks they may want to purchase after they eat lunch.

Adding funds to your student’s account helps ensure that you are aware of and able to monitor the snacks your student is purchasing at school.

Thank you for helping us make snack purchases easy and transparent for our families!

— Kitchen Manager

Communications - Stay Informed

Linked below is a year-long calendar for your reference and planning:

2026-2027 PIne Lane Year Long Calendar (Highlighted Items are not finalized).

If you utilize Google Calendar, you can also subscribe to our PLE Events Calendar
Please familiarize yourself with our PLE Website.
You can also stay informed through social media via Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, and Twitter.
Our community has also created a group on Facebook called Pine Lane Families; this group is a very helpful community and they are very responsive.

📣 Not Receiving Communication?

If you are not receiving school or district communications, please follow the steps below to make sure your contact information and communication preferences are set up correctly.

Log in to the Infinite Campus Parent Portal.
Click the “person” icon in the top-right corner.
Select “Settings.”
Review your contact information and communication preferences.
If you see an incorrect phone number or email address, update your information in Infinite Campus.
If you are unable to make the change, please contact your child’s school registrar to request an update.

Infinite Campus Parent Portal

Please take a moment to verify your information so you don’t miss important school and district updates!