IMPORTANT DATES
** Wednesday, Nov. 4, 6pm: PTA Meeting
** Thursday, Nov 5: Stay tuned: Parent Education Session
** Tuesday, Nov. 10, 5pm: VAC Meeting
** November 23-27: No School (Thanksgiving Break)
** Dec. 21 - Jan. 4: No School (Winter Break)



(The Stedman Calendar can always be viewed HERE)
Happy Friday!

Families- it filled my bucket seeing our entire in-person community in our building this week. The health of our children and staff is our highest priority, and I am doing everything I can to keep our community safe. Thank you for trusting us with your children.

We will continue to monitor everything along with DPS and Denver Health officials. Please continue to keep yourself and your family safe while outside of school. Wear your mask, social distance, and wash hands regularly. The safer we are outside of school, the safer we will be inside of school. We all hope to continue in-person learning as long as possible but are preparing for the day when we have to return to remote learning. We will continue to grow together and be better tomorrow than we are today.

"During times of adversity, we should look towards our children for guidance. See, what I love about children is their simple, innocent outlook on life. Life isn't complicated for our babies. Joy is within reach because they just want needs met. Little ones don't speak in code. What you see is what you get. Adults are not like that. As we get older, we let the hardships of life callous our conscience. Our hearts become hardened, we become manipulative, we develop agendas. We become conditioned to believe that the straightforward and the simple don't make it in the world. So we start to speak and operate in code. We say one thing but mean another." - Michael Atkins
Free COVID Testing for DPS Students

Denver Health’s School-based Health Centers (SBHC) and Denver Public Schools (DPS) announced yesterday that students throughout the entire district will now have access to free COVID-19 tests at any of the four Denver Health testing sites, starting immediately.

Read HERE for more information.
Halloween at Stedman

Students are welcome to wear costumes on Friday, October 30. (Please no costumes with fake weapons or blood.)

PTA will be providing treats for all students on Friday while students will also be doing a craft during the day. Unfortunately, out of an abundance of caution, we will not be participating in a parade this year. We are ultimately making sure our health and safety remains a top priority, and we believe it is best for students to remain with their cohorts this year.

Please do not send food treats to school with your child for sharing. We are not able to share food this year.
Welcome Two New Launch Team Members to Stedman
Yvette Crowe

It has been Yvette's dream to give back to the Park Hill community in which she was raised by promoting equality and condemning injustices through education and embracing the whole family. Yvette's professional experience consists of coordinating social safety-net programs, working for nonprofit agencies where she was sensitized to the barriers which exist for families and leading enrichment opportunities for youth. Yvette's seeks to use inclusivity to "Launch" youth's successful futures.
Terri House

Terri has worked with opportunity populations for most of her career. As a Park Hill native, her knowledge of community resources, services and opportunities is generational and extensive. With a professional background in mental health/counseling, nonprofit management, community engagement and youth empowerment, she has dedicated her career to helping others create access and overcome barriers through education, advocacy and engagement.





Stedman Spirit Gear

Our new store for Stedman Spirit Gear is finally up! If you are interested in purchasing a new item, please visit this site. Orders will be handled individually and a portion of all sales will be donated back to the school by the vendor.

**PTA Corner**



While this year is unlike any other, there are still ways for us to continue supporting our students.

Please continue reading your emails from PTA and reach out to pta.stedman@gmail.com if you have any questions or want to jump in! We'll provide updates here in the newsletter as well.
Donation Needs - TREATS!

We would like to do something special for the kids to take home for halloween! We are going to put together some goodie bags for students and need your help.
  • Can you donate individually wrapped candy or halloween treats?
  • Please bring to the front office by TUESDAY, OCT. 27th!! We will need to bag and then let them sit until Friday to make sure we limit contact with volunteers and the handling process.
  • Halloween goodie ideas
  • If you are able to donate a few dollars toward someone else to pick something up, please reach out Kait Parsons (pta.stedman@gmail.com)
King Soopers

Did you know that you can link your King Soopers account to Stedman and help us raise money without spending any extra dollars? It's so easy!

How To Use the King Soopers/ City Market Community Rewards Program:


Step 2: Sign in to your account (or create a new account with your email and King Soopers card #)

Step 3: Search for Stedman Knights PTA (NPO # -- XK374)

Step 4: Select Enroll

Congrats, you have successfully enrolled in the Community Rewards program and 5% of your purchases will support Stedman Elementary!!
LONGMONT DAIRY CAPS

If you order from Longmont Dairy, save all your milk caps! Send them to our front office and we are able to turn them in for a donation.
PTA MEETING

Join us for our next PTA meeting on Wednesday, November 4th at 6pm. We keep these limited to one hour and would love to see your face!

Wednesday, Nov. 4 @ 6pm
Emergency Financial Assistance
Knowing the COVID-19 pandemic continues to negatively impact the lives of Denver families, DHS is now offering emergency/disaster assistance payments up to $4,000 to qualifying residents.
 
These payments can be used for a variety of reasons – to cover rent or pay the mortgage, to pay for mental or medical care, to pay for home or auto repairs, to pay for food or school supplies, and more. To qualify, one must be:
  • TANF Broad-Based Eligibility Criteria for Disaster Aid: Denver resident
  • Household is determined to be ineligible for public assistance programs;
  • Annual household income is under $75,000;
  • Eligible child in the household (according to state rules and regulations);
  • Lawfully present in the country; and
  • Has a need for services directly relating COVID-19-related emergency
 
The program is open until funds are exhausted. To apply, go to Colorado.gov/PEAK and apply for Colorado Works/TANF. Please note that because this is a unique and temporary program, the “Am I eligible?” feature will not distinguish between this program and the regular Colorado Works/TANF programs. We encourage anyone with questions to call 720-944-4DHS (4347) to speak with a customer services representative.
Ballot Measures 4A & 4B
For those interested in what Ballot Measures 4A & 4B would do for Stedman, we want to supply the following information. This is purely informative for your educational purposes. Of particular note would be the additions of air conditioning and an elevator for our outdated building.

Please view the video above to understand more about these measures, or click here to read about how the measures would impact DPS overall.

Video en español aquí
Carta en español aquí
Health Screening Website:
Please Use *Daily*

For in-person learners: According to DPS, every student or parent/guardian must give evidence that they did an at-home screening using either the Student Safe Access COVID-19 screening tool or the CDPHE paper instructions listed below before entering a school building or school activity site.

The quickest/easiest way to do this is to access THIS Safe Access website to log in EVERY morning before arriving at school. Bookmark it!


Nurse Website

Our new nurse Samantha Spoto has created a google site which includes helpful links for things like COVID, Health Forms, Immunizations, Health Education and Resources.

Visit the nurse's website here for more.
Before/After Care
Leading Edge is providing childcare before and after school from 7am to 6pm. CCAP is accepted!

Please visit their page for more info and updated pricing: https://www.leadingedgekids.com/stedman/ and see below more information about HOW to enroll.
  • What will I need to enroll? A credit/debit card or checking account is required to pay the annual registration fee and schedule future tuition payments. The non-refundable registration fee is due at the time of enrollment. Future payments will be scheduled to automatically debit from the financial information you provide. Any credit amount on your account may be applied to the registration fee and/or future payments. Enroll your child by logging in to the Leading Edge Parent Portal at https://families.leadingedgekids.com/. In order for your child(ren) to be on the roster and accepted into Leading Edge he/she must be enrolled in our available programs.
  • Log into our Parent Portal at https://families.leadingedgekids.com/ and follow the prompts to complete the online enrollment.
  • What if I previously had an account with Springboard? The email address associated with the primary account holder is your username for your Leading Edge account. To access your account, you will need to use the reset password function. Here is a link to reset your password on login. https://families.leadingedgekids.com/index/password/forgot
  • How do I complete and submit the required parent forms? As required by state licensing, family/child information forms (Parent Agreement, Medical Release, etc.) must be completed before your child can attend Leading Edge. These forms can be downloaded from your Parent Portal under Account - Downloads and returned to your Site Coordinator on the first day of program. Updated forms are required each school year. Also included in Downloads is our Family Handbook and other important information.
  • Questions about billing or enrollment? Please contact Customer Care at support@leadsschools.com or 800-341-5791.
Family Supports

If your family is in need of additional support, please be sure to reach out to our Family Liaison, Ali Larson, via text or email: alison_larson@dpsk12.org. We have access to some food and transportation resources that may be helpful during these stressful times.
Free National Parks Pass

Did you know that 4th Graders are able to receive a FREE pass to our National Parks? (Annual Pass!) If you have a 4th Grader, please visit this site to learn more and sign up for your free pass: https://everykidoutdoors.gov/index.htm