Welcome to 5th Grade!!!!

2024-2025    

Dear Families,

Hello and welcome back!! I am so excited to meet and see you all! My name is Kelly Broecker (pronounced Breker) and I am so excited that I am going to be your child’s teacher for the 2024-2025 school year at Gold Rush. I cannot wait for this year to begin so that we can get to know one another and have a fun, successful year of learning! Please read to the end as this has a lot of important information for you and your child. 

Growing up in Colorado, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. 24 years ago I stepped into my first classroom and haven’t looked back. Education is my passion and watching your children grow to be strong, independent critical thinkers is why I teach. I have a BA in History from Colorado State University, my Elementary Educators license from Metropolitan State University of Denver and I have a Masters in Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction. I’ve taught both 4th and 5th grades over the past 24  years as well as one of those years as an instructional coach. This will be my eighth year at Gold Rush and I couldn’t have asked for a better community and school to be a part of.

My family and I live right here in Parker. I love teaching in the community where I live; it allows me to stay connected to my children and the entire Parker community. I am married to my husband of 24  years, and we have two wonderful daughters. Emily, 21, will be a Senior at Colorado State University, and Abby, 18, will be a Sophomore at Colorado State. As a family we enjoy traveling, playing Pickleball,  walking our dog Izzy, and hanging out together. My own hobbies include reading, rooting for CSU Rams, exercising on my Peloton, watching Marvel and Star Wars shows and movies (especially anything Baby Yoda {Grogu} which you'll soon see), walking to enjoy our beautiful weather and scenery. 

As we enter this year, please know that working together as a cohesive team will ensure that your child has a successful year as they prepare for middle school. Communication is very important to me and to the success of your child.  E-mail is typically the best way to reach me. During the school year I will be working with your student during school hours, so if I am not able to respond immediately, I will do my best to respond within 12-24 hours.  I look forward to working with you and your child.  This is their last year of elementary school and I want it to be a memorable and fun learning experience.  I can't wait for them to experience all of the fun and exciting lessons and activities that I have planned! 

I look forward to hearing about all your summer adventures! As a family we traveled to San Diego for a week around the 4th of July and visited Disneyland (one of my favorite places of all time). We spent much of the time hanging around Encinitas, Carlsbad, San Marcos (where we got to play Pickleball and I won my first game of the summer-I'm still trying and having fun learning the game), Coronado, and spent the 4th at Dana Point Harbor hanging out with the seals. Last spring break we went to Italy to visit my daughter, Emily, who was studying abroad. I tell you this because you will soon find out I seek out history wherever I go when I travel because I love learning about the past. Something I'm excited to pass on to you!  

I am looking forward to meeting you and your student at our Meet the Teacher on Tuesday, August 6th.  Please CLICK HERE to sign up for a 15 minute increment time slot that starts at 8:30 with the last slot at 10:50. You can sign up anytime from  July 17-32st if you haven’t already done this. (Select Gold Rush Elementary and the password is digger.) Students will drop off their supplies this day and take their pictures in the gym after our visit.  If you could please also fill out this form (also found on my website) to help me get to know your child before the first day of school, I would appreciate it! With the limited amount of time we have at Meet the Teacher, this will help give  me additional information privately prior to our first day of school. Please remember to bring the majority of your supplies with you (if possible) on this day so that students don't have the burden of carrying their supplies on the first day as we will have the traditional Flag Ceremony on the first day of school. We will meet on the front blacktop by the cone that says my name. 

Finally, if there is an alternate email you would like me to use, please let me know ASAP by responding to this email and providing me with the new email address you prefer.

Have a great rest of your summer! I can’t wait to meet you on  August 6th  and see you for our first day on August 7th!

Best regards,

Mrs. Broecker