Hello Gilpin Families!
I can't believe we are already through January! Second semester has been off to a great start with students acclimating back to school well and teachers hitting the ground running with instruction. State testing is only a few months away so teachers are monitoring students proficiency levels and preparing students to be successful in their assessments. As we continue second semester, consistent and punctual attendance becomes even more important. With only a four day school week and Spring Break looming, every instructional day matters to ensure students are on track to meet proficiency of state standards by the end of the school year. As parents, you are our best resource for ensuring your child is prepared for school by getting plenty of sleep, having a nutritious breakfast, arriving to school on time, and attending school consistently. Thank you for your support!
Sincerely,
Patrick Linnehan
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- The GCSD Board of Education is working on next year's school calendar and will be ready soon.
- GCSD is having school on President's Day on February 16th.
- Out of district students will need to complete their out of district enrollment form to ensure enrollment for next school year. If you are an out of district family, please complete the Interdistrict Choice/ Open Enrollment form located in PowerSchool. If you need assistance locating that form, please contact Codi Ramsey at cramsey@gilpin.k12.co.us
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See important dates to keep in mind for the month of February! |
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Please see information below about how GCES utilizes Restorative Practices in the classroom and school community. |
See what exciting events Student Council has to offer this month! |
See information below about the annual Valentine's Day Ice Cream Social! |
The January AstroEagles Mission was "Jupiter's Joy- Everyone Belongs" focusing on belonging and inclusion! See highlights from the mission below! |
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For our February Mission, we are traveling to Saturn and focusing on creativity and curiousity! |
Congratulations to our February Student of the Month, Leona Powe! |
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The Colorado Avalanche Youth Program will be at GCES on February 16th! If you would like for your child to participate, please complete the waiver below! |
Look out for a Powerschool Student Contact Report Sheet in your child's Thursday folder. More information below |
The lockdown safety buttons in the elementary school have been activated. More information below. |
- Monday, February 2nd- 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Grade Field Trip to the Arvada Center to watch Junie B. Jones the musical
- Wednesday, February 4th- Introduction to February's AstroEagles Mission- Saturn Spark
- Thursday, February 5th- Gifted and Talented Program Field Trip to Carlson Elementary School for a Makerspace Program provided by CU Science Discovery
- Wednesday, February 11th- LATE START- School starts at 9:00
- Wednesday, February 11th- Montessori Community Group Meeting
- Thursday, February 12th- Ice Cream Social!!
- Monday, February 16th- President's Day. GCSD HAS SCHOOL
- Monday, February 16th- Colorado Avalanche Takeover!
- Tuesday, February 17th- Gilpin Elementary Parent Group Meeting 4:15-5:00, Elementary Library
- Tuesday, February 17th- District Accountability Committee (DAC) Meeting 5:30-6:30
- Tuesday, February 17th- Board of Education Meeting 7:00
- Wednesday, February 25th- LATE START- School starts at 9:00
- Wednesday, February 25th- AstroEagles Mission- Saturn Spark
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Gilpin County School District utilizes Restorative Practices as a proactive measure to build community, provide students the opportunity to repair damage to relationships caused by their actions, and teach students important relational skills. Restorative Practices have many components. The 3 most common and implemented components are:
- Respect Agreements: Each classroom creates and maintains a Classroom Respect Agreement. This agreements is broken into four boxes: Teacher to Student Respect, Student to Teacher Respect, Student to Student Respect, and Respecting the Environment. These agreements are created by the students with input from all students. The language used in the agreements comes from the students themselves. This is to ensure authenticity and create student ownership over the document. Respect agreements are also living documents, meaning they can revised at any point to address any area the class needs to focus on.
- Restorative Circles: Restorative circles provide an opportunity for either a group of students or an entire classroom to discuss a topic in a safe, respectful manner. The circles are led by circle keepers (either students or teachers) and are facilitated through a series of questions. All members of the circle are encouraged, but not required, to participate. Circles can build community and relationships as well as mediate difficult topics or conversations.
- Restorative Action Plans: When a student causes a problem through their actions, they need to address the harm they caused and create a plan to repair that harm. Restorative action plans are developed with input from the student and provide an actionable and measurable template for repairing harm and restoring relationships.
Restorative Practices are implemented throughout Gilpin County School District. Administration and teachers have received comprehensive and on-going training on Restorative Practices and how to best implement them in the classroom and school community.
If you would like to learn more about how GCES implements Restorative Practices and how GCES conducts disciplinary actions, please refer to the Restorative Practices and Behavior and Discipline sections of the Student/Parent/Guardian Handbook here
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For February, Student Council members are progressing with their January initiative focused on peer mentorship. They are pairing elementary students together by age with the goal of announcing the partnerships this month.
Student Council is also helping to lead AstroEagles Missions. They are working with me to announce the missions to the school and explain the details of the missions.
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See details below about our Valentine's Day Ice Cream Social on February 12th!
If you would like to volunteer, you can sign up through this link:
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The January AstroEagles Mission "Jupiter's Joy: Everyone Belongs" focused on belonging, inclusion, and finding joy. Students were placed into their AstroEagles teams and worked to fill a "joy jar" for their team. Each student had two strips of paper to write:
- 1 thing that brings them joy in their life
- 1 thing that brings them joy at school
Students then placed all their strips into their teams "joy jar" and the jars were placed on the walls of the MPR. At the end of the school year, teams will open their joy jars to look back on what brought them joy!
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For our February Mission, we are traveling to Saturn! The focus for February is on curiosity and creativity. Students will work together to answer the question, "“If you could visit a brand-new planet that no one has ever seen, what would you discover there?” The team will brainstorm ideas about their planet answering the following questions:
- What is the name of your planet?
- What kind of creatures or people live ther?
- What do they eat, build, or play with?
- How do they solve problems or create art?
- What kind of weather does the planet have?
- What type of ecosystems exist on the plenet?
Then as a team, they will create their own fictional planet using drawing and craft materials complete with:
- unique landscapes
- imaginative creatures
- creative inventions or buildings
All planets will then be displayed in the MPR for all to see!
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Congratulations to our February GCES Student of the Month Leona Powe! Leona was nominated by her classroom teacher who said of her, "Leona works hard to learn new things and challenges herself every chance she gets! She helps others and is friends with everyone in her class!" Great job Leona! |
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The Colorado Avalanche Youth Program will be at Gilpin County Elementary School Monday, February 16th to lead a skills activity for elementary students. In order for your child to participate, parents will need to complete a waiver for their child. You can access that waiver through the QR code in the flier below. Also, because GCES is participating in the program, families have the opportunity to purchase discounted Colorado Avalanche tickets! You can access the discounted ticket options through the QR code in the post below. |
In order to ensure all contact information is correct for all students, GCES will be sending out a Powerschool Student Contact Report sheet home on Thursday, February 5th. This will be in your child's Thursday take home folder. Please review the contact sheet to ensure the information is correct and up to date. If the information is correct, send back the form stating all information is correct. If any information needs to updated, please update and send the form back. We will need all forms returned to ensure information is correct in Powerschool. |
On Wednesday, January 28th, all students K-5 attended an assembly regarding the lockdown safety buttons in the elementary school. These buttons are in place in case of an emergency for staff members to press to immediately alert authorities. Whenever these buttons are pressed, local law enforcement will be notified and will be in route to the school. Because of the serious implications regarding the use of these buttons, I instructed students that only adult staff members are to use the buttons. Elementary students cannot always discern the severity of an emergency and I do not want students pressing the button believing an emergency existed when it did not. If students do believe an emergency is occuring, they were instructed to find an adult and tell them immediately. All the lockdown safety buttons are in the view of a camera and students were told they would be caught if they pressed the button and face serious consequences. Alongside the safety buttons, teachers have the ability to engage a lockdown using their classroom phones. Through these two measures, we feel confident that staff will be able to address an emergency immediately and keep everyone as safe as possible. |
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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