Message from Sally Mills, Principal |
| Conferences and Report Cards
At Fairmount we believe in partnering with you to provide the best education for all of our students. It was wonderful to have all of you meet with us electronically this year for parent-teacher conferences! We heard a lot of positive feedback about this format, which we will consider offering even when these Covid conditions lift. Report cards will also be available electronically this year instead of paper copies. The end of the first trimester is November 13th, and report cards will be on your child’s Jeffco Connect account on November 20th. If you have any questions after receiving the report, please contact your child’s teacher or me. |
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Safe Routes to School Good News!
We are so thrilled to have the sidewalk installed from McIntyre to the school! Our kids now have extra safety as they travel to/from school, and it’s a great way to encourage walking and bike riding. We will stay in contact with the Jeffco Department of Transportation for any future Safe Routes to School grants to continue this work west of the school. Thank you for all your patience with the road construction during this time. A special thanks to Adria Lucerna (past parent and engineer) for shepherding this project from beginning to end - even after her son continued to middle school! Thanks to Kim Tilton, who guided her former 5th-grade students in studying the project, preparing proposals, and presenting their sidewalk plans to our government officials. Finally, thanks to Chris Kruse, who worked with the Jeffco Department of Transportation to ensure all requirements were met and the project was completed according to plan. |
COVID School Safety Information
We continue to be diligent with our Covid safety protocols: wearing masks in the building and at arrival/dismissal times, cohorting classrooms, sanitizing classrooms, extra handwashing, etc. Another safety protocol we recently employed was quarantining a class when we learned of a positive test result. The purpose of this was to mitigate spreading the virus to other classrooms, which would cause more students to quarantine and/or close the entire building for a period of time. We found the virus did not spread to any other students or staff who were possibly exposed. We were very encouraged by these results and believe our safety protocols are working. What happens if your child’s classroom is quarantined? You will be notified as soon as we have that information. We will tell you how long the quarantine will be, which depends on when symptoms first appeared. If we get the results during school hours, the classroom will finish the school day in the building and then work online starting the next day. Your child will bring home their Chromebook or iPad and anything else they might need to continue school online. If we get the information after school hours, you may need to drive by the school to pick up supplies before your child can begin online lessons. If your student isn’t part of the quarantined classroom, you will still receive notification there was a quarantine at school, but your child’s cohort wasn’t impacted. Our core school mission is in-person learning. We are doing everything we can to keep our students and staff safe and healthy so that school buildings can stay open. As you know, the community virus spread also impacts our ability to remain open. Currently, Jefferson County and Colorado’s rates are increasing. To combat this increase, we encourage everyone to follow the safety recommendations at home and fight that Covid fatigue! It’s not fun wearing masks and social distancing, but it’s important for our kids to be able to stay in school. Thank You!
As always, if you have a question, comment, or suggestion, please call the office, stop by, or email me at Sally.Mills@jeffco.k12.co.us. |
| Restaurant Night at Three Sons Join us at 3 Sons Italian Restaurant & Bar on Wednesday, November 18th from 5 pm to 9 pm. They will be donating a portion of proceeds to the PTA when you mention Fairmount Elementary.
3 Sons Italian Restaurant
14805 W. 64th Ave.
Arvada, CO 80007
303-455-4366 |
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| Trucker Hat Deadline Extended Trucker hats are a big hit at Fairmount this year so we want to give you one last chance to snag them before they are gone. This offer expires tonight, November 2nd, 2020! Hats are $12 and part of the proceeds support the PTA. Please place your order on fairmountpta.org. |
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| Thank You Volunteers This year's Halloween parties were a great success thanks to room parents, families, and teachers who worked together to ensure our Firebirds were able to enjoy one of their favorite school celebrations safely. |
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| Thank You for Spirit Wear Thank you to Kyle Turner for coordinating the spirit wear for the 2020-2021 school year. We appreciate your hard work in keeping our students and families outfitted in great Fairmount gear! |
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| Open PTA Positions We are looking for a Sponsorship Coordinator to help us manage relationships with Fairmount's generous sponsors, as well as a volunteers to join our Virtual 5K planning committee. If you're interested in helping us, please contact Laura Warren for more information. |
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| Dream Dinners Extended! Dream Dinners is extending the offer for another month to Fairmount friends & families! It's an opportunity to not only get dinner on the table without having to plan, shop, or chop but also will be giving money back to our PTA! Check out the meals available and the flyer. Thanks for supporting local small businesses & a Fairmount Elementary graduate! |
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| PTA Meeting Dates Please consider joining us for our monthly PTA meetings. We welcome all parents and friends of Fairmount. Your voices are important and needed! Our PTA meetings will be held on the following dates and times via Zoom:
-November 10th - 6:30 PM
-February 2nd - 3:45 PM
-March 2nd - 9:00 AM
-April 6th - 6:30 PM
-May 4th - 3:45 PM |
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| Rewards are Helping! With your help, we have raised more than $14,000 with the King Soopers Rewards program in 2020! Keep earning, Fairmount!
Please note the following redemption period dates: â— January 10, 2021-January 31, 2021 â— April 20, 2021-April 31, 2021 If you'd like more information on enrolling in the grocery card programs, please click here. We appreciate your support! |
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| Milk Caps for Moola Congratulations to Mia Rossi, our $5 gift card winner! Be sure to have all your caps in by November 30th for the next drawing and your chance to win a $5 Golden Sweets Ice Cream gift card. Visit the Milk Caps for Moola page or contact Sarah Cooper with questions. |
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| Join or Renew PTA Membership have you renewed your membership yet? With schools facing challenges like shrinking budgets, your PTA support is more critical than ever. The cost is only $10 for one adult or $20 for two adults for the year! Your membership fee supports all of the programs our PTA typically offers our students. Your support also helps us provide teacher support, updates to our school, and the purchase of new classroom technology! |
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| Cafeteria Menu Check out this month's menu. As a reminder, students who choose hot lunch will come to the cafeteria to pick up their selection and return to the classroom to eat. |
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| Library & Media Center Updates Online Book Fair
Due to our current social distancing procedures, our fall Book Fair will be online November 8th-21st. We will send out details on how to order books for your children. Books will be delivered to homes. Book fairs are integral to the funding of many vital resources for our students. They help purchase new books, magazines, PebbleGo, library supplies, and support our Spelling Bee.
November Digital Citizenship
Many of our classrooms are engaging in digital citizenship in November, learning related to Media Literacy. Media Literacy addresses important concepts such as bias, opinion, author’s purpose, and critical thinking. It also includes asking specific questions and backing up your opinions with facts. You can support your children in understanding Media Literacy in a variety of ways. You can discuss things they are familiar with, such as commercials, food wrappers, and toy packages, with younger kids. With older kids, you can talk about YouTube videos, ads, and news outlets. With each, ask questions like “who made this,” “what do they want you to believe or do,” and “why would they want that?” to help them continue to process the concepts of bias, opinion, and author’s purpose.
Spelling Bee
The Fairmount Spelling Bee for 4th and 5th graders will be held on January 26th from 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm. The location is TBD. There will be a pretest beforehand to identify the qualifiers for the school Bee.
Battle of the Books
Many of our 5th-grade students are preparing for our school’s Battle of the Books competition which will take place in late February. Battle of the Books is a trivia-based literacy program. Students read from a list of ten books from different genres and compete against other teams to answer questions about the books. This friendly competition will allow teams to battle each other within the school and then send our top two teams to a final battle between other teams around the Jeffco School District. |
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| What's Happening in STEM 1st graders have been studying waves in science class. Students made a string phone and tested different variables that made it possible to hear their partner on the phone. Don’t be surprised if they recreate this at home and discover how long the string can be until the phone doesn’t work! Students also explored 3Doodlers in class. Kids came away with a 3D creation and will have the skill set to use the 3Doodlers for projects later in the year. 2nd graders have been studying ecosystems in science class. Exploring biomimicry, students created their own invention modeled after a plant found in nature. They were surprised to discover how many human inventions have mimicked plants and animals in nature. During the design process, creative brains were at work as they brainstormed ideas, sketched their prototype, and built their product. 3rd graders have been studying forces in science class. Static electricity experiments were electrifying the STEM classroom! Students recreated at least one experiment in class, completed a simulation showing what is actually happening with the protons and electrons, and articulated what forces were in play during their own experiment. 4th graders got into the Halloween spirit when they created ghost rockets. Students also dabbled in engineering, coming up with innovative creations with specific materials. 5th graders have been studying the structure and properties of matter. In class, we looked at liquids and gases. Students watched how different liquids affected candy corn after making predictions. Students also witnessed what happens to gases when the temperature increases. Ask them about Charles’ Law. |
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| Angie Blomquist, STEM teacher, loves designing engaging lessons that challenge students to problem-solve, think creatively, and be innovative. STEM lessons help students gain confidence by learning from their failures and practicing persistence. Because working with others is a life skill, communication, collaboration, and compromise are important parts of assignments. Have a question for Mrs. B? Email her or check out the STEM website for more info and photos of experiments. |
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| Mental Health: It Matters Check out Fairmount's Social Emotional Learning and Mental Health website for many resources from crisis intervention to supporting unique learning styles. There are also pandemic-specific articles and activities. If you or a loved one are experiencing a mental health crisis, please call the Colorado Crisis Services at 1-844-493-8255 (TALK) or 911. The Colorado Crisis Line is staffed by very kind and professional counselors who can help you and your loved ones through the darkest times. |
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Upcoming Events - Select Calendar(s) to be presented | | Tuesday, November 3 | | | Sunday, November 8 | | | Tuesday, November 10 | | | Friday, November 20 | | | Monday, November 23 | | | Tuesday, November 24 | | | Wednesday, November 25 | | | Thursday, November 26 | | | Friday, November 27 | |
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Thank You Sponsors Please join us in thanking our 2020-2021 Sponsors. When you visit their business please be sure to let them know you are with Fairmount Elementary! Interested in sponsoring? Let us know! |
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