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Dora Moore ECE-8 School

Weekly Follow Up: 8.23.24

08/25/24, 3:25 PM

Dear DM Families!

We had a tremendous first week of school. Thank you for your support and thank you being a part of our beautiful school.

Here is the first official "Weekly Follow Up"--and there is a lot of content below. You will receive an app push on Reachwell and an email pertaining to whole-school information (this message) and you will receive an Reachwell push and an email from each of your students individual grade-level teams.

If you do not have our app yet, download it here: https://moore.dpsk12.org/get-our-app/

If you are not receiving these messages to your email, please confirm the email you provided at registration as our distribution list is pulled from our Infinite Campus (IC) registration/student record system.

See you on Monday!

Mr. Janson & Mrs. Watson

Important Dates

  • August 29th, 11:30am - 3:00pm: 2nd Grade Field Trip to Central Library
  • September 2nd: No School for All Students (Labor Day)
  • September 13th, 4:00pm - 6:30pm: Annual Fall Grill & Chill Community BBQ
  • September 27th: No School for All Students (Assessment & Planning Day)
  • September 30th: No School for All Students (Assessment & Planning Day)

New Policy Reminders
Two weeks ago we communicated three new school-wide policies we adopted for the 2024-2025 school year. With one week under our belts, we are so encouraged by our students response! In case you missed it, here are short summaries of each. To review the complete policy, please read our Student & Family Handbook and/or our Middle School Student & Family Handbook. 

Snacks

  • We are only allowing healthy, nutritious, and nutrient dense snacks. Chips, Takis, candy, cookies, etc. are not allowed to be eaten for snack. Additionally, students are only allowed to bring single-serving size items--Gone are the days of the Costco Family/Sharing size bags of goodies. Students are not allowed to share food with each other under any circumstances. If a student needs snack that meets our requirements, we can provide one. 

Cellphones

  • Cellphones are not allowed at school--this means at breakfast and in the hallways as they enter for the start of school. If a student brings a phone, they are required to turn it in to their homeroom teacher for the day. If a student violates this policy, they will have the phone confiscated.

Chromebooks

  • We are rolling back the constant use of Chromebooks and will reserve it for thoughtful implementation as it supports and enriches the instruction. We have a 0 tolerance policy for students misusing their Chromebook for off-task, non-academic activities. Additionally, no Chromebooks are going home with kids for the entire first quarter.

LiveSchool

New this year, we have adopted a school-wide positive behavior incentive/intervention & supports (PBIS) system called LiveSchool. This is a proactive approach that includes teaching, reinforcement, and research based strategies that foster a positive learning community. Most classrooms have always had a system to encourage ideal student behaviors and to honor those students meeting who are meeting and exceeding expectations. However, it has been random and ad hoc prior to this year.

Why a school-wide system and why LiveSchool?

  • Alignment across school and environments with a common platform, ensuring universal implementation
  • Easy low-inference data tracking and utilization (Chromebook, Cellphones, Tardies, etc)
  • Common tiered intervention tracking
  • Culture of positivity for all students--Specifically honoring and acknowledging the 85% of students consistently meeting expectations while leveraging it for 15% that need extra motivation and accountability

What does this mean for your student? 

Over last week and this next week, teacher's are positively narrating ideal student behaviors and equitably beginning to utilize points to the collective class and in older grades to individual students demonstrating our Eagle Expectations and core values of community, kindness, curiosity, and excellence. Students/classes will eventually be able to redeem these points for various fun extras in our school-wide economy/store once they meet their goals. 

What does this mean for parents/guardians?

As we increase alignment and accountability, we are also increasing our communication! You are going to get a 'recap' email every Friday highlighting your students points from the week. These recap emails are automatically sent to the primary guardian listed as #1 in our IC system. If you would like another email/account linked to your student, email your students homeroom teacher for a code!

Remember, little kids will be working as a class while older students will be working towards their collective and individual goals. This 'recap' email in 3rd-8th grade will also highlight any school culture non-negotiable (cellphone, inappropriate Chromebook use, no pass; elopements, mid-day tardies, etc.) violates within the week. 

Questions about how LiveSchool works in your student's classrooms? Give us a week or so to fully roll it out and then ask your child's homeroom teacher!

 

Tie Dye Friday

We did something new this year for our Dora Moore student shirts--we conducted a school-wide tie dye party. On Friday, we rotated each grade-level through our stations and ended up tie dying over 350 shirts! 

We washed each shirt over the weekend and will send them home with each student early in the week. 

We made some extras for students who were absent. 

 

AND--Friday is Tie Dye Day!  All students are asked to wear their new tie dye student shirt on Friday, August 30th! Let's paint the building with color!

Discovery Link

Discovery Link is our before and afterschool care progam. Discovery Link is the only district-run before school, after school, and full-day camp program. Licensed by the state of Colorado, Discovery Link (DL) is offered at Dora Moore for all ECE-8th grade students. Students participate in fun and engaging activities supporting relationship-building skills, movement, and creativity. If you need care before 8:30am or after 4:10pm, you will need to register for Discovery Link.

Register for Discovery Link here.

Dora Moore Discovery Link Welcome Letter for Registered Families

If you have questions about DL, call Charise at 720-423-1867

Middle School Late Fall Sports & 4th/5th ELCS Sports

Middle School Sports Letter from Coach Atkinson:

Hello Dora Moore MS families,

My name is Chris Atkinson, and aside from being your student's Physical Education teacher, I also run the Athletics program here at Dora Moore. It is my goal to field as many teams as possible for our students, as I believe participating in sports can provide great opportunities for them. If your student wishes to play a sport that we do not offer, they are welcome to try out for a different team in our area. The sports we have had in the past are Flag Football, Basketball, and Girls Volleyball.

Please find the Middle School Athletics Programming Calendar below, and registration link here. Registration is currently only available for early fall sports. It will open a few weeks before the start of the following leagues.

  • 10/21/24-12/13/24: Girls Flag Football, Boys Flag Football, and Floor Hockey
  • 1/8/25-2/20/25: Girls Volleyball and Boys Volleyball
  • 2/18/25-4/11/25: Girls Basketball and Boys Basketball
  • 4/4/25-5/17/25: Softball and Boys Soccer

Student will need to have an up to date physical to participate in sports. You can get this done for free at any Denver health clinic. I have copies of the documentation that should be filled out. Ask your student to visit me to get one!

Additionally, I want to inform you about MySpark, an outside organization that you can sign up for to see if you qualify for funding, up to $1,000 for afterschool activities. Currently, they are on a waiting list to accept new participants, but it would be a good idea to start the process.

Here are the MySpark spending deadlines for accepted families:

  • Families accepted in 2023 have until August 31 to spend their funds.
  • Families accepted from January to May 2024 have until September 30 to spend their funds.
  • Families accepted after May will have until December 31 to use their funds.

Families are welcome to apply, but please note that they will be placed on the waiting list until additional funding becomes available in the next 4-6 weeks.

Thank you for your support in encouraging our students to participate in these activities. If you have any questions, or if you'd like to support your student coaching or volunteering with a team, please reach out to me.

Best regards,
Coach Atkinson

 

4th & 5th Grade Flag Football:

  • Registration Dates: 8/26 - 9/5; all 4th and 5th Graders!
  • Season Cost: $35
  • Requirements:
    • Fill out online registration
    • Submit an updated physical

To register for 4th/5th Flag Football, use the QR code in this flyer!

 

Any questions about middle school or 4th/5th sports can be directed to Coach A at c_atkinson@dpsk12.net!

Update Covid Guidelines from DPS Nursing

TLDR; The big shift is there is no longer a required 5 day out of work for anyone who tests positive for COVID and instead is based on the symptoms. 

In March 2024, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its respiratory virus guidance for people with COVID-19. The guidance aligns with guidance for other respiratory viruses, including flu and RSV. 

Guidelines

  • Symptomatic children and staff should remain out of school or child care for at least 24 hours, until both are true:

    • You are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medications. 

    • Your symptoms have been improving for 24 hours.

*If you develop a fever or you start to feel worse after you have gone back to normal activities, stay home and away from others until both of the above are again true, then take added precautions for the next five days.

  • Additional precautions are recommended following the return of anyone recovering from respiratory symptoms, including hand and respiratory hygiene, improved ventilation, masking, physical distancing and testing.

Steps To Help Prevent Illness

  • Get vaccinated.

  • Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

  • If you are sick, limit contact with others as much as possible. 

  • Cover coughs and sneezes.

  • Wear a mask to help reduce the spread of respiratory viruses. 

  • Wash your hands often with soap and water. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand rub.

  • Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

  • Clean and disinfect surfaces and objects that may be contaminated with viruses that cause flu.

  • Viruses in the air can spread between people more easily indoors than outdoors. Improving air quality, such as opening windows or using air purifiers, can help reduce the amount of virus you are exposed to.

  • Stay home and away from others if you have respiratory virus symptoms that are not explained by another cause.

Join the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA)!

The Dora Moore PTSA needs your help--Please consider giving of your time and talents to support our school this year. Meetings will most likely be the second Wednesday of each month at 5:30pm at Dora Moore. Childcare is provided. More details will come out about our first meeting in the next few weeks!

If you were a member of the PTSA last year, please renew your official membership today! 

Click Here to renew your membership.

There are a few different options available so be sure to scroll through and select the option that applies to you.


To learn more about our wonderful PTSA and how to get involved, checkout their website: https://doramooreptsa.org/

 

Hope everyone has a great 2024-2025 school year!

 

Attachment: 17246209632876_17243469811227_DORA_MOORE_-_Flag_Football_Registration_Flyer_Sy2425.pdf

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