In the Artful Recovery Experience-Centered Seminar, students experienced firsthand how moving their bodies helps relieve stress.

Leona Abdullah-Ward, a dance and movement therapist who owns the In-Balance studio, led students on a dance and movement exercise on campus Tuesday.

"This was my favorite part of today," said 9th grader Nora V. '24. "I really enjoyed the wobble dance because it allowed me to get loose and release all the negative emotions that were built up in my head."

Artful Recovery ECS instructors Amy Miller and Marta Kunze joined in right alongside students. "I dared the students afterward to try one of the three dances she taught us the next time they feel sad or stressed or angry," Ms. Miller said. "We all agreed that such negative emotions wouldn't last long."

ECSs take place each March during which students undergo a three-week study that immerses them in academic subjects through a hands-on, interdisciplinary approach.

The Artful Recovery ECS explores various forms of art therapy. The other ECS offerings are: The Science and Art of Rock Climbing; The Great Iron Pour; Playwriting and Performance; The Science and Statistics of Epidemics; and Wilderness Survival From Past to Present: Native Women to Mountain Men and Modern Day Adventurers in Colorado and Beyond.

ECSs approach broad, interdisciplinary questions to optimize the teaching of critical thinking, organized inquiry, in-depth analysis, and synthesis of information. They demand direct, active participation and primary research in an environment outside of the classroom. Academic requirements include oral and written presentations, term papers, group work and projects, or final exams.

Follow along with this year's ECSs on our social media channels. Students write ECS blogs that are posted here.

The ECS experience, which sets our students apart as they move into the collegiate world and beyond, is a continuum of seminar programs in Children's School and Middle School.

Middle School students embarked on Seminar II last week to learn about and try new things as a way to discover themselves and the world around them. Offerings included backpacking in Utah, Poetry, Things That Fly, Weaving, Predators, and Wild Winter. Seminars are vehicles for in-depth study and give students opportunities to practice leadership, self-reflection, critical thinking, research, and other academic skills. These skills are certainly an integral part of the classroom setting; seminars further stretch these abilities. View more photos here and on our Facebook page.

Join us April 17, 2021, for the school's largest fundraising event! Meal tickets are on sale!

Google Meet: Click here to join

Your Gala Checklist:

For more information on how you can connect and make the Gala & Auction a success, contact Brooke Rawls P'30, P'32 at bkrawls11@gmail.com or (317) 902-8157 or Nancy May P'23 at nmay9393@gmail.com or (719) 210-9089. Please direct any sponsorship questions to Jessica L. James, Director of Advancement and Communications at jjames@css.org or (719) 434-3506.

The CSS Scholastic Book Fair will run online from March 8-21, 2021. Selections include books for young children, young adult, and even adults. Support our school while helping your child discover new books, favorite characters, complete series, and more! You'll love the fun new option to shop for Book Fair exclusives directly from the interactive booklist and enjoy free shipping on book-only purchases of more than $25.

Consider creating an e-Wallet account for your child by adding funds and then your child can shop the book fair using the amount you set. You may also invite family and friends to add to your child's e-Wallet.

Interested in donating to the library to help teachers purchase their book wish lists? Click here.

Join us Friday, March 12, 2021, at 6:00 p.m. for Family Trivia Night! The Parents Association is hosting this community event. The details:

Congratulations to our 2nd and 4th graders for their fantastic performances in Dessert Theatre! Second graders performed Go Home, River and 4th graders performed Some Folks Say. The shows, which were filmed this year because COVID prevented us from gathering as an audience for a live production, premiered March 5, 2021. We are proud of you, Kodiaks! View more photos here.

Enjoy this shared community experience and live audience. Families may share the link with grandparents, extended family, and friends who wish to enjoy the performances. The performance will also be uploaded to YouTube and shared out in the event your family can not attend the synchronous viewing time. Join us in celebrating our young thespians!

View the 3rd grade Mysteries at the Mansion and the 5th Grade America, My New Home, which premiered February 5, 2021.

For more than four decades, The Colorado Springs School has billed a signature theatre experience called Dessert Theatre for Kindergarten - 5th grade students. It is integrated with a robust theme of study and concentrated over several weeks. Often the topics of these grade-level plays are original scripts inspired by the curriculum the children are studying in science, history, and literature. This interdisciplinary exercise allows for complex ideas to be expressed on stage. Click here to learn more about Dessert Theatre.

On Saturday afternoon, Tutt Field House was refreshed after a long year of not hosting fans for sporting events due to strict COVID mitigation guidelines. An exception was made for Saturday’s contest in order to support the Fall and Winter senior athletes. A tribute was read for each senior as they presented a rose to parents at center court before the start of the varsity matchup with the Rye Thunderbolts. On a day when the Kodiaks struggled to find the basket, the boys lost 36-44 to Rye in the season finale.

“It was so nice just to see other parents and wave to them across the bleachers," said parent Jill Richardi P'18, P'21, whose daughter Whitney is a senior. "This meant a lot to Whitney as I’m sure all the seniors, and I’m glad we could safely pull it off.”

Click here to read the student citations by Athletic Director Vicki Vaughan. View more photos on Facebook page.

Looking ahead CSS Athletics plans to pay tribute to upcoming Spring sports and senior mountain bikers at a home volleyball game.

Tune into www.csskodiaks.com for Kodiak athletics.

Kodiak Athletics is excited to announce that we are approved to offer Season C sports that began practicing on Monday from 2:15-3:45 p.m. Keep in mind sports are competitive and will play against other schools, and sports teams will practice four days a week. All Middle School students will have a study hall on Wednesday afternoon instead of sports and activities.

Activities will again be offered starting on Tuesday. Activities will be offered three days a week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday) from 2:15-3:10 p.m.

So, talk it over with your parents and be prepared to sign up Thursday afternoon for either a Sport or Activity that will begin next week. Season C will end on April 24 and Season D will begin on April 26. We hope to be able to offer Boys' Lacrosse and Girls' Soccer, along with Mountain Biking again, in April/May.

Because of COVID, all athletes for sports will be asked to complete a consent form signed by a parent. CSS will continue to enforce strict regulations around COVID, and no fans will be allowed to watch volleyball as it's an indoor event. Volleyball players will remain masked during all practices and games. Since soccer is an outdoor sport, the variances allow for soccer players to remove their masks only during game play. Please email Coach Vaughan at vvaughan@css.org if you have questions.

The National Honor Society (NHS) celebrates its centennial anniversary this month. Through regular engagement in student activities and high visibility within the school, NHS improves the culture and quality of not just its members, but of the student body at large. Join us as we celebrate 100 years and counting of student excellence and innovation. Throughout the month of February, our NHS began honoring the organization through four focused presentations produced by member committees that highlighted the four tenets of the NHS: Leadership, Character, Scholarship, and Service. When we're all back together again in April, we'll share a special celebration as we wind down the year and prepare to start the next 100! As usual, we will close the year with our formal induction ceremony on April 26. Stay tuned for more details.

The Gazette is accepting applications for the 2021 Best and Brightest, which features high school seniors while highlighting their academics, service, and community engagement. It also comes with a $500 scholarship. The deadline to apply is April 2. Click here to learn more and to apply. The Gazette features each student to receive the award.

Some past CSS students who have received this distinction are Bee Franklin, Robin Tsamo, Harry Gilbert, and Tye Tutt.

Families may order lunch online for the entire month of March.

If you prefer not to order for the month, please note that 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 Thursday, March 11, the order must be placed by 10 p.m. Wednesday, March 3.

Please note that due to supply and snow days, there may be times menu items are substituted.

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.

Our youngest Kodiaks are embracing the world of scientific exploration! PreKindergarten students have already made countless observations with their senses and used those observations to make predictions. From mixing solids and liquids to examining items on the light table, students have also worked on soft skills such as persisting and finding different ways to do tasks. Keep exploring, Kodiaks!

William S. ’21 transferred to CSS from Launch Academy last year, his junior year. This year his brother Nathan S. ’24 made the move as a freshman to attend CSS along side his brother. Besides sharing a ride to school each day from Divide, these two brothers share an invested interest in basketball and truly enjoyed their opportunity to play this season for the Kodiaks. This love of the game started at an early age when Nathan was in second grade and Will was in fifth grade, and they both competed on the same parks and recreation team. Since then these two have bonded over the years through their mutual respect for basketball as well as for one another, and this year was no exception. Read the full story here.

Congratulations to 10th grader Zak T. '23 for being recognized as the lifeguard of the month in January at Great Wolf Lodge, where he works as a licensed and certified lifeguard.

We are thrilled our students are pursuing their passions outside of school.

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 calendar. We will make changes to the 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.

First Day of School, PreK - 12: August 25, 2021 (some Back-to-School events, First Day of Sports and Orientations to occur the week prior; details to follow)

Thanksgiving Break: November 22 - November 26, 2021; Classes resume on Monday, November 29, 2021

Winter Break: December 20, 2021 - January 3, 2022; Professional Day January 3, 2022, Classes resume for Semester II on Tuesday, January 4, 2022.

Spring Break: March 21 - March 25, 2022; Professional Day on March 28, Classes resume on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.

Graduation: Thursday, May 26, 2022, 8:30 a.m.

Late Start Wednesdays: The school plans to continue the late start Wednesday schedule next school year. This collective planning and collaboration time amongst our entire faculty/staff has proven beneficial to execute the school's signature programs and prioritize academic goals for students' benefit.