September Principal's Message

September Principal's Message

Dear FSE Families

I hope the school year has gotten off to a fantastic start for everyone.  At FSE we have been working hard to establish relationships, set classroom procedures and plan personalized learning for all our students over the past month.  As we dig into another school year I wanted to share our curriculum and school-wide goals for this school year.

Goal 1 Curriculum:

• Math continues to be an area of focus for us at Flagstone.  We value students understanding of the process of solving a problem and focus our discussions and instruction on different ways to solve problems rather focusing on finding the right answer.  We believe it is much more important for our students to dissect different ways to solve a problem and then be able to explain their thinking.  We teach our students to focus on a growth mindset and to persevere through difficult problems in order to push their mathematical thinking.  
• Reading instruction is also an area where we continue to develop our expertise.  Through the support of our community, we were able to purchase over 1500 new titles of books to use specifically for guided reading instruction.  Our teachers continue to target their reading instruction to the specific reading skills of each child in their classroom using these guided reading texts.

Goal 2 Communication:

• As a school, we pride ourselves in effectively communicating with our families around student progress.  This year all parents will receive a mid-September progress report that will include current progress of each student in addition to collaborative goals that the students have set with their teachers.  Every month you will receive updated progress reports on your child.  Part of this communication is through our student-led conferences.  We believe that our number one job is to create self-reflective learners that are collaborators with their teacher in their learning.  With this in mind, your child will share their progress with you at our student-led conferences in November and April.  We encourage you to support your child in this oral presentation.

Goal 3 Social Emotional Learning:

• As a Douglas County High School feeder school, we are participating in the implementation of Second Step in collaboration with all the schools in our feeder.  This program emphasizes social-emotional development, problem-solving with peers, and the safety and well being of our students.
• ROCKS: Responsible,  Open Minded, Citizen, Kind, Safe and Friendly: We continue to teach to these character traits in our class meetings and in our school-wide positive behavior support systems.  We believe teaching character development skills just as important as teaching academics.

2018 FSE CMAS Results

We are so excited to share that not only do we continue to score in the state performance category, meaning that we are meeting our achievement expectations by the state but we went from a School Performance Framework of 65% in 2017 to 88.1% in 2018!  More importantly, we EXCEEDED growth expectations in ALL grade levels in reading and in math.  This means that we grew more than our district and our state in all these areas.  As a staff, we are so proud of the hard work of our students and teachers in exceeding these state expectations.  Please come to our upcoming SAC meeting to see our results in more detail.

BOND/MLO Information

Please see the below flier and facts regarding FSE and the Bond/MLO Proposal

Dear Parents and Community Members,

Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year!  Our School Accountability Committee (SAC) has 3 voting member positions open this year to be filled by October 1st.  

What is SAC?
We are an advisory committee (not a governing body) that collaborates with all of our stakeholders including our school's administrative team, teaching staff, support staff, students, community, and parents.  

What does SAC do?
As an advisory committee, we are proud to take an active role in our school regarding the following:

• Input for the Unified Improvement Plan (UIP)
• Review of FSE budget priorities based on community input.
• Review safety protocols throughout the year.
• Assist with the implementation of the district’s parent engagement policy.

Some examples of our past SAC work have included:

• Being an integral part of the 1st SAC Feeder School meeting in 2017-2018
• Supported the staff and the community in the adoption of  a new math program (Envision) based on community input.
• Collaborate with the school on a community survey.

How can I join?
If you'd like to become a voting member, we'd love to have you join us at our September 17th meeting to learn more.  

What is the time commitment?
SAC is required to meet quarterly, but additional meetings can be called if necessary. The time and dates of the meetings will be decided by the SAC in order to accommodate the schedules of our community to ensure the greatest opportunity to attend.

I'm interested but I have more questions…

Please join us on September 17th.  FSE Learning Commons at 4:15 pm. We'll be happy to offer more information and answer your questions.  In the meantime, you can learn more by browsing through the SAC handbook, just CLICK HERE.

Please visit  Flagstone SAC link for  our Sept. 17th Agenda

Hope to see you there!

Sincerely,
Your 2017 - 2018 Flagstone School Accountability Committee (FSAC)

Please see our Thursday Links HERE

FSE Happenings

Teaching each other 21st century skills

6th Grade Outdoor Education

Learning what collaboration means


Leading with class!


FSE FAB Artwork


Practice makes permanent in Music!

Bond/MLO FSE Community Information

Dear Flagstone Elementary Community, 

On August 21, the Douglas County School District Board of Education voted to
place a $40 million Mill Levy Override (MLO) and $250 million no-new-taxes
Bond on the 2018 ballot. Unlike our neighboring school districts, Douglas
County School District has not passed a MLO or Bond since 2006.

If passed by voters, these new funds would be used at our school to:

• Increase teacher and staff pay
• Add counselors for our students
• Enhance safety and security systems
• Make much needed repairs and upgrades to our building
• Replace and upgrade electrical systems and components
• Replace and upgrade heating and cooling systems and components  
• Replace and upgrade plumbing systems and components
• Replace and upgrade fire alarm system
• Replace roofing

Douglas County School District would also evaluate our building for additional needed
repairs that would make our learning environments as safe and productive as possible
for our students.

New MLO/Bond funding would also be used to upgrade information technology
(such as classroom computers) and transportation (such as aging buses), and offer
more student programming opportunities, including additional career and technical
education options.

The average Douglas County homeowner, with a home valued at $470,000, will pay
an additional $17.33 per month ($208 per year) if both measures are approved. If
neither are approved, the average homeowner would see their school property tax
bill decrease by approximately $67 in 2019.

You can read more about Douglas County School District’s funding challenges at
www.dcsdk12.org/funding.

Thank you for continuing to be an engaged and informed member of our school
community!

Sincerely,

Kelli Smith

Principal

Flagstone Elementary School

FSE's First Day of School! 8-10-18

Dear FSE Parents,
We had a great first day of school! Thank you for all the support and preparation you took to get your children ready!  They came to school ready to learn and reconnect with their friends.  Please see some of the awesome pictures below.  Don't forget to log onto Twitter and search #oneflagstone for daily communication and pictures of all that is happening at FSE!

During the first week of each month, I will send out this blog to send updates and communication from me regarding FSE's goals, events, and happenings.  Each Thursday the office will send out links through an email blast of activities and calendar events.  This is our way to communicate with families in a timely efficient way.  As always, if you have questions don't hesitate to call our office, we are here to support all families.

One big change in our calendar this year is that we will do ONE assembly a month to recognize and honor our students and classrooms.  This will be the first Friday of each month, and this starts next Friday.  Parents are welcome to come and stand by the staff to be a part of this FSE celebration.

Next week is Digital Citizenship Week.  All students K-6 will be participating in discussion and lessons around how to use technology appropriately.  Once students successfully complete this five-day course they will be assigned their personal device for the year.  Please make sure that you read through and sign the below docs agreeing to our technology policies with your child.  These need to be signed and brought back to your child's teacher prior to technology being given to your child.  To have fun and celebrate this learning we ask that students dress to match a different theme each day-see the flier below for more detail.

• 3 - 6 Technology Agreement
• K- 2 Technology Agreement

Have a wonderful weekend and we will see you back here on Monday for our first week of school!

Sincerely,
Kelli Smith, FSE Principal


Calendar

• August 13 to 17 is Digital Citizenship Week:  See flyer below for special dress-up days
• August 16th Fire Drill 3:30
• August 17th 3:15 Monthly FSE Spirit Assembly

Updates

• Spirit Assemblies: First Friday of each month
• Principal Blog: First Thursday of each month
• Thursday Links with calendar updates: Every Thursday

FSE Staff Welcomes You to the 18-19 School Year

Message From Our Superintendent

Please Welcome Our New School Counselor Patti Roberts!

Hello FSE Families!

As we begin the new school year, I wanted to take a moment to introduce myself. My name is
Patti Roberts and I am Flagstone Elementary’s new School Counselor. I am very happy to be a
part of the FSE community and am excited for all that this year will bring.  

As a School Counselor, my primary responsibilities are to promote the academic, career,
and social/emotional development of all our students. We will work on developing skills and overcoming obstacles in the classroom. We will explore career interests and possibilities for their future. I am also here to help guide our students as they navigate the many ccomplicated situations and feelings associated with their elementary years. To accomplish these goals, I will meet with
students individually and in small groups, conduct classroom counseling lessons, talk with parents,
collaborate with teachers and staff, and consult with community organizations to help meet the
needs of all FSE students.

I believe that every child is capable of success in school. I also recognize that this does not look
the same for all students. As your child’s school counselor, my goal is to help them discover their
strengths and what makes them special. We will learn what tools they need for success and will
work to build their confidence to know that they are capable of whatever they want to achieve.

I look forward to serving our students, families, and community. I will be at Flagstone on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, and every other Friday. The other half of my time will be spent at Sage Canyon
Elementary, so I will be most easily accessible by email. Please feel free to reach out with
any questions, thoughts, or concerns you may have.

All the best,

Ms. Patti

Email:   proberts1@dcsdk12.org

Phone: (303) 387-5243

Dog Are NOT Allowed on Campus

Please remember our no dog policy.  Dogs are not allowed on campus at any time for the safety and well being of our student.  You may not even carry them on campus to pick up your kids, this is a district policy for ALL schools.  We appreciate your adherence to this policy.

IMPORTANT AND TIME-SENSITIVE INFORMATION REGARDING CogAT TESTING:

The week of September 10-14, all Flagstone students in grades 3 and 6 and any “referral”
students in grades 1, 2, 4 or 5 will take the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT) to determine
strengths and possible identification for gifted programming.  Any parents wanting to refer
their child to take the CogAT should print, sign and return the required forms NO LATER
than Friday, August 24. These forms can be found on our Gifted and Talented page,
linked HERE.

Referral testing is not for all students!  These are students who may require targeted
gifted programming at the neighborhood/charter school or intensive programming in our
center based Discovery Program.  Please visit our Gifted and Talented page for more
information.

Back to School Resources Express Check-In Returning families can take advantage of DCSD's one-stop online check-in portal: Update contact, address and phone number information  Update media consent elections  Review and electronically sign various required forms  Update student health information  Apply for a bus pass  View student fees Link to the payment website Contact your specific school regarding its Express Check-In dates. Need help checking in? View our Express Check-In Reference Guide Problems logging in? View our FAQ for Parents More information: Welcome letter to families | Welcome letter to families (Spanish) New Payment System and New ZPasses for 2018-2019 DCSD is transitioning to a new payment system for school fees. For DCSD neighborhood (non-charter) school families, your school fees will now be paid through MySchoolBucks. For charter school families, your payments will transition to MySchoolBucks later this year. Additionally, bus ZPasses are being upgraded. All families utilizing DCSD bus transportation must submit a new application for these ZPasses. Learn more about these changes, and find information on before and after school child care, bus routes, calendars, new student enrollment, school lunch, immunizations and more!

Start here

First Day of School Pictures

Welcome BACK to School!

July 16, 2018

Please see this link for important communication regarding our August Meet and Greet and beginning of the year events.


Welcome Back Parent Letter

5-24-18 FSE Thursday Blast

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Friday, May 25th
            -6th Grade Continuation from 9:20am-11:00am in the gym
            -Kindergarten Award Ceremony from 11:00am-12:00pm in the gym
            -Last Day of School-Full Day

Support for Flagstone Student
Please see this Go Fund Me page to help support this precious boy.

Elementary Progress Reports
Report cards will be released on May 30th.  Please click on this link to access your child's report card.
As you may remember, you are able to view your child's information in two ways. The highlights page includes a snapshot of how your child performed on content standards (reading, writing, math) and how your child met our school ROCKS traits.  Teachers also included general classroom comments and individual student comments. The comprehensive view allows you to see how your child did on all subject areas and specials.  If you forgot your parent portal access password please call the office.

End of Year Medication Pickup
If your child has medications that are stored in the health room please plan to pick those up on Friday, May 25th, the last day of school, between 8:00am-4:30pm. There will be one more opportunity to pick up on Wednesday, May 30th, between 10:00am and 2:00pm. After that, medications will be disposed of properly. Please email Angela Thornton with any questions.

Summer Reading Matters!
One of the most important things that you can do with your child this summer is read.  Reading over the summer matters!  As you can see below, 20 minutes a day impacts students' academic achievement.



2018-2019 School Supplies
1st Day School Supplies--Must order by June 15th. A portion of the proceeds go to the FSE PTO (1st Day School Supplies)

Office Summer Hours

MAY 29^TH-MAY 31^ST 10AM-2PM

OFFICE WILL OPEN AGAIN JULY 30^TH FROM 10AM-2PM

THANK YOU! ENJOY YOUR SUMMER BREAK!!

Starting the 2018-2019 School Year & Beginning of the Year Meet and Greet
Next year all K-6 students will start school for a FULL DAY on Thursday, August 9th.  As always the doors will open at 8:55 and students will go directly to their classrooms.

We continue to believe that it is essential that students meet their teacher and visit their classroom prior to the first day of school.  Families are asked to come to their assigned time slots on Monday, August 6th to meet your child's teacher, bring their classroom supplies, visit the classroom and receive the teachers' classroom packet with back to school information.  Please adhere to the time slots below by your CHILD's last name:
3:00-3:30 Last Names of A-H
3:30-4:00 Last Names of I-Q
4:00-4:30 Last Names of R-Z

More information will come in July about this event.


PLEASE SEE THE BELOW OPPORTUNITIES

• Spanish Club
• Summer Literacy Camp
• 5th Grade Tdap Letter
• DC Libraries Summer Reading Program
• Kid2KitLit Camp: Summer camp taught by our very own Mrs. Miller
• Camp Invention: Run by our very own Ms. Lossin
• Speed & Conditioning Camp
• Youth Football Camp
• Children & Adolescent Summer Program
• DC Summer Basketball Camp

FSE Thursday Blast 05-17-2018

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Thursday, May 17th
            -Field Day Morning, 9:30am-11:50am (Grades: 4, 5, 6 & AM Kind.)
            -Field Day Afternoon, 12:35pm-3:00pm (Grades:1, 2, 3 & full day Kind.)
            -Spirit Night at Chick-fil-A, all day
Friday, May 18th
            -Student Council Members-pancake breakfast at 8:15am in the cafeteria
            -FSE Spirit Assembly at 3:30pm in the gym: Moving Up Ceremony
Friday, May 25th
            -6th Grade Continuation from 9:20am-11:00am in the gym
            -Kindergarten Award Ceremony from 11:00am-12:00pm in the gym
            -Last Day of School-Full School Day

Support for Flagstone Student
Please see this Go Fund Me page to help support this precious boy.

Student Council:
Join us for an end of year breakfast on Friday, May 18th at 8:15am in the cafeteria. Please join us for a celebration of another great year for the FSE Student Council. We will be providing pancakes for the students. Please let Karen Allen, Aly English or Kristi Swen know if you have any questions.

End of Year Medication Pickup
If your child has medications that are stored in the health room please plan to pick those up on Friday, May 25th, the last day of school, between 8:00am-4:30pm. There will be one more opportunity to pick up on Wednesday, May 30th, between 10:00am and 2:00pm. After that, medications will be disposed of properly. Please email Angela Thornton with any questions.

2018-2019 School Supplies
1st Day School Supplies--Must order by June 15th. A portion of the proceeds go to the FSE PTO (1st Day School Supplies)

PLEASE SEE THE BELOW OPPORTUNITIES

• Spanish Club
• Dirt Jumps and Donuts-CRPD Bike Unit Event
• Summer Literacy Camp
• 5th Grade Tdap Letter
• DC Libraries Summer Reading Program
• Kid2KitLit Camp: Summer camp taught by our very own Mrs. Miller
• Camp Invention: Run by our very own Ms. Lossin
• Speed & Conditioning Camp
• Youth Football Camp
• Children & Adolescent Summer Program
• Tri the Rock

FSE Happenings

FSE Thursday Blast 05-03-2018

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Friday, May 4th 
             -Last Day to turn in Fun Run T-Shirt designs
             -FSE Spirit Assembly at 3:30pm in the gym
Monday, May 7th-Friday, May 11th 
            -Book Fair
            -Staff Appreciation Week
Monday, May 7th
            -Paws for Books with Canine Friends 6pm
Tuesday, May 8th
            -Seussical the Musical at 3:15pm and 6:00pm in the gym
Friday, May 11th
            -Muffins for Moms from 8:00am-9:00am in the cafeteria
            -FSE Spirit Assembly at 3:30pm in the gym

End of the Year Final Thoughts
It is so hard to believe that the school year is coming to an end, these months certainly fly by!  Thank you so much for all the families that filled out the community (FSE report card) survey to let us know how we are doing.  Our School Accountability Committee will take these survey's and compile the data so we can get a comprehensive view of things we are doing well and things we need to improve on, so thank you for taking this time to give us your thoughts.

Our staff is in the middle of planning for next year, part of this planning is to reflect on our instruction and make new goals based on our commitment to improvement.  As you know, we focused quite a bit of attention on our math instruction this year with the purchase of our new math program.  As a K-6 team, we have identified standards at each grade level that we believe students MUST master to be successful in the next grade and have tailored our instruction around these.  As a school, we feel our math instruction has never been stronger thanks to the partnership that our students' families have had with us in supporting your children in math and our continued growth and reflection on best instructional strategies.

Next year we will continue to support high-level learning in math while adding a similar focus to reading instruction.  We have been working hard this year to select titles for a new book room that will be available for teachers and students this August.  This book collection will have hundreds of new titles, leveled to students specific personalized reading and instructional levels and will be used by teachers to instruct critical pre-reading, reading and fluent reading skills in all grades K-6.  We are excited to re-define our grade level literacy framework K-6, laying out specific mastery level expectations for each grade level. 

In addition to reading and math, our staff and community have had many discussion on the social-emotional well being of our students and staff.  We believe as a district and as an FSE community that school safety includes not only the physical safety of our students but the emotional safety of them as well.  Over the last several years, with the increase in social media, texting and online gaming we have seen a significant increase in the amount of conflict between students.  Although we do not allow students to text, use social media or connect with others online through gaming sites at school, many of them are doing it at home and bring these conversations into school.  We are in the process of hiring an elementary school counselor that will work closely with our school psychologist to identify specific areas of concern that are causing students to have conflict with one another while identifying instruction to support our teachers during this new age of technology.  We understand that as the adults in our students lives we are the number one role models when it comes to digital citizenship, so we continue to appreciate your partnership as we move into this important part of our curriculum this coming school year.

Lastly, I want to give lots of props to my staff and parent community for a year well done.  Our teachers and support staff are on the front lines every day supporting kids and families through another year of high-quality education.  We have worked over the course of the last several years to keep our class sizes as low as possible (three years and running with no classes at 30 or above, our average is 25 students in a class with some as low as 22), and keeping resources in our classrooms for our kids, by supporting the needs of our teachers through our site based budget.  I am also proud to say that our staff retention rate going into next year is well over 95% (this includes teachers and support staff), the highest retention rate since FSE opened in 2003, a true reflection to the continued work on our school and community climate. 

As this school year comes to a close, take time to stop, enjoy, reflect and cherish this time with your kids, it goes too fast, way too fast!

#oneflagstone

Kelli Smith, FSE Principal

6TH GRADE FAMILIES
The FSE Student Council would like to honor your outgoing 6th grader during the month of May. All families should have received a letter in the mail regarding this project. Here are the documents if you did not receive them. The front office also has copies if needed. We encourage all students to participate in this annual celebration. If you have any questions please contact Karen Allen, Aly English or Kristi Swen.

CLICK HERE FOR MAY'S LINKS WITH THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION (plus the links from above):

• 5th Grade Tdap Letter
• 6th Grade Honor Wall
• Book Fair Volunteer Letter
• DC Libraries Summer Reading Program
• 2018-2019 School Supplies--Must order by June 15th a portion of the proceeds goes to the FSE PTO (1st Day School Supplies)
• Kid2KitLit Camp: Summer camp taught by our very own Mrs. Miller
• Camp Invention: Run by our very own Ms. Lossin
• Speed & Conditioning Camp
• Youth Football Camp
• Children & Adolescent Summer Program
• Tri the Rock