Northridge Elementary Weekly Blast

Feb 20 to Feb 25 - Read-a-Thon

Mar 05 - Second Grade Aesop Play

Mar 06 - PTO Family Dance

Mar 09-13 Conferences

Mar 13 Popcorn Friday

Mar 16-20 Spring Break

Mar 25 - DBC Meeting

Spring conferences are just around the corner, scheduled for the week of March 9–13.

To get your meeting on the calendar, please use the document linked below, which includes sign-up links for each teacher.

A Quick Reminder on Scheduling:

• One Slot per Student: To ensure every family has the opportunity to connect with us, please sign up for only one time slot per student.

• Split Households: For students with split families or multiple households, we kindly ask that you coordinate to share a single conference time.

Our most recent meeting took place on Wednesday, February 18th. We record the meeting and it is linked here. Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, April 15th. We hope to see you there!

Check out our updated website!

Want to learn more about Sources of Strength and ways you can use it at home? Here is the home resource guide.

It is with a mix of sadness and immense gratitude that I share some news regarding a truly beloved member of our NRE team. After ten incredible years of service to the Northridge Elementary community, our Kitchen Manager, Mr. Jimmy, will be moving on to his next adventure.

For a decade, Jimmy has been the heart of our kitchen and a vital part of what makes our school so special. He hasn't just managed our daily nutritional needs, he has cared for every student and staff member who walked through his line with a kind word, a warm smile, and an unmatched work ethic. Whether it was ensuring every child had a healthy meal to fuel their day or going the extra mile to support our staff during busy weeks, Jimmy’s dedication to Northridge has been unwavering.

Jimmy, you are loved by all, and your presence in the cafeteria will be deeply missed by students and staff alike. We are so proud of the legacy you leave behind and the thousands of students you have nourished over the years.

Please join me in thanking Mr. Jimmy for ten years of excellence and wishing him nothing but the very best in his future endeavors!

Despite the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been enjoying, flu season has officially arrived at Northridge. We’ve noticed an uptick in absences among both students and staff recently, and we know that consistent attendance is key to our students' success. To ensure our school remains a safe and healthy environment for learning, please take a moment to review our illness protocols. Following these steps as a team is the best way to protect our students' momentum and support the well-being of our entire NRE family.

District Policy

Thank you to everyone who came out for the Book Fair this week! We rang in over $10,000! Mrs. Peck loved seeing all the kids and staff dressed up for Book Character Day today! Hopefully everyone got some great books to read for the Read A-thon!

If you didn't get a chance to stop by, the online portion of the fair continues for another week (through 2/26/26)! Online Book Fair

Thank you to my volunteers this year! Many of you come back time and again when I needed the help! Thank you!

We are excited to announce that we will be hosting a Wellness Night for students and families on April 30th from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM. This event aims to promote self-care, emotional well-being, and healthy habits in a fun and interactive way. Throughout the evening, we’ll have various stations and activities focused on mindfulness, relaxation, healthy habits, and emotional support. It’s a great opportunity to learn new ways to support mental and physical health as a family.

We are looking for parent and community volunteers who would like to host a booth or activity during the event. If you have a skill, hobby, or area of expertise related to wellness—whether it’s art, yoga, nutrition, or mindfulness—we’d love for you to share it with our school community!

If you're interested in volunteering or have ideas for a booth, please reach out to Halie Snider at hsnider@dcsdk12.org. We look forward to working together to make this a memorable and valuable event for all!

Potential Booth Ideas Include:

• Mindfulness and Relaxation Stations
• Crafts/DIY projects (e.g., calming jars, positive affirmation cards)
• Movement and Active Play Stations (e.g., yoga, dance breaks)
• Nutrition and Healthy Snacks
• Mental Health and Self-Care Education
• Creative Expression (e.g., art or music stations)

PTO In Action

New PTO Board Members Needed!

PTO is searching for some NRE parents who are interested in serving the community as a PTO Board Member for the 26/27 school year. PTO Board Members serve from May to May. Several positions will be open, please email PTOpresidentNRE@gmail.com if you are interested in learning about the opportunities! It’s a fun and rewarding experience!

Lost and Found

Please stop by the lost and found next time you are at NRE - the collection of hoodies and jackets is quite large!

Upcoming Events

Read-A-Thon

The Read-A-Thon started today!! Planned in partnership with the DBC it runs until Thursday, February 26th! If you have not registered yet, please do using the link below! With this event kids can turn the minutes they read into prizes as well as donations to our school! Register here!

The special shirts available to celebrate the Read-A-Thon are still available too! A portion of these shirt sales will go to the DBC. Check them out at the link below, they’re so cool! Click here to order!

While your students get their minutes, please ask friends and family to sponsor them for the time they read! Our school goal is to raise $10,000, and if every classroom raises around $350 we can do it! If we do raise $10,000 Mrs. Lehnert and Mrs. Armijo have agreed to GET SLIMED!!! Each classroom that raises $350 will earn a Pajama and Stuffie day!! And the classroom that raises the most money will earn a pizza party!

Get those reading minutes logged in Pedge-It by March 1st to win some awesome prizes!

• 20 mins: Vinyl Reading Sticker!

• 120 mins: Eileen’s Cookie Voucher!

• 240 mins: Grex 3D Fidget and a Lazy Dog Kids Meal Voucher

• 480 mins: Choice of: SweetPlay Admission, Rocky Mountain Sister Bear Plush, or a Candy Prize Pack!

• The top 3 readers will earn a $25 Gift Card to Tattered Cover!!

• If we raise $10,000, the student from each classroom that reads the most minutes will get to dump a slime bucket on Mrs. Lehnert and Mrs. Armijo!

Ready, set, read!!!!

Family Dance

“Wassup” Northridge! Our Family Dance is happening Friday, March 6th from 6:00-7:30pm in the NRE Gym!! This blast from the past, 90’s theme dance promises to be “all that and a bag of chips!” In addition to dancing in the gym, there will be several other activities in the Cafeteria and Library.

Admission for the Dance will be $5 per family. Admission includes desserts and drinks. Tickets will be available to purchase on MySchoolBucks very soon!!

Restaurant Nights

Local restaurants host “spirit nights” where a designated portion of the proceeds from your order will be generously donated back to NRE PTO. All you have to do is mention NRE when ordering. It’s a win-win-win: you get a night off from making dinner (or treats), local restaurants get our business, and PTO receives a donation. Stay tuned for more dates - we are adding more to the calendar all the time!

3/12/26: Fujiyama

3/13/26: Desert Donuts

3/13/26: Kona Ice

Volunteer Opportunities

Family Dance Volunteers - signup genius coming soon

Ongoing Fundraisers

Celebrate Your Artist!

Do you have piles of amazing art from your student at home and nowhere to display it!? Would you love to have it all in a beautiful and convenient book to enjoy? Plum Print has given Northridge the opportunity to support our school while we transform our children’s artwork into custom books! Not only will they donate 20% of the sale back to Northridge but they have also provided a $25 off code for us! Please take a look at the flyer below and use the code NORTHRIDGE when you place your order. This will give you $25 off your order and send 20% back to NRE!

NRE SWAG!!

NRE PTO is partnering with a company called “Mostly For Nerds” (MFN) to provide NRE Swag! You can now purchase tshirts, hoodies, hats, etc. MFN is also generously donating $5 per item sold back to NRE PTO. More items will be available in the future, and if you have a request for items that you’d like to see available, please let us know. Check out the online store now!

Paint the Rock - Reserve the Rock to celebrate a special occasion. First sign up for your date here, then make your $20 donation to PTO through MySchoolBucks.

Additionally, PTO has volunteers who are willing to paint the rock for you if you’d like! Follow the steps above, then email PTOpresidentNRE@gmail.com to inquire about volunteer availability. When we find a volunteer who can paint for you, then you can make an additional $50 donation to PTO.

King Soopers - Did you know!?

King Soopers donates back to the community through their Community Rewards Program. Through September 30th, there were 45 families enrolled in the program to direct their King Soopers Community Rewards to NRE PTO. Between January 1 and September 30, 2025, the rewards generated by those 45 families totaled over $2200!! That is FREE and EASY money for NRE! There is no cost to families to participate and it takes 1 minute to link your King Soopers account to NRE PTO! We are really hoping to take full advantage of this great community partnership! See the very easy steps in the flier below.

Dear Northridge Families,

What a week! From literary legends walking our hallways to our 6th graders exploring the future of industry, we’ve been busy.

A Fair to Remember

A massive THANK YOU to everyone who supported our Book Fair this week. It was a resounding success! Seeing the students’ faces light up while browsing the shelves is a reminder of why we do what we do. Whether you volunteered your time or helped your student pick out their new favorite story, you made a difference.

Speaking of reading, our Read-a-Thon is officially in full swing! We are aiming for a goal of $10,000, and the stakes have never been higher. If we hit that goal, Tessa and I are going to get SLIMED! I’ve heard from a few sweet students who are actually worried about me getting messy—rest assured, I fully agreed to this! It’s all for the love of reading (and a little bit of icky goo).

Characters Come to Life

Our Character Book Dress-Up day was the highlight of the week! We saw everything from classic fairy tale protagonists to modern-day graphic novel heroes. It was incredible to see the creativity on display and the pride students took in representing their favorite reads.

6th Grade: Career Scouting at CSU Spur

Our 6th graders took a leap into the future this week with a field trip to CSU Spur. They got a front-row seat to the world of innovation, exploring careers in:

• Health: Seeing high-tech veterinary and human medicine in action.

• Sustainability: Understanding how we manage water and food for the future.

• Agriculture: Connecting the dots between the lab and the farm.

It was an eye-opening experience that hopefully sparked some "what if" conversations at the dinner table!

On a Personal Note

As I am writing this, it is SNOWING! I am instantly reminded of the pure joy I feel every time the flakes start to fall. To be honest, I feel like a kid again and want to go run out and dance around in it!

I hope you get a chance to find your "inner kid" this weekend. Have a safe one!

Smiles,

Erin

NOTE: Lego Club for Grade K-2 is now full. We have limited space available for Grades 3-6.

Grades 3-6 on Tuesdays

Grades K-2 on Thursdays

2nd Semester: February 10th & 12th through May 5th & May 7th

7:45 am – 8:20 am

Location: Library

(On meeting days, please meet at the front door of the school and

wait for a club leader to let you in at 7:45am.)

Please visit My School Bucks to sign up and pay the $30.00 fee.

The Lego Club provides a safe and challenging environment to promote creativity and critical thinking. Students will be invited to participate in weekly building challenges or are able to free build.

Please remember that participants should…

• Demonstrate PRIDEful behaviors

• Be a positive influence to others

• Listen and follow the directions of the club leaders

• Participate in cleaning up

• Be respectful of others and only work on another person’s project when asked

• Remember that Lego Club materials stay at NRE

***ATTENTION ALL 6TH/7TH/8TH GRADE ATHLETES***

Mountain Vista HS Middle school strength camp!!!

Open to all CURRENT 6th/7th/8th grade athletes

Presented by MVHS Boys Football and Girls Flag Football

Coached by Head football coach Garrett Looney (who is also the girls flag football OC) and Head Flag football coach Ken Ortega (who is also the DC for the boys football team)

Join us for a 10 week strength camp with sessions 2x per week!

Please see info below and please follow us on instagram @mvhs_gridiron

****LINK FOR REGISTRATION****

Registration & Payment

In Summer 2026, Stone Canyon will offer both Overnight and Day Camps. Stone Canyon offers a wide variety of activities and our dedicated staff is committed to ensuring your camper will learn new skills, make new friends, and be safe while at camp. Our goal is to create a community that will help campers become more confident and daring individuals, all while having the best time of their lives!

As always, we aim to provide the same connection and adventure that make our summer camp special. In this email we have shared important information, for more detailed information please visit our website. www.stonecanyonedge.org/summercamp

OVERNIGHT CAMP (Ages 9-15) - 6-day camp sessions with camper drop-off on Sunday afternoon and pick-up Friday evening

• Session 1: June 7 - 12

• Session 2: June 14 - 19
• Session 3: June 21 - 26
• Session 4: July 5 - 10
• Session 5: July 12 - 17

DAY CAMP (Ages 6-9) - 3-day camp sessions from 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

• Session 1: June 29 - July 1
• Session 2: July 20 - 22

• One session of Overnight Camp is $1300, deposit due at registration is $430
• One session of Day Camp is $310, deposit due at registration is $160

We are currently accepting applications for Summer Camp Junior Counselors. Applicants must be rising Juniors or Seniors and volunteer for one session of camp during the summer to earn community service hours for volunteering. Apply here or email summercamp@stonecanyonedge.org for more information.

Know someone interested in working at camp this summer? We are currently accepting applications for Summer Camp Counselors, applicants must be 18 and graduated from High School to work at camp. Apply here or email jobs@stonecanyonedge.org for more information.

Please reach out if you have any questions, and we hope to see you this summer!

Amy Paulsen

Summer Camp Manager

summercamp@stonecanyonedge.org

How to Receive Emergency Messages from DCSD

Log into the Infinite Campus Parent Portal and click on the “person” icon in the top right-hand corner of the page. Navigate to “Contact Preferences” and review your contact information. If you see an incorrect phone number or email, please update it in Infinite Campus, or contact the registrar at your child’s school to request an update.

If one of your New Years resolutions is to "volunteer more",

I have some great opportunities for you! :)

Lunchroom Volunteer Sign Up

We are asking for volunteers in the lunchroom again this semester.

The Lunchroom staff is in need of another person in the

lunchrooms most days for the rest of the year.

Please look over the dates and see if you can help out! We would love to have you! The lunchroom staff appreciate you so much!

Please consider signing up for a regular weekly shift if you can or just sign up when you have a day free :)

*Please see the sign up genius for guidelines while

volunteering in the cafeteria.

Cancellation Week 10

March 9-13 Bus #58

Cancellation Week 11

March 23-27 Bus #53

Cancellation Week 20

May 26-29 Bus #58