Hello Gilpin Families!
Welcome to second semester! We are officially halfway through the school year! We have many exciting opportunities coming up this semester including the Junie B. Jones musical at the Arvada Center for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade classrooms; the Young Ameritowne field trip for the 4th and 5th grade classrooms; the Buddy Bison program for 2nd and 3rd grade, and other exciting field trips. We also have our annual CMAS state testing coming up this April for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade. We are excited to start a great second semester with our amazing community!
Sincerely,
Patrick Linnehan
|
- GCSD is having school on Martin Luther King's Day, January 19th!
- Friendly reminder about the Parent Drop-off and Pick-Up policy before and after school. The location by the sidewalk is intended only for dropping off or picking up your child. Drivers must remain in their cars if they intend to use this location. If you need to get out of your car, please park your car in an available parking spot. If parents leave their car unattended in the drop-off/pick-up area, it creates a lot of unnecessary traffic, making it difficult for parents and students to navigate the parking lot.
|
See important dates to keep in mind for the month of January! |
|
Please keep a look out for your child's Quarter 2 report card, which will be distributed via email on Sunday, January 11th. |
See what exciting events Student Council has to offer this month! |
Congratulations to our 2025-2026 GCES Circle Keeper Ambassadors! |
For our December AstroEagles Mission, students displayed messages about growth mindset, working hard, and perseverance. |
The January AstroEagles Mission is "Jupiter's Joy- Everyone Belongs" focusing on belonging and inclusion! |
|
Congratulations to our January Student of the Month, Cayson Brubaker! |
|
See highlights from our winter concert on Thursday, December 11th below! |
Elementary students 2nd-5th are invited to join the wrestling program! Details below. |
A local community member has free clothes to distribute. If you are interested, see more information below! |
- Wednesday, January 14th- Montessori Community Group Meeting 4:15-5:00 P.M.- Ms. Jen's Room: Room E175
- Monday, January 19th- Martin Luther King Jr Day- NORMAL SCHOOL DAY
- Tuesday, January 20th- Gilpin Elementary Parent Group Meeting 4:15-5:00 P.M., Elementary Library
- Tuesday, January 20th- District Accountability Committee (DAC) Meeting 5:30-6:30 P.M.
- Tuesday, January 20th- Board of Education Meeting 7:00 P.M.
- Wednesday, January 21st- LATE START, school starts at 9:00 A.M.
- Wednesday, January 28th- Jupiter's Joy AstroEagles Mission 8:30-9:30 A.M.
- Thursday, January 29th- Spring Picture Day!
|
Quarter 2 report cards will be sent digitally via email on Sunday, January 11th. This will come from a ParentSquare message and include an attachment with your child's report card. If you have not received a report card by Monday, January 12th, please contact Patrick Linnehan at plinnehan@gilpin.k12.co.us. |
For their January Student Council initiative, the student council wants to focus on peer mentorship. In collaboration with the principal and teachers, the student council members proposed a 1-1 mentorship program, similar to the big brother/ big sister program. This will entail one Upper Elementary student (3rd-5th grade) mentoring a Lower Elementary student (K-2nd).
Students will be paired with members of their AstroEagles teams. These students have already had an opportunity to build a relationship with these peers through their AstroEagles mission throughout the school year. AstroEagles team leaders will assign the mentorship pairs. Teachers will then decide times for the mentors/mentees to meet throughout the remainder of the school year.
The goal of the mentorship program is for the mentors to guide their mentees through navigating elementary school. They will assist in tutoring with academic work, provide social/emotional support, and act as a safe, trusting peer. Mentors/mentees will have scheduled times to have lunch together and to be in classes together to provide academic support.
Thank you to our amazing student council for proposing such an exciting and enriching opportunity!
|
Congratulations to the following students for being selected as the GCES Circle Keeper Ambassadors for the 25-26 School Year!
Ms. Lauren's Lower Montessori: Jojo Hofman
Ms. Beth's Lower Montessori: Rowan Carlson
Mr. Smith's 2nd Grade: Jack Jodlowski
Ms. Bayne's 3rd Grade: Sadie Elpers
Mr. S.P.'s 4th Grade: Joe Schoell
Ms. Sepanik's 5th Grade: Remi Scott
Ms. Jen's Upper Montessori: Riley Henderlong
These Circle Keeper Ambassadors participated in an orientation on Wednesday, January 7th. In this orientation, they learned how to organize and lead a Restorative Circle, appropriate ways to help mediate peer conflict, and how to support their classroom teachers in leading classroom circles. The teachers participated in a professional development training on Friday, January 9th where they participated in a Restorative Circle and discussed ways to incorporate their Circle Keeper Ambassadors. We are excited to see the amazing things our Circle Keeper Ambassadors do this year!
|
The December AstroEagles Mission "Mindset on Mars" focused on building and maintaining a growth mindset. Students worked with their AstroEagles teams to come up with growth mindset phrases, which are phrases (or mantras) they can use to encourage themselves when their schoolwork becomes difficult. These include phrases such as "I won't give up", "I can't do this YET, but I will be able to with practice" and "I know I am capable". Each team member came up with a phrase and wrote it on their teams star to create a "Growth Galaxy". All 16 team stars are displayed on the wall of the MPR and can be seen below! |
For our January Mission, we are traveling to Jupiter! The focus for January is on belonging and inclusion as students transition back from holiday break to their classroom and school communities. Students and teachers will be focusing on belonging and inclusion throughout the month thinking of ways they can ensure all students are included and have a voice in their classrooms. For their AstroEagles Mission at the end of the month, each team will create a "Joy Jar", where students will each write two things to place in the jar: 1 thing that brings them joy, and 1 joyful moment they’ve experienced recently at school. The jars will be then be decorated by the team members and displayed in the MPR! |
Congratulations to our January GCES Student of the Month Cayson Brubaker! Cayson was nominated by his classroom teacher who said of him, "Cayson is not afraid to challenge himself to go further in every subject. He is resilient and kind, with a sense of humor and patience. He is often the first to help others and fix things if something goes wrong. Lastly, drive and compassion serve him well." Great job Cayson! |
|
See highlights from our Winter Concert on Thursday, December 11th below! |
Please see the flier below for information on the GCSD wrestling program open to students 2nd grade and up! |
We have an amazing local resident who has LOTS of free clothes for children to donate- approximately 30 large tots worth of clothes. These include jackets, gloves, hats and snow pants as well as pants and long sleeve shirts. The majority of the clothes consist of winter clothing. If you are interested in any of these items, please contact Codi Ramsey at cramsey@gilpin.k12.co.us. |
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
|
|
|
