ABSENCES AND LATE ARRIVALS: When your child will be absent or arriving late, please call the Heritage Elementary attendance line, 720-554-3595 prior to 8:00 am. The attendance line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Please do not email your teacher or front office with this information. All attendance is recorded in our PowerSchool database for the Colorado Department of Education.
AFTER SCHOOL: After school, students will either be released from their classroom door to walk home, be released to the supervised parking lot pick up area, be dismissed to ride the bus, or be dismissed to Soar Club. Children may not play on the playground after school unless supervised by a parent or guardian. Please inform your child's teacher of the method in which your child will go home every day. If there is a change to your child's normal plan, please call the office to get the message to your child. The office phone number is 720-554-3500.
BUS TRANSPORTATION: There are three buses that transport students to and from Heritage Elementary. If your child qualifies for bus transportation, please sign up for the MyRideK-12 app to get information about where and when your child will get on and off the bus. Visit the transportation page on the Cherry Creek Schools website for a link to download the application.
CHECKING YOUR CHILD OUT DURING THE SCHOOL DAY: If you need to check your child out during the school day, please come to the front office to sign him/her out. When you arrive, your child will be called down from his/her class. Please sign your child out on the sign out sheet and allow extra time for your child to gather his/her things.
DAILY SNACKS: Teachers will include a daily snack time during the school day. Some classes will have a morning and afternoon snack time. Please check with your child’s teacher to find out if your child needs to bring one or two snacks to school. Students should also bring a water bottle labeled with his/her name to school each day.
HAVING LUNCH WITH YOUR CHILD: You are welcome to come and have lunch with your child during their lunch time. Please sign in on the Raptor computer when you arrive and follow the procedure to get your visitor sticker.
HERITAGE WEBSITE: heritage.cherrycreekschools.org contains information about teacher contacts, activities and clubs, ways to become involved in the Heritage community, a link to our lunch menu, Cherry Creek School District policies/procedures and resources, etc.
MEDICATIONS: If your child needs to have medication at school, parents/guardians are responsible for the delivery of all medications to and from school, and should hand them directly to the school nurse or health tech. Medication shall be in the original, properly labeled container with the current date printed on the container, and include all other parameters required for medication administration (student name, prescribing physician’s name, drug name, dose, route, time and/or frequency). The school requires written orders for administration of the medication from the student’s licensed health care practitioner with prescribing authority. Also, the parent shall authorize school personnel to confer with the prescribing healthcare provider. In addition, we require the parent/guardian’s signature on the Medication Consent form in order to administer any medication to a student.
PETS: Please do not bring your pets to school when picking up your children. Many children are afraid or allergic to pets.
PROGRESS REPORTS AND CONFERENCES: Progress reports are completed three times each school year at the conclusion of each trimester. Conferences are held twice a year after the first and second trimester.
PTCO: The Heritage Elementary School PTCO (Parent, Teacher, Community Organization) provides support, both physically and financially, for our teachers and the school. Every parent is a member. Visit their website at heritageptco.com for more information on how you can get involved.
SCHOOL ARRIVAL: Students arrive during our morning "soft start" period. Having a soft start allows teachers to greet their students at their outside classroom door, have students come into the classroom and prepare for the school day. Kindergarten through Third Grade have a soft start beginning at 7:45 am. Fourth and Fifth Grade students can enter their classrooms at 7:50 am. Students arriving after 8:00 am must enter through the main doors and pick up a late slip. Unless your child is participating in a program before school, your child is encouraged to arrive during our morning "soft start" period.
Breakfast is available from the cafeteria beginning at 7:40 am. Students who would like breakfast should enter the school through their classroom door, check in with their teacher, then go to the cafeteria for breakfast.
Playground use is not permitted before school and adult supervision is not provided prior to 7:45 am on the school grounds.
SCHOOL HOURS: Our school day is 8:00 am – 2:45 pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Wednesday school hours are 8:00-1:45. An early dismissal on Wednesdays allows our teachers time to enhance their professional development and training opportunities each week. The school office hours are from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm.
SCHOOL LUNCHES: Your child can bring lunch to school or get lunch from our cafeteria. Lunch from the cafeteria includes an entree, grain, choice of fruit and/or vegetable and milk. Breakfast is also available each day. In addition, A la cart items can be purchased with a meal account through Myschoolbucks.com. Check breakfast and lunch menus at schools.mealviewer.com. Breakfast and lunch are available at no cost; however, we still encourage families to complete the Family Economic Data Survey each new school year. Applications can be found on the CCSD Food and Nutrition webpage at myschoolapps.com.
SAFETY DRILLS: The best way to prepare for an emergency is to practice what we would do in an emergency situation. Once a month, we practice either an evacuation drill or a shelter-in-place drill. Twice a year we practice a lockdown drill with all students.
SOAR CLUB: Before and after school care is available in our Soar Club program. Soar Club offers childcare every morning beginning at 6:30 am and every afternoon until 6:00 pm. If you need before or after school care for your child, please visit our Extended Child Services webpage for more information or to learn how to sign up for Soar Club. You can also reach out to our Soar Club director Claudette Bailey at cbailey2@cherrycreekschools.org or call 720-554-3540.
VACATION TIME: Vacation days exceeding 3 missed school days, outside of district days off, should be communicated to the front office via the attendance line, 720-554-3595.
VISITORS AND VOLUNTEERS: There will be occasions when teachers will ask for volunteers or visitors in their classrooms. All visitors and volunteers will be required to sign in and out at the front office upon arrival and departure. State of Colorado legislation requires that once each school year, visitors and volunteers complete an online check-in form provided by the Cherry Creek School District. Your state issued ID will also be scanned and a visitor or volunteer badge will be printed from the Raptor System for you to wear prior to admittance into school. Please go to https://apps.raptortech.com/Apply/NzU0OmVuLVVT to complete your online visitor/volunteer check in.
WEEKLY NEWSLETTER: Every Friday afternoon, we will send our weekly newsletter to your email address on file. The “Heritage Highlights” newsletter will contain important information to keep you informed of what is going on at Heritage.
WEATHER: Recess will take place outside every day the temperature is over 20° Fahrenheit. Please send your child to school with a coat on cold days. Your child may also bring boots and gloves if there is snow on the ground. Please label all items that come to school (coats, sweatshirts, gloves, hats, boots, etc.)