WEEKLY HAWK

Hello Homestead Families!

Last week was a fantastic start to the school year! Classrooms were busy with community-building activities and a strong kickoff to learning. Our kindergartners are already working hard on the letter T—way to go, little Hawks! We also completed our first fire drill in under 3 minutes—impressive teamwork all around!

One of my favorite moments came from a group of third graders on their first day. With very serious faces, they told me they were “sad we didn’t even get to do cursive or math today!” Their eagerness to dive into learning absolutely made my day. I can already tell this is going to be a great year of growth—academically, socially, and everything in between.

This week marks our first full week of school. We’ll begin digging deeper into literacy and math while continuing to build strong classroom communities. Throughout this week, K-5 students will be taking their first of 3 Star Tests for Literacy and Math. Star is a computer adaptive test that adjusts difficulty based on student responses. Star is not a test that should be studied for, rather, we want to know exactly what students know so that teachers can use the assessment data to plan targeted instruction to meet your child's specific academic needs. Additionally, this week on Friday, students will attend the exciting DASH assembly! Be on the lookout for more information from PTCO—DASH is our biggest fundraiser of the year and supports very important things like teacher assistant salaries and classroom grants.

We are also pleased to announce that we have completed all hiring and want to warmly welcome the following staff members:

Ashley Anderson - PreK Instructor

Alora Orr - 4/5 Teacher Assistant

Mariswari Rengaswamy - PreK Paraeducator

Looking forward to another great week with your amazing kids!

Take Care,

Katie

Health and Wellness Reminders from CCSD Health Services

More information can be found at The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE)

How Sick is Too Sick? / (¿Qué tan enfermo es demasiado enfermo?)

The best way to remain healthy and prevent illness from spreading is through good handwashing habits (washing hands for 20 seconds with soap and warm water after using the bathroom, blowing nose, sneezing/coughing, and before/after eating), getting vaccinated for preventable diseases, and staying home when sick!

Stay home when sick!

· If your student is not feeling well enough to take part in their usual activities, due to illness symptoms, they should stay home.

· If your student needs to be picked up from school, have a plan in place to pick them up as soon as possible.

Fever

· Defined as a body temperature over 100.4° F.

· Students may return to school after being 24 hours fever-free without the use of fever-reducing medication such as Tylenol (acetaminophen) or Motrin (ibuprofen).

Vomiting/Diarrhea

· Students may return to school 24 hours after the last episode of vomiting and/or diarrhea unless it is caused by an illness that requires them to stay home longer.

· If your student has a medical condition that causes them to have a baseline of spit-up, reflux, or loose stools regularly, notify your school nurse, so we can best support your student's success.

Cough

· Remind students to cough into their elbow, this helps keep the hands clean from illness and can decrease the spread of illness.

· Keep your student home if the cough is severe or uncontrolled.

· If a cough lasts longer than 2 weeks, we encourage checking in with your healthcare provider.

Lice

· Signs of lice:

o Itching of the scalp, presence of live lice, eggs attached to the hair shaft, and/or small pinpoint scabs at the base of the hairline.

o If live lice are present, students may remain in school until the end of the school day; however, they cannot return until after receiving an approved pediculicide treatment per CDPHE guidelines.

· Reminder: lice is a nuisance and not a public health concern.

o This means it is not a reportable infectious disease, as it does not spread disease.

o It is not due to poor hygiene habits.

o We do not send notification letters home when cases of lice are present.

o We do not perform routine classroom-wide lice checks.

Vaccines

· Many childhood/school-aged illnesses can be prevented by receiving routine vaccines. Talk with your provider or school nurse for more information.

Wishing all students, parents/guardians, and staff a healthy school year!

Cherry Creek School District Health Services Department

Please submit all immunization records to: jlaughlin@cherrycreekschools.org

All Visitors to our School:

We are so happy to welcome visitors and volunteers into our building. Whenever you come to Homestead, please bring your driver's license or state issued ID with you for check in.

Playgrounds After School:

Playgrounds are closed after school until 3:00pm. We ask that all families clear campus until 3:00pm so we can make sure all of our kids are safely on their way home.

Cell Phones and Smart Watches:

Per Board Policy, it is the student’s responsibility to ensure that their "electronic communication device" is turned off and out of sight during unauthorized times. Both smart watches and cell phones cause a disruption to our learning environment. Due to this, we respectfully ask that students put their smart watches, cell phones, or similar devices in their backpacks at soft start before the beginning of the instructional day at 8:00. Upon dismissal, students may retrieve them from their backpacks. Staff will provide one warning if they see a phone or smart watch out during the day. Upon a second warning, the smart watch or cell phone will be taken to the office for the day.

If you need to communicate with your student, you are always welcome to call the front office and we will relay these important messages.

Breakfast:

At this time, breakfast remains free for all students. If your student wishes to have breakfast at school, they can come through the front entrance beginning at 7:40am.

Dogs:

Do not bring dogs onto school property. Even on a leash, dogs can still present a risk to kids…some are afraid, some are allergic. Please help us make sure they feel safe here at school by leaving your dog at home.

Bikes and Scooters:

“Walk Your Wheels”… remind kids to walk their bikes and scooters in crosswalks and once they get onto school grounds. This reduces the risk of accidents with pedestrians.

Forgotten Water Bottles, Lunches, Snacks, Coats, etc:

Deliveries of these items and others are distracting to productive learning in class. If your child forgets something at home you may drop it off in the front vestibule with the information sheet. We will do our best to get these items to students in the least distracting way possible by waiting until an appropriate instructional time to deliver them.

Attendance:

If your child will be tardy or absent let us know as soon as possible. Using the Homestead App is the most preferred way to communicate, or you may call 720-554-3795 and leave a message.

• For everyone’s safety, end all cell phone use before entering the parking lot. The traffic in the back lot goes ONE WAY only. Enter from the north side and exit through the south side. DO NOT ENTER AGAINST THE ARROWS!
• There is no left turn out of the back parking lot onto Homestead Parkway. Vehicles must turn right.
• Pull your vehicle all the way up to the crosswalk when possible before dropping off or picking up your child.
• Have your child enter and exit the car from the PASSENGER SIDE ONLY. Drivers may not exit vehicle in the drop off lane for any reason. If you need to assist your child, please find a parking space, or use the front parking lot.
• If you have dropped off your child, you may pull out and pass the cars that are curbside in order to exit the parking lot. Please pull forward slowly and anticipate that the drop off lane merges back into one lane after the crosswalk.
• Only use the designated crosswalk when going to and from the parking lot. It is very important to show students where it is safe to cross, even when they are accompanied by an adult.
• Remember that there are hundreds of students walking next to moving cars – drive slowly and attentively!

Download Today! Search in your app store for Homestead Elementary. Or use these links:

iPhone: https://apps.apple.com/app/id1115937231

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sia.homestead

What's on the app?

Attendance form

Contact info for staff

Parent calendar

School Supply Lists

Weekly Hawk Newsletters

Other resources

If you are a fifth-grade student interested in serving as a mentor for third and fourth grade intramurals, please complete the Google form linked below. This program provides an excellent opportunity for fifth graders to develop skills in coaching, officiating, and leadership in sports and activities. Participation is free for the fall session. Applicants will be required to undergo an interview process to determine the best fit for the role. Interviews will take place during the week of August 18th. Please reach out to Ms. Brownell if you have any other questions.

Please note: Ms. Brownell will be selecting two mentors for the 3rd grade spots and two mentors for the 4th grade spots.

https://forms.gle/C87ahBD6paJyXkUL6

Welcome Back Homestead! Please see attached picture for the IA schedule for the year.

Parents of students in Kindergarten through 5th grade, please remember to have your child wear appropriate athletic footwear, such as tennis shoes, on PE days. For safety reasons, children should not wear Crocs, sandals, cowboy boots, Ugg boots, Teva's, heels, or similar footwear during PE activities. Kindly refer to the PE schedule above to determine your child's designated PE day.

We need volunteer coaches to keep our Girls on the Run program going this fall! No running experience required — just a desire to inspire and support 3rd–5th grade girls. Training, materials, and support are provided.

Season runs: Week of September 8 – mid-November, ending with the Denver Metro 5K on November 9.

Practices: Mondays 2:45-4:15pm & Wednesdays 1:45-3:15pm

Time commitment: 3–4 hours per week.

If you can help or know someone who might be interested, please contact Jenny Blackburn at 303-868-6493 or jenniferannblackburn@gmail.com, or sign up here:

The Homestead Elementary Spirit-Wear Store is NOW OPEN! Shop for your 2025-26 Homestead Gear before the store closes on August 25!

Scan the QR code in the picture, or click on this link

All meals (breakfast and lunch) remain free for all students due to the Free Meals For All legislation that passed in November of 2022. We encourage families to complete a meal application to take advantage of other benefits offered to them and to support Title I funding in CCSD.

Meal Application: www.myschoolapps.com

Online Payments for Meal Accounts: www.MySchoolBucks.com (there is no fee for this service).

For questions or assistance with making payments please call 1-855-832-5226.

To view Menus: www.MealViewer.com

Please see the flyers below for information on Parent Academy. This event will take place on Tuesday, September 9th at Smoky Hill High School. Parents will learn about the US education system and Cherry Creek Schools.

Here is the link to the electronic versions of the flyers:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1t7BvXmdN56DnZqXyyTZ7kKJB5srZhccw?usp=sharing

English:

Please contact (name of liaison) at (email) for support with this resource in your language.

Amharic:

እነዝህን መረጃዎችን በተመለከተ በቋንቋዎ ዕገዛን ለማግኘት ከፈለጉ እባክዎን ተሊሌን በዝህ እሜይል ያግኙዋት thirpa@cherrycreekschools.org

Arabic:

يرجى الاتصال ب )جميعة صباحي أو جاودة العلمي( على ) jsebbahi@cherrycreekschools.org أو

jdajanialami@cherrycreekschools.org للحصول على الدعم مع هذا المورد باللغة العربية .

Chinese:

如有需要，请经由ctaylor9@cherrycreekschools.org 与凯瑟琳•泰勒联系，以您的语言获得此资源的支持。

Dari:

لطفا برای کمک در مورد اين منابع به زبان خودتان با قزافی مهرزاد با اييمل qmehrzad@cherrycreekschools.org تماس بگيريد .

Hindi:

अपनी भाषा में इस संसाधन के समर्थन के लिए कृपया जेम्स रसाइथिी को jrasaily@cherrycreekschools.org पर संपकथ करें।

Korean:

귀하의 언어로 이 자원에 대한 지원을 원하시면 (리아 리) 에게 (llee6@cherrycreekschools.org) 로 문의하십시오.

Nepali:

कृपया जेम्स रसाइथिीिाइथ jrasaily@cherrycreekschools.org मा तपाइथको भाषामा यो संसाधनको सहयोगको िागी सम्पकथ गननथहोिा।

Russian:

Пожалуйста, обращайтесь к Ларисе Бака по адресу: lbaca3@cherrycreekschools.org для получения поддержки с помощью этого ресурса на своём языке.

Somali:

Fadlan la xiriir Omar Nur cinwaanka emaylka onur2@cherrycreekschools.org si aad u hesho macluumaad ku qoran luqadaada.

Spanish:

Si necesita ayuda con este recurso en su idioma, póngase en contacto con Ilse Chavez Maldonado en ichavezmaldonado@cherrycreekschools.org, Rosa Han en rhan4@cherrycreekschools.org, Carmen Vargas-Ball en cvargasball@cherrycreekschools.org o Monica Pantoja en mpantoja@cherrycreekschools.org.

Ukrainian:

Будь ласка, зв'яжіться з Зоряною Герман по електронній пошті zherman@cherrycreekschools.org, щоб отримати підтримку з цього ресурсу на українській мові.

Vietnamese:

Vui lòng liên hệ với Thuý Ngọc tại Lchung2@cherrycreekschools.org để được hỗ trợ về tài nguyên này bằng tiếng Việt.

Location: 7451 South Homestead Parkway, Centennial, CO, USA
Phone: (720) 554-3700