Northridge Elementary Weekly Blast

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.

• Please avoid making appointments that require student absences during the testing window.

• For more information about state mandated assessments, please visit the NRE website: NRE State Mandated Assessments

• 25-26 State Assessment Excusal Form Walkthrough Parent/Guardian

On Tuesday March 3rd, many of our 4th graders will be taking the National Assessment of Academic Progress (NAEP) assessment in either math or reading. For more information about this assessment please visit: Colorado Department of Education - NAEP.

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-new Volunteer Coordination Website! We know your time is precious, so we’ve created a "one-stop-shop" designed to make supporting our school simpler than ever.

Whether you have an hour to spare or want to lead a major event, this platform allows you to:

• Browse at a Glance: See all upcoming opportunities across the entire school in one organized list.

• One-Click Sign-Up: No more digging through old emails or paper flyers; just click, claim your spot, and you're set!

Our community is powered by the incredible energy of our families. We invite you to head over to the new site today to see how you can help make Northridge Elementary an even better place for our students!

We are absolutely thrilled to introduce our new Kitchen Manager, Mr Byron, to the Northridge Elementary family! He joins us with a wealth of knowledge and years of experience in the kitchen and catering industry, making him a perfect fit to lead our cafeteria team. We know he is eager to bring his expertise and passion for food to our students and staff. Please join us in giving Mr. Byron a very warm Northridge welcome when you see him around the school—we are so lucky to have him!

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!

“Treasure Box” Donations

PTO is willing to help you clean out your toy bins! We are collecting small toy items to restock our prize “Treasure Box”. Think of small toys your kids might get as prizes from Chuck-E-Cheese, birthday party favors, valentines, etc. Items might include: rubber duckys, bouncy balls, fidgets, unused stickers or temporary tattoos, unused pencils/erasers, etc. If you’ve got some items you’d like to recycle, please donate them to PTO! It is a win-win-win, you have less clutter in your house and PTO saves money by not needing to buy new prizes! (Although, we can’t promise you that those prizes won’t end up back at your house at some point!) Drop off your items at the office anytime. Thank you!

Upcoming Events

Read-A-Thon

Thank you to everyone who is participating in Read-A-Thon! Reading ended yesterday, but we’ve still got two important things for you to do:

1. If you have not registered your child yet, you can do that right now by clicking this link! After you set up your account, you’ll need to log their minutes - instructions here. Your child’s reading minutes must be recorded on Pledge It by this Sunday, March 1 at 11:59pm in order to receive their reading prizes. Reading prizes will be distributed March 12-13.

2. We’ve got until Sunday night to secure all of our last donations! Have your child ask friends and family members to sponsor them for their Read-A-Thon reading! We’ve surpassed our initial goal of raising $10,000… now we are shooting for $12,500!

Since we raised $10,000 Mrs. Lehnert and Mrs. Armijo have agreed to GET SLIMED!!! We also added a new incentive… if we raise $12,500 kids also get to slime Mr. Kirk! The student from reach classroom that read the most minutes will get to be the slime dumpers. Additionally, 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.

The money we raise during Read-A-Thon helps to provide critical resources for our kids that the district doesn’t provide - let’s reach this $12,500 goal!

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. JC Jackman will be the DJ and Rocky Mountain Sister Bears will be onsite selling custom NRE stuffies!

Admission for the Dance will be $5 per family. Admission includes desserts and drinks. Tickets will be available to purchase on MySchoolBucks - please be on the lookout for that link coming 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 - PTO will need help after school on Friday, March 6 to get ready for the family dance. We will also need help afterwards cleaning up - please sign up if you can! Also, please share with any teenagers you know that might want to help!

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,

Sometimes, no news is good news! We had a wonderfully "Plain Jane" week here at school—and honestly, those are often the most productive ones. Without the distraction of big assemblies or special schedules, our students were tucked away in their classrooms, deeply engaged in their core learning.

It was a week of steady progress, focused minds, and the rhythmic hum of a school doing exactly what it does best.

Inside the Think Tank: Battle of the Bots

While the rest of the week was calm, things got high-tech and high-stakes in the Think Tank! Students participated in our Battle of the Bots competition in their elective class.

It wasn't just about whose robot was the fastest, it was a showcase of:

• Strategic Coding: Programming precise movements to outmaneuver opponents.

• Engineering Resilience: Quick repairs and structural tweaks between rounds.

• Sportsmanship: Celebrating the clever logic behind every win and loss.

Congratulations to all who participated. Check out the pictures below.

Looking Ahead: A Busy Week

Enjoy the quiet while it lasts, because next week is packed with excitement! We have three major events to look forward to:

1. The 2nd Grade Play: Our performers have been rehearsing diligently, and they are finally ready to take the stage. You won't want to miss their hard work (and the inevitable cute factor).

2. The 5th and 6th grade Discovery students are headed on a field trip on Tuesday to the Challenger Center to step into the roles of scientists and engineers.

3. The Family Dance: Dust off your dancing shoes! We are so excited to host our families for an evening of music, community, and probably some questionable "dad moves" on the dance floor.

Save the Date: Parent-Teacher Conferences

Looking a little further out on the calendar, Parent-Teacher Conferences will take place the week of March 9th.

These meetings are a vital time for us to partner together, celebrate your child’s growth, and set goals for the remainder of the year. Please use this link to access the digital sign-up. Slots fill up quickly, so we encourage you to grab a time that works best for your schedule.

On a Personal Note

On a personal note, you might have noticed me sporting my cowboy boots around campus today! While it’s not my everyday look, I wanted to bring a piece of my roots to Colorado to celebrate “Go Texan Day.”

Back in Houston, this day is a huge tradition every February, kicking off the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. The entire city trades their usual attire for boots, cowboy hats, and western wear—and while we don’t actually dress like that all year long, it’s a wonderful way to celebrate the community! It was fun to feel a bit more connected to my family today, and I especially loved seeing the photos of my nephews all "cowboyed up" for the festivities.

Community Connection: What are your traditions?

Sharing my Texas roots today made me think about the wonderful diversity of backgrounds we have right here in our school community.

I would love to hear about the traditions your family celebrates! Whether it’s a regional holiday from another state, a cultural festival, or just a unique family "spirit day" you’ve created yourselves, please feel free to email and share a bit of your story with me (eslehnert@dcsdk12.org). Our community is at its best when we learn about the different traditions that make each of our families special.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend. I look forward to another great week of learning next week!

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

Looking for fun, engaging, unplugged summer activities for your child this summer? Consider Stone Canyon's Summer Camp programs! Join us for a summer of fun, adventure, and friendship. Find registration links and more information here: https://www.stonecanyonedge.org/summercamp

Located in Larkspur, we offer week-long Overnight Camps for 9-15-year-old campers and 3-day Day Camps (including transportation to/from camp out of Castle Rock) for 6-9-year-old campers.

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