At the heart of preparing your student and family to return to school, we will root our Back-to-School experience in the concept of building community, anchoring ourselves in the school mission, inspired learning, and masterful teaching. You will get to know the masterful teachers of The Colorado Springs School who will guide your family on this year's educational journey.

Please note the virtual back-to-school night can be navigated as a "Choose Your Own Adventure" novel. In the event you can not attend all the sessions you would like, please know teachers will record their session and post it to Google Classroom for further reference.

Teachers are preparing classrooms for students. Outdoor learning spaces are being built. Doctors, who are CSS parents, are meeting in person with faculty and staff to go over health and safety guidelines. Schedules are being fine tuned. Several Kodiaks are helping us get ready for the 2020-2021 school year. And much more! View more photos here. #CSScommunity

Head of School Tambi Tyler has given updates on school planning and progress over the last few weeks that have included health and safety precautions we are taking on campus.

Join us this Friday, Saturday, and/or Sunday, August 21-23, to help us bring to fruition our plans for Outdoor Learning spaces by building pergolas on campus. B. Kirkland Trucking and Krueger Brothers Construction have led the charge and donated expertise and supplies to get this project off the ground! Now, we need you to add your strengths to these critical projects.

If you volunteer for pergola building, please bring a mask, wear jeans, work gloves, sunglasses/protective eye gear, sunscreen and a hat. If you have a drill, extra battery packs, and power chargers for drills please bring them along.

This is a volunteer opportunity for ADULTS and UPPER SCHOOL STUDENTS only (sorry, no littles!) For those building on Saturday, it would be ideal to have several folks repeat their dedication on Sunday so as to create a train-the-trainer type of model.

Parents with expertise in construction have already shared their talents, meeting to brainstorm possibilities, finalize designs, and order supplies for multiple outdoor pergolas to serve as classrooms.

A safe return to campus is a shared goal that will certainly require extra effort on the part of everyone. As we have been readying campus for students, one major recommendation relates to the ingress and egress of students and our new "Carline for Everyone" plan. The beginning and end of our school days are often a highly social time, but this year will need to be much more systematic in order to verify Daily Health Screenings and temperature checks. We also need to thoughtfully avoid groups of non-cohorted students and families from congregating.

This new protocol will inevitably cause some delays in our typical drop-off and pick-up flow but with patience, a conscientious approach, and dedicated parent volunteers we can achieve our plan. PLEASE CONSIDER MAKING THE COMMITMENT TO VOLUNTEER FOR CARLINE.

Afternoon Extended Care will be available daily from 3:15 p.m.-5:30 p.m. in limited capacity for Children's School students. Reservations must be made for the entire semester. Drop-ins will not be possible in order to maximize cohorting. 

Fees are as follows:

You will not need to specify the time you will be picking up when you register, you will be billed based on usage. Because of the limited nature, if you register for a day, we ask that you please utilize care on that day. No-shows will be charged and continued no-shows will result in the loss of extended care use in consideration of the other community members who may need the care.

In an effort to solidify our extended care roster and plan accordingly for COVID-19 guidelines, we ask that you please complete the 2020-2021 Extended Care Registration form in the Family Portal. You can find the Extended Care Registration form by hitting the down arrow next to the School tab and selecting the Webform tab. Remember to click SAVE at the very bottom of each Web Form! Please complete this form for each of your students ASAP.

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.

CHSAA recently announced an update on the status of athletics with the impact of COVID-19, along with the revised schedule for the upcoming school year. Currently, the schedule consists of 4 seasons, rather than the typical 3, with compressed seasons and new start times for various sports. The immediate impact on Kodiak Athletics this Fall will look as such:

Practice began Monday, August 10, at Memorial Park. If interested in participating, please contact Coach Marc Knutila at Marc@springstennis.com.

Practice began Wednesday, August 12. If interested in participating, please contact Coach Jolly Cunha at jcunha@css.org or Coach David Benson at dbenson@css.org.

Practice begins Monday, August 24, at CSS. If interested in participating, please contact Coach Eric Gaylord at egaylord@css.org.

Practice begins Monday, August 24, at CSS. If interested in participating, please contact Coach Kristin Penn at kristinopenn@gmail.com or Coach Eric Gaylord at egaylord@css.org. Transportation to all cross country meets will be provided by the athlete's parents.

Practice begins Monday, August 24, at CSS. If interested in participating, please contact Coach Tim Ferguson at tferguson@css.org.

Girls’ volleyball and boys’ soccer has been moved to the Spring with a March 1, 2021, start date. Basketball will be the next sport offered and will begin practicing on January 4, 2021.

Kodiak Athletics plans to accommodate the physical needs of our athletes by providing on-campus sports clubs. The details are being finalized, so please be patient. We are encouraging all of our students to participate in either a Fall sport or club, checking off one of the required activities credits for the school year. The Fall is a beautiful time to be outside in Colorado, and of course, we still cannot predict the future. If you are interested in one of the above sports, reach out to a designated coach or simply wait for the club list to be announced and sign up for a club sport on August 24.

Tune into CSSKodiaks.com, the hub of all things athletics!

All families, new and returning for the 2020-2021 school year, are required to complete and update FACTS forms for the upcoming school year. These forms must be updated annually in order for each family's records to be in compliance. Please sign into the FACTS Family Portal here to check and update information.

Families are required to update Family Demographic Web forms and 2020-2021 Permissions and Acknowledgements. These items include critical information such as contact information, emergency contacts, media releases and permissions to fully participate in school. This information will be utilized to compile the student directory, rosters, seminar prep, and used in emergency situations.

All forms must be updated. Students may not participate in fall sports conditioning or practices or return to campus for the start of orientation or the first day of school without these updates.

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 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.

Muse of Fire, the literary magazine for The Colorado Springs School, features poetry, personal essays, artwork, and more by Upper School students.

Sit back and enjoy their creativity in the most recent issue!

Click here for the 2020 Muse of Fire e-magazine.

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!

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.