Message from the Principal, Michael Chipman: TCAP The spring ...

Parent Bulletin #10
February 6, 2013
Willow Creek Elementary School
7855 South Willow Way
Centennial, Colorado 80112
A Cherry Creek School
Phone: 720-554-3900
Michael Chipman, Principal
720-554-3900
Kathy Carmel, Office Manager
720-554-3903
Beth Perron, Secretary
720-554-3901
Deborah DuBois, Nurse
720-554-3907
Beth Barber, Food Services
720-554-3965
Petra Lindsey, Director
Willow Creek Cares for Kids
720-554-3966
Charles Caraway
Building Engineer
720-554-3964
Fax Number
720-554-3988
Weather Hotline
720-554-4701
Web Site
www.will.ccsd.k12.co.us
Attendance Line
720-554-3995
If your child is going to be absent
or late, please call by 8:45
a.m. In addition to notifying your
child’s teacher, you must also
call the Attendance Line. This is
a 24 hour open line. Thank you.
Message from the Principal, Michael Chipman:
TCAP
The spring TCAP (the State Assessment) is almost upon us!
Third Grade Reading will be the first to test on March 6th and
7th while Fourth Grade Reading/Writing starts March 11th
and Fifth Grade Reading/Writing starts March 12th. Testing
for Math and Fifth Grade Science will take place during these
weeks with the last test date on March 20th (excluding any
make-ups). In preparation for this testing season, let us all
remember to eat a nutritious dinner, get a good night’s sleep,
and eat a well-balanced breakfast before testing. Parents
also remember that testing can create anxiety in our children.
Encourage them and stay positive about the experience.
A new state testing rule makes avoiding late arrivals, absences,
and appointments during this time even more crucial.
Effective this year, students who miss a test for any reason,
such as arriving late or an absence, cannot intermingle (have
lunch, recess, specials, etc.) with other students until either
the test is made up or the next day (whichever occurs first).
For example, a student who arrives at 9:15 a.m. on March
13th will not be able to interact with, eat lunch or go to recess
with their class until they make up the test or March 14th
(whichever is first). Every effort is made to make up tests as
soon as possible. However, due to staff and proctor tight
schedules, it is not always viable. Testing with your class
yields the best results, so avoid missing any test times.
Please see the specific schedule further in the newsletter.
Cross Walk Duty
We are looking for more volunteers for cross walk duty. All
Willow Creek teachers are asked to cover just two or three
weeks of cross walk duty throughout the year. We ask parents,
guardians, or family members to cover this morning/
afternoon duty for the teachers so teachers can be present in
their classrooms to prepare for the day and greet their students.
You receive e-mail requests throughout the year requesting
your support for crosswalk duty. We depend on
your help to ensure our students’ safety as they arrive and
depart from school each day. Please contact your classroom
coordinator if you are available for this essential duty!
Location: Upper Crosswalk (top of the drop-off/pick-up lane
across from kindergarten)
Times: Morning Shift: 8:40-9:00 a.m.; Afternoon Shift: 3:20-
3:40 p.m.
Thank you for your time and effort!

Cherry Creek Parents’ Council Meeting
We hope to see you next Monday, February
11th for this month’s Parents’ Council’s general
meeting titled Planning for the Future:
2012 Bond and Beyond.
Now that the bonds approved
by voters in November
have been sold,
CCSD’s 5 year Facility
Plan (for 2013-2017) is
well underway. Join us
as we explore all of the
different aspects of the
bond, including timelines
and design elements at
various schools.
In addition to the expansion and renovation
projects, a portion of the bond proceeds is
dedicated to other capital needs, such as Instructional
Technology (IT) and Safety and
Security. Come and learn about CCSD’s
technology upgrades and how the Cloud will
benefit your student and your family. Parents’
Council will learn first-hand about plans for
new hardware and operating systems that are
relevant for 21st century instruction and also
align with the requirements for the future
online PARCC assessments.
The meeting takes place at the Student
Achievement Resource Center (SARC),
14188 East Briarwood Avenue, Centennial, at
9:15 a.m. but refreshments will be served at
8:45 a.m. This is a great time for networking!
Read Across America, March 1st
You’re never too old,
Too wacky, too wild,
To pick up a book
And read with a child.
In churches and chambers
Let’s gather around.
Let’s pick up a book,
Let’s pass it around.
So join us March 1st
In your own special way,
And make this America’s
Read to Kids Day!
Research tells us that children who read outside
of school do better in school. We know
that children need to be motivated to read and
family involvement is important. Curl up with
your child and a good book on March 1st!
PIN Meetings
Tuesday, March 5th: Positive Parenting
Strategies to Support School Success
This informative discussion will be led by Les
Franklin, Founder of the Shaka Foundation.
Watch for more information about this upcoming
meeting which will be provided in the
February 20th PEEK Newsletter.
Plan ahead to take a little time out of your
day or take a few hours off of work and come
connect with other parents, be informed by
local and national speakers, and get empowered
to take a proactive approach to parenting.
All parents, school administrators and
community members are welcome and encouraged
to attend Parent Information Network
(PIN) presentations.
PIN presentations are held the 1st Tuesday
of each month and are free. Meetings are
held at the Student Achievement Resource
Center (SARC) located at 14188 Briarwood
Ave., Centennial, 80112. For further information
please visit the PIN website at:
www.PINccsd.org.
Upcoming presentations on:
• April 9th: Eyes Wide Open: A Brave
New Look at Bullying, Dr. Marla Bonds
• May 7th: Loving, Limiting and Leading
Your Child with Laughter and Joy, Mary
Ronan, Annual PIN Brunch held at CC
Presbyterian Community Life Center.
CCSD Chess Tournament
The district wide Chess Tournament will be
held on Saturday, March 2nd at Overland
High School. Check-in begins at 8:30 a.m.
Payment must be received by Saturday, February
23rd along with the completed entry
form. Entry forms can be picked up at the
Willow Creek front office. Please review the
information sheet attached to this issue of
the PEEK and feel free to call Todd Bardwick,
303-770-6696, if you have any further
questions.

Dates to Remember
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thurs. Feb. 7 CMS Parent Info Night, 6:30 p.m., CMS Cafeteria
Tues. Feb. 12 PTO General Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Library
Wed. Feb. 13 Campus Middle School counselors at Willow Creek for 5th Graders
M-Tue. Feb. 18-19 NO SCHOOL, President’s Day & Teacher In-Service
Wed. Feb. 20 Author’s Visit, Library
Tues. Feb. 26 Accountability Meeting, 6:30 p.m., Library
Thurs. Feb. 27 5th Grade Science Fair, 2:00 p.m.
Th-Fri. Feb. 28-Mar. 1 NO SCHOOL, Non-Contact/Conference Days
Thurs. Mar. 7 DI Team Presentations for Parents, Gym, 6:00 p.m.
Wed. Mar. 6 TCAP’s Testing Begins (See Attached Schedule)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
School Lunch Menu
The school lunch menu can be found on the
Willow Creek website:
www.will.ccsd.k12.co.us under the General
Information/Lunch Menu section. Paper copies
are also available at the front office. Please be
aware that the menu that was sent home in the
summer packet has
been changed through
the Food and Nutrition
Department.
PARENTS:
Please be aware that
another new menu was
just issued as of October
15th from the CCSD Food and Nutrition
Office. This can be found in the display case in
the front hall.
The PEEK Newsletter
The PEEK Newsletter is our school newsletter
which is published twice a month. A few paper
copies of the newsletter are available at the
front office, but we strongly encourage parents
to read our publication online at:
www.will.ccsd.k12.co.us under General Information/Newsletters.
The PEEK will be published
on the following
dates:
February 20th
March 6th, 20th
April 10th, 24th
May 8th, 22nd
Please refer to the
“Dates to Remember”
section for important
dates so you can mark your personal calendars
for information regarding school events. Submissions
to the PEEK must be given to the
front office by the Monday prior to the PEEK’s
publication during that week.
Attendance Line-Please Call by 8:45 a.m.
Parents: If your child is going to be absent or
tardy, please call the Attendance Line at 720-
554-3995 by 8:45 a.m. This line is open 24
hours a day. In addition to contacting your
teacher regarding an absence, please call
the Attendance Line.
Please Note: Kindergarten Enrichment students
must also be called in if they will not be
in attendance at the start of the a.m. or p.m.
school day. We appreciate your help in the
matter.
Tardies ...
are very disruptive, not only to the
late student, but to every student
and teacher in the classroom.
School starts at 9:00 a.m. Students should
be at school by 8:50 a.m. and in their seats
by 9:00 a.m. ready to learn.
Early Dismissals…
are strongly discouraged after 3:15 p.m. as
this is a very busy time for teachers and students
as they give final instructions and prepare
to leave for the day.
School Grounds Supervision…
is only available beginning at 8:45 a.m. unless
your child is eating breakfast, which begins
at 8:30 a.m. Supervision ends at 3:50
p.m. after school. STUDENTS SHOULD
NOT BE ARRIVING TO SCHOOL BEFORE
8:45 A.M. AND SHOULD BE LEAVING BY
3:50 p.m. EACH DAY, unless you are enrolled
in daycare, eating breakfast, attending
intramurals, choir/band or in a morning club.
WILLOW CREEK LUNCH SCHEDULE
Kindergarten 11:45-12:35 p.m.
1st Grade 12:05-12:45 p.m.
2nd Grade 11:00-11:40 a.m.
3rd Grade 1:05 - 1:45 p.m.
4th Grade 12:45- 1:25 p.m.
5th Grade 12:25- 1:15 p.m.

WCCK Fundraiser
Willow Creek Cares for Kids is holding a
metal tab collecting competition between all
of the classes to donate to the Ronald
McDonald House Charities to raise money
for chemotherapy patients. Students can
bring in tabs from soda cans, soup cans and
pet food cans. This competition will start on
Monday, February 4th and end on the Friday,
March 29th, the day
before Spring Break.
Students can bring in
bags of tabs or drop
individual tabs into the
donation bottle placed
in each classroom.
The class to collect the
most pounds of tabs in the indicated collection
time frame will receive a class pizza or
ice cream party after Spring Break. Start
saving those tabs now!
Cherry Creek Community Legislative Network
Join the CCCLN for an overview of the 2013
Legislative Session on February 13th at 9:30
a.m. at the ESC building, Room 210, (4700
South Yosemite Street, Greenwood Village).
Get an up-to-date report on the legislation
proposed in the 2013 Legislature and how it
may affect education in the district and
throughout Colorado. All are welcome. Hope
to see you there!
Is your 5th Grader attending West Middle
School Next Year?
Nominations for positions on the West PTCO
2013-2014 General and Executive Boards
are open to all parents at West Middle
School and all 5th grade parents whose students
will be attending West next year.
There is truly a volunteer job for everyone’s
skills and schedules. All of the students at
West will benefit from your help. Please step
forward to nominate yourself—you are our
best resource (although we are not shy about
chasing parents down!).
If you have a particular position in mind or
would like more information about which position
would meet your needs, please contact
Helen Nelson at:
kechriotisnelson@rmoms.com
with subject title “West PTCO Nominating”.
Thank you and we look forward to working
with you next during the 2013-2014 school
year!
Wind Chill and Recess Guide
Please be familiar with the CCSD winter recess
guide in order for your student to come
to school with the appropriate dress.
• Wind Chill Below 0: No Recess
• Wind Chill between 0-15 Degrees: Recess
is limited to 10 minutes
• Wind Chill between 15-30 Degrees: Recess
is limited to 20 minutes
Kindergarten Enrichment
Parents
Check out the new Kindergarten
Enrichment Blog!
Log-in and see what great
things we have been doing.
Please visit us at:
willowcreekke.blogspot.com
(Please note that there is no “www” in front of
this website when searching for this blog.)
Delayed Start Information
We never know when the weather might make
a quick change for the worse here in Colorado
and it is getting to be that time of year when it
could be 70 degrees on one day and snowing
the next. As a quick reminder, the elementary
school delayed start times are the same as
last year. When the district
is on a delayed schedule,
elementary bus pickup and
school start times are delayed
one hour. When there
is a weather emergency,
information on school closures,
delayed starts, early
dismissals or late dismissals will be posted on
the district’s website at:
www.cherrycreekschools.org. This information
will also be sent to local media and
recorded on the weather hotline which can be
reached by calling 720-554-4701.
2013-2014 CCSD School Calendar
The academic calendar for the next school
year can be found under “Announcements” at:
www.cherrycreekschools.org. Please refer
to this before making any vacations plans for
the upcoming school year.
Kindergarten Round-Up
Willow Creek residents may register children
who are eligible for Kindergarten for the 2013-
2014 school year between February 22nd-
27th. Please call Beth at the Willow Creek
front office if you have any questions concerning
the registration requirements.