DATES TO REMEMBER

March 20 - April 24: Intramural Soccer 3:00pm - 4:00pm - See Flyer Below

March 19 - CECFC Farm to School Club 3:15 - 3:50 See below.

March 29: Middle School Talent Show 1:15pm at the HS

April 8: No School

April 17: SAC Meeting - 5:30pm

April 19: Staff Professional Development - All Staff/No Students

**Information Sessions for Open Enrollment:

March 20: 9:00am - 10:00am

March 27: 4:30pm - 5:30pm

April 3: 9:00am - 10:00am

April 10: 4:30pm - 5:30pm

Refer a family and you could receive $100 gift certificate for every new student who enrolls! For details check out our Refer-A-Friend Program.

Teacher Appreciation Week will be here before we know it, and we need a committee committed to making sure our teachers are appreciated for all they do for our students, their families, and the community.



 Parents, students, administrators, and community members alike often use Teacher Appreciation Week as an opportunity to celebrate and honor teachers who have impacted the lives of children, but it’s also a great occasion to improve the lives of teachers, too. 

Please reach out to Brandy Simmers (simmersb@gmail.com) or Jessica Spears (persson.jess@gmail.com) if you'd like to be a part of coordinating this amazing event and ensuring our teachers are showered with the appreciation they deserve!

Attention all students! Enter your original artwork to be featured on this year's class t-shirts. One winner will be chosen from each grade level. See Ms. Easter for details. The shirts will have the CEC logo on the front and a student design with the class year on the back. Your design must be related to either CEC or Colorado. The deadline to enter your design to Mrs. Easter is March 29.  

Middle School talent show on Friday, March 29th, 1:15pm at the High School.

Are you someone who loves to cook or garden? Are you interested in farming or food cultivation? Join the new CECFC Farm to School Club! We will meet weekly on Tuesdays from 3:15-3:50 at Innovation High School and all grades are welcome! Our first meeting is February 27! Ms. Maxwell will meet students at the front desk at 3:10 to walk over to the high school. Send an email or a Teams message to Ms. Maxwell if you have questions.

Congratulations to both of our competitive robotics teams on a wonderful regular season! Through hard work and determination, both Mechanical Phantoms and Ace of Spades qualified for the state tournament in Denver this past weekend! 

In addition, we would like to wish Ace of Spades good luck, as they will be competing in the Middle School Robotics National tournament in Iowa over Spring Break! If you are interested in watching the national tournament, which will take place on the 11th - 13th, you can connect to the live stream with this link:

Create Foundation Webcast (create-webcast.netlify.app)

Another year of competitive robotics is upon us, and we would like to share a link that has been created for donations to the program for this season: CECFC Robotics Program Fund, Colorado Early Colleges

Please feel free to share this link with anyone you may think is interested in donating.

Thank you so much for your consideration, and feel free to contact head coach Mr. Englar Charles.Englar@coloradoearlycolleges.org if you have any questions! Go Wolves!"

CEC Fort Collins Middle School Robotics is proudly sponsored by Fort Collins Utilities.

Intramural Soccer begins March 20th. 3:00pm- 4:00pm

2023-24 SAC Committee

➢CECFC Leadership Team Member: Dee Dee Vicino

➢Chair: Jessica Spears

➢Co-Chair: Ade Lau

➢Secretary: Valerie Schultz

➢Treasurer: Nada Elmagbari

➢Appreciation Committee Chair: Brandy Simmers

➢CECFC School Representatives: Amy Kamin, Chris Vick

Please join us for future SAC meetings. If you can't join us in person, we hope that you can join us virtually. We will monitor the chat so that you can participate, ask questions, and provide feedback. Thank you for supporting our efforts to make CEC the BEST school in Northern Colorado.

April 17, 2024, 5:30 PM.

April 17th link:

Click here to join the meeting.

Meeting ID: 269 050 198 295

Passcode: cxR82R

Download Teams | Join on the web.

Has someone in the CEC community shown you or your student an act of kindness? Click here or use the QR code provided to give them a shoutout on our Social Media pages! It can be big or small, but please share your experiences of kindness with us!

For March, Ms. Lerner wants to share tips and information about Resting and Mental Health Resources.

We routinely discount how important rest is to our ability to keep going. Resting and resetting is incredibly important to our health and mental health.  

Get ready for a flurry of activity in schools following Spring Break: Standardized tests, finals, festivities and promotion or graduation ceremonies. This can be a wonderful yet overwhelming time for students and adults alike. As we enter this busy season, please take time to rest, recharge, and check in with one another over the spring break.  



As we know, families are OFTEN on the go! What would happen if your family took a rest weekend or week instead of an activity weekend or week? Even on vacations, this can mean some members of the family doing “work” or the labor of packing, organizing or getting everyone on the same page. If the family designed a weekend of rest together, what kind of rest would your family take? 

Before we pause for a week away from school, it’s important to know where to find support away from school. Whether you or someone you know may need these resources at any time of year, please keep this list of providers handy. This letter also lists many but not all upcoming activities and spaces of belonging available to youth in our community. 

Mental Health Resources  

If you or a person you know need to talk to someone when not at school, you may consider: 

• Child, Adolescent and Young Adult Connections (CAYAC): 970-221-3308 
• SummitStone’s Community Crisis Center, 2260 W. Trilby Ave. Fort Collins: 970-494-4200 
• 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress and crisis resources for your loved ones 
• Text or call 988 to talk with a trained counselor 
• Website: 988lifeline.org 
• Help in Spanish: 988lifeline.org/help-yourself/en-espanol 
• Help for people who are deaf and hard of hearing: 988lifeline.org/help-yourself/for-deaf-hard-of-hearing 
• Colorado Crisis Services 
• Free, confidential support from trained professionals available 24/7 for those with a mental health, substance use, or emotional concern 
• Text “TALK” to 38255 
• Call 1-844-493-TALK (8255) 
• Website: coloradocrisisservices.org 
• I Matter Colorado 
• Youth get up to six free virtual counseling sessions (some in-person appointments available too). 
• Websites: imattercolorado.org/ 

Spaces of belonging, opportunities to learn and grow  

Our connections to other people, areas of interests, and passions are critical to wellness.   

• Poudre River Library District   
• There are activities for all ages over the break. Check out the LEGO Brick Build Club, Board Game Night, play scrabble, build your own maze or fairy garden, enjoy story times, visit Evie the mobile library, and more. More information on the Poudre Libraries site.  
• Fort Collins Museum of Discovery   
• Special spring break hours: Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. everyday March 9-17.  
• In addition to exploring the museum, there are multiple events, including planetarium shows, animal meet and greets, and programming in Spanish.   
• More information at fcmod.org/events/month/.  
• Teen Activity Center (TAC) 212  
• Extended hours for Spring Break: open March 12-16 2-8 p.m.   
• TAC 212 is a safe space for teens 13-18 to hang out, make connections, find resources, enjoy free snacks, and have fun. After Spring Break, the center will host a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Tournament for teens from 5 to 8 p.m. on March 22 (16 player limit, $5 entry).  
• Parents and guardians of students ages 12-18 are invited to stop in between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays to speak with Center for Family Outreach parent specialists and case managers experienced in adolescent development and TAC youth specialists about family conflict resolution, therapeutic intervention, youth positive alternatives, and more.  
• More information at tac212.com.   

As always, reach out if you need to connect with Ms. Lerner about your student, resources or concerns.

In addition, Ms. Lerner is the McKinney Vento Liaison. Please see below for more information about that program.

Help us raise funds for CECFC! Bring in your Bottle Caps from your Morning Fresh Dairy milk bottles. The collection box will be near the front desk. Visit www.morningfreshdairy.com/giving-back/caps4cash.html for more information.

8th Grade Parent/Guardians

Would you like to see your 8th grader spotlighted this semester on the CEC social media pages? Send your 8th grader's name, baby picture, a recent picture, and a fun fact to mary.bain@coloradoearlycolleges.org to be featured!

Happy New Year! Here are some friendly reminders about illnesses and absences. Let’s have a healthy spring semester!! 

• Illnesses: Please DO NOT SEND students to school if they are ill. 

• Contact Attendance with details if your student is out due to illness.
• Students must stay home for at least 24 hours after a fever has resolved without fever reducing medications to lower the fever.
• Students must stay home for at least 24 hours after vomiting and/or diarrhea without medication to reduce those symptoms.
• If your student has missed [5 consecutive days] or [7 days in a two-week period] due to illness, please provide medical documentation for these absences to be excused.
• ·    COVID-19: If your student is diagnosed with COVID-19, they should remain home from school for 5 full days since symptom onset or positive test. Your student should return only after symptoms have resolved. Masking is recommended for days 6 through 10.  

Contact Info:

• RN: Jen McGlue, RN can be reached at 970-377-0044 x10121 or Jen.mcglue@ColoradoEarlyColleges.org.

•   Health Tech: Lyniah Lester-Martinez can be reached at 970-893-4549 x11108 or Lyniah.Lester-Martinez@coloradoearlycolleges.org.

How’s our school doing on vaccinations? Annually, schools must report immunization and exemption numbers (not student names) to the state health department. Here are the school's immunization rates from the 2022-23 school year for MMR.

Hello Wonderful CEC Families,



As some of you may be aware, the government in general is not a huge fan of homeschooling. Of course, we know better and believe homeschooling is a truly wonderful opportunity for many people. At Colorado Early College, we fully embrace the idea that families know what is best for their children and they should have a choice in education. Many of our students are part-time students who are homeschooled at home or attend our online homeschool. Unfortunately, we have a battle on our hands. There are people in government who do not believe in homeschool enrichment. Being on the ground floor with our students and families, we know that these people are completely wrong and narrow-minded. We see the beauty that our program brings to our students and families. 

Please, PLEASE take a moment to share your story with the State Board of Education. We want to overwhelm them with your stories so they can see that we are indeed important and necessary. What does your family love about CECFC MS (or homeschool enrichment in general)? How would it affect your students if we didn't have our program? They will hold a session in mid-December to take action on homeschooling items. Please click on the link below and fill out the form on the right-hand side ASAP. It's quick and easy and we MUST BE HEARD!  It's time for homeschoolers and Charter School students and families to get LOUD!!! Please help us save our program.

CLICK HERE TO SHARE YOUR VOICE

Thank you so much for your help,

Dee Dee Vicino

Head of School

Colorado Early Colleges Fort Collins Middle School

Key Explorers offers a 10% discount for CEC families!

INTERESTED IN VOLUNTEERING?

Please contact Mrs. King at lori.king@coloradoearlycolleges.org if you are interested in volunteer opportunities. We need classroom volunteers, cafeteria volunteers, volunteers for field trips and off campus events, and more! Research shows that parents have a major influence on their child's achievement, and volunteering at school is a great way for parents to positively impact student achievement. 

REFER-A-FRIEND TO CEC!

Tell your friends and families that enrollment for the 2023-24 school year is still open and you could receive $100 gift certificate for every new student who enrolls! 

For details check out our Refer-A-Friend here.

SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL WITH KING SOOPERS

1. Log into your account at www.KingSoopers.com 
2. Go to Community Rewards 
3. Search Colorado Early Colleges (EG422) 
4. Click Blue Enroll Button 

Thank you for your continued support!!

INFINITE CAMPUS (IC) MOBILE APP

Parents, Guardians and Students, did you know IC is not only on the web but there is a mobile app as well? You can check attendance, grades, assignments, set notifications, and so much more!

Download the Infinite Campus Parent and/or Student App today to stay connected!



For more information, click the button below.

If at any time you are having problems with Infinite Campus and/or Teams, please contact our support team at: support@coloradoearlycolleges.org or click the link for support information: https://coloradoearlycolleges.org/support/

2023-2024 SCHOOL YEAR CALENDAR

2023-2024 STUDENT & FAMILY HANDBOOK

Welcome new and returning CEC Families! Please take a moment to read our MS Student and Family Handbook to familiarize yourself with our school policies.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at (970) 893-4549 and we will be happy to assist you.

SCHOOL INFORMATION

CECFC MS Main Line: (970)893-4549

Attendance: (970) 682-2007

Attendance Email: fcmsattendance@coloradoearlycolleges.org

Address: 4512 McMurry Avenue

Fort Collins, CO 80525