Paw Prints🐾

What a great start to the 2026–2027 school year! It was so much fun welcoming our students back to Walnut Hills with our clap-in, bubbles, music, and lots of smiling faces from our staff. The energy and excitement were contagious, and it was the perfect way to start the year together!

Our school-wide focus this month is “Together We Grow.” At Walnut Hills, we believe that strong relationships, a growth mindset, and taking care of the whole child are at the heart of a successful school community. Each morning at 8:00 AM, students and staff gather for community circles to greet one another, set goals, and take a few minutes to connect before the day gets started. Ask your child what they talked about during circle. You might hear some pretty great things!

We are looking forward to a wonderful year filled with learning, new friendships, growth, and plenty of fun. Thank you for being part of our Walnut Hills family. We are so glad to have you with us!

Kindly,
Mrs. Williams

Our brand-new playgrounds are officially ready for our students to explore, play, and make unforgettable memories! We can’t wait to see all the smiles, laughter, and adventures happening on the playground! 🌳

Looking for a fun, meaningful job that fits perfectly into your day? We’re looking for dependable, caring individuals, including Walnut Hills parents and family members to join our team as Crossing Guards!

Schedule:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday

🌅 Morning: 7:30–8:00 AM
🌤️ Afternoon: 2:40–3:00 PM

Wednesday
🌅 Morning: 7:30–8:00 AM
🌤️ Afternoon: 1:40–2:00 PM

Whether you’re a Walnut Hills parent, grandparent, family member, retiree, or community member, we’d love to have you join us!

❤️ Help our students start and end each school day safely and become a familiar, friendly face they can count on!

We have received some questions about parents not receiving messages through Talking Points, text messaging, email, etc. Please note that these settings cannot be adjusted by our administrative office—you must make these updates directly.

✔️ To ensure you are receiving communication, log in to Parent Forms, go to the Guardian Tile, and opt in for notifications.

✔️ Please note: Talking Points does not require a code. Once your contact information is updated in Parent Forms, the system will automatically connect you with your child’s teacher and school messages.

✔️ If you are still not receiving messages, please visit the Cherry Creek School District website, navigate to Admissions, and follow the steps to complete household information for your student.

Unfortunately, we are unable to make these changes on your behalf.

If you have any questions or need clarification, please don’t hesitate to reach out—we’re happy to help guide you through the process.

Kindly,
Walnut Hills

For the safety of our students, staff, families, and emergency responders, please do not park or leave your vehicle unattended in designated fire lanes or bus lanes at any time.

These areas must remain clear to:

• 🚒 Allow emergency vehicles such as fire trucks and ambulances immediate access to the building and campus.
• 🚌 Ensure buses can safely enter, exit, and load/unload students without obstruction.
• 🚨 Prevent delays during an emergency, when every second matters.
• 👮 Maintain safe traffic flow and reduce the risk of accidents or blocked emergency access.

Please use only the designated parking areas shown on the map below. If you are unsure where you may park, please refer to the map before leaving your vehicle.

Thank you for helping us keep Walnut Hills safe and accessible for everyone! We appreciate your cooperation and commitment to student safety.

The Preschool playground gates must remain closed at all times for the safety of our students. Please be sure to shut the gates both when you enter and leave the playground at any time.

Thank you for your help in keeping all students safe.

🎉 Walnut Hills Elementary – Back to School Night! 🎉

📅 Thursday, September 3rd | 🕕 6:00–7:30 PM

Join us for Back-to-School Night as we kick off an exciting year at Walnut Hills! Classroom teachers will share important information about the learning experiences, expectations, and opportunities your child will have this year. Each session will begin in the gym, where Principal Williams will highlight our school’s goals, focus areas, and vision for the year ahead. We look forward to connecting with families and starting the year together on a strong note!.

📋 Evening Schedule

⏰ 5:40–6:00 PM – Student Check-In #1
Drop off your children for outdoor care while you enjoy the evening.

🎤 6:00–6:15 PM – Principal’s Address #1 (Gym)
Mrs. Williams kicks off the night with a warm welcome and school updates!

🏫 6:20–6:50 PM – Classroom Session #1

🎤 6:35–6:50 PM – Principal’s Address #2 (Gym)
A second opportunity to hear from Mrs. Williams.

🏫 6:55–7:25 PM – Classroom Session #2
Same information but for families with multiple children or if families cannot attend session #1

⏰ 6:20–6:35 PM – Student Check-In #2
For families arriving for session #2 ONLY.

We can’t wait to see you there! 🐾

The first week of school has been filled with so much fun, learning, and excitement! It has been wonderful seeing our Cougar Club students settle in and start the new school year.

I wanted to address a question that many parents and guardians have asked about: before-school care.

Our office staff and I have heard from several families who are interested in having a before-care option at Walnut Hills Cougar Club. While we do not currently offer before care, there is an opportunity to potentially make this service available in the future.

If you are interested in before care, please take a moment to complete this two-question survey:

Before Care Interest Survey

Your responses will help us determine whether there is enough interest from families to make before care a possibility at Walnut Hills.

On another exciting note, Cougar Club has officially received approval to offer school break care at Walnut Hills! 🎉

We are excited to be able to provide this additional option for our families. Please see the attached flyer for more information, including details about upcoming school break care.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to another great week with our Cougars! 🐾

Want one less thing to think about at school drop-off and pick-up? There’s still time to snag a reserved VIP parking spot at Walnut Hills for the entire 2026–2027 school year.

Here’s how it works:

• Make your pledge using this form.

• The family with the highest pledge by Friday, Sept. 4 wins the spot.

• Only the winning family pays their pledged amount—there’s no cost to participate if you don’t win.

The best part? Beyond guaranteed parking all year long, your donation directly supports Walnut Hills students, teachers and our school community.

Want to get involved at Walnut Hills without adding another standing commitment to your calendar? The Cougar Community Crew is for you!

The Crew is our go-to list of parents, guardians and community members who are happy to pitch in when their schedules allow. We might reach out when we need an extra set of hands at an event, help with a one-time project or a little behind-the-scenes support.

No meetings. No ongoing commitment. No pressure to say yes. When an opportunity comes up, you can simply decide if it works for you.

Join the Cougar Community Crew by filling out this quick 1-minute form.

Every helping hand makes a difference—and we’d love to have you on the Crew! 💛

Join us for our next Walnut Hills PTCO meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 8 from 6–7:30 p.m. in the Walnut Hills library!

Come hear what’s happening around the school, learn what PTCO has coming up and find ways to get involved in the Walnut Hills community.

Can’t make it in person? No problem! Join us virtually using this Microsoft Teams link.

We hope to see you there!

Parents of students who qualify for the bus, please check the transportation app myk12 for student bus information. The transportation dept will contact the families of students who qualify to ride the bus this 26-27 school year. Those communications will go out starting next week through the first days of school. Please be aware that it is not uncommon for a family to be contacted by transportation with their student's bus information the day before school starts.

Our Walnut Hills teachers are back and ready to make this school year AMAZING—and sometimes, even superheroes need a little pick-me-up! 🦸‍♀️🦸‍♂️ If you’re doing some shopping and would like to help keep our teachers fueled and smiling, we’d love donations of individually wrapped candy and sweet treats for our treat jar. 🍫🍭

Our families were SO sweet last year and helped keep our candy stash stocked, and our teachers were incredibly grateful for every little treat! 💕 Chocolate is definitely a staff favorite! 😉

Have a little extra candy at home or want to add something sweet to your next shopping trip? We’d be so grateful! Thank you for always showing our Walnut Hills staff just how much you appreciate everything they do. 🍫💛

Families who need Walnut Hills communication translated, please contact the liaison listed:

English:

Please contact Kati Brinks at kbrinks@cherrycreekschools.org 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 بـ (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ahan10@cherrycreekschools.org，与韩馥联系，以您的语言获得此资源的支持。

Korean:

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

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, Helena Gognat en hgognat@cherrycreekschools.org o Milagro Nuanes en mnuanes@cherrycreekschools.org

Vietnamese:

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

Email: kwilliams109@cherrycreekschools.org
Website: https://www.cherrycreekschools.org/walnuthills
Location: Walnut Hills Elementary School, East Costilla Boulevard, Centennial, CO, USA
Phone: (720) 554-3800