Parent Post – Summer Edition!

Posted May 31, 2017

Update from the Principal

As we transition into Summer, I wanted to update you on the status our Cory Crew.  As you will recall, we are celebrating the retirements of Julie Williamson (Mild/Moderate Teacher) and Jane Hall (Paraprofessional).  Cecilia Goergen (paraprofessional and Welcome Station extraordinaire!)  will also be leaving Cory and pursuing other opportunities in DPS.

As for me, words cannot express my appreciation for all of the kind words and emails I have received regarding my departure. I have been honored to serve as your leader for the past 5 1/2 years and will take with me many fond memories of my time at Cory.

As I look back on my time, there are many celebrations that will I hold close  to my heart, some are academic celebrations and more importantly are the “life” celebrations.  Some of the academic celebrations:

  • Recipient of the 2016 National Blue Ribbon Award (woot!)
  • Recipient of the John Irwin School of Excellence Award
  • Recipient of the Colorado Governor’s Distinguished Improvement Award
  • A successful and supportive transition to the Teacher Leadership Collaborative Model, a model in which teachers receive direct coaching from peers.
  • CMAS English Language Arts Growth:  Medium Growth Percentile (MGP)  was 75, 21.5 percentile points higher than the district average
  • CMAS Math Growth:  Medium Growth Percentile (MGP) was 64, 14 percentile points higher than the district average
  • Hiring the best darn teachers and paraprofessionals on the planet, thanks to a dynamic Personnel Committee!  
  • Collaborating with our PTA and CSC through the years to ensure our structures and supports were in place and supportive of classrooms.   
  • GT/HGT Model:  Taking what we do well and refining it to make it better by listening to staff and parent feedback.

None of the success we have seen at our school would have been possible without the incredible collaboration of our students, our families, our teachers and our community.

Some of the “life” celebrations include helping children learn how to solve problems by talking it out and agreeing to forgive and move forward through our Restorative Approaches process.  Encouraging children to use their character strengths to help them with their growth areas.  Being there for families through joy and tragedy and supporting them as the “Cory Crew” however best we could.   Beginning to work on our “Shared Interests” as a team to help us see that we all have skin in the game and are rooting for the same goal. Participating in the “Dunk Tank” at Fall Carnival.   Calling parents and surprising them with the news their child was chosen to be the “Principal Star”.   The memories are endless.

As I transition into my new role in DPS, I look forward to taking my experiences and building upon them, making more memories in my next season of life.

Thank you all for what you do for our school and for continuing to trust us to educate your child (something Cory will continue to take very seriously!).   Have a wonderful summer with your family and please keep in touch!

 

In celebration,

Jennifer

 

REGISTRATION for the 2017/2018 School Year

It time to start thinking about registration for the 2017/2018 school year. At Cory Elementary, we do our registration online via the Online Verification System (OLV). We do not have a registration day. Please make sure your children’s Parent Portal is up to date. It is a good idea to sign in at least once a month. Please see below for more details.

BENEFIT:
The OLV system offers an alternative to printing, mailing, and manually updating the pre-populated forms for all students! Parents can complete OLV for all of their students in their Infinite Campus primary household in one place, through their Parent Portal account.

WHO COMPLETES OLV:
Parents of currently attending or pre-enrolled students (active in IC)
***Students new to DPS can pre-enroll (with Round 2 Pre-enrollment Form and required documents) through June, then request a Parent Portal account and use OLV
***Students new to DPS who are not pre-enrolled by June will need to complete the New Student Registration paper packet

Please remember that only a member of the family’s primary household in Infinite Campus can complete OLV. For example, if the student’s primary household is with the mother and the student’s secondary household is with the father, only the mother can complete OLV for this student.

OLV WINDOW:
OLV will be open from July 20th until August 22nd at 5 p.m.

OLV is not first come, first served and will not affect the student’s enrollment. It is simply used to verify that all information in Infinite Campus is up to date.

CALL TO ACTION:
If you have not done so already, please create your Parent Portal account by visiting myportal.dpsk12.org and click on “Getting Started”. You will need an email address and one of your student’s ID#s. There are no more wait times for an account; you can NOW create your own account!

If you have questions and need more support with Parent/Student Portal, please email dps_portalteam@dpsk12.org or call 720.423.3163.

 

 

Yearbooks
There are a limited number of your books left. These can be purchased in the office through the last day of school. They are $20 each, payable in cash or by check made out to the Cory PTA. Thank you for your support this year!

Cory Elementary offers the EduKit program to order school supply kits for the 2017/2018

EduKits are custom made to include the supplies selected and approved by our school.

Order by July 30 for the BEST pricing and FREE shipping. A confirmation will be emailed to you after your order has been placed. Your child’s EduKit will be in the classroom on the first day of school.

This is a fundraiser for Cory Elementary and yet it is still more economical and easier than running around to different stores to purchase all of the various items.

REMINDER: Order kits for the grade your student(s) will be entering in the 2017/2018 school year.

 

 

 

Call for 2017/2018 PTA Officers- It’s fun. It’s rewarding. It’s your chance to make your mark for the school.

The PTA needs you! We still need to fill the very important roles of the PTA Board before school is out for summer. Please consider which position you could take on next year. The PTA is an important group that leads many community building events as well as fundraising, to ensure that our school continues to be the top-rated school that we love. We are still looking for a President, 2 Co-Vice Presidents and a secretary. Below is the list of duties and approximate time commitments for each position. All positions must be filled before the end of school! Please email one of the current board members or complete the PTA Self-Nomination Form available in the front office. We are happy to answer any questions about the positions as well.

PTA Role Descriptions:

President:

  • Responsible for leading and motivating the Cory community to engage with the Cory PTA and their programming
  • Responsible for maintaining programming consistent with the needs of Cory Elementary
  • Responsible for maintaining Cory’s licensure with the Colorado PTA
  • Responsible for creating the monthly meeting agenda
  • Responsible for leading monthly meeting(s)
  • Responsible for submitting the PTA Update in the weekly Parent Post

Time Commitment- 1-2 hours per week.  There is a monthly PTA meeting and a monthly First Friday Coffee.

Vice President:  One for Fundraising and One for Community Events

  • Responsible for finding chairs/co-chairs for each community event, i.e., Fall Carnival, Spooky Story Night, Spring Dance, etc.
  • Responsible for finding chairs/co-chairs for each fundraising event, i.e., Friends of Cory and The Annual Auction
  • Responsible for interfacing with each chair to ensure that they have all that they need, timelines are met, budgets are understood, updates are shared, and events are promoted

Time Commitment-Most of the work for this position takes place at the beginning of the school year. 3-5 hours per week which lightens to about 1 hour per week in November.  There is a monthly PTA meeting and a monthly First Friday Coffee.

Secretary:

  • Responsible for taking “meeting notes” at each PTA meeting and posting those notes on the Cory website and PTA bulletin board.
  • Responsible for bringing coffee to all PTA morning meetings
  • Responsible for ordering and picking up/delivery of pizza for all PTA evening meetings
  • Responsible for arranging child care with Discovery Link for all PTA evening meetings
  • Responsible for sending PTA meeting reminders and managing RSVP’s
  • Responsible for maintaining member and volunteer database

Time Commitment- 1-2 hours per week.  There is a monthly PTA meeting and a monthly First Friday Coffee.