Welcome Back Gilpin Families!
For new families who don't know me, my name is Patrick Linnehan. I have been part of Gilpin County Elementary School for 12 years, 9 as the elementary technology teacher and mathematics interventionist, and 3 as the principal. I also have a son Finnegan who is a member of GCES in 1st grade! This school community has been wonderful for me and my family and I am so proud to lead such an amazing school.
I am very excited to meet new students and families! My door is always open and I am available to meet in person if anyone has any questions or would like to know more about the school!
At the beginning of each month I will post this newsletter with important information for the upcoming month as well as highlights, videos, and pictures from the previous month.
I will also be sending out a "Sunday Spotlight" each Sunday with important information for students and families for the upcoming week.
Thank you all and I am so excited to start an amazing school year!
Patrick Linnehan
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- You can find your child's school supply list here
- Please make sure to complete the "Student and Parent Acknowledgements and Agreements" located in the form section of Power School
- Our first day of school is Wednesday, August 12th!
- The school doors open at 7:30 A.M. Please refrain from arriving before 7:30 as no one will be present to let students into the building
- School starts promptly at 8:00 A.M. and the side doors of the elementary school will be closed and locked at 7:59 A.M. If you arrive after 8:00, please enter the school through the district main entrance.
- Breakfast and lunch are free for all students! If you would like your child to have breakfast, please arrive to the school no later than 7:45 A.M.
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See important dates to keep in mind for the month of August! |
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GCSD is hosting Back to School Night on Monday, August 10th from 6:00-7:30 P.M. |
We are introducing a new school theme for the 26-27 school year- Gilpin's Wild Kingdom! See more details about the school theme below |
For our first Gilpin's Wild Kingdom Expedition students will be traveling to the rainforest focusing on the character traits patience, cooperation, and growth, as well as school-wide expectations involving classroom routines and procedures. See more information below! |
In coordination with the "Gilpin's Wild Kingdom" theme, classroom teachers will choose a student each month that has demonstrated the character focus and school-wide expectation for the month! |
GCES will continue Morning Announcements partnering with GWK Expedition Teams! See more information below! |
GCES will be continuing our mentor/mentee program started last school year! Find more information below! |
GCES will be hosting our 3rd annual color run, The Safari Spring, on Thursday, September 10th. This will be a fundraiser for the 4th and 5th grade field trip to 100 Elk! |
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GCSD is hosting a Colorado Rockies fundraiser for the 100 Elk Field Trip by offering discounted tickets to a Rockies game! See more details below! |
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GCES has new teachers for the 2026-27 school year! See more information about our new staff members below! |
GCES is updating the school policy regarding cell phones and personal technology devices for students. See more information below. |
To begin the school year I will be presenting to individual classes about the GCES code of conduct and student expectations. You can see what I will be discussing below |
- Monday, August 10th- Back to School Night! 6:00-7:30 P.M.
- Wednesday, August 12th- First Day of School!
- Monday, August 17th- Gilpin Elementary Parent Group Meeting- Welcome Back! 4:15, Elementary Library
- Monday, August 17th- Board of Education Meeting 7:00 P.M.
- Monday, August 17th- "The August Canopy Climb" Introduction
- Tuesday, August 25th- Get to Know You Lunch with student Mentors/Mentees
- Thursday, August 27th- "The August Canopy Climb" Expedition
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GCSD is hosting Back to School Night on Monday, August 10th from 6:00-7:30 P.M. Students and families can meet their classroom teacher and tour their new classroom. The school is also providing hotdogs and hamburgers, and will have a bouncy castle, train, and face painting for the children. Come join us in welcoming our community back for an amazing school year! |
Last school year, GCES students traveled through the solar system with our "AstroEagles" school year theme. This school year, GCES will be traveling through different habitats around the world with "Gilpin's Wild Kingdom: Discovering Our World, Unlocking Our Minds". Each month students will learn about a different habitat around the world while focusing on character traits and school-wide expectations. The habitat, character traits, and school-wide expectation will be introduced to students at the start of each month. At the end, students will work together in mixed age "Expedition Teams". There are a total of 16 teams with about 8 students in each team. The teams represent at least one student in each grade level from Kindergarten through 5th grade. The purpose of the mixed age groups are to promote student leadership and mentoring opportunities as well as build community. This also gives students and staff members an opportunity to build relationships outside of the classroom. The teams will each create crafts representing an aspect of the habitat of the month. The student creations will all be displayed together to form a habitat in the elementary hallways! As we continue throughout the school year more habitats will be created for a total of 10 habitats seen throughout our world! |
For our first Gilpin's Wild Kingdom "GWK" Expedition, students will be traveling to the rainforest with "The August Canopy Climb". This month we will focus on the character traits patience, cooperation, and growth, as well as the school-wide expectations classroom routines and procedures. This will set students up for success for the school year understanding the importance of building routines during their school day, mastering transitions, and being prepared with their school supplies. At the end of the month students will join their GWK Expedition Team to create different animals out of crafts to display on an "August Canopy Climb" display in the elementary hallway. |
In coordination with our school theme "Gilpin's Wild Kingdom", classroom teachers will select a student representative that best demonstrated the character focus and school-wide expectation highlighted that month. Each student representative will receive a prize and a certificate! They will also have their pictures taken and will be honored both in this newsletter and on the television screens around the elementary school! |
GCES will be presenting morning announcements each morning at 8:15 A.M. The announcements will be displayed on the television screens in each classroom. Beginning this school year, morning announcements will be connected to the Gilpin's Wild Kingdom school theme with different GWK Expedition Teams taking turns presenting each week! |
GCES will be continuing our mentor/ mentee program that was introduced last school year! With this program all students in Kindergarten through 2nd grade will receive a student mentor in 3rd grade through 5th grade. The mentors will meet with their mentees once a month supporting the school-wide expectation and character focus during GWK Expeditions, and support them during school-wide programs throughout the school year. The program will begin this school year with a mentor/mentee get to know you lunch! |
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GCES is hosting it's third annual color run "The Safari Sprint" on Thursday, September 10th at 4:30 P.M. The color run is available to all students and families and will be a celebration for a fundraiser to support the 100 Elk Outdoor Education field trip for all 4th and 5th grade students. To raise funds for the field trip, all 4th and 5th grade students will have an individual page on the GCES color run website. You can find that website here. The goal is for each student to raise 250 dollars to cover all expenses for the field trip. Students and families can share this link to all friends and family members! GCES also has "Safari Sprint" t-shirts available for purchase. The t-shirts are 20 dollars per shirt and will be available to purchase directly on the color run website soon! |
GCSD is partnering with the Colorado Rockies to provide discount tickets with proceeds also supporting the 100 Elk Outdoor Education 4th and 5th grade field trip! The baseball game is Sunday, September 20th at 1:10 P.M. with the Colorado Rockies hosting the Seattle Mariners. Upper level tickets are on sale for 7 dollars and lower level tickets are on sale for 15 dollars. All tickets will be selected in a group so GCSD families can watch the game together! To purchase tickets print and complete the form provided here and bring, along with payment, to either Codi Ramsey or Patrick Linnehan no later than Thursday, September 10th. |
GCES is excited to welcome the following teachers new to our school this year:
- Ms. Ann Biddle- Upper Montessori Co-Teacher
- Mr. Jeff Reich- 5th Grade Teacher
- Mr. Will Lorenz- Physical Education Teacher
- Mr. Nick Rucci- Art Teacher
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GCES is updating the policy on personal technology devices. This information is included in the 26-27 student handbooks. Beginning this school year, students will not be allowed to have any personal technology devices during the school day. This includes cell phones, smart watches, ipads or other tablets, virtual reality googles, Meta (or other "smart") eyeglasses, or any other electronic device that can record videos or take images. These devices can be brought to school by students but must remain in their backpack during school hours. If you need to contact your child during the school day, please call either your child's classroom teacher or Codi Ramsey to get in touch with your child. If you have any questions or concerns you can get in touch with me by phone, email, or an in person meeting. |
To begin the school year, I will be speaking individually with each classroom discussing the GCES code of conduct. The purpose of these meetings is to inform students about school-wide expectations as well as inform students about potential consequences for violating expectations. These meetings will be adjusted to be age appropriate depending on the grade level of the classroom. The following topics will be discussed in the code of conduct meetings:
- Updated personal technology device policy
- School-wide expectations
- "3 strikes" policy involving violating classroom expectations leading to higher consequences
- Importance of representing respect in your classroom
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If you have any questions, concerns, or comments reach out to me!
Email: plinnehan@gilpin.k12.co.us
Phone: 303-582-3444 ext. 5027
I am always willing to meet in person as well
If you'd like more information about the curriculum offered in school or different student opportunities, check out my website here
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