Werner Weekly

• Sept. 7- No School, Labor Day
• Sept. 8- Kindergarten Back-to-School, 5-6 pm
• Sept. 9- 3rd Grade Back-to-School, 5-6 pm
• Sept. 9- 1st grade Back-to-School, 6-7 pm
• Sept. 10- 2nd grade Back-to-School, 5-6 pm
• Sept. 10- 4th grade Back-to-School, 6-7 pm
• Sept. 25- Fall Fun Festival, 4:00-7:00

• Back-to-School Nights- Our teachers will be hosting Back-to-School nights in the next week. These times are for parents to connect with their child's teacher and learn more about what to expect this year. Please note that we do not have child care available, so please plan accordingly. If you have any questions, please check with your child's teacher.
• '26-'27 Battle of the Books - 📚 Calling all grades K - 5, Battle of the Books is back! Click here for the Battle of the Books Information and Signup Form Sign-up due by 9/25.
• Save the Date- Our biggest event of the year, our Fall Fun Festival, will be on Sept. 25. Stay tuned for more details and ways to help!
• Enrichment Opportunities- Please check out our website and Community Section (below) for opportunities for enrichment activities. As we get more flyers, we will add them to the Werner Weekly.

Throughout the year, we ask our community for photos that could be used for our yearbook and/or social media. This relates to school events only (e.g. classroom parties, field trips, school events, spirit days and enrichment opportunities). You can upload pictures to our 2026-27 Werner Photo Album throughout the year. Please be mindful to not include photos of students that may not have permission.

We often get questions about what are some of our favorite things for staff. You can find out more at this Staff Favorites link. This is also located under the "About Us" tab on the Werner website.

PTA President | Alison Aristoff

PTA Vice President | Nikki Erickson

PTA VP of Fundraising | Tabitha Nikolaev

PTA Treasurer | Ashley Kure

PTA Secretary | Juliana Potts

PTA Secretary Shadow | Sam Boran

PTA Past-President | Gladys Kanode

Connect with us at PTAWernerElementary@gmail.com

There Is No Wrong Way to PTA. How Do You PTA?

Thank you for supporting the Werner Elementary PTA!

Dear Poudre School District community,

With the conversation around closure and consolidation of Poudre School District schools continuing, the district will be hosting two community engagement sessions this month. The purpose of these meetings is to break down the data behind the district’s comprehensive planning efforts and why it is having these conversations now.

The two sessions, titled “Comprehensive Planning by the Numbers,” will provide an overview of relevant data to help inform the community regarding the challenges and opportunities facing the district. The presentation will include enrollment and funding information, information about community involvement in the process to this point and how it has informed the steps the district has taken, and the policies specific to comprehensive planning that it has adopted.

The community will also have the opportunity to ask questions directly to leadership and the Board of Education about this process and the data behind it.

It is important to note that the recommendation of the district’s comprehensive planning committee regarding schools that may close or consolidate in the future will NOT be shared at these engagement sessions.

The first engagement night will be held at Fort Collins High School, 3400 Lambkin Way, on Sept. 14, and the second will be held at Rocky Mountain High School, 1300 W. Swallow Road, on Sept. 15; both sessions will run from 6 - 7:30 p.m. Sessions are open to all members of the PSD community.

More information on the district’s comprehensive planning process can be found on the district’s website.

Sincerely,

Poudre School District

Dear PSD families and staff,

As Poudre School District explores potential changes to our schools, including school closure and consolidation, I wanted to reach out directly to share our thinking and why taking action now is critical for our students.

There are fewer school-age children in our community than our schools were built to serve, and that trend is expected to continue. This is not a challenge unique to PSD, and it is not the result of families leaving us for other educational options. It is a demographic shift underway across Colorado and the country. But it is our responsibility to respond to it, and to do so in a way that protects what matters most for students.

At last night's Board of Education meeting, I spoke about where we are and what comes next. You can watch those remarks here:

• Superintendent Kingsley’s Board Meeting Report
• Superintendent Kingsley’s comments on the path forward

At the Board's request, we have worked to define our “why” as clearly and simply as we can. Here it is:

• There are fewer children in our community because families are having fewer kids, and our region does not have enough affordable housing.
• There are roughly 10,000 empty seats across the district, and they are unequally distributed.
• Small schools cost more to operate. Every school needs a principal, a nurse, a librarian, child nutrition staff, and core teachers whether 200 or 500 students walk in the door. That is why our smallest schools cost about $19,000 per student, compared with about $6,500 at our fullest schools, and why PSD invests an extra eight million dollars a year to keep basic services at small schools.
• Fewer, fuller schools are more vibrant schools. PSD will be able to sustain a full counseling team, keep class sizes steady, and offer a richer slate of art, music, PE, and gifted and talented programming. Every student gets that same access, no matter which school they attend.
• Waiting to act will make this harder, not easier. PSD is projected to serve about 2,500 fewer students by 2031, roughly ten percent of today's enrollment. Declines in enrollment mean declines in funding. As a result of diminishing budgets, the district is already reducing staff positions at a high rate. Additionally, we have more part-time staff who work without benefits or whose work is split across multiple school sites. Our staff are constantly being pulled in more directions and we are asking them to do more with less.
• Districts across Colorado and the country are facing the same challenges and have closed or are considering closing schools, including JeffCo, Denver, Boulder Valley, Douglas County, Adams 12, and Thompson School Districts.
• This work in PSD has been shaped by our community. Parents and guardians, principals, teachers, employee association representatives and community members volunteer on the Comprehensive Planning Committee and have spent sixteen months studying this challenge together.

If you’d like to learn more about the data that is informing this work, I invite you to join one of the upcoming PSD Comprehensive Planning by the Numbers community engagement sessions to be held on:

• September 14, 2026 from 6-7:30pm at Fort Collins High School, Auditorium, 3400 Lambkin Way, Fort Collins, CO 80525
  
• September 15, 2026 from 6:-7:30pm at Rocky Mountain High School, Auditorium, 1300 W Swallow Road, Fort Collins, CO 80526

I want to emphasize that no decisions about specific schools have been made. The Comprehensive Planning Committee is working through the criteria that would guide any recommendation about school closure or consolidation. A recommendation is expected to come to the Board of Education in October. The Board makes the final decision, and any changes would take effect for the 2027-28 school year.

I know what these words mean to a family whose child loves their school, and to staff who have built something real inside those buildings. I do not take that lightly. My commitment remains that we will share what we know when we know it, that we will keep asking for your input, and that every decision will be measured against one question: what gives our students the strongest possible education.

You can find detailed information, including our full explanation of enrollment trends and frequently asked questions, at psdschools.org/long-range-planning.

While what we face now is challenging, I am optimistic about our future because I believe deeply in the power of the PSD community to come together to do hard things in service of all students and for the betterment of the entire district.

With appreciation,

Brian Kingsley
Superintendent
Poudre School District

Hello PSD families,

We are excited to introduce the new PSD Busing Portal (busrequest.psdschools.org) —a faster, more streamlined way to access student transportation information!

Beginning Saturday, August 29, families with bus route modifications will receive an email notification directing them to their student’s most recently published:

• Bus route

• Stop location

• Stop time

The portal also allows eligible families to submit a new transportation request or update an existing request.

Families with ParentVUE should access the portal using their ParentVUE account. Early childhood families and others without ParentVUE may request their student’s route information by entering an email address already associated with the student’s record.

Because routes and stop times may change, families will receive weekly notifications when updates occur. You may also check the portal at any time for the most recently published information. Every Friday at 5:30 p.m., the portal will be updated with bus routes for the following week.

Visit the PSD Busing Portal

Questions or need assistance? Email busrequest@psdschools.org.

We hope this new portal makes it easier for your family to stay informed and prepared!

One of many ways information is shared is through the PSD Insider community newsletter, which features timely information about the latest happenings in the district. This is emailed to families and interested community members that sign up. To sign up, or review past newsletters, go to the PSD Communications website.

Email: hcamp@psdschools.org
Website: https://wer.psdschools.org/
Location: 5400 Mail Creek Lane, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Office Hours: 8:00-4:30

Phone: (970) 488-5550

Attendance: (970) 488-5551
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wernerwildcats/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/werner_elementary/