Dear SES Families,
We have been so busy this year that it hardly seems possible we are closing in on the end of the second quarter and that the winter holiday season is so quickly upon us. Besides opportunities to be together as families and community, it is also a time to consider supporting those in need. At Sopris we are hosting a food drive for Lift Up this month. Further, Angel Tree is a great program for getting toys into the hands of local kids. People can find Angel tree information and present drop off at Alpine Bank, Bighorn Toyota, City Market, and St. Stephen's Church.
Lastly, as we wrap up the first half of the year, here are a couple of updates on our three school goals this year that came from our visioning process last year:
First, we are working to increase opportunities, attendance, and engagement at school events for families. We are making good progress with getting more participation at our school events this year and hope you have found them engaging and meaningful. From our Back to School night to our concerts and potlucks to STEAM night, we have had some great participation! Coming up in second semester, we are looking to have our Literacy Night on January 30th and a couple other fun events in the second part of the year. We thank our family / community leadership team and our PTA for making such events happen at SES!
Second, instructionally we are making great progress at developing new learning targets and success criteria for our new 2020 Academic Standards that guide and set student performance expectations for each lesson we do. This large amount of work helps with lesson rigor and clarity for both teachers and students.
Third, our culture and climate team has been working to refine and clarify student expectations in common spaces such as: hallways, playground, and lunch room, as well as helping train staff with implementing restorative practices in the classroom. This work has been going well and you might have even heard your students talk about being part of "connection circles" that we are all doing to help build deeper trusting relationships between classmates in each class. A heavy emphasis on relationship building is stage one of restorative practices.
If you have questions about our strategic plan goals, always feel free to reach call or attend an SES Accountability Meeting that we host once a month.
We wish you and your family a safe and joyous holiday season!
Sincerely
Dave Lindenberg, Principal
Carrie Hassel, Assistant Principal
