SKCEE Newsletter – March 2025

Posted April 8, 2025

LEADER LETTER

It is almost spring, and there is so much to celebrate as the days get longer and lighter, and nature begins to come alive all around us. Ramadan Mubarek to our families who are observing this month, and Eid Mubarek at the end of the month! Chag Purim Sameach to our Jewish families celebrating next week!

Yesterday’s fancy theatre day was such fun. We hope your children enjoyed the production of Charlotte’s Web. Thank you to the PTA for funding the experience and enriching the arts at SKCEE.

Remember, Colorado weather is unpredictable, and we try to go outside every single day, so dress your children accordingly. Also, we embrace messy play here at SKCEE, so please remember to send a change of clothes, and maybe even socks and shoes. They may get muddy outside, get paints on them in class, and get food and milk on them during mealtimes, and that is okay with us! Consider sending our Butterflies in clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty, and maybe even stained. Our kids are only young once, and we embrace their love of exploration and growing independence. 

We expect DPS School Choice to communicate with families sometime at the end of this month. 

As always, we are grateful for you and all you do to make SKCEE such a special community.

With Love,

Principal Shelley Boberschmidt

INFORMATION, UPDATES, AND ACTION

Welcome Jackie Rosa:

Jackie moved to Colorado in 2021 from New York. She has her Master of Science in Special Education and General Education, and has been an Early Childhood Special Educator since 2017. Jackie is passionate about inclusion in the classroom, and working with families to help students grow, develop, and participate in their learning environments. As an ECSE, Jackie believes in learning through play, self- regulation, and emotional regulation in the classroom. Outside of work, Jackie loves to hike, run, and paddleboard with her dog, Remi.

Raising Highly Capable Kids:

Mr. Derek and Principal Shelley are excited to begin our 13 week parenting class we will be offering in a 6 week session format beginning Tuesday, March 11 from 3:45-5:15. Free childcare is provided, and we ask that you complete the sign up form and commit to a minimum of 4 classes over the course of the 6 weeks. You can get more information and sign up for the class here. Everyone attending the first session will receive 2 free tickets to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Weapon Play in Early Childhood:

As a staff we’ve been doing some learning and reflecting about weapon play with our young learners. Here is a link to some of the resources we’ve used as we norm on how we approach this type of play here at SKCEE. I thought they may be useful for you as parents as well. Here is a link to the podcast and the transcript we discussed as a staff on Tuesday.  Here are some additional resources I found when preparing for the dialogue:

Parking Lot:

We continue to need to remind families about parking lot safety and courtesy, so Staci created these reminders we handed out last month. Here they are again for your reference, and here is the map. Please refrain from using the handicapped parking on the west side of the building and the front (south) side of the building if you do not have a placard. We are confident that the safety situation will continue to improve with these clearer expectations, and hope not to have to involve DPS Safety or DPD.

ECE Update: 

Three year olds are learning about music, and four year olds are engaging in the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle unit. We know we have many professional musicians in our midst, and would love to have guests come perform and talk to our students. Please email Principal Shelley if you are willing to come during our music unit. In April we are excited to move into our insects and gardening units.

Kindergarten Update:

Kindergarten is starting our weather unit with a meteorologist report at the end. We are working on -h blends (th, ch, wh, sh). In math we are focusing on attributes of 3D shapes, and addition and subtraction up to 20. 

Art Scoop:

Wow…is it really already March?  Time has wings.  As always, we have been working hard in the art studio.  In conjunction with the building study, preschoolers studied and created murals.  Students learned about Paul Klee’s cubist art and created their own work with lots of shapes and repetition.  Kindergarteners learned about batiks, a technique often used in parts of Asia.  Our batiks are hanging in the front hallway and highlight  things that are important to us.  Kindergarteners also are taking their knowledge of pattern to the next level by making art with radial patterns. Regardless of age, we are always developing our language skills.  To that end, I encourage you to ask your child simple questions about the art they make.  My favorite questions are “What’s happening in your art?” and “How did you make it?”  I am often amazed by the depth in children’s descriptions; I hope you discover the same.  With gratitude, Cookie

SKCEE PTA 

We have lots of amazing activities coming up… including a school-wide playdate at Chuck E. Cheese and our Book Fair (sign up to volunteer)! 

Read more in our PTA newsletter here

Save the Date

DINE OUT / SCHOOL-WIDE PLAYDATE: March 12 at Chuck E. Cheese

PTA MEETING: March 13, 5PM, SKCEE Room 101 *Free childcare provided

DINE OUT: April TBD at Ni Tuyo

BOOK FAIR: April 7 – 11

STOCK THE LOUNGE: April 16

BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY: May 7

SPRING FLING: May 15

IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS

March 9: Daylight Savings: Move clocks forward one hour!

March 11: Raising Highly Capable Kids 3:45-5:15

March 12: Dine Out at Chuck E. Cheese

March 13: CSC Meeting at 3:45, PTA Meeting at 5:00 *Free Childcare Provided

March 13-14: Purim

March 20: Vernal Equinox

March 29-30: Eid al-Fitr

April 1: SKCEE planning day no students

March 22-April 2: Spring Break

April 2: Students return from break!