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11DEC | CHOIR PERFORMANCES - STUDENT ASSEMBLY @ 9am | FAMILY CONCERT @ 6pm

19DEC | NO SCHOOL - TEACHER WORK DAY

22DEC25-5JAN26 | WINTER BREAK

6JAN | 1ST DAY BACK FOR STUDENTS

9JAN | SPELLING BEE

15JAN | PSP RESTAURANT NIGHT - MOD PIZZA

19JAN | NO SCHOOL - MLK DAY

20JAN | PSP MEETING @ 5:30pm

THANK YOU!

A huge thank you from all of us at PSP for everone's support this year! Our events were a huge success because of you: book fair, fun run, keeping the staff lounge stocked, conference meals, fall festival, butter braids, donuts with grownups—and every single thing in between—we appreciate you!

JANUARY PSP MEETING

The next PSP meeting will be January 20th at 5:30pm in the LMC.

FROM STUDENT COUNCIL

At Cherokee Trail we focus on six traits, teaching and fostering them in our classrooms and school-wide in order to create learners who are strong academically and socially.
They are:

ENTHUSIASM * PERSEVERANCE * INTEGRITY * COURAGE * EMPATHY * RESPECT

Read more on the EPICER page!

In DECEMBER we will be reviewing the EPICER traits we’ve learned so far and thinking of ways to use them at school and at home!

LET YOUR GRATITUDE SHINE CTE!!

Students compiled a list of their gratitudes this season - take a look at all the many things we are grateful for ....

5TH GRADE

6TH GRADE

COUNSELING

SPECIALS

GIFTED & TALENTED

ACCESS FLYERS IN PEACHJAR

DEBORAH ORMSBY

Welcome back from Thanksgiving break and to the quickest three weeks of the year! The last several days, as I have talked with students, I have discovered that I am definitely not the only person in the world who doesn't like turkey. In fact a majority of students have told me, "eeeh turkey is. . . .ok." However, I will say kudos to my husband for smoking (and brining, seasoning, etc) the best turkey I have ever eaten.

As I write, it is snowing outside. And with the weather change I want to surface a couple of things that various school staff members have asked me to share with our community:

• When pulling in the school parking lot for pick up and drop off, please do not stop in the crosswalk. Please also watch out for students, families, and staff members who are in or getting ready to enter the crosswalk. We want to make sure no one gets hit or hurt.
• If you are walking your student(s) to or from school, please wait for one of the EAs to help with crossing the street. It becomes confusing for drivers and students who are not accompanied by an adult when other students and adults are crossing without the "crossing guard."
• When in the carpool line, students should only leave or enter your car if you are in the lane closest to the building. Please do not let your child out in the lane furthest from the building or ask them to cross traffic to get into your car at the end of the day. Asking your child to cross traffic to or from your car is a dangerous situation, and we want to ensure that all students are safe.
• We have noticed a rise in families checking out their student(s) between 3:10 and 3:30. We recognize that sometimes students have appointments or other obligations necessitating that. However, this time is when students are summing up their day, ensuring they have everything they need to bring home, etc. We are requesting that students only be checked out during this time for things like appointments, or other obligations - not to avoid the after school traffic, avoiding the busy school hallways, etc.

As I write this, we are literally a week and a half away from Winter break. This time of year is magical but also extremely stressful for so many people. I love all of the lights outside and the spirit of the holidays but at the same time, I notice stress builds up, and it really affects people. Here at school, we are almost finished with our winter testing, and I think our students will be happy when it is all over. We have seen so many successes and so much growth in our students, and it makes us feel like our jobs really do matter. Having said that, our teachers are spending a ton of time pouring over their data to try and figure out the best path forward for their students. We are meeting tomorrow with all of our grade-level teams to discuss any and all ways to support our students moving into the new year.

On the home front, things have been really, really quiet. This past weekend, I literally spent an entire weekend without saying a single word out loud. I was outside a lot and hiked a lot and truly didn't come in contact with very many people ... and by Sunday night, I was cleaning up and realized that I hadn't spoken a word to anyone. It was really weird. And then of course I went down the rabbit hole as to when in the last 51 years I hadn't spoken to anyone in this many days: ....

That did remind me of when I was in college. I went to Oregon State University for my freshman year, and I truly hated it. I was not prepared to be that far from home for that long, and I was definitely not prepared for it to rain for 8 straight months. I was miserable while I was there, and I wore my hat (pulled low on my head) and my rain jacket every single day, and I think I probably went weeks without talking to anyone simply because I didn't know anyone and lacked the skills to make any friends. For those of you who know me, I clearly got through that phase in my life, as I frequently get in trouble for talking too much now. Anyway, we are scraping the bottom of the barrel for good stories these days. When your daughter is away at college, the level of funny things that happen to you reduces dramatically. She will be home in about a week, so I guess I should have some good stories coming up. Thank goodness!!

That is it for this week's episode, stay tuned for next week when the Principal Chronicles continue ....

NONDISCRIMINATION NOTICE: The Douglas County School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, religion, national origin, ancestry, creed, age, marital status, genetic information, or physical characteristics, disability or need for special education services in admissions, access to, treatment of, or employment in educational programs or activities. The School District’s Compliance Officer is Ted Knight, Assistant Superintendent, 620 Wilcox Street, Castle Rock, Colorado, complianceofficer@dcsdk12.org, 303-387-0067. Complaint procedures have been established for students, parents, employees, and members of the public.

Email: anna.hylton@dcsdk12.org
Website: cte.dcsdk12.org
Location: 17302 Clarke Farms Drive, Parker, CO, USA
Phone: 3033878125
Facebook: facebook.com/ctestallions