PCK Weekly Newsletter

You may recall that last year, several of our dedicated students from grades 2nd-8th, helped enhance our campus by planting wildflowers along the northern side of the school. Students from these grades participated in planting, digging, and weeding to make our school habitable for these wildlfowers. Over the summer, those flowers blossomed into a vibrant, living butterfly way station.

Much like a school, a wildflower garden is a place of growth, diversity, and transformation. Each flower starts as a small seed, nurtured by care and attention, just as students grow with guidance and support. Together, they create something beautiful, purposeful, and full of life.

We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to the students who brought this project to life and invite our community to enjoy the results of their hard work. We look forward to seeing these wildflowers return year after year, continuing to inspire and brighten our campus, just as our students do.

Dear Families,

It’s such a joy to welcome you back for another year of learning, growth, and community. The start of the school year is always filled with excitement—fresh notebooks, new friendships, and the promise of great things ahead. Our building has been buzzing with excitement, warm greetings, and tales of summer adventures.

This year, we are focusing on the collective effort that together as a team we can create. Together, we have the opportunity to create an environment where every student can thrive.

Here are five tips to help set your child up for a successful year:

1. Establish Routines Early – A consistent bedtime, morning schedule ensuring arrival before 7:55 a.m., and focused homework time give kids a sense of stability and readiness for learning.

2. Create a Homework-Friendly Space – Even a small, quiet corner stocked with basic supplies can help students focus and take pride in their work. Homework should be a focused time to ensure that students are accomplishing work in a timely manner that allows for extracurriculars or free play after homework.

3. Read Every Day – Whether it’s a bedtime story or a shared article, daily reading builds vocabulary, comprehension, and curiosity. Students' oral comprehension does not match their reading comprehension until after 8th grade! Please continue to read to your child through 8th grade.

4. Communicate Regularly – Keep in touch with teachers and check school updates. A strong home–school partnership supports your child’s success. Please make sure you have the Infinite Campus app downloaded to see student updates.

5. Talk About School in a Positive Light – Children take cues from the adults around them. Speaking positively about school helps them feel confident, excited, and ready to learn.

Let’s work together to make this year one filled with growth, a love of learning, and achievement for your student. Thank you for being such an essential part of our school community—I can’t wait to see what we accomplish together!

Warmly,

Breanna Warburton

Hello PCK Families,

Welcome back! I hope everyone had an amazing summer and are ready and excited to start up the school year! For those of you who were here last year, hello! For those who are new to the PCK family, my name is Deputy Sandifer and I am the school resource officer (SRO) at PCK. I wanted to introduce myself so you know a bit about me and my role in the school.

The SRO assignment is meant to be more than just being a police officer assigned to a school. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office follows the National Association of SRO's standards which is that we are expected to fill three roles in the school: law enforcement, educator, and mentor/informal counselor. While my priority is always the safety of students and staff, I am also expected to fill the other roles whenever possible. How I do this is building relationships with the kids, staff, and parents so I can be a trusted person in the building who the kids and parents can come to if they need help or support. Kids will often see me in the hallways, at lunch and recess, and in the classrooms, taking tests or teaching a variety of classes. I’m also known for playing rock, paper, scissors for stickers 😊.

One of the biggest questions I get is what involvement I have with the students when there is an incident. I ask that parents review the PCK Behavior Matrix which details the types of incidents the administration will notify or partner with me on. In the event that I speak with your child in any official capacity, you will be notified promptly. The most common outcome of my involvement is to take an educational position for the student to succeed moving forward, as well as partnering with parents to ensure everyone is on the same page and we can be united for the success of the student.

If you have any questions for me or would like clarification on any of the roles I play in the school, please don’t hesitate to reach out. My school email is SRO@ckcs.net and my Sheriff’s office email is lsandifer@dcsheriff.net. If you ever need to speak with me immediately, please contact the school and they will notify me directly. I am always willing to have sit downs with parents and/or students.

I’m looking forward to a great year! Stay healthy, happy, and safe!

Deputy Sandifer

We can't wait to see all of our families at our inaugural Back to School Nights on August 27 and 28. Please refer to the schedule below to find your child’s grade-level presentation. Each grade level will have two sessions for their Back to School Night. One will be from their classroom teacher, and the other from our administration team.

We’ve compiled a list of school fees associated with each grade level for the 2025–26 school year, along with a calendar of optional contributions and events that families will have the opportunity to participate in throughout the year.

Our goal is to provide this information in advance so families can plan ahead and decide which events they’d like to contribute to or be involved with. By sharing this early, we hope to make families feel more prepared and to help reduce any event fatigue that may arise during the year.

Any amount families are able to contribute to these optional events is greatly appreciated by the school and our volunteer organizations. Your support plays a vital role in making these experiences successful and memorable for our students.

If you would like to access the online document of the form, please click the button below.

Picture Day is coming up soon for our K–5 students on Monday, August 18.

We would like to kindly remind all parents of K-5 students that students must be in their uniform, and are more than welcome to dress up for their photo. However, they are not permitted to dress down for the occasion.

If you have any questions about picture day, please reach out to Ms. Mace via email.

As we settle into our routine, we’d like to take a moment to remind everyone of our carpool procedures moving forward. Now that all students are back on campus, carpool will follow the regular schedule for the rest of the year.

Please remember: older students will always join their youngest sibling at that sibling’s designated carpool location and time. For example, if a student is in 5th grade and their sibling is in 2nd grade, both should go to the 2nd grade carpool at 3:10 p.m. in the South Loop.

A quick reminder specifically for our West Loop drivers: Please enter the West Loop only from Centennial Drive, not from Villagecreek Parkway. This helps keep our carpool traffic flowing smoothly and prevents congestion.

We understand that carpool can sometimes feel hectic, especially in the beginning of the year, and we appreciate your patience as everyone adjusts to the routine of getting our 700 students in and out of our building in a timely fashion. If you have any questions, we’re always happy to help clarify the process.

You can now find all of our school calendars in one convenient place, available year-round. Located under Quick Links on our homepage, this page includes everything from the academic calendar to the green/yellow calendar, along with all key dates and scheduled events.

Whether you're visiting for the first time or want to bookmark it for easy access, just click the button below to check it out.

Tryouts for our fall sports teams will take place over the next two weeks from Monday, August 18 to Wednesday, August 27. The tryout schedules for boys soccer, girls volleyball, coed cross country, and Spirit Team can be found below. Please note that the second tryout date for soccer has been moved from Wednesday to Tuesday.

Boys Soccer

Monday, August 18 - 3:15-5:15 p.m.

Tuesday, August 19 - 3:15-5:15 p.m.

Girls Volleyball

Tuesday, August 19 - 3:15-5:15 p.m.

Wednesday, August 20 - 3:15-5:15 p.m.

Cross Country

Monday, August 18 - 3:15-5:15 p.m.

(meet at the PCK Field)

Spirit Team

Monday, August 25 - 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Tuesday, August 26 - 3:30-5:00 p.m.

Wednesday, August 27 - 3:30-5:00 p.m.

(meet in the MS Commons)

**For Spirit Team, please complete try out packet before try outs begin. Contact Coach Hurt for more information.

For a list of all athletics events, please access our athletics calendar linked below. While this calendar is always subject to change, it will always serve as the most up to date information on all of our practices, games, and meets.

**Please note that all PCK athletics teams are exclusively available to students in grades 6th-8th.

New this year as part of our Express Check-In process is the required registration for Champions After Care. All families are now asked to register each of their children with Champions, regardless of whether they plan to use the service regularly. This helps our staff plan and provide quality childcare support once the school day ends.

We truly appreciate your partnership in supporting our commitment to a seamless, supportive environment for all students beyond regular school hours.

If you haven’t yet registered your child(ren) for Champions, please do so by clicking the button below. Be sure to use the code FREEREG2526 at checkout to waive the upfront registration fee.

The next SAC meeting is set for Wednesday, September 10 at 8:15 a.m.

Our role is to continue supporting the school in an advisory capacity by promoting accountability, sharing information, and creating meaningful opportunities for parents and community members to get involved in shaping and evaluating PCK’s instructional programs and continuous improvement efforts.

As always, if you have any questions about the SAC or would like to raise any topics at the meeting, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at SAC@ckcs.net.

We're kicking off this year’s Volunteer Spotlight by celebrating someone whose quiet dedication made a big impact. Over the summer, Ruth Ferg generously volunteered her time and skills to repair all of the school's torn flag football belts, a project that took many hours of careful work.

Thanks to Ruth’s efforts, our students can now enjoy safer and more active play during recess. Her behind the scenes contribution is a perfect example of the care and commitment that strengthen our school community.

Thank you, Ruth, for your time, talent, and heart. Your work may have happened over the summer, but the positive impact will be felt all year long!