Posted August 21, 2022
Dear Cory Community,
Thank you all for coming to our Back to School Night. It was wonderful to see all the smiles and eagerness to come back to school. I really want to thank our PTA and all the families for all the work on the playground and flower beds. The grounds at Cory look amazing! Thank you!
We are looking forward to a productive partnership with you to ensure our children can achieve their highest potential. We recognize that in order to be successful in school, our children need support from both the home and school. We know a strong partnership with you will make a great difference in your child’s education. As partners, we share the responsibility for our children’s success and want you to know that we will do our very best to carry out our responsibilities.
I want to share a few reminders for next week:
Choice and Enrollment
Once a family is enrolled — or accepted — into a DPS school, the next step is registering with their school. This is the annual process of providing and updating student and family information on file, including emergency contacts, health information and more.
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:
Don’t Miss Our First Dine-Out at Shake Shack and Cory Family Movie Night — both on 8/27!Happy August, Cory community! Below are a few PTA updates, including details about our first dine out of the school year and Cory Family Movie Night!  Dine Out at Shake Shack: Our first dine out is on Saturday, August 27 at Shake Shack in Cherry Creek (260 Josephine St, Suite 101). Shake Shack is donating 25% of all sales from the day back to Cory, so stop in for lunch or dinner. Maybe grab dinner to-go before heading to Cory Family Movie Night! Shake Shack’s menu is available here, and be sure to mention Cory when ordering.  Cory Family Movie Night: Join us for Cory Family Movie night on Saturday, August 27 at 6:30 p.m.! The movie, Sonic 1, will be projected on a big inflatable screen, and there will be popcorn and M&Ms for the kids. The cost to attend is $50 per family. Purchase tickets here, or Venmo the Cory PTA (@CoryElementary). And don’t forget to pick up Shake Shack to eat while watching the movie!  Discovery Link Newsletter https://drive.google.com/file/d/12wQNfe7CcYHQPhuXKxTyUExoexqXzjmm/view?ts=62ec2902 FALL ENRICHMENT SESSIONS (2022)Monday, September 12th – Friday, December 9th REGISTRATION INFORMATION: Registration begins Wednesday, August 17th at 6:00am and ends at 6:00pm on Tuesday, September 6th. Below are the steps to begin registration on Wednesday, August 17th. (There is No early access before August 17th!) Current Extended Learning families, please visit this link to register: https://connect.schoolcareworks.com/login.jsp Click the blue Registration button on the home screen Or New Extended Learning families, please visit this link to register: https://www.schoolcareworks.com/registration/dps/start_registration.jsp Please see the attached flyer for all class information https://cory.dpsk12.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/82/C3-CORY-FALL-BROCHURE.pdf: District-Wide Social Emotional Screener Passive Consent: As part of our effort to support the Whole Child, our school will be completing a universal social and emotional screening for students for the second year in a row. Universal social and emotional screening can provide a fair and impartial way of looking at how students are progressing in their social and emotional development. Screenings can also help identify areas where school personnel can improve or adjust our supports. Universal social and emotional screening is NOT an assessment or an evaluation. Instead, screenings are a useful tool to help identify students who may need extra social or emotional support. Denver Public Schools currently uses a social and emotional screening questionnaire called the Behavior and Emotional Screening System (BESS). The online tool takes approximately ten minutes to complete and consists of 28 questions for the student to answer. The social and emotional screening may occur two or three times over the course of the school year. Repeated screening helps us determine if the supports we provide to students are effective in meeting their needs. You have the option to EXEMPT your child from participating. If you DO NOT want your child to participate in social and emotional screening, please indicate so by signing form (https://forms.gle/HFEoQwcZTdCVLLjS9)or emailing your school representative, Rachel Wilberg, school psychologist, at rachel_wilberg@dpsk12.net. If we do not receive an OPT-OUT form or email from you by Sunday, September 11th, 2022, we will assume you are choosing to have your child participate in social and emotional screening. Want more information? Read below. Thank you for inquiring about the Behavior and Emotional Screening System (BESS). The BESS is an instrument designed to assist in better understanding the behavioral and emotional strengths and needs of our students. The purpose of screening all students is to provide a proactive approach to student needs. Data from the screening areas is used to drive decisions and provide students with equal access to appropriate interventions and supports. Please remember this is a screening tool and NOT an assessment or evaluation of your child. The BESS takes approximately 10 minutes for the students to complete a 28 question, self-report online. Teacher reports take approximately 45 minutes for a classroom of 25. If your child is in 1st-2nd grade, they will not be completing a self-report, instead, their teacher will complete a teacher-report regarding your child (see teacher-report). If your child is in 3rd-5th grade, they will be completing the self-report (see self-report). All screening results are kept confidential in a secure, online database. Only a few select administrators are able to see the results. If you would like to review your child’s results on the screener, we can find a time to discuss after administration is completed. Teacher-report (1st or 2nd grade child). Here are some of the teacher questions that teachers will rate each, individual student with Never, Sometimes, Often, or Almost Always: – [The student] worries.- [The student] tries to help others do their best.- [The student] appears tense.- [The student] is highly motivated to succeed.- [The student] is sad.- [The student] has trouble concentrating. Self-report (3rd, 4th or 5th grade child). Here are some of the student questions that they will rate themselves with Never, Sometimes, Often, or Almost Always: – I have trouble staying still.- Other people have respect for me.- School feels good to me.- My parents are proud of me.- I get along with my teacher.- I am happy with who I am.** We cannot share the actual form due to copyright. Girls on the Run: It is that time of year already and we are starting to plan for the upcoming Girls on the Run Fall 2022 Season! Registration is now open for the season so if you have a daughter who will be in 3rd-5th grade that is interested in participating please sign up using the link below. Registration is open until September 11th. Practices will be Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:20-4:30 pm. https://www.pinwheel.us/register/index/fall22?sid=49a12ad404bb4c1fa963bb28e6289d25 Additionally, we are in need of coaching support, especially for Thursday practices! The season will start September 12th and will run for 9 weeks. The City Park GOTR 5K is to take place on Sunday, November 13th! If you or anyone you know would be interested in helping out, please email Ms. Wilberg at rachel_wilberg@dpsk12.net. You do not need to a runner to be a coach! Thank you again for your time and energy in supporting our Cory GOTR program! We look forward to seeing you all back at Cory in a few weeks! Go GOTR! What is GOTR? Read below. Over a period of 10-12 weeks, girls in the 3rd through 5th grade participate in an after/before-school program like no other. Designed to allow every girl to recognize her inner strength, the Girls on the Run curriculum inspires girls to define their lives on their own terms. Throughout the season, the girls make new friends, build their confidence and celebrate all that makes them unique. The Girls on the Run lessons encourage positive emotional, social, mental and physical development. Participants explore and discuss their own beliefs around experiences and challenges girls face at this age. They also develop important strategies and skills to help them navigate life experiences. We start with helping the girls get a better understanding of who they are and what’s important to them. Then, we look at the importance of teamwork and healthy relationships. And, finally, the girls explore how they can positively connect with and shape the world. Physical activity is woven into our program to inspire an appreciation of fitness and to build habits that lead to a lifetime of health. At the end of each session, the girls participate in a 5K run. This celebratory, non-competitive event is the culminating experience of the curriculum. Completing the 5K gives the girls tangible understanding of the confidence that comes through accomplishment, as well as a framework for setting and achieving life goals. Crossing the finish line is a defining moment when the girls realize that even the seemingly impossible IS possible. What’s the best way to get connected with Cory? Log on to our Cory Website to stay current on all of our community events and needs Join our Cory Facebook page for general school information. We have the BEST PTA ever! We would not be able to do our best for our students and school without the dedication and investment of our PTA and parents. I encourage you to join our Parent Teacher Association! Our PTA continues to amaze us with their fundraising efforts which provide incredible support for our staff and students. The PTA helps to fund things such as: Second Educators in our classrooms Financial support for technology upgrades, curriculum resources, and staff professional development Funding for supplies, materials, and equipment for our Specials teachers Grant funding to grade-level teachers and individual classrooms who seek additional funding for special projects and classroom resources, And much, much more! I hope you enjoy your last couple of weeks of summer! The staff and I are eagerly waiting to welcome you to another wonderful school year and look forward to seeing families and students very soon! We look forward to continuing building our mission and vision with the partnership of our amazing community. As always please email me at jwieser@dpsk12.net or call the main office at Cory at (720) 424-8380 if you have questions or need assistance. Stay safe and healthy! Joan Wieser Principal 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. 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, COVIDCheck 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. |