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1 FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, CO 80027 Principal Christa Keppler Main office: 720-561-7900 Aendance: 720-561-7902 UPCOMING EVENTS December 21-January 1 Winter Break No school January 4 Teacher Work Day-no school January 5 Kindergarten Info Night 6:00-7:00 pm January 6 Open Enrollment Tour 1:00 pm-2:00 pm January 12 PTO meeng-6:30 pm January 14 SAC meeng-5:30 pm January 18 Marn Luther King, Jr. Day No school January 22 TAG Coffee-8:00 am January 25-29 Literacy Read-A-Thon week January 27 Class pictures HOUR OF CODE

FIRESIDE CHAT - Boulder Valley School District Chat...FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, O 80027 Principal hrista Keppler Main office:

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Page 1: FIRESIDE CHAT - Boulder Valley School District Chat...FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, O 80027 Principal hrista Keppler Main office:

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FIRESIDE CHAT

December 18, 2015

Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St.

Louisville, CO 80027

Principal

Christa Keppler

Main office: 720-561-7900

Attendance: 720-561-7902

UPCOMING EVENTS

December 21-January 1

Winter Break

No school

January 4

Teacher Work Day-no school

January 5

Kindergarten Info Night

6:00-7:00 pm

January 6

Open Enrollment Tour

1:00 pm-2:00 pm

January 12

PTO meeting-6:30 pm

January 14

SAC meeting-5:30 pm

January 18

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

No school

January 22

TAG Coffee-8:00 am

January 25-29

Literacy Read-A-Thon week

January 27

Class pictures

HOUR OF CODE

Page 2: FIRESIDE CHAT - Boulder Valley School District Chat...FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, O 80027 Principal hrista Keppler Main office:

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NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE PRINCIPAL’S OFFICE

Dear Fireside Families,

Hopefully you enjoyed the unexpected “snow day” and had some special time to spend indoors or outdoors as a family. Having been away from snow for the past two years, the girls and I made snow angels and baked cookies- something we didn’t do much of while living in Istanbul. Our next adventure is a ski hut trip over winter break. Realizing now, after making snow angels without proper waterproof gear, the Kepplers need to be better prepared for the ele-ments and their next adventure. However your family is spending the holidays, I wish you a safe, joyous time filled with cherished moments. Now for a few updates...

Home/School Communication:

As a School Leadership Team and within our School Accountability Committee, we discussed results from the home-school parent survey. For the most part, parents are pleased with our communication efforts as a school and value the strong community we have here at Fireside. Following are some results from the survey:

Page 3: FIRESIDE CHAT - Boulder Valley School District Chat...FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, O 80027 Principal hrista Keppler Main office:

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In addition to quantitative feedback, we also received informative qualitative feedback from comments on the survey. In order to best support communication and the ongoing integration of technology we plan to:

• Launch classroom teacher websites in fall, 2016. Training and development will start in spring, 2016. The purpose of teacher sites is to streamline communication and provide a forum for students and parents to access assignments, information, and inter-act with the teacher.

• We are also investigating different forums for delivering our school communication to minimize the number of clicks and ensure all parents are able to access school news. The way our district text messenger is currently set up is to attach the newsletter through the BVSD secure server. Through this process ,it requires a second click to download the article.

Another focus is to continuously provide parent outreach opportunities to support our community, which is part of our MTSS (Multi-Tiered Systems of Support) goal. Visit the CDE website if you care to learn more about MTSS

Thanks to Allison St. John, Rachel Setzke, Lucia Harrop, and Kate Tubbs for their efforts in helping coordinate the upcoming parent presentations:

• Common Sense Parenting: March 9-April 20, 3-5pm

• Learn about Dyslexia and Dysgraphia: January 27, 6-7:30pm

• Girls Leadership Institute for grades 4 and 5, Wednesdays, February 10, 17, 24, and March 2 (5:30pm-7:00pm) Girls Leader ship Institute

• John Michael Keyes, Safe Communities = Safe Schools, February 18, 6pm-8pm

As a parent, if you’re aware of an outside organization that could benefit our school community, we welcome these ideas and kindly request that they first be presented at our PTO meetings or shared directly with me. Thank you for your partnership as we work together to ensure the very best educational experience for every child at Fireside!

Sincerely,

Christa Keppler, Principal

Page 4: FIRESIDE CHAT - Boulder Valley School District Chat...FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, O 80027 Principal hrista Keppler Main office:

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Will your child be absent from school?

Please call the Attendance Line by 8:30 a.m. in order for your

child’s tardy or absence to be

excused

720-561-7902

KINDERGARTEN INFORMATION

NIGHT

JANUARY 5, 2016

6:00 PM

If you have a child who will be attending kindergarten please attend

this informative meeting.

Please share this information with your neighbors.

OPEN ENROLLMENT PRESENTATION AND TOUR

JANUARY 6, 2016

1:00-2:00 pm

Page 5: FIRESIDE CHAT - Boulder Valley School District Chat...FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, O 80027 Principal hrista Keppler Main office:

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What are some ways to participate and get involved at

Fireside?

Come to a SAC or PTO meeting

PTO Meetings—6:30 pm: Dec. 8, Jan 12, Feb. 9, Mar. 8,

Apr. 12, May 10

SAC Meetings—5:30 pm: Jan 14, Mar. 10, Apr. 14, May 12,

FOOD DRIVE

Thanks to all who participated in the Student Council sponsored Food Drive. We collected

over 1700 items to contribute to the Louisville Community Food Bank. Those items weighed

in at over 2000 pounds! Pizza parties were awarded to Mr. Kaufman’s 2nd grade and Mr.

Millard’s 5th grade classes. (Although at this time, Mr. Kaufman’s class wants to donate the

price of the pizza to the Food Bank! Way to go, 2nd graders!)

It also should be mentioned that the classes of Ms. Reivich, Ms. Ritchie, Mrs. Mahoney and

Ms. Burgert did fanastic jobs of collecting. Kudos!

Well done, Fireside!

Congratulations to Tara Neuman for earning the Impact

on Education Grant!

EXPLODE THE CODE

"Explode the Code" is a $590 mini-grant which will tar-

get early literacy interventions for kindergarten

through second grade learners at risk for meeting

grade level reading targets. Intervention kits will be created for kinder-

garten, first and second grades with the goal of allowing for short-term,

small group targeted work to develop oral language foundations for litera-

cy. The kits will hopefully be utilized for years to come, as our building

strives to provide research-based, concentrated, early support so that all

students can master the reading code and develop a love of literacy".

Page 6: FIRESIDE CHAT - Boulder Valley School District Chat...FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, O 80027 Principal hrista Keppler Main office:

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PBIS

You may not know that Fireside Elementary has a very active Positive Behavioral Interventions and Sup-ports (PBIS) program that reaches all students. PBIS starts with the universal message of Fireside PRIDE (Politeness, Responsibility, Integrity, Determination, and Excellence) that guides our behavior towards each other. Just to give you some idea of how PBIS is implemented, classes discuss how PRIDE can be demonstrated in all school settings - the classroom, the gym, the library, the playground, even the bath-room! As part of the “Universal - Tier 1 level,” assemblies are held to rally students around each of the five pillars of PRIDE. For those individuals who need a little extra help in demonstrating PRIDE at school, “Tier 2” interventions help students get back on track. “Tier 3” is reserved for students who need more than a little help. For these few students, a “whole child” approach is taken, in partnership with the child’s family, to guide the student in being a positive part of their community. If you would like to find out more about PBIS, check out:

• www.PBIS.org - this is somewhat technical, but you can see the scope of PBIS

• www.PBISworld.com - provides resources for school personnel to address specific student concerns

The Fireside PBIS committee consists of teachers, paraprofessionals, administrators and special service providers and meets regularly to guide the PBIS program. This year we will be communicating with you through the Chat to let you know what’s going on with PBIS at Fireside and provide you with some re-sources that might be of interest to you.

For example, so far this year, the committee has targeted regular attendance and LGBT equity as important contribu-tors to student well-being. More about these topics and oth-ers in later Chat issues!

Page 7: FIRESIDE CHAT - Boulder Valley School District Chat...FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, O 80027 Principal hrista Keppler Main office:

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Preschool at Fireside for 2016-17!

BVSD offers preschool for children who are 3 or 4 years old by 9/30 at Fireside and we have

spaces open for next year. We have a morning and an afternoon session of 2 hours and 50

minutes each. While this is a tuition program, there are scholarships available for qualifying fam-

ilies. If you would like to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity, you need to participate in

an online lottery which coincides with BVSD open enrollment. Open enrollment begins November

30 and ends January 15. Please visit the BVSD preschool page by clicking on BVSD A-Z and then

Preschools on bvsd.org. If you have questions about the program and/or enrollment, please con-

tact Susie Taylor, Fireside Early Childhood Community Liaison, at 720-561-

7960 [email protected].

The Success Effect - BVSD Strategic Plan

Dear parent or guardian,

Boulder Valley School District expects and fosters a high level of achievement from all stu-

dents and we are working to continuously increase students’ opportunities for success. That’s

why we’ve spent the last three years engaging our staff and community members in crafting

new district goals and a strategic plan designed to raise the bar even higher. Our goal is to

create challenging, meaningful and engaging learning opportunities for all students, help eve-

ry child reach their learning potential regardless of socioeconomic status, and honor each

child’s individual learning style to promote success.

We call our new strategic plan The Success Effect, a comprehensive effort to address our

goals of excellence and equity from three distinct angles: Talent, Learning, and Partnerships.

As you’ll see from the attached flier, each lens will help us ensure that your child gets the

most out of every school day, so every student is prepared for a successful future after gradu-

ation.

For more information, please visit the website bvsdsuccesseffect.org.

Thank you for partnering with us to help all Boulder Valley students succeed in school.

Sincerely,

Bruce Messinger, Ph.D., Superintendent

& the Success Effect Executive Committee

Page 8: FIRESIDE CHAT - Boulder Valley School District Chat...FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, O 80027 Principal hrista Keppler Main office:

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Talented and Gifted Coffee Chat

Friday, January 22nd 8:00-8:45

Agenda

Christa Keppler - Welcome

TAG at BVSD

TAG at Fireside (classroom differentiation)

Janine Fitzgerald – Identification process

Grade level enrichment

School-wide activities

SENG

BVGT Representative

All are welcome!

When we return from Winter break . . . . .

Spelling Bee!

Chess Club!

Geography Bee

On Wednesday, December 9, 2015, the following students participated in the Fireside oral bee:

4th Grade 5th Grade

Cameron Ayandele Jood Alfadhel

Josh Dim Shayne Bayard de Volo

Kaya Eriksson Simon Harrington

Sophia Hammons Teddy Hart

Clara Harrop John Hayes

Jessi Kenny Serena Hughes

Ruby McNeil Nic Jimenez

Harry Melby Owen Kalisher

Max Luo

Clay Mustoe

Hudson Willbanks

Thank you to all the students who participated. In the seventh round, John Hayes emerged as

the School Champion. John will be taking a written test in January to see if he qualifies for the

Colorado State bee.

Congratulations!

Page 9: FIRESIDE CHAT - Boulder Valley School District Chat...FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, O 80027 Principal hrista Keppler Main office:

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MUSIC Mr. Haley

Our 4th and 5th grade Fire Choir recently sang amazing concerts on December 3 and had a wildly successful field trip performance at the Louisville Senior Center on December 16. If you would like to hear recordings of our Fire Choir performance or even download them to your computer to play on an iPod or burn to a CD, please visit our Fireside school website and look under Activities--->Fire Choir--->Fire Choir Audio Files. Reg-ular Fire Choir practices resume again on February 16. If your child is not going to be coming back to Fire Choir for the spring semester, please let Mr. Haley know. If your child would like to join Fire Choir for the spring, you can download a registration form on the Fireside website and return it to Mr. Haley.

ART WITH MRS.WEBSTER

Greetings all!! Amazing that winter break has arrived!

Your children have been making intriguing artworks and using their critical thinking skills to critique and dig deeper in the

personal communication of the arts.

For new families, a reminder that all artwork (except a few works like the primary colored playgrounds of kindergarten)

does not go home until (3D) February art show or (2D) April in their handmade folders. This way our school is constantly

covered in your children’s art and all comes home in one place to go through together.

The 26th annual Fireside Art Show will be Friday night, Feb. 26th. I’ll need help hanging the show in the morning …so look

for future emails and info.

Our Fall Art Clubs are now over. K-5 students had a blast painting the plow, being inspired by Fall leaves and acorns, cre-

ating spooky wind, fantasy works , Alien Sock Puppets and more! Look for Spring Art Clubs in February. Students who

didn’t get to join in the Fall get first dibs!

The Original Works fundraiser has completed. Thanks for your many orders. The products looked so wonderful with your

children being the product designers! A few fix-its are coming to you asap!!!

If you have interesting 2015 picture calendars that you will be tossing, please drop

them off in the art room (or my office mailbox) so students can use them in our pic-

ture Art Library for inspiration.

Have a delightful Winter Break. If your child makes an interesting snow sculpture

email me a picture and address and I’ll come see it!

If you have any Art questions concerning your child, don’t hesitate to email or call.

Page 10: FIRESIDE CHAT - Boulder Valley School District Chat...FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, O 80027 Principal hrista Keppler Main office:

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Giving Tree & Share A Gift

Thanks to Laura Meese (Giving Tree) and Rachel Setzke (Share A Gift) for coordinating these gift programs to help those in need this holiday season. We appreciate everyone who participated!

Mark your calendars--Fireside's Literacy Week is coming Jan. 24-30, 2016!

Do you have an interesting job that involves reading and writing? We are looking for Guest Readers on January 26

th to come read a story and answer students’ questions

(30 minute time commitment.) Interested? Please e-mail Rachel ([email protected]) for more information. Thanks for making reading fun and relevant!

Tis the season for shopping! Don’t forget to re-load your grocery cards!

Do you shop at King Soopers or Safeway? If so, please request a reloadable card and start earning 5% for Fireside at no cost to you. Don’t forget to reload every time you shop! If you have a Target Red Card (credit or debit), it is fast and easy to link it to Fire-side. Here is the link: www.Target.com/tcoe. We earn 1% on purchases through May. You still receive ALL discounts, perks and points as usual at all stores. Also, we have a drawing for a $10 gift card by randomly-selecting a name from those who reloaded their King Soopers card each month. For more information, please email [email protected] (Kristi Foley.)

Page 11: FIRESIDE CHAT - Boulder Valley School District Chat...FIRESIDE CHAT December 18, 2015 Fireside Elementary 845 W. Dahlia St. Louisville, O 80027 Principal hrista Keppler Main office:

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2015 Fireside Garden Year in Review (from Caroline Melby & Chrissie Burg) As 2015 comes to a close, we have finished another Spring-Fall cycle of planting and har-vesting thanks to our initiative with the Growe Foundation.

Our garden cycle begins in March when our first grade classes meet in the garden to plant our lettuce starts. By May, the second graders have the large task of picking the lettuce and washing it in order for it to be served at Rainbow Day in the cafeteria. Kids get a sticker for eating fresh food with colors from the rainbow, plus an information card about the foods that they are eating. Third grade uses their math skills in order to map out the gardens before the big job of planting our warm season crops.

You probably noticed when you returned to school this fall, our garden was exploding with peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, watermelons, beans, basil and pumpkins! We can’t get our students out there fast enough to observe, measure, smell, dissect and harvest our vege-tables and herbs.

We had our second annual Fireside Farm Stand where we sell what is left of our beautiful veggies to you. However, because we are constantly harvesting before our farm stand date, many vegetables end up in the salad bar before our final harvest. (For more infor-mation about the Growe Foundation and how their lessons directly relate to our Colorado Standards visit www.growefoundation.org)

For now our garden has been put to bed until March 2016 rolls around when it will be time for this year’s first graders to plant our lettuce. Until then, ‘Lettuce Turnip the Beet’ and listen to some of the feedback our students and teachers gave about why they love our school garden!

"I liked dropping the seeds and knowing what will grow!" -Third grader "I love digging in the dirt!" -Third grader "I like looking at the flowers." -Third grader “I don't think I want to pick lettuce for a living but it was fun.” -Second grader “This lettuce is going to last us a year! Spinning is the best part.” -Second grader “I didn’t know that watermelon was a vegetable!” -Fourth grader “Our food came from other countries. That’s Cool!” -Fourth grader “The lesson is great on your end. I only wish I had more time built-in to the anticipatory set so I could teach them the economics of lettuce farming. ( at a second grade level of course :)” -Second grade teacher