2420 Autumn Sage St. Castle Rock, CO 80108 720-433-0110
Canyon Connection
Principal
Mandy Hill
Main Office
720-433-0110
Attendance
720-433-0112
Weather Hotline
303-387-SNOW (7669)
APRIL 2 0 1 5
Letter from the PTO President
Dear Sage Canyon Families:
Can you believe it’s April and spring is almost here! I hope you had a great Spring
Break and got a chance to relax a bit with your family.
We have several exciting events happening in the next couple of months. We’re
finalizing our Spring Teacher Grants and will be announcing those in the next couple
of weeks. I hope everyone got a chance to order a yearbook and make those
customizable pages. Thank you to all that did, you’ll receive them in time for
signatures.
We have Spirit Week coming the week of April 13th-17th and Teacher Appreciation
Week is not far behind the week of May 4th. Our next Spirit Night is at Chick-fil-A on
April 1st please stop in anytime during the day and mention Sage Canyon.
PTO Website
Our Box Tops Fundraiser wrapped up for the year and earned Sage Canyon
approximately $2,300. Thank you so much, saving these simple little tags is so
worth it in the end. A big thank you to Lana Lane, Brooke Howcroft, Kim Warcholik,
and Sara Bucchop for all the work pulling this together this year.
Our next PTO meeting is April 8th at 630pm. I hope to see you soon.
Sincerely,
Sheryl Rose
Sage Canyon PTO President
Save The Date
April 1
Chick-fil-A Spirit Night
April 8 – 6:30pm
PTO Meeting
April 13 to April 17
Spirit Week
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PAGE 2
Principal’s Letter
Dear Wrangler Families,
I hope that you had a wonderful time with your children during spring break and that
you had the opportunity to connect and relax as a family. It is so hard to believe that we
are coming back for the last few weeks of school. Many of our grade levels will begin
some of their most interesting projects. First grade will be studying life cycles of plants
and will help plan, plant, and maintain the SGCE community garden in “Just Dig It.” Our
sixth graders are currently learning about the atoms and physical changes of matter.
They will use this information to create a superhero in “Operation Acclamation.” Both
of these projects showcase authentic transfer of learning, which we know allows for
sustainable retention.
One of the most anticipated events of the year is the announcement of grade level
teams for the following year. One of the many reasons that Sage Canyon is constantly
evolving is the willingness and desire of teachers to change grade levels. I had a parent
ask me recently why I asked teachers to change grade levels so much, and the answer is
simply that I don’t. I would like to share a little bit about our process for choosing grade
level teams.
Every January, we hand out our "blue cards." The blue cards are a place where teachers
can indicate their preference for their teaching position for the following year. Many
times teachers say that they are happy to teach the same grade again or they are
interested in teaching another grade. There are some cases where teachers are ready
for a change or there are particular projects that may interest them.
As a leadership team, we then take the blue cards and begin to construct grade level
teams based on a number of variables. These variables include projected enrollment,
the number of needed sections, teacher strengths and preferences. We attempt to
create teams where teacher strengths are complementary and where we can maximize
teacher and team talent. This is critical because in our system of Project-Based
Learning, our teachers meticulously plan each and every learning experience together.
We want collaborative teams who can create and refine the very best projects for our
students.
Below, you will find a list of our grade level teams for the 2015-2016 school year. I
know that there will be the urge to request a teacher. I am going to ask that if you do
have a specific request, please email me and let me know the specific traits of a teacher
Continued...
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PAGE 3
you feel would fit best with your child, but I ask that you not request a specific teacher
by name. This process allows us to match a teacher and student so that the needs of
the student can be met. Sometimes you hear great things about a teacher, but when
truly appraising the unique needs of your child, there may be another teacher who
could be a better match.
This spring, we will work with current grade level teachers to create classes for next
year. We will have your students’ teacher assignment available in parent portal in early
June. I will follow up with a specific date as the time gets closer.
Thank you so much for your continued support of Sage Canyon and our teachers.
Sincerely,
Mandy Hill
Sage Canyon Principal
Grade Level Teams 2015-2016
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Kindergarten: Susan Fairchild (Full Day), Sarah Komosa (Full Day), Ellie Monroe (Half Day)
1st Grade: Kristin Folkers, Robin Joyce, Stephannie Page, Courtney Schubarth
2nd Grade: Paula Bishop, Kaitlin Conley, Betsy Embrey, Laura Trimarco,
3rd Grade: Cheryl Brost, Heather Pepper, Amy Turba, TBD
4th Grade: Kelsey Chadrick, Sarah Johnson, Nancy Mann, Cynthia Thurston
5th Grade: Carolynn Barthelemy, Kali Goings, Danielle McGuckin, Matt Wilson
6th Grade: Katie Bland, Tony Lamb, Keely Vaughan, Jackie Wolfgang
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PAGE 4
Spirit Nights
Spirit Nights are a great way to help schools raise money in a fun and interactive way.
Sage Canyon has had very successful spirit nights this year. We have raised close to
$2,000 this year through our Spirit Nights! Thank you for the amazing support! Here are
our upcoming scheduled spirit nights:
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Wednesday, April 1st at Chick-fil-A
Wednesday, May 6th at Chick-fil-A
Spirit Week
It’s springtime again and that means Spirit Week at Sage Canyon! That’s right — Spirit
Week is back, April 13 to April 17. We are going to keep a few of the old favorites and add
a few new days in the hopes of getting great participation from our students and teachers!
What a fun week we have planned — something for everyone to enjoy!
 The week begins on April 13th with Magnificent Monday! We will turn the school into
a rainbow with each grade wearing a new color:
 6th Grade in Red
 5th in Orange
 4th in Yellow
 3rd in Green
 2nd in Blue
 1st and K in Purple
 Team Tuesday will let kids share their favorite team. From your little league jersey to
a Rockies shirt, share your team pride!
 Wacky Wednesday! We can’t all excel at crazy hair day and we don’t all have crazy
socks, but on Wacky Wednesday almost anything goes! Use your creativity to have fun
coming up with your most wacky outfit or hair style. Prizes will be awarded for the
most creative and wacky!! Have fun!
 After all that fun we will need to recover with a Lazy Thursday and show up in your
favorite jammies!
 To end the week, Friday is Wrangler Day! We want to see your best cowboy/cowgirl or
just your best school spirit wear, because after all “We are Wranglers”!!!
We can’t wait to see how much fun the kids can have this week!
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PAGE 5
Yearbook Update
Thank you all for purchasing your yearbooks through TreeRing this year! The yearbooks
will be delivered to our school mid-May for our students to enjoy and have signed by
their friends before summer break. Watch for delivery information to come soon!
Box Tops Update
Thank you all for your participation in this year's Box Top program! For the year, we
raised close to $2,300. That money goes to our school and meeting teacher needs.
The results from our last collection were as follows:
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1st place: Mr. Lamb's 6th grade class at 793 tops
2nd place: Mrs. Fairchild's Kindergarten class at 606 tops
3rd place: Mrs. Thurston's 4th grade class at 390 tops
We are finished with formal collection times for this year, but please feel free to continue
to send in your box tops. We have a collection box located in the lobby. Just drop them in
and we will grab them periodically.
Thank you from The Box Tops Team
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PAGE 6
Destination Imagination
Congratulations to all of Sage Canyon’s Destination Imagination (DI) Teams that competed
in March in the Douglas County DI Competition! PTO has proudly co-sponsored this
program. This competition is completely managed by the students who chose their
challenges and, through the creative process, work on solving those challenges in the
competition.
All teams did an amazing job! This year,
Sage Canyon was proud to have two teams
get 2nd place in Instant Challenges. Team
Members and Team Managers are already
looking forward to next year.
Way to go, DI Teams!! And a special thank
you to Ms. Fairchild and Ms. Wolfgang for
the months of dedication and support
provided to our teams!
PTO Feedback Survey
Thank you for your participation in our PTO Survey. We sent this survey out before Spring
Break to ask for your feedback about our PTO. We are looking for ways to improve how
we serve you, our school community. Your feedback will help us to determine how you
feel about our PTO and the activities and events we put on during the year. It will also
help identify our strengths and growth areas. We will report the findings at the April PTO
meeting on April 8th. Thank you!
Hoedown is Back!
Join us on May 15 for our second annual Hoedown!! This extra-fun, kick-up-your-heels
event is a true hoedown celebration for all of our Wranglers.
Free and fun for everyone! Watch for more information to come home with
your student soon.
Help us wrangle up a great year and kick off next year with a bang!
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TEACHERS, WE APPRECIATE YOU!
Teacher Appreciation Week is a weeklong celebration the first full week in May. In 2015,
Teacher Appreciation Week is May 4th through May 8th.
Teachers play a critical role in educating and shaping our children. They are kind, patient,
hard-working, dedicated and understanding professionals that mold our children’s lives in
a positive direction.
It is time to say “Thank You” to the special teachers that you know. Let them know that
they are appreciated for all that they do.
More details will be coming soon about how we are going to celebrate our very special
teachers at Sage Canyon!
Ongoing Fundraising Events
Shopping with Scrip Gift Cards
Great Lakes Scrip (glscrip.com) is a simple and incredibly effective fundraising tool that we
utilize at Sage Canyon. We earn money when you buy and use gift cards for every day
purchases. To see a the list of participating merchants and the order form on our Sage
Canyon PTO website for simple ordering, just visit sagecanyonpto.digitalpto.com/
fundraising/shop-with-scrip/
We thank Julie Heath for her continued support and work managing this awesome
program. If you're immediately interested in purchasing scrip cards, please email her at
[email protected] or [email protected]. Bright green order forms
are also available at school in the main office in the PTO mail boxes.
You can also "double up" -- use your credit card to purchase Scrip gift cards and
simultaneously earn miles, cash back, etc. on your card AND donate to SGCE PTO. It's a
win-win! Gift cards are ordered on about the 1st and 15th of each month and are
available two days after the order is placed -- they're delivered to classrooms to go home
with your kids or are available for pick up in the SGCE office. It really couldn't be easier!
There are hundreds of merchants to choose from -- please give us a try and help us give
back to the school! Thank you!
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PAGE 8
Teacher Spotlight: Meet First Grade Teacher Ms. Brost!!!!!!
Ms. Brost grew up in Piscataway, New Jersey, where she spent amazing summers
on Long Beach Island surfing, fishing and working as a lifeguard. After moving from
New Jersey to Colorado for what was supposed to be a year, she has now lived in
Colorado for almost 30 years. She still considers the east coast home where she has
extended family with over 100 cousins that get together annually!
Ms. Brost received a degree in Elementary Education and Behavioral Science from
Metro State. She’s been teaching in the district for 15 years and before that was a
teacher’s aide and volunteer coordinator. She spent several months substitute
teaching to determine the grade that fit her best. She gravitates to the younger
grades but thoroughly enjoys them all!
Ms. Brost has three daughters and two son-in-laws: Amy, Wendy, Roby, Michael
and Tyler. They are all very busy with their careers. Amy is an Education
Coordinator at the Denver Aquarium; Wendy is a Nuclear Physicist (aka rocket
scientist!!!) at a nuclear power plant; Roby is a Metallurgist who analyzes how
metal reacts to various environmental aspects; Michael (Wendy’s Husband) is a
Petroleum Engineer for Eneridge and Tyler (Amy’s husband) is a Graphic Artist for a
small commercial art company in Denver. WOW!!! She also has 3 four-legged
babies: Saddie, Chibbles & Daisy. Ms. Brost has spent years fostering abused,
injured dogs.
Over Christmas break last year, Ms. Brost and her kids spent one of the most
exciting vacations when they went winter camping in Golden Gate State Park. What
was most exciting…when a five-mile snowshoe trip turned into 12 miles in the dark!
One thing you may not know about Ms. Brost is she owns a Classic CX500 Honda
motorcycle and a ‘very cute sparkly’ purple Virago. So, don’t be surprised if you see
her riding out of Franktown or around the neighborhood one of these days!
Ms. Brost we appreciate your love of learning and dedication to your kids. Thank
you for all you do!!!!!
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PAGE 9
2014/2015 PTO Events Calendar
New This Year: Sign-up for all events at our Master SignUp Genius
April 1 – Chick-fil-A Spirit Day
April 8 – PTO Meeting, 6:30pm
April 13 to 17 – Spirit Week
May 4 to 8 – Teacher Appreciation Week
May 6 – Chick-fil-A Spirit Day
May 13 – PTO Meeting, 6:30pm
May 15 – Hoedown
Reminder: If you use Google Calendar, you can add our PTO calendar to your own by
using the Add a friend's calendar option in the calendar list on the left of your Google
Calendar. Search for our ID "[email protected]" to add all of these dates to
your own Google Calendar.
PTO Meeting Schedule
We would love to see you at a PTO meeting! All Sage Canyon parents, teachers, and
caregivers are welcome to attend. We discuss new ideas, make plans for future events,
and decide how to spend our funds. All meetings are held in the Rodeo Room at school.
This year, we are alternating between evening and morning meetings
to try to accommodate more schedules.
April 8 – 6:30pm
May 13 – 9:30am
We hope to see you there!
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Photos
We would love to see your photos from our school events! Please send your
photos to mailto:[email protected].
Moms and Muffins - March 4
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