Weekly Update October 21st - 25th | News and Views from Harris Park

Weekly Update October 21st - 25th

Oct 21 2024

CSAWeeklyUpdate_10.18.24

Dear CSA Parents, Guardians, and Community Members,

We have had quite the week! It was wonderful to see so many of you during Parent-Teacher Conferences on Monday and again today at our FunRun. The kids definitely had a blast! Click here for some pictures of this event. Remember donations are open until Monday, October 21st at 5:00pm. The more funds we raise, the more the school benefits. Plus, the class that has the most donations gets additional prizes. As of 3:00pm, Beckman's class was in the lead for donations at the Irving building and Mayns's at Union.

We also had a special visitor on Wednesday afternoon. Governor Polis came in and spent some time congratulating our students on their incredible Science scores! He also had a chance to speak with a few of them about their experiences with Project-Based Learning and other learning opportunities that make CSA so special! You can see some pictures of this event on our Facebook page, linked here!

Next week we will have another chance to continue building community at our annual District Showcase. Please join us on Tuesday, October 22nd from 5:00 to 7:00 at Westminster High School. This is a wonderful opportuinity to learn about our programming and hear more about the incredible things happening in Westminster Public Schools. Also, kids big and small can start Trick-or-Treating early at this whole-family event! For more information, please check out the District Showcase webpage or this featured story in October's edition of What's Up WPS?

On Wednesday, Level 8 students will be taking the PSAT. This is a great opportunity for students to have practice with this type of test which will be used as a measure of college readiness in their high school years. Please make sure that testing students get a good night's sleep the night before.

On Thursday, Stan Yan is coming to visit grades K-5 at Irving! Stan Yan is a Denver-based writer and illustrator best known for channelling obstacles and mishaps into creative works. For more information, check out the section below. Parents can use the QR code linked to the flyer to buy his book There's a Zombie in the Basement. If you order by Tuesday, students will have them by the day of the event.

Finally, on Friday is Picture Retake Day. If you missed the first round or want another shot, now's your chance.

We’re so grateful for your continued involvement and enthusiasm. We truly appreciate all the opportunities to connect and partner with you in your student's education. See you next week!

Warm regards,

Karina Costas

Principal, Colorado STEM Academy

IMPORTANT DATES:

October 22nd: District Showcase

October 23rd: PSAT for Level 8 Students

October 24th: Stan Yan Visit @Irving

October 25th: Picture Retake Day

October 31st: Fall Break

November 1st: Fall Break

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Stan Yan is coming to visit grades K-5 at the Irving gym on October 24th from 2:00 until 3:00!

Stan Yan is a Denver-based writer/illustrator, caricature artist and instructor. Growing up in Denver, Yan, a self-taught artist, went to school at the University of Colorado in Boulder where he got his bachelor's degree in accounting, where Yan's life took the tragic turn into sales for the securities industry, where he wallowed in ethical poverty on-and-off for thirteen years. Yan takes his frustrations out by penning graphic novels such as THE WANG. In 2005, Yan gave up on financial security and become a full-time freelance cartoonist, illustrating SUBCULTURE for Ape Entertaiment and Action Lab Danger Zone, creating comic strips for the financial and sales industry, drawing zombie caricatures, and picking up odd illustration and teaching jobs when folks are feeling agonizing pity for him. He helped to co-found the Squid Works comic creator cooperative, was a board member of the Colorado Alliance of Illustrators and is an active member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).

My work has been seen in VINCENT PRICE PRESENTS (BlueWater Productions / Storm Comics / Tidal Wave), THERE'S A ZOMBIE IN THE BASEMENT (Squid Works Kids), DENVER COMIX, KITE TALES, the RMC-SCBWI annual calendar, THE QUEUING DEAD (British zombie anthology), POP CULTURE CLASSROOM, and THE WESTWORD, among many others.

STEMGEAR!

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We believe that uniforms can help build community. We also beleive that individual style is important! For that reason, there are lots of ways that students and familes can show their school spirit at STEM. In addition to the yearly shirt exchange (see flyer below), families can purchase shirts and other swag from our School Store or directly through our vendor.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS OUR VENDOR!

Otherwaystohelpourschool...

Many organizations partner with schools to give back to our community, and we’re excited to share information about these valuable collaborations. Flyers detailing these partnerships will be displayed around the school and at the PTA tent, so be sure to check them out to learn how these organizations are supporting our students and programs.

LearnaboutourHRSprocess!

Level 5 Highly Reliable Schools

We are proud to announce that Colorado STEM Academy is an HRS Level 5 certified school. This data-driven, research-based process highlights our strengths and areas of improvement. This allows for clearly defined goals in each of the five levels included below:

1. Safe and Collaborative Culture

2. Effective teaching in every classroom

3. Guaranteed and Viable Curriculum

4. Standards-Referenced Reporting

5. Competency-Based Instruction

You can learn more about these levels and this work here.