Posted September 2, 2022
| Dear Cory Community, Happy Friday! I hope everyone has a wonderful and relaxing holiday weekend! Cory will be closed on Monday, but we will see everyone back on Tuesday. I want to share a few reminders as we move into week 3 of school. Students are not allowed to bring toys to school unless directed by the teacher. Cory is a peanut free (not nut free) building as we have many students with severe allergies. Students are not allowed to have smart watches or cell phones while at school. We understand that many students have these devices for safety, but these devices need to be kept in student backpacks during the school day. We appreciate the partnership and support! Get ready for picture day with Bloom. To find out what day your student is scheduled for, head to our school’s Picture Day Dashboard. You can register for their Smile Club to get discounts, find out what day your student is being photographed on, and view/order pictures from this dashboard. Make sure to review this dashboard to learn more about Bloom and their process. Bloom does not do any pre-ordering or pre-payments, and all ordering happens after picture day through online password protected galleries. Picture Day Dashboard: https://bloomschoolpictures.com/cory We are looking for volunteers to support Kiss and Go in the afternoon to increase safety. If you are interested in supporting the safety of students between 3:15-3:35 at Kiss and Go, please sign-up here. Safety is a priority at Cory, and it will take all of us to ensure that our kids are safe when they leave the school. We are asking families to use the crosswalks and not walk in between cars at Kiss and Go. We also ask that families stay in their car while using Kiss and Go so we can move cars down the line for a safe pick-up. I want to remind families of traffic safety and rules. It is not safe to make u-turns at the Kiss and Go or speed around cars to get in front of the line. I have requested the support of DPD to ensure families are taking all necessary steps to be safe during pick-up in the afternoon. We all need to be mindful and aware of our actions and the implications of unsafe driving. Thank you all for your support and prompt attention to this matter.   Please watch for the signs in the parking lot and do not park here unless you have a permit to park in these spots. We want to make sure we have accessibility for our students and families that need these spots.Cory DPS school bus route!!!! Tired of the traffic congestion and lines at Kiss and Go? We have a great solution which is the Cory bus route. Please read below for all the information on how to use the Cory bus! Cory Route 184 bus stops :E Cedar Ave and S Milwaukee St E Tennessee and S Josephine St S Bonnie Brae Blvd and S Columbine St S/B S Garfield and E Exposition S Harrison St and E Tennessee Av eCheck the Parent Portal for your student’s bus route information. https://portal.dpsk12.org/group/parent-portal/transportationNot eligible but interested in utilizing one of the existing stops? Call DPS Transportation at 720-423-4600 to be added through the exception process.Benefits:Community: More children on the bus means fewer cars on the road. This means less traffic, lower emissions, safer roads around the schools at drop-off and pick up. Safety: School buses are the safest vehicle on the road! Due to a combination of factors, your kids are about 50x more likely to arrive to school safely when riding on the school bus rather than a vehicle. Environment: It’s greener. By taking the bus, your contribution to air pollution is reduced. Buses emit fewer pollutants per mile travelled than cars on a per passenger basis, so by taking the bus, you are helping us all breathe cleaner air. Fun: Riding to school with friends is fun! Time: Save parents time and avoid Kiss & Go Questions: reach out to Cory parent Brie Stahnke @ 970-779-9246 | brieanneo@yahoo.com Important Documents: CORY 2022-2023 CALENDAR(Please keep in mind this varies slightly from the DPS Calendar.) Cory Parent Handbook Message on COVID Decision Tree: With the new school year comes a new COVID Decision Tree and I wanted to send it to you all so you know the current protocol that DPS is using. The main takeaways I want to highlight: If a student tests positive, they cannot return to school until at least 5 days have passed since symptom onset or the date of the positive test. Upon returning they should continue to wear a mask for 5 days. New this year is if there is a household exposure: Quarantines are no longer recommended for anyone exposed regardless of vaccination status, but should continue to mask around others for 10 days. We have adult basketball starting again next Thursday, Sept. 8th at Merrill. It will be every Thursday from 6:30pm to 8pm in the North Gym. All adults are welcome, please email Tyson Sollenberger, tysollenberger@gmail.com, if you are interested. Thank you and have a wonderful weekend! Joan Wieser Principal jwieser@dpsk12.net Choice and Enrollment Please please if you have not completed you registration do so over the weekend. This is very important for our building! Please make sure you have registered your children for the upcoming school year! Registration can be done online, or through the school in the fall. We recommend registering online because it’s convenient and saves time. Families can register online for the 2022-23 school year. Please finish registering your children for Cory. This is part of the process that needs to be completed by you. Enrollment is NOW OPEN – July 29 through August 22, 2022.To register online, sign in to Parent Portal, click on “See All Apps,” then click on “Online Registration” to verify or update your student’s information. Online registration can only be completed by the parent/guardian listed in the primary household of the student record. If you don’t have a Parent Portal account, please contact your school directly for registration information.https://myportal.dpsk12.org IMPORTANT DATES September 5 – No school for students, Labor Day September 6th – Picture Day September 7th – Picture Day September 9th – Free Lunch and Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) Applications Due September 15th – Make-up Picture Day for students that were absent September 26th – PTA Dine Out @ Esters October 5th – Walk to School Day at Cory 8:00October 7th – PTA Meeting 8:30 October 9th – PTA Carnival October 24th & 25th PTA Dine Out @Pete’s-A-Pie Become a PTA Member PTA membership is a great way to get involved in the Cory community, and members have a vote on any issues raised at monthly PTA meetings. Membership is $15 for an individual and $30 for a couple. Join today by submitting payment through PayPal or Venmo (@CoryElementary), and checks made out to “Cory Elementary PTA” can be dropped off in the front office. Friday Farmers Market Stop by the Farmer’s Market tent on Fridays after school to pick up some fresh produce! The market is set up on the blacktop near the playground, and produce can be purchased with cash, credit or Venmo. If you are interested in volunteering to help at the Farmers Market, please contact Stephanie Campbell. Thank You to Last Weekend’s Goat Head Pullers! The PTA and Mr. Conklin appreciated the many parent volunteers who helped weed goat heads from the field surrounding the playground on Sunday morning. This is a persistent problem that is not yet resolved, but the PTA is committed to finding solutions. If you have ideas or resources for goat head removal, please email us at coryelementarypta@yahoo.com. Last Chance Cory Derby Buy-a-Shares There are still spots available for upcoming Cory Derby buy-a-share events, including Moms, Mimosas & 90s Dance Fit (9/16); Daddy/Daughter Dance (9/17); and Blues, Brews & BBQ (9/24). Learn more and purchase tickets here. S ave the Date: Cory Fun Run, 9/24Join us for the Cory Fun Run on Saturday, 9/24 at 10 a.m.! Please mark your calendars, and more details will follow. Last Chance Cory Derby Buy-a-Shares There are still spots available for upcoming Cory Derby buy-a-share events, including Yoga in the Park (9/1); Moms, Mimosas & 90s Dance Fit (9/16); Daddy/Daughter Dance (9/17); and Blues, Brews & BBQ (9/24). Learn more and purchase tickets here. Save the Date: Cory Fun Run, 9/24Join us for the Cory Fun Run on Saturday, 9/24! Please mark your calendars, and more details will follow. Thank you to our sponsor  Want to Volunteer We would love to have you come in and help. We have lots of places you can come in and help out; the library, classrooms, outside recess and lunch duties, copies for the office and many other duties. Please complete the background check through this site: https://equity.dpsk12.org/get-involved/volunteer-services/  Make wrestling your winter sport! Elite Youth Wrestling Club Where: Denver South High School Wrestling room When: 10/31/22-3/12/2023 o K-5 Practice: Monday & Wednesday 6:00-7:30 o 6th-8th grade practice Tuesday & Wednesday 6:00-7:30 Who: Head Coach Jesse Morritt o NCAA D1 Wrestler o Freestyle and Greco Montana state placer o 10+ years coaching in Iowa and Colorado o Coached multiple folkstyle state placers & qualifiers How: Contact Jesse Morritt to sign up o 406-250-3236 o Jesse.Morritt@gmail.com o Reach out on the Elite Youth Wrestling Club Facebook Page Cost: $75 for club, $50 for USAW card= $125 total for season o Club sponsored clothing and headgear are optional o Only need wrestling shoes (~$50-$100) and athletic clothes Important District Updates: Free Lunch and Free and Reduced Lunch (FRL) Applications After three years, the federal law providing pandemic-era child nutrition expired on June 30. This means starting this fall, students are expected to pay for their lunch at the time of service unless designated eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Free breakfast will still be available to everyone. To be considered for free lunch, families will need to fill out an application to qualify kids for free, reduced-price or paid meals. DPS encourages families to complete a meal benefits application as soon as possible to determine eligibility for free and reduced-price lunch. Schools will send a copy of this application home with the students, or families can get a copy in the school’s main office. School officials will help families understand if they qualify for free or reduced-price lunch based on the information families put on their school meal application. Make sure to log onto: https://www.myschoolapps.com/ and fill out the application. This is required for all students Returning to In-person Environments: The 2022-23 school year is poised to be the most consistent year since the pandemic started, and we understand many have had some tough experiences with COVID-19. We recognize that the fear is real, and the district and schools have resources to assist individuals who are still experiencing trauma. Because of concerns related to in-person school activities, it is important to remind families of matters such as when back-to-school meetings are taking place, the structure and timing of upcoming Individualized Education Program (IEP) meetings, and where their child’s bus stops are. Overall, it is important to ensure we are not only transparent, but also proactive and giving notice of in-person events well in advance, providing clarity around any safety measure, and school specific expectations. As we move from pandemic to endemic when it comes to COVID-19, we are following the guidance of local, regional and national health experts. Endemic means that, while there is no clear end to the pandemic, the virus is generally significantly less life-threatening. We are now treating COVID-19 as we do any other reportable, communicable disease that is in our schools. We now have effective vaccines and booster shots. We now have medicines for those who contract the virus. And, we now have a far better understanding of how to protect ourselves with public health measures like wearing masks and improving building ventilation. So, we have revisited, revised and shifted our COVID-19 operational decision-making and policies so that we can still provide the best educational opportunities for our students, while taking reasonable precautions. In short, we now have fewer restrictions because there are no mandates and no public health orders in place. Anyone who chooses to wear a mask may continue to do so. All students may request a mask from their school or program if they need one. Masks are strongly recommended for any staff member or student who knows they have been exposed to COVID-19 within the previous 10 days. To order additional PPE for your school, please contact Dennis Ralph. We will continue to follow the guidance for schools provided by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE). Our Nursing Services team will continue to monitor information daily and will take steps to ensure the safety of students, families and educators, if necessary. Nursing Services will continue having regular meetings with local health officials, the Denver Department of Public Health & Environment (DDPHE), CDPHE and Denver Health, regarding outbreaks and/or any upward-trending COVID-19 case rates. And, all COVID-19 cases must still be reported to state health officials. The new reporting form is easier, more accessible and goes straight to DDPHE for them to collect their data. Plus, the reporting does not have to be done by a school nurse. Employees can report their own and students’ cases. School personnel who talk with families by phone, can upload this information directly into the form. DPS will no longer maintain a COVID-19 dashboard. Please visit the CDPHE and DDPHE websites for age-related case rates across the state. If there are any outbreaks and/or any unusual cases, Nursing Services will notify those impacted communities and will work directly with them on next steps. Per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance, and unlike last year, students and employees who have COVID-19 do not need to test for the virus and then get a negative rapid at home test in order to return to school or work. We ask that symptomatic individuals please return on day six and wear a mask from day six to day 10. We still encourage vaccines and booster shots. As of June 30, COVID Check Colorado is no longer in existence. DPS is hosting two cost-free PCR testing sites. There are several other cost-free PCR testing sites in Denver county and in areas surrounding Denver. Heat Mitigation During the initial weeks of school, high temperatures can be a challenge for creating the most effective learning environments, particularly in schools that do not yet have air conditioning. There are a number of heat mitigation strategies, including portable coolers, fans and nighttime purges of buildings to bring in cooler air. You can reach out to Cory’s liaison if you have any questions or concerns. We will send communication out as quickly as possible if a heat day is called. Scott Clark720-641-3517 |
| At Cory we love learning and laughter. We grow by trying new things and learning from our mistakes. We embrace challenges with the courage to do our best. We persevere. We show respect for our community through caring, responsible actions. We celebrate each others’ differences and accomplishments. At Cory we love learning and laughter. |