Hello Gilpin Families!
We are quickly approaching the end of the third academic quarter! The official end of third quarter is Thursday, March 12th leading into Spring Break. Teachers will complete third quarter report cards the following Friday, March 27th. Expect to receive your child's report card the weekend of the 27th digitally through ParentSquare. We have an exciting month ahead with Spring Break, a K-2 concert, and the Spelling Bee! This has been a great school year so far and I look forward to finishing our final quarter strong!
Sincerely,
Patrick Linnehan
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- The GCSD Board of Education is working on next year's school calendar and will be ready soon.
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SPRING BREAK is Monday, March 16th through Sunday, March 22nd.
- Out of district students will need to complete their out of district enrollment form to ensure enrollment for next school year. If you are an out of district family, please complete the Interdistrict Choice/ Open Enrollment form located in PowerSchool. If you need assistance locating that form, please contact Codi Ramsey at cramsey@gilpin.k12.co.us
- Registration is also OPEN for next school year! If you know any families curious about enrolling in GCSD, please send them this way for a tour, or they can register directly on the website!
- We will have student-led parent teacher conferences Thursday, April 2nd, and Friday, April 3rd!
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See important dates to keep in mind for the month of March! |
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GCES and the GCSS Middle School will be competing in the annual Spelling Bee on Thursday, March 12th |
See what exciting events Student Council has to offer this month! |
Lincoln Hills came to GCSD to present to 4th grade and High School students to teach about the history of their organization. Learn more about the presentation below! |
For our February Mission, we traveled to Saturn and focused on creativity and curiosity! See highlights from our mission below! |
For our March Mission, we are traveling to Uranus and learning about healthy habits! |
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Congratulations to our March Student of the Month, Lynae Leatham! |
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Congratulations to our first ever Teacher of the Month for March, Mr. Rider Smith! |
See details below about our new peer mentoring program introduced by Student Council! |
See highlights from The Colorado Avalanche Youth Program Takeover at GCES on Monday, February 16th! |
See highlights from our Valentine's Day Ice Cream Social on Thursday, February 12th! |
- Monday, March 2nd- Student mentors meet their mentees during lunch and complete get-to-know-you questionnaire!
- Wednesday, March 4th- Introduction to March's AstroEagles Mission- The Habit Rings
- Thursday, March 5th- Classroom Spelling Bee!
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Thursday, March 5th- Kindergarten, Montessori Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and Lower Montessori Concert 6:30 P.M. in Auditorium
- Wednesday, March 11th- LATE START School starts at 9:00 A.M.
- Thursday, March 12th School Wide Spelling Bee 9:00 A.M. in the Auditorium
- Thursday, March 12th End of the Third Academic Quarter
- Monday, March 16th through Sunday, March 22nd SPRING BREAK
- Tuesday, March 24th District Accountability Committee (DAC) Meeting 5:30 P.M.
- Monday, March 23rd through Thursday, March 26th SPIRIT WEEK See details in the Student Council Corner
- Wednesday, April 1st The Habit Rings AstroEagle Mission 1:15 P.M. MPR
- Wednesday, April 1st- LATE START School starts at 9:00 A.M.
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On Thursday, March 5th, 4th and 5th grade students will be competing in a classwide Spelling Bee. Students were given spelling words to study on Wednesday, February 25th. In the classwide Spelling Bee, students will compete against their classmates with the top 3 students in each class moving on to the schoolwide Spelling Bee on Thursday, March 12th (for a total of 9 elementary students).
On Thursday, March 12th the elementary finalists will compete against the middle school for the school-wide Spelling Bee! This will take place in the auditorium starting at 9:00 A.M. Parent volunteers will be judging the bee with students spelling their words on the stage at a podium. Students will receive 1 dollar for every word they spell correctly with the second place winner earning 25 dollars and the first place winner earning 50 dollars!
If you would like to volunteer to be a judge, let me know at plinnehan@gilpin.k12.co.us.
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For March, Student Council is officially beginning the GCES peer mentorship program on Monday, March 2nd! More details about the peer mentorship program appear later in this newsletter.
Student Council also created the "Teacher of the Month" award! For the first round, students voted for the top teacher with Mr. Smith in 2nd grade receiving the most votes! In future months, students will nominate a teacher by writing a paragraph to the principal why their teacher deserves the recognition. I will choose the winner out of the nominees!
GCES is also beginning morning announcements led by Student Council! The morning announcements will appear in video and audio form on the televisions in each classroom with Student Council and other students reading them each morning!
Finally for March, Student Council is organizing a second Spirit Week for the week after Spring Break (Monday March 23rd through Thursday, March 26th). The themes for this Spirit Week are below:
Monday, March 23rd: Anything But a Backpack Day! Students will bring their school materials to school in anything they can find that ISN'T a backpack!
Tuesday, March 24th: Sports Day! Wear the gear of your favorite team!
Wednesday, March 25th: Crazy Hair Day!
Thursday, March 26th: In the Past Day! Dress up from a past era!
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On Thursday, February 26th Dr. Jeanette R Patterson, Ed.D. Executive Director of Lincoln Hills Cares, came to GCSD to present to the 4th grade students about the history of the Lincoln Hills Organization. Lincoln Hills was established in 1922 as the only resort available to African Americans in Gilpin County. Dr. Patterson spoke to 4th grade students about the significance of segregation, how it affected African American residents of Gilpin County, and how Lincoln Hills acted as a refuge for African American residents during the era of segregation. Lincoln Hills is still in operation today celebrating over 100 years as a part of Gilpin County! Colorado Academic Standards for 4th grade focused on the history of Colorado, so this presentation also connected directly to Colorado history standards! |
For the February Mission, Saturn Spark, students focused on curiosity and creativity by designing their own planet! Students worked together with their AstroEagles team to design a planet answering several questions about their planet including:
- What are the planets colors?
- What types of animals are on the planet?
- What type of vegetation is on the planet?
- How does the planet's gravity compare to Earth?
- What land formations exist on the planet?
- How long is a day/year on the planet?
- What is the atmosphere on your planet made up of?
The students answered the questions on small strips of paper connected to their planets.
Students did a great job being creative and designing unique planets for all to see! The planets are now displayed in the MPR!
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For March, students are traveling to Uranus and focusing on building healthy habits. Students will work together to brainstorm ways to be healthy culminating in each team creating an "Our Mission: Healthy Me!" poster.
Each poster will contain the following
- 1 habit for the body
- 1 habit for the mind
- 1 habit for relationships (e.g., kindness, talking to a friend)
The posters will then displayed in the MPR for all to see!
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Congratulations to our March GCES Student of the Month, Lynae Leatham! Lynae was nominated by her classroom teacher who said of her, "Lynae has grown tremendously in Math, and is an incredible writer. Lynae also shows great school spirit, and is kind to absolutely everyone. Yay Lynae!" |
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Congratulations to our first ever Teacher of the Month for March, Mr. Rider Smith! Mr. Smith received the most votes by elementary students to receive the recognition. Mr. Smith's students honored him by stating, "Mr. Smith is very nice. He gives us brain breaks throughout the day. He helps us learn by giving us second chances to try again. He writes on the board to help us through our schoolwork. He has a mystery student each school day for students who have had good behavior all day and he sends a positive note home with them. He is super duper fun! He is the best!" |
All 3rd-5th grade students are now mentors to a Kindergarten-2nd grade student. The mentors and mentees will meet with each other once every other week to tutor in classrooms and act as a role model and support for the younger students.
On Monday, March 2nd, mentor students met their mentees having lunch with them and answering a "Get to Know You" Questionnaire. The mentor students also participated in a "Mentor Orientation" going over how to be a mentor, how to appropriately tutor younger students, and collaborated on what to do in specific scenarios.
At the end of the orientation, the mentor students all chanted a mentor pledge. Watch their pledge below!
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See highlights below from our amazing Valentine's Day Ice Cream Social on Thursday, February 12th! |
See pictures and videos below from the Colorado Avalanche Youth Hockey Takeover of GCES on Monday, February 16th! |
If you have any questions, concerns, or comments reach out to me!
Email: plinnehan@gilpin.k12.co.us
Phone: 303-582-3444 ext. 5027
I am always willing to meet in person as well
If you'd like more information about the curriculum offered in school or different student opportunities, check out my website here
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