December 13, 2021
Excellence is not a skill, it’s an attitude.
Ralph Marston
Ralph Marston
The Week in Review
One of the more urgent matters on my to-do list last week was to hire a 3rd grade teacher to replace our retiring Mrs. Kolesarek. Our hiring committee finished interviewing on Tuesday and made a decision shortly thereafter. The position was offered to Ms Leanda Montoya. Ms Montoya is already well known to SVE. She has subbed in our building several times and even attended SVE as a child. We are excited to welcome her as Sierra Vista's newest teacher. Ms Montoya has been introduced to her students and is in close communication with Mrs. Kolesarek. They are working together to make the transition to a new teacher as easy as possible for their students.
Jamie Higgins, Laurie Dotson, and Tessa Armijo spent the day on Wednesday meeting with teachers as part of Sierra Vista's RtI process. RtI (Response to Intervention), is a process schools go through to prevent students from falling through the cracks. If a student hasn't progressed as expected, the RtI team helps determine what interventions may be needed to assist the struggling student. This is a big undertaking, especially in a school this size coupled with the challenges brought on by the pandemic during the last several months. I would like to thank this trio for their hard work Wednesday and during the days leading up to Wednesday.
One of the more urgent matters on my to-do list last week was to hire a 3rd grade teacher to replace our retiring Mrs. Kolesarek. Our hiring committee finished interviewing on Tuesday and made a decision shortly thereafter. The position was offered to Ms Leanda Montoya. Ms Montoya is already well known to SVE. She has subbed in our building several times and even attended SVE as a child. We are excited to welcome her as Sierra Vista's newest teacher. Ms Montoya has been introduced to her students and is in close communication with Mrs. Kolesarek. They are working together to make the transition to a new teacher as easy as possible for their students.
Jamie Higgins, Laurie Dotson, and Tessa Armijo spent the day on Wednesday meeting with teachers as part of Sierra Vista's RtI process. RtI (Response to Intervention), is a process schools go through to prevent students from falling through the cracks. If a student hasn't progressed as expected, the RtI team helps determine what interventions may be needed to assist the struggling student. This is a big undertaking, especially in a school this size coupled with the challenges brought on by the pandemic during the last several months. I would like to thank this trio for their hard work Wednesday and during the days leading up to Wednesday.
One very entertaining happening from the past week was the escapades of Sierra Vista's very own Elf on the Shelf. Each day the little imp was found apparently engaged in some fanciful activity. We have learned that our creative night custodian, Mr. Shane Sheppard, was an eye witness to the elf's activities. An excited crowd gathered around the the elf display each day. The students loved it!
The students in Mrs. di Stasio's second grade class were on TV this week! They took part in KOAA News5's "Storm Safe" program. Storm Safe school visits help educate students about severe weather threats in Colorado, how to be prepared, and how to take action to stay safe.
The Week Ahead
Elementary students have only two days of school remaining for 2021. Wednesday and Thursday of this week has been set aside for midyear literacy testing. These tests are an important part of your child's education. The results help us see how much progress students have made since the beginning of the year and let us see where we may need to make adjustments. Testing should only take about 15-20 minutes.
SVE Choir Performance
The Sierra Vista Elementary Choir will be performing at the Pueblo Mall on Friday, December 17th at 11:00 AM. Please come support our choir. It will be a great way to start off the holiday break.
2nd Annual Sierra Vista Elementary Virtual Magical Mondays Family Event
Magical Mondays is a virtual event that was started last year. The reason it was virtual, as you have probably guessed, was due to the COVID pandemic. The event was successful, and since we're still dealing with COVID restrictions, we planned something similar for this year. The Magical Mondays were scheduled to begin on December 6, however we had to push the schedule back a week due to some COVID related complications. Magical Mondays will begin on Monday, December 13th. Families will receive a Zoom link to the event via the autodialer. Please refer to the document below for further details, but remember, the dates on the document have been moved back one week.
Elementary students have only two days of school remaining for 2021. Wednesday and Thursday of this week has been set aside for midyear literacy testing. These tests are an important part of your child's education. The results help us see how much progress students have made since the beginning of the year and let us see where we may need to make adjustments. Testing should only take about 15-20 minutes.
SVE Choir Performance
The Sierra Vista Elementary Choir will be performing at the Pueblo Mall on Friday, December 17th at 11:00 AM. Please come support our choir. It will be a great way to start off the holiday break.
2nd Annual Sierra Vista Elementary Virtual Magical Mondays Family Event
Magical Mondays is a virtual event that was started last year. The reason it was virtual, as you have probably guessed, was due to the COVID pandemic. The event was successful, and since we're still dealing with COVID restrictions, we planned something similar for this year. The Magical Mondays were scheduled to begin on December 6, however we had to push the schedule back a week due to some COVID related complications. Magical Mondays will begin on Monday, December 13th. Families will receive a Zoom link to the event via the autodialer. Please refer to the document below for further details, but remember, the dates on the document have been moved back one week.
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Bonus Treats & Tees:
Normally with the short week, we wouldn't have the Treats & Tees event this week, but we have some extra doughnuts and in the holiday spirit, we will be offering them as the treat for $1 on Tuesday, December 14th. The "Tee" will be ugly holiday sweater or anything holiday related, like Santa hats, reindeer antlers, etc.
Normally with the short week, we wouldn't have the Treats & Tees event this week, but we have some extra doughnuts and in the holiday spirit, we will be offering them as the treat for $1 on Tuesday, December 14th. The "Tee" will be ugly holiday sweater or anything holiday related, like Santa hats, reindeer antlers, etc.
Lost and Found
Parents, we have A LOT of unclaimed items in our lost and found. If your kiddo is missing a coat or something like that, be sure to have him/her check the lost and found Monday or Tuesday. After Tuesday, any unclaimed items will be donated to charity.
Parents, we have A LOT of unclaimed items in our lost and found. If your kiddo is missing a coat or something like that, be sure to have him/her check the lost and found Monday or Tuesday. After Tuesday, any unclaimed items will be donated to charity.
Something to Think About
The talk below explores parenting and wanting our little ones to be "happy" - For Parents, Happiness is a Very High Bar. This presentation made some interesting points that you probably haven't thought much about before. The speaker also presented some information of which I was unaware, for example, "parent" as a verb, only entered common usage in the 1970's. It ends strong, so give yourself enough time to watch the entire 18 minutes. Here's a little taste, "In our desperate attempt to make happy kids, we may be assuming the wrong moral burden. It strikes me as a better goal, and dare I say a more virtuous one, to focus on making productive kids, and moral kids, and to simply hope that happiness will come to them by virtue of the good that they do, their accomplishments, and the love that they feel from us."
The talk below explores parenting and wanting our little ones to be "happy" - For Parents, Happiness is a Very High Bar. This presentation made some interesting points that you probably haven't thought much about before. The speaker also presented some information of which I was unaware, for example, "parent" as a verb, only entered common usage in the 1970's. It ends strong, so give yourself enough time to watch the entire 18 minutes. Here's a little taste, "In our desperate attempt to make happy kids, we may be assuming the wrong moral burden. It strikes me as a better goal, and dare I say a more virtuous one, to focus on making productive kids, and moral kids, and to simply hope that happiness will come to them by virtue of the good that they do, their accomplishments, and the love that they feel from us."
Painless PTO Support
Attention SVE families: If you use Amazon Prime, you can set it up to where our PTO will receive a percentage of your sales. This will not increase the amount you pay at checkout. To set this up, go to settings in the Amazon app and select "AmazonSmile." At this point you should be promoted to add a charity. Type in Sierra Vista School Association and our PTO will get a percentage of the sales. This is a great way to help support your school's PTO!
Attention SVE families: If you use Amazon Prime, you can set it up to where our PTO will receive a percentage of your sales. This will not increase the amount you pay at checkout. To set this up, go to settings in the Amazon app and select "AmazonSmile." At this point you should be promoted to add a charity. Type in Sierra Vista School Association and our PTO will get a percentage of the sales. This is a great way to help support your school's PTO!