Posted March 9, 2026
Dear SKCEE Families,
Happy March!
It is so lovely to write this as the snow falls on this Friday in March. It has been so unseasonably dry and warm this winter, and this moisture is much needed, plus it is beautiful! Hope you and your children get outside to enjoy it before it melts away.
This month we celebrate Women’s History Month. I want to shout out all the amazing women of our SKCEE community; mothers, grandmothers, aunts, teachers, sisters, and students. I am a proud woman leader, teacher, mother, sister, daughter, friend, and so much more. Thank you for honoring the wonderful women who make this world a better place. Check out some of these great resources to learn about the amazing women of Colorado, past and present:
The Women’s Foundation of Colorado
We also recognize Eid Al-Fitr this month,which marks the end of fasting in Ramadan, expected on March 19 or 20 this year. We wish our families observing the holidays well wishes.
Spring Break happens March 30-April 3rd, and students return to SKCEE on Tuesday, April 7th after a teacher workday. For those celebrating the Easter season and Passover during the break, Happy Holidays to you!
We are thrilled to be welcoming many of you back to SKCEE for the 26-27 school year. The second round of DPS School Choice opens on Tuesday, March 10th. You can find more information here.
With Love,
Principal Shelley
Our classrooms are buzzing with excitement as we head toward spring break! Teachers have been closely listening to children’s interests and using their ideas to design engaging learning experiences through student voice and choice. Because of this, you may see a variety of exciting themes happening across classrooms. Some of the interests currently inspiring our learning include dinosaurs, oceans, superheroes, storytelling, and space. Through play, exploration, and conversation, children are asking questions, sharing ideas, and building new knowledge together. We love watching their curiosity lead the way as they investigate topics they care about!
Hello Kinder families!
This month in Kindergarten we have wrapped up a few learning units. In Skills we have started our eighth unit. In this unit we are working on learning four new tricky words (funny, from, all, was) and learning double-letter spellings. We have a new reader for this unit, Sam. We will be focusing on the importance of punctuation marks such as periods, commas, question marks, and exclamation points. We have moved on from our Kings and Queens unit for Knowledge, we are now learning about Seasons and Weather. In this unit we are introducing the concept of weather. Students will learn that different parts of the Earth experience different weather patterns throughout the year. Students will also learn that we can think about the year and related weather patterns in terms of four seasons: winter, spring, summer, and autumn/fall. They will also learn why knowing about the weather is important, and how weather affects our daily lives and activities. As you are out and about, ask your student to describe the weather they are seeing! In math we are moving from composing and decomposing numbers to numbers 0-20. We will be counting groups of up to 20 objects, understanding numbers 11-20 as 10 ones and some more ones, and represent quantities up to 20 with a given number. Throughout this unit we will be focusing on more number writing as well. Encourage your student to practice number writing at home!
GT Department Family Series Continues in the Spring
Note our Gifted/Talented Department event details here.
Join our DPS GT Family Series event on Twice Exceptional Students this Tuesday, March 10, from 5-6:15 pm. Our GT Psychologist Jennifer Merry & GT Specialist Sheena Saul will be teaming up with Special Education Manager Becky Gallagher. Check out this link for details and request translation services here.
Missed the GT Family Series session on successful habits and executive functioning?
See our One Pager Spotlight — A Recap here, a video recording here, and the presentation slides here.
GT Identification & Screening
We have a lot of GT information on our family site here, including typical GT characteristics of ECE students at the bottom and identification information here.
Gifted in the News
Experiencing the Wonder of Awe
Discover how finding moments of awe in everyday parenting here—from a child’s curiosity to shared wonder in nature—can transform routine days into sources of joy, connection, and meaning.
Questions?
Connect with our GT Itinerant, Chelsea Chappell-Cox at chelsea_chappell-cox@dpsk12.net.
This month in PE, we will begin with a Cardio-Drumming unit. Each student will get a yoga ball in a bucket and two drumsticks to dance and exercise to guided and free-dance songs. We will learn about heart rate, exercise intensity, and choreography through dance. At the end of the month, we will learn about balance, flexibility, and strength in our Gymnastics unit. In addition,we will get the ropes down to swing and climb! Students practice goal setting and encouraging each other during this special and exciting activity. Spring is approaching; please remember close-toed shoes during PE weeks.
Studio 111: Notes from the art room
The winter months are always a big growth period for young learners. Overall, I noticed more interest and stamina in our paper/paint/glue work after Valentine’s Day. Many kids have an increased awareness of giving art as presents after making cards for loved ones and friends. ECE students continue to explore new materials, including clay, paints, wet glue, and paper mache. We have been discussing repetition and pattern in art. To extend this conversation at home, talk with your child about patterns you see in the world around you. Kindergarten students dove into sculpture making, with a choice of making 3D art with paper or fuzzy sticks. Our next big concept is an extension of pattern work into radial patterns, which is a design that repeats in a circle around a center point. Looking for sculptures and radial patterns when you are out in the city is a great way to connect art class with the real world. As always, you are invited to visit the art room anytime; we welcome extra hands and hearts in the studio. Reach out to me (cookie_caskie@dpsk12.net) if you are interested. Warmly, Cookie
New this month, watch for the monthly PTA newsletter to arrive separately on Monday, following the monthly SKCEE Family Newsletter on the first Friday monthly. Thanks to everyone who attended the meeting last night!
March 16: Shake Shack Dine Out
March 18: Class Picture Day
March 19: or 20: Eid-Al-Fitr
March 30-April 6: Spring Break, students return April 7
April 1-9: Passover
April 5: Easter Sunday