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Dear Sunset Families,

What a 3rd quarter of school we have had here at Sunset! Every day is filled with learning, experiences, and joy. With the most amazing staff and students, we accomplish so much because our strong and positive school culture ensures everyone feels supported to work hard and try new things. In just 3rd quarter we have:

· Played our Student vs. Staff basketball game,

· Enjoyed using our new Book Vending Machine,

· Celebrated with students meeting Math and Reading goals in class,

· Celebrated our VEX team taking 2nd in the State Competition,

· Celebrated many wrestling medal winners,

· Cheered on our girls’ basketball,

· Supported 8th graders starting their Community Project,

· Enjoyed the Spring Play,

· Handed out over 500 academic awards and played fun games at the January assembly,

· Recognized Honor and All State musicians,

· Engaged with NJHS guest speakers,

· Raised money for Wish Week,

· Took 8th graders to visit the CU Boulder campus, and

· Took a UMS English class field trip to learn about local history,

It takes an entire community to have a school this spectacular. Thank you parents/guardians for all of your support and for your amazing children we get to teach and enjoy every day.

Sincerely,

Alicia Bono; Principal

Thanks for joining us on Wednesday for Volunteer Night! We’re excited to start planning our Spring events!

Click to read this week’s full update: https://www.sunsetpac.org/communications/weekly-newsletter

https://www.sunsetpac.org/

This program is FREE for families! Through STEM Accelerator Project Launch, students will strengthen their math skills and engage in project-based STEM activities during this 16-day summer experience. Click here for the registration form and all the details!

Dates and Times:

June 2 - June 26

Monday - Thursday each week

7:45 AM to 1:45 PM

In addition, the Yearbook Journalism competition season has started with several student journalists entering our national photo contest! Our book will also be submitted to the State competitions for our writing and reporting.

French 2 students are expanding their language skills and cultural horizons through a pen pal exchange with students in France! They've been busy writing letters, sharing about their lives and learning about their French counterparts. This exciting project fosters not only language practice but also creates lasting intercultural connections.

French students are embarking on a musical adventure! We're participating in Manie Musicale, a fun and engaging French music competition where students listen to and vote on their favorite French songs. It's a fantastic way to learn about Francophone culture, expand vocabulary, and discover new artists. There are some fantastic French songs, a variety of artists from the Francophone world, and a fun competition as our students decide which song will be crowned the Manie Musicale champion!

It was another great quarter for our STEM Accelerator program! In addition to ongoing support with math skills, students engaged in some exciting design activities. Highlights included: coding with MicroBits, creating a marble slide roller coaster, conquering several math escape rooms, designing a prosthetic arm in a CU-Science Discovery workshop, and working weekly with CU-Boulder science students on fun thermodynamics experiments. We partnered with St. Vrain’s Innovation Center for a visit from their Cyber Security mobile lab and also did a field trip there where students built underwater robots. STEM Accelerator continues to meet on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays after school from 2:30 to 4:10 PM through April 17th. Snacks and transportation are provided at no cost to families. We’d love to have your student join us for this last session!

6th and 7/8th grade tournaments concluded recently and we had a great season!

6th grade: Israel Herrera and Francisco Perez-Carlos finished 3rd; Emiliano Lara Vaca finished 2nd.

7/8th grade: Kenia Martinez and Mika Harney finished 4th; Ezra Fine finished 3rd and Brandon Paez Aguilar finished 2nd.

Spartanbots had a fantastic season. One team, The Cookers, qualified for state based on the team championship match at Soaring Heights. The Cookers consists of Jasiel (6th), Israel (6th), and Angel (7th). The Cookers competed at the State level on February 28 at Trail Ridge in Longmont. They improved their Skill score by 48 points which pushed them up to the top 10% in the State overall and the top 7% in the state for their autonomous score. In the teamwork matches, they qualified for the finals in State competition where they scored a 95 which placed them in a tie for 2nd place in the State Championship. So proud all of our robotics teams!

What a hilarious and spectacular performance of Hamlette! We had two sold out dates! Thank you to everyone who showed up to support our young actors from SMS.

Thank you Ms. Balman for getting us a book vending machine

and for allowing us to earn tokens to get free books!

🎉🎊🎉

NJHS student leaders had the honor of hosting Colorado Governor Jared Polis via zoom. They were able to ask questions and get advice about being involved in our community.

Silver Creek Leadership Academy Student Ella Perry, in partnership with the Peter Fund, leads a lesson on the importance of kindness for 6th and 8th grade students.

6th grade Lang and Lit students participated in their annual Valentine's Day Breakout in the library! With the help of the Marvelous Ms. Balman, students worked together to find artifacts, solve puzzles, and figure out clues in order to "breakout" of their lock box. They collaborated, critically thought, and persevered through difficult challenges and even got a special surprise at the end!

Spelling Bee: The entire school competed in a classroom-style spelling bee in January. The top students were invited to the School Spelling Bee on February 6. On February 16, 12 students competed to represent our school at the regional level. In round 8, Cooper Edwards solidified his win spelling the champion word: impeccable. He will be representing Sunset on March 15 at the regional Spelling Bee in Boulder. Good Luck Cooper!

For 6th grade students who participated in the January reading challenge, the reward was a class party in the library, complete with Wendy's Frosty's provided by Ms. Balman!

Field trip! We took all the 7th and 8th grade music students to the Colorado Symphony on February 3. We all had such a good time!

We attended the CHSAA Mariachi Festival on March 1 at Skyline High School!

The mariachi students did an excellent job at representing their school and received

positive feedback from all judges.

Show Choir attended the SVVSD Middle School Choral Festival at Frederick High School on Monday, March 11. We got to hear performances from other SVVSD schools, work with a clinician on our songs, and participate in live looping and large group activities. The students had a great time and received wonderful feedback from the clinician!

Showing up for school has a huge impact on a student's academic success starting in kindergarten and continuing through high school. Even as children grow older and more independent, families play a key role in making sure students get to school safely every day and understand why attendance is so important for success in life.

We realize some absences are unavoidable due to health problems or other circumstances. But, we also know that when students miss too much school, regardless of the reason, it can cause them to fall behind academically. Your child is less likely to succeed if he or she is chronically absent. Research shows:

• By 6th grade, chronic absence is a proven early warning sign for students at risk for dropping out of school.
• By 9th grade, good attendance can predict graduation rates even better than 8th grade test scores.

Student Fees are added to student accounts in Infinite Campus. To pay a fee online click here for a direct link to Infinite Campus. You may also pay with a check or exact cash in our main office.

If you have any questions pleas call (303) 776 3963.

• March 17th - 21st Spring Break

• March 26th - Cafecito

• April 28th - Non-Student Contact Day

• May 6th - Band Concert

• May 7th - Choir Concert

• May 8th - Orchestra/Mariachi Concert

• May 21st - 8th grade Continuation at 1:00PM

• May 22nd - Last day of school