December 9, 2016

Dear Fireside Families,

Another exciting week at Fireside! A shout out to Stacey Forsyth, her team from the CU Science Discovery Center, Jenn Hart, Mr. Millard, Ms. Pischke and all of those who made this week's Hour of Code such a success. Critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and math are just a few of the skills honed through the various programming opportunities K-5 this week. Please take a moment to view "Fireside moments" from the Hour of Code week. Your child can continue to practice coding using the following free resources: Code.org, Cs-first.com and Scratch.mit.edu 

Our star-studded 4th and 5th grade Fire Choir delivered quite a performance during this week's Fire Choir concert. So heart-warming to see students returning year after year for the culminating Fire Choir song. 

Congratulations to all of our geography participants this week- including those who engaged in the daily geography questions via morning announcements as well as our participants in Wednesday's school Geography Bee. Let's give a shout out to 5th grader, Finn Myers, for winning this year's Fireside Geography Bee! 

Just a reminder, when temperatures dip below 20 degrees (factoring in windchill), students are brought indoors before the start of the school day and will be indoors for recess until temperatures rise. I'm glad to see the temperatures are warming up a bit!

A shout out to Trey Chance, Olivia Alessandrini, Kaya Eriksson and Luke Robinson for their student leadership during our two open enrollment tours. Thanks for being the voice of our exemplary school!

During our last School Accountability meeting, we discussed our current Fireside homework policy as well as some of the research regarding homework. The School Accountability Committee would like to hear from our community regarding our policy and gather input via a survey. Please take a moment to review the Homework Policy and complete our Homework survey

Our district's State Assessment schedule for this year is available at THIS LINK. For grades 3-5, we kindly request parents schedule any vacations outside of this window

As always, thank you for your partnership in learning!

Nov. 18

Dear Fireside Families,
     As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, it is a time to step back and be thankful for our many blessings, including family and friends as well as our safe and stable Louisville community. Here's a video clip, An Unsung Hero I shared with staff this week and felt it was timely to share with our families as well. As we approach the holiday season, how might we spread the same idea of "paying it forward" within our family circle and community? Participating in our "Giving Tree" program is just one example of this.
After hearing rave reviews from Perry Conway's visit to Fireside last year, we've invited him to return again this year with a different topic- Helping Wildlife Survive. Having traveled the world and experienced the affects of global warming firsthand, Perry will bring his teachings, photography and insights to our Fireside Falcons on November 30th. Be sure to ask your child/ren what was learned.
    Based on the tech survey we distributed to parents a couple weeks back regarding parent tech support/training, Ms. Pazour will host some tech informational sessions in January. Dates TBD and shared in the December 2 Chat. 
     This year, BVSD will not be offering an Impact on Education Award for Teachers as the district is in the process of revamping the award with plans to continue it next school year. 

Community events/resources:

• Community Resources for Latino Families
• Tuesday, Nov. 29 from 6-7pm Gun Safety Class in Fireside Amphitheater. Open to all Louisville schools.
• Common Sense Parenting courses starting after winter break.
• Screenager- a film about growing up in the digital age is taking place at Monarch K-8 on January 9 and open to the Louisville community. Please see attached flyer for details. 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Many blessings,

Nov. 4

Dear Fireside Families,
I am pleased to report that we had almost 100% attendance for parent teacher conferences (99%). Thank you for valuing your child's education and being active participants in your child's learning!
We've heard positive comments from families about our new way of reporting Fireside highlights via our Fireside Falcon News crew.  This is a wonderful avenue for empowering students to have a voice in our school, while developing reporting and communication skills.
Speaking of news crews, 2nd graders learned all about weather patterns from Dave Aguilera from Channel 4 News today. Check out tonight's 6:00 news for Fireside celebrities accompanying Mr. Aguilera with his news reporting.

As we transition into the next season, I hope your family took advantage of our glorious fall in Colorado. Here's a short video clip from preschool reminding all of us of the simple pleasures of appreciating nature and playing in the leaf piles.

      SAC Agenda, Nov. 10, 5:30-7pm A special thanks to our SAC committee members. Elected positions include:
Doug Cotton-Chairman
Corinne Johnson-Co-Chair
Keith Pieper-Secretary
Carolyn Harvey-PTO and PAC Representative
Anna Siepmann-DAC Representative
New this year, we are building in time for topics of interest to support community discussions. Please see our SAC agenda if these topics are of interest to you.

Halloween fun!

October 21

Dear Fireside Families,

It's been a wonderful past couple of weeks of conferences. If for some reason, you were unable to attend, please contact your child's teacher to reschedule. Our teachers sure appreciated the homemade meals during conference nights!  A special thanks to our volunteers for your contributions and Lucky Pie night- my first slice of our locally owned pizza place- yummy!

 

Thursday afternoon, we were the recipients of the Green Star School Award for practicing zero waste for the past five years. Ask your child/ren what Eco-tips they've learned this past week and how might they apply this learning in your home?  We will also be recruiting 4th and 5th graders to participate as "green advocates" on our newly formed, "Green Team." Look for a flyer in this Friday's folders. To learn more about ways to conserve and reuse, please visit the Eco-guide 

Would you like to learn more about TAG programming at Fireside? Join Ms. Fitzgerald, Kate LeMere, and myself from 8:15-9am on October 25th in the Fireside Amphitheatre for a TAG Coffee . Please RSVP for this event by contacting Kathryn Wolf in the front office: 720-561-7900. 

BVSD is sponsoring a special film series: 

Families are welcome to attend, on October 27, the first of the Innovation in Education Film Series: Most Likely to Succeed. The Innovation in Education Film Series was created as an opportunity for us, as a larger community (teachers, parents, students, community members and other partners), to consider these national shifts in education and what we might learn from the experiences of other schools and districts who are also embracing this challenge. Most Likely to Succeed offers an inspiring look at what students and teachers are capable of — if we have the vision and courage to transform our schools. Audience members call it the most compelling film ever created on the topic of school. For more information and to reserve seats, visit: https://goo.gl/WpkcoI.

As always, thank you for your partnership in learning!

October 14

Dear Fireside Families,

On Monday, staff engaged in "design thinking"  by working collaboratively and creating structures. The design process is an example of using the "Innovator's Mindset". We hope to ignite design thinkers at Fireside!

Next week Fireside will be recognized for their environmentally conscious practices during the Green Star Assembly on October 21st. Students will also participate in a variety of eco-friendly activities hosted by Eco-Cycle.  Be sure to check out the Eco-guide to incorporate green practices into  your home. 

If you have any gently used Fireside spirit gear your children have outgrown, feel free to drop it off in our red collection bin in our entryway. 

Congratulations, Nora Moynihan, for being recognized for your artwork at the BVSD art show!

Reminders:

-With the change in seasons, we begin to see an increase in tardies and lost and found items. To support your child and family with attendance and timeliness, check out these helpful tips here.

-Halloween Parade: We look forward to our Halloween Parade on Monday, Oct. 31st at 8:15am, families are welcome to join us! Students may come in costume and parties will follow immediately thereafter.  We kindly request no blood, gore or weapons with costumes. Any parents choosing to come in costume, we request that no masks are worn.

Community events:
FREE S.T.E.A.M. educational shows given by CU Faculty Professors from several academic departments. See here for more information:  http://www.colorado.edu/cuwizards/

As always, thank you for your partnership in learning!

Oct. 7

Dear Fireside Families,

Another exciting week at Fireside! During today's PRIDE assembly our Mad Hops student jump-ropers demonstrated their "Excellence" and "Determination" with a lively show. Be sure to check out JumpNrope in downtown Louisville if your child was inspired!

Some parents have asked for training and support on the different types of technology being used at Fireside. Please help us meet your needs by completing the brief Parent Technology Survey.

Fireside Fall Conferences  begin next week. The last day to sign up is October 10th. Our attendance goal is 100% participation!  As we all know, staying well informed about your child's learning makes all the difference. 

Interested in hearing what was discussed during last night's School Accountability Committee meeting? Please click Here. An ongoing topic is educational funding. I encourage our parents to be well informed about the Operational Levy 3A on the November ballot. Following are two other resources that show Colorado in comparison to other state educational funding.

• Comparing state changes in per pupil spending between 2002-03 and 2012-2013
• Comparing state by state per pupil spending in 2002-03 and 2012-13

Did you know October is Dyslexia Awareness Month? Here's an event that will be hosted in Longmont. Simulations are quite powerful experiences for understanding Dyslexia.

Would you like to learn more about TAG programming at Fireside? Join Ms. Fitzgerald, Kate LeMere, and myself from 8:15-9am on October 25th in the Fireside Amphitheatre for a TAG Coffee 

Parent Technology Presentation:

Parenting in the Digital Age is still uncharted territory. How can we use technology to empower our children without it causing them harm? Professor Brian Housand from East Carolina University will equip parents with tools and strategies to help them navigate in this ever-changing digital world.

Register online at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/todays-technology-and-gifted-s…

As always, thank you for your partnership in learning!

September 23

Dear Fireside Families,

     It's been a fun-filled week with parent and community engagement. We had close to 35 parents in attendance at our first PTO meeting of the year where we voted on this year's budget and celebrated raising close to $50,000 from our Jog-a-thon. A shout out to our dedicated Jog-a-thon committee and the participation from our families. We had a 90% participation rate in our fundraising efforts. 

   During this week's Principal/Parent Coffee for grade 1 and 3 we discussed the Operational Levy, which will be on this year's November ballot. I highly encourage parents to stay well informed about issues related to educational funding. Parents also inquired about the status of the district work on the Ideal School Day as well as the new graduation requirements, which will begin with the class of 2021. Please visit the following links to gather additional information about these relevant topics:
Operational Levy, 
Ideal School Day 
Graduation Guidelines  

Student Directory:
Out of respect to student and family privacy, the school does not distribute student contact information. However, playdates and birthday party invites can be arranged via our school directory- to be released soon!  Thanks to Diane Ballard for coordinating these efforts:

Please submit your family's contact information online (one entry per family):  goo.gl/CzTVZa Information is collected each year, so even if you were included in last year's directory, please submit information again this year.  The deadline to submit information for the directory is Wednesday, September 28, 2016. If you would like to advertise in this directory that is viewed by over 300 families, please see (https://docs.google.com/document/d/19a2bWSJgRCmDdHrlgW77wfi3RDqiUmOP4l6ucNK_W7U/edit) or contact Diane Ballard (dballard_69@yahoo.com). 

Dreambox:
I have secured funding for the remainder of the year for our new adaptive math technology. I'm continuing to gather feedback on the program, so please share any of your observations with your child's teacher. The purpose for it's usage is to address gaps and extend learning for advanced mathematicians. Teachers are also able to monitor student progress on concepts taught- so far I've heard positive remarks from students, parents and teachers. 

PARCC: 

Individual student score reports will be delivered to schools in October and made available to families. Fireside saw some significant growth scores, particularly in 5th grade. For more information and to access our results, please go to http://www.cde.state.co.us/schoolview/coloradogrowthmodel).

• Following are additional PARCC resources for parents in English and Spanish, as well as other languages: http://www.cde.state.co.us/communications/resourcesforparents
• Colorado PARCC scores: http://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment/cmas-englishmath-dataandresults

Keagan Rapp illustrates his Fireside PRIDE

Conferences:
Please sign up by October 10th
Fireside Fall Conferences

As always, thank you for your partnership in learning!