NEW!!!
PTA WEBSITE
MOBILE APP

The Fairmount PTA is excited to announce that our website provider now offers a free app for easy mobile access! Look for the Membership Toolkit app in either the Apple Store or Google Play. Once the app has been downloaded, you will be able to connect to Fairmount Elementary with your PTA website username and password.

The app provides instant access to key features such as current news, volunteer sign-ups, orders, the school directory (for PTA members), and more! Plus, the app is a great way to stay connected and receive quick reminders and announcements. Please contact us at it@fairmountpta.org with any questions!

1st BANK of ARVADA
at WESTWOODS

Thank you to 1st Bank of
Arvada at Westwoods for
their continued support of
Fairmount!

FROM THE CAFETERIA

Welcome to the new school year! Our cafeteria staff is excited to serve your kids this year and have some new items for lunch. As a reminder, all students need to know their student ID numbers when they come through the lunch line. If you would help them memorize their numbers, it would be appreciated. We will also help them to make this a smooth transition. You can also access the lunch menu from the Fairmount website under the Family Resource tab. It will direct to the School Café website. You can use the filters for allergens and also see what fruits and vegetables will be offered daily. Each grade level is offered our a la carte program at lunch. These a la carte items are in addition to their lunch and follow the Federal Smart Snack Guidelines. If you do not want your child to participate, have limitations, or have any questions in general, please email me at Leanne.Alton@jeffco.k12.co.us, call me at 303-982-5393, or stop in the kitchen, and I’ll be happy to help you.

Click HERE to see this month's LUNCH MENU!

Thank you!
LEANNE ALTON,
Cafeteria Manager

ARVADA EYE CARE

BBQ & SILENT AUCTION

Save the Date:

Friday, September 27

4:30 – 7:30 p.m.

SUGAR BUGS
PEDIATRIC
DENTISTRY

GROCERY CARD PROGRAM

* There is an easy way to raise funds for your school without having to sell items door-to-door or by pressuring family and friends!

* Participating is as easy as entering your King Sooper Cards during the grocery shopping you already do!

* King Soopers rewards Fairmount for the shopping you do and Fairmount gives half of the earnings back to you to help pay for school-related purchases and fees!

Thank you, Fairmount families, for enrolling in the King Soopers Community Rewards program!  If you haven’t enrolled yet, please do it now! It only takes a few minutes and enrolling is free and easy, and you only need to do it once!

You can find more information and directions on how to get started at www.FairmountPTA.orgor email Amy at GroceryCards@FairmountPTA.orgfor assistance.

Thanks for a great first quarter!

August 31 was the last day to send in screenshots of Community Rewards from the quarter that ended on June 30. The current quarter will end September 30, and we will send home more information about a new screenshot submission deadline as we approach the end of the month.

We have a winner!

Thank you to all the new kindergarten families that signed up to participate in the King Soopers Community Rewards program during kindergarten orientation this month! The winner of the $25 King Soopers gift card is HEATHER FRY! Congratulations, Heather!

Safeway Grocery Card Fundraiser

Safeway shoppers, fear not! You can raise funds for Fairmount and earn rewards for yourself at Safeway too! PTA earns 5% of every dollar you spend at Safeway and returns half of the earnings to YOU to help with school purchases and fees!

Simply go to www.FairmountPTA.org and purchase a reusable gift card preloaded with $25 dollars. It will come home in your child’s Friday Folder. Every time you reload the card with a cash balance to use to pay for your shopping, 5% of your reload amount is donated to Fairmount and we give half of that back to you! For more information, contact Amy at GroceryCards@FairmountPTA.org.

VYAS
ORTHODONTICS

2019-2020 PTA BOARD

President — Alison Beck (President@fairmountpta.org)
Vice President — Lauren Warren (VP@fairmountpta.org)
2nd Vice President — Sally Mills (smills@jeffco.k12.co.us)
Secretary — Lisa Reich (Secretary@fairmountpta.org)
Treasurer — Kristina Klug (Treasurer@fairmountpta.org)
Fundraising Liaison — Lauren Snow (Fundraising@fairmountpta.org)
Classroom Support Coordinator — Jenna Armitage (ClassroomSupport@fairmountpta.org)
External Enrichment Coordinator — Deb Brannon (Enrichment@fairmountpta.org)
Website Coordinator — Laura Freeman (IT@fairmountpta.org)

For a more detailed list of PTA coordinators, visit our website at FairmountPTA.org.

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE
—Sally  Mills, Principal

Welcome to 2019–2020!

Welcome to a great new school year! The staff has been working hard assessing students and preparing instruction to meet our students where they are.  I would like to take this opportunity to welcome our new teacher, Mrs. Tanisha Lee – 5th Grade. Mrs. Lee comes to us from Kendallvue Elementary in Morrison. We are very happy to have Ms. Ashley Wolfe back as our Learning Interventionist.

Social Emotional Learning

This year Fairmount, like all Jeffco schools, is renewing our efforts around social emotional learning. We will be using the Second Step program in all classrooms, which teaches students social emotional skills and bully prevention skills. We also will teach the kids more executive functioning using Zones of Regulation, which helps students to recognize and manage their emotions. You will be hearing more about our programs during the school year, and if you have any questions, please reach out to your child’s teacher, Mrs. Kruse, or me.

Assessments and School Goals

Great news! We have received our students’ CMAS data from last year, and their achievement continues to lead the area, district, and state in almost all content areas and in all grades. In fact, our students scored in the top 4% of Colorado schools for English Language Arts and Math! Congratulations to our students, staff, and families for such great learning results!

For this new school year, teachers have spent the first few weeks of the year getting to know all of our students and gathering assessment data so that effective instruction can be planned. All of this information will be shared with parents at our October conferences. Sign-Up Geniuses will be sent out to you the last week in September to sign up for an appointment.

We have two school academic goals this year in reading. One is to increase student growth as measured by MAP data, and the other is to increase the number of K–3rd grade students who reach benchmark on the DIBELS by the end of the year. Teachers who teach reading will set their Individual Educator Goal around reading instruction for their students. Other staff members, such as our school psychologist and STEM, DTL, Art, Music, and PE teachers, will set goals that best represent their work with students. Goals for Mrs. Kruse, our assistant principal, Mrs. Nickerson, our instructional coach, and me are directly tied to the teachers’ goals.


As always, if you have a question, comment, or suggestion, please call the office, stop by, or email me at smills@jeffco.k12.co.us.

PTA HAPPENINGS

A BIG THANK-YOU TO . . .

All of the Fairmount staff—for all your help, patience, and support with PTA activities. We could not do anything without your help—thank you!!

PTA HAPPENINGS . . .

Welcome back! We hope you had a great summer and are back into the groove of things at school. We have lots to accomplish this year, but the PTA is excited about the year ahead. Please see below for the programs, events, and other support that our PTA is able to provide to our students with your help:

Events: Annual BBQ along with our Silent Auction on September 27th from 4:30 to 7:30. This spring we will be having the Fairmount 5K Chase, Lakeside Night, Talent Show, 5th Grade Continuation, and Staff Appreciation.

Programs funded by the PTA: Grade-level support, Music/PE/Art support, Special Education support, Excel programs, Book Cart, Reflections, Fit Fun Club.

Other PTA offerings & programs: Directory, Newsletters, Yearbooks, Spirit Wear, Child Care during PTA Meetings, Scholarships, Angel Fund, Learning Garden, Mountain Vista. Also, please check out all of our student enrichment programs listed on the PTA website.

Fundraising efforts this year with a $55,000 goal: Our fundraising efforts this year will go toward purchasing replacement iPads and Chromebooks, funding Kindness crew activities, contributing to the cost of field trips, funding an author visit, and supporting the programs noted above. These are just a few of the things we have identified at this point. Stay tuned to hear more about some other great ideas we have in the works!

As the new school year begins, we would once again ask for your support so that we can continue making resources and learning opportunities available to our students. One way to support the work that we do as a PTA is by simply joining our membership ranks. Membership is only $10 per member, and includes access to our online school directory! Please sign up for your membership on our PTA website at www.fairmountpta.org. In addition to being able to join the PTA, you will also be able to purchase Fairmount Spirit Wear as well as tickets to various events held throughout the year, volunteer to help with our many activities and fundraising efforts listed above, keep up-to-date with important PTA happenings such as meetings, monthly PTA newsletters and National/Colorado/JeffCo legislative educational updates and more!

Visit www.fairmountpta.org today!

PROGRAMS & EVENTS TO WATCH FOR . . .

Fairmount BBQ and Silent Auction: September 27th, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., is our annual BBQ and Silent Auction. Purchase your tickets early and SAVE! Tickets are $12.50 for adults and $8.50 for kids. Prices will increase if bought at the event, so buy now at www.fairmountpta.org! If you have a business that would be interested in donating to our auction or a vacation getaway you would like to donate to be included in the auction, please contact Kristina Klug, treasurer@fairmountpta.orgtreasurer@fairmountpta.org, before September 10th.

Book Cart: We are happy to announce the return of the PTA-sponsored Book Cart Program. Research has shown that students who consistently read with their parents on a daily basis improve their reading skills greatly over time. Fairmount’s Book Cart Program provides our students with the extra boost in becoming proficient readers as well as fostering a good home/school partnership. Your child will receive a book at their independent reading level each day. The independent reading level is lower than the instructional level the teachers use in the classroom. Providing students with books at their independent level helps them feel successful and confident. It also builds fluency and comprehension skills. Books will be sent home starting the week of  September 16th.

PTA Meetings: Our PTA meetings will be held in the school library on the following dates and times—we hope to see you there!

September 3 @ 3:45 p.m.
October 1 @ 6:30 p.m.
November 5 @ 9:00 a.m.
February 4 @ 3:45 p.m.
March 3 @ 6:30 p.m.
April 7 @ 9:00 a.m.
May 5 @ 3:45 p.m.

Free child care will be provided for the 3:45 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. meeting times.

LMC NEWS
—Andi Johnson, Digital Teacher Librarian

Welcome Back!

Hello! We have two Digital Teacher Librarians job-sharing the position this year in our Library Media Center. Andi Johnson will begin her 5th year in the Fairmount LMC and 21st year in Jeffco school libraries. Suzie Veldman will begin her 1st year in the library but 6th year at Fairmount. She taught 5th grade here for the past five years and has been a K–2 teacher in Florida for fifteen years. Together they plan to collaborate together as DTLs: digital represents their role in integrating technology into instruction, teacher reflects their teaching roles, and librarian means they still manage the library’s resources, both print and digital. They’re very excited to work together to help students use tech tools to enhance their learning as well as to foster a love of reading, an important key to being a lifelong learner. Here’s to another great year at Fairmount!

1:1 Devices

For the second year, every student at Fairmount has access to a device to enhance their learning. Our kindergartners are using iPads and our 1st through 5th graders use Chromebooks. Thanks to district funds resulting from the recently passed mill levy, every 5th grader will be issued a new Chromebook in January 2020 to use for the next four years. This is an exciting time for teachers to plan engaging learning opportunities that make the most use of all the digital content available on the internet and for students who get to do the learning!

Robotics Club

The Fairmount Robotics Club will begin its 3rd season this year, coordinated by Mrs. Johnson. Students in grades 3–5 who have a passion for designing, building, collaborating with others, and troubleshooting can apply to be in the club. Applications are available in the library and are due no later than Friday, Sep. 6. The club meets on Mondays from 3:45 to 4:45 beginning September 16 for at least sixteen weeks into late January, though the end date is TBD based on tournament schedules. The club will compete against other Jeffco schools in VEX tournaments. We look forward to seeing what our imaginative students can create!

Save the Date!

Our Fall Book Fair will be October 18–24. The theme is Arctic Adventure Book Fair: Snow Much to Read! This is a great way for students to buy books they are interested in as well as for parents to pick up a holiday gift or two!

Both the fall and spring book fairs are HUGE events that are integral to the funding of many important resources for all of our students. Here is an overview of what the all-important book fair proceeds help purchase:

• Books (to keep our library collection current and interesting)
• Magazines
• PebbleGo (online database with facts geared for student use)
• Spelling Bee
• Battle of the Books
• Tech and library supplies

MINDSET MASTERS

At Fairmount, “We C.A.R.E.” (Community, Attitude, Respect, and Excellence) has been a standing phrase through our Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports system (PBIS). Aligned with this focus, we promote and teach five growth mindsets within the classrooms:

Persistence
Empathy
Resilience
Optimism
Flexibility

Every month students are recognized as “Mindset Masters” for their use of the different mindsets. The following students were chosen by their teachers for this month, and their names will be posted, throughout the entire month of SEPTEMBER, in the hallway leading from the cafeteria to outside.

If you have any questions, please contact Mrs. Kruse at christine.kruse@jeffco.k12.co.us.

SAVING MILK CAPS = $ MOO-LA FOR FAIRMOUNT!

A BIG thank-you to all the families who have contributed to the success of our partnership with Longmont Dairy for the “Milk Caps for Moo-la” program!

With your support, during the 2018–2019 school year we collected 14,098 product caps, raising $704 for our school! Not only does Fairmount benefit by receiving 5 cents for every cap we collect, but we save many caps from going to a landfill by returning these to the dairy so they can be recycled.

How can you help if you aren’t already participating? Just start saving Longmont Dairy product caps if you already have products delivered to your home (or sign up with Longmont Dairy if you wish to be part of their delivery program at http://www.longmontdairy.com/sign-up.php). Collect caps from family, friends, and neighbors too! Clean caps should be placed in plastic bags with the student’s name, grade, and number of caps enclosed written on the outside of the bag. Place bags of caps in the “Milk Caps for Moo-la” collection box right inside the main entrance of our school.

Our Fairmount PTA sponsors the monthly prize drawing from students who have collected and contributed caps. To compete in the monthly drawing, students must place caps in the collection container by the last school day of each month. The monthly winner is then revealed the following week during the morning announcements.

This year’s “Moo-la” monthly winners will each receive a $5 gift card to Golden Sweets Ice Cream.

Be sure to have your milk caps in by September 30th for the first drawing of the school year!

Feel free to contact the Fairmount “Moo-la” parent volunteer, Candace Vorthman, at candace@vorthman.com, with any questions you may have.

STEM UPDATE
—Angie Blomquist, STEM Teacher

Primary (K, 1st & 2nd grades)
Kindergartners, first graders, and second graders entered the world of engineering and had to be innovative as they creatively designed solutions to problems using Strawbees. Ask your child which challenge they attempted with their partner. They should be able to explain in great detail what they invented. They were limited only by their own imaginations! Check out my website or Fairmount’s Facebook page for pictures!

Intermediate (3rd, 4th & 5th grades)
Third, fourth, and fifth graders also delved into the engineering domain by creating, improving, transforming, or disrupting everyday items. Imaginations were thriving as students came up with outrageously crazy innovations. Students had to either sketch or describe their invention independently and then communicate their purpose and function to their group. Check out my website or Fairmount’s Facebook page for pictures!

Fairmount Production Studio
Fairmount Production Studio is up and running! The first broadcast will air Friday, August 30th and each subsequent Friday. Exceptions include weeks with no school on Fridays. We air on Thursdays on those weeks. Blake Anderson, Owen Grimes, Lev Staub, Ryan Payne, Sadie Weborg, and Lily Lombardi work together on the Fairmount school update. You can find the weekly broadcasts on the Fairmount homepage under the Clubs & Programs tab.