Tambi Tyler sent out a Head of School letter earlier today expressing gratitude and appreciation to CSS families and put out a call for volunteers for Carline for Everyone:

"We have successfully re-opened school during a pandemic. Let that statement settle in. To say we are grateful would be an understatement. We are embarking upon living up to our mission to prepare students for a dynamic world by mitigating risk, re-inventing school events and protocols, examining our educational delivery to provide quality education, and restructuring the school day and its routines to be COVID-friendly. We have embraced all things change. We are endeavoring in the days to come to re-work our calendar to ensure mission-critical items that can be safely sustained remain, and we have taken a critical look at what it means to be a community during the most challenging times in history. For this, we celebrate the first two weeks of the 2020-2021 school year. Yet, we are continuing to collaborate with health officials while examining our school practices because we are aware that research and data are changing almost daily.

We want to say thank you to all of you who have extended your time, grace, and patience through Carline for Everyone."

There are known and unknown risks in navigating these uncertain times. But individuality and isolation from one another are not long-term solutions to the adversity presented by our current world. Instead, we aim to build and promote a community that is solution-minded, embraces the mindset and practice of "we before me", and collectively adheres to the guidelines of medical professionals and elected officials. The Community Pledge has been written in the spirit of developing a common language and understanding by which we will all commit for the 2020-2021 school year.

In a time of a global pandemic, not only are we thrilled to welcome students back on campus, but Chef Lori Burgess is enthusiastic about continuing lunch service, which will begin on Tuesday, September 8, 2020. We are asking families to pre-order lunch online through Family Portal to help us determine how much food to order and prepare.

Lunch orders need to be placed by 10 p.m. the Wednesday before the start of the next week. For example, if you want to order lunch for your child for Friday, September 11, the order must be placed by 10 p.m. Wednesday, September 2. Please note that due to supply, there may be times menu items are substituted.

Your child’s lunch account must have funds in it to buy lunch. Here are several ways to add funds:

Check the balance of your child's lunch account through Family Portal by clicking "Family." Refer to Family Billing, where the lunch balance is listed. A negative balance indicates a credit, while a positive balance indicates amount owed.

It's almost picture time! Individual and class pictures will be taken Wednesday, September 9, 2020, by Lifetouch, and these portraits will be used in the yearbook and for student achievements throughout the year.

Class pictures will be taken on the quad, and students will be masked for group photos. While these won't be our typical class photos, they will still serve as a memory capturing this historic time and students who navigated this journey together. Students may remove masks for individual pictures.

Families will have the opportunity to customize packages with multiple portrait looks and place orders online. Pre-orders may be placed, and opportunities to place online orders following picture day also exist.

Enter Picture Day ID: EVTJDX2BC

Are you receiving Parent Alerts via text? If not, please sign up for them as that is how we send emergency updates, school delays/closures due to inclement weather, and important school communications. 

To check if you are signed up, log in to your Family Portal. Click "Family" on the left hand side, then refer to "Preferences" to check alerts. If you are not signed up, click the edit option to the right of "Preferences," then click "Custodial Parent Form" and go to "Parent Preferences" at the bottom.

Please make sure your family's contact information, including emails, phone numbers and address, are up to date as we begin work on the 2020-2021 Family Directory. If you have technical difficulties updating information, please contact Elena Hall at ehall@css.org or (719) 434-3546.

Due to safety concerns and to minimize non-CSS families from using the campus for unapproved activities, chains will go up around 4:15 p.m. daily at the entrances. If you need to enter or exit campus after that hour, please use the entrance at 21 Broadmoor Avenue, which will remain open.

Return to athletics is in progress, and there are steps you can take to keep your athletes healthy. CSS parent Dr. Leon Kelly P'30, P'27, a pathologist and the Deputy Medical Director of El Paso County, shares his tip in an article published by TrueSport.

Click here to read the article.

Tune into csskodiaks.com for the list of upcoming schedules for boys' varsity tennis, Middle School mountain biking, varsity mountain biking, varsity cross country, and Middle School cross country. Go, Kodiaks!

As a result of COVID-19, CSS applied for and was subsequently funded with a Payroll Protection Plan (PPP) loan through the CARES Act. We're proud to put these dollars to work for our school. As a result of this loan/grant, CSS is a Federal Funds Recipient for the next several weeks. Members of the CSS administration have participated in several training sessions on Title IX (and Section 504, Title VI, and the Age Discrimination Act among other pieces of relevant Federal legislation), which apply to us as temporary federal funds recipients. Read the full notice here.

The Parents Association Board will hold its September meeting outdoors. Anyone is welcomed to join.

When: 11:30 a.m. Thursday, October 1, 2020

Where: Google Hangout, Let's chat during lunch!

Join by phone: +1 540-680-4396 (PIN: 349712789)

Click here to learn more about the role of the Parents Association in building community in our school. Email the Parents Association at parentsassociation@css.org.

The Parents Association is excited to launch Parent Mixers, grade-level events that are designed to give new and returning parents an opportunity to socialize at the beginning of the school year.

In previous years, a families have hosted mixers in person. This year, the Parents Association is seeking hosts to plan virtual mixers. Maybe it's a trivia night via Zoom, a scavenger hunt on Google Hangout, or perhaps a virtual mixology class. The host gets to decide!

Questions? Contact Parents Association President Lynn Shepherd at lynn@docshepherd.com or (623) 680-3442.

Kodiaks have been immersing themselves in their summer reading! These required readings reinforce language art skills, among other benefits, during the summer.

Here are a few book covers of what our students are reading, from Children's School to Upper School. Click here to view the full lists.

Congratulations to three Kodiaks for sweeping the 2020 Betty Field Memorial Youth Writing Contest, which focuses on mystery writing!

Maddy M. '26 took 1st place for “Pluto Found Missing," Tristan K. '26 took 2nd place for "Friend or Foe?" and Hudson S. '26 took 3rd place for "The Girl Erased from Time” in the 6th grade category. Entries were submitted in the spring, and winners were announced this week. Maddy, Tristan, and Hudson are now 7th graders.

The contest, which is hosted by the Pikes Peak Library District, is for youth in grades 6-12. Ninety students submitted stories. Way to go, Kodiaks!

Upper School students took Wednesday off from e-Learning to engage in bonding activities. Freshman, sophomores, and juniors participated in one of six activities: yoga and wellness, metal casting, hiking, bouldering, mountain biking, and designing bridges with marshmallows, glue, and toothpicks. Click here to view more photos. Meanwhile, seniors took part in an on-campus retreat that included discussing their hopes and fears for the year, initial work on Senior Capstone, and learning about the initial college counseling steps.

Below are the general requirements for NHS Eligibility:

August and January: NHS Faculty Advisor checks cumulative GPAs of all juniors and seniors. Those meeting the minimum Scholarship requirement of 3.25 are emailed an invitation to an informational meeting to find out more about the organization and the selection process.

Those academically-eligible students who attend the informational meeting are instructed to complete the NHS Information Form that is shared with them. Deadlines are announced and strictly enforced.

Upon reaching the set deadline for submission of Information Forms, the NHS Faculty Advisor surveys the entire staff and faculty of CSS for relevant feedback and ranking of each eligible student who completed the Information Form by the deadline. The campus adults are given the opportunity to express their opinions about the students’ Character, Leadership, and Service using a scale of 1-4, with the option for additional comments.

The NHS Faculty Advisor then calls for a meeting of the NHS Faculty Council (a group of 5 teachers chosen annually by the Upper School Division Director and NHS Faculty Advisor). Prior to this meeting, members are given the opportunity to read through the Student Information Forms. At this meeting, the results of the surveys are discussed along with the Information Forms. After a thorough discussion about each student, the Faculty Advisor calls for a vote to nominate for selection. A majority must be reached for nomination. The Faculty Advisor is not a voting member of the Faculty Council.

Students are then called to meet with the Faculty Advisor (and another member of the Faculty when possible) to discuss the results of the Council’s deliberation. Students who are nominated for selection are given some time to decide whether or not they would like to join NHS. Should they accept, they are inducted at the next official meeting and begin active membership. Students who are not nominated for selection are counseled about the decision of the Faculty Council and are encouraged to re-submit their information forms the following semester, as long as they remain academically eligible.

Parents, teachers, and students are encouraged to submit nominations and digital photos of student achievements to Anslee Wolfe, Communications and Marketing Manager, at awolfe@css.org. These extracurricular achievements make us a well-rounded school and highlight the many unique talents and passions of our student body. A diverse selection of achievements is highlighted in ROAR and shared on social media. We also welcome alumni achievements!

Due to COVID-19 we will continue to make adjustments to the Major Dates calendar. We will continue to update school's google calendar as we progress from week to week. We are adhering to local, state, and federal guidelines regarding on-campus, in-person learning. As a result, planning for the 2020-2021 school year is ongoing and requires the school to respond with agility, grace, and a heavy dose of patience. View the calendar here.