Welcome to 4th Grade!!

Welcome to the 2025-26 school year!

Important Dates:

Feb 16 - No School / President's Day

Feb 17 to Feb 20 - Book Fair

Feb 20 to Feb 25 - Read-a-Thon

Mar 06 - PTO Family Dance: See below for more

Mar 09-12 Parent-Teacher Conferences

Mar 16-20 Spring Break

Translations are available in Weekly Updates.

Family Fun Ideas To Explore and Learn About Colorado

Every month I post on my website and send an email encouraging families to visit places in Colorado. I have linked the websites to all of these places if you would like more information. I truly hope you are able to take advantage of the beautiful state we are so privileged to live in.

February Fun Family Events

Denver Center for the Performing Arts: Our arts center downtown has some amazing shows that are family friendly. Our symphony is also incredible. I know many of our students are exploring music and playing an instrument. This might be a fun experience for your family.

Lone Tree Arts Center: This is a smaller venue but has enriching shows. It is a great place to gain a little artistic culture near home.

Arvada Arts Center: This is another local arts center, a bit north of Denver. It has a variety of cultural opportunities and some great kid shows your family might enjoy.

Color Me Mine or Arts on Fire : These are local art studios where families can do some fun art projects and enjoy one another.

Art, music and theatre are great activities that can renew us all during the winter months. They can be great ways to have a little fun, entertainment and education too. Colorado is full of amazing opportunities that I hope your family can enjoy and explore together!

Best wishes,

Mrs. Crawley

January Fun Family Events

Stock Show: Our state has had this event every year for over 100 years. Thursday is the kick-off parade and then this weekend is the start of  events, rodeos, dog shows, livestock, agricultural learning, educational booths, shopping, and more! This event continues through January 25th and is a whole LOT of fun! Here is the website with information and schedules: Stock Show.

Wings Over the Rockies: This is a great museum about air travel, airplanes and more! It is a Crawley family favorite and a great little getaway, without going very far.

Denver Museum and Nature and Science: This is a fabulous museum! Its exhibits are constantly changing. It is indoors, and a fun, warm place to explore and learn!

Butterfly Pavilion: For those of you who might need a taste of spring, try the Butterfly Pavilion. This is a fun, small place for the bug lover. It is another warm place to explore and also learn about butterflies, bugs and small creatures all around us that make a big difference.

December

This season there are so many fun things around Denver to celebrate with family and friends. Some of the most common events are : Denver Zoo Lights and the Denver Botanic Gardens: Blossoms of Light.  However, there are a few lesser known events and places I thought I would let you know about, here are a few:

The Littleton Historical Museum has a historical holiday night on December 14th from 5:30 -8:00. This is an outdoor event that highlights historical happenings in Colorado in the late 1890's/early 1900's. It often has storytelling, hayrides, music, cornbread and cookies, and historical lessons in the house by the chickens.  It is a ticketed event and tickets can be purchased at the museum or online. This is a great local museum to visit any time, but a lot of fun on this night!

Hudson Gardens: This is a small garden close to home. It is a beautiful garden that people use for a variety of events. This time of year it is filled with lights for you to enjoy no matter how you like to celebrate this season.

I hope you all are able to continue to learn and experience our beautiful state during this busy season with friends and loved ones.

Happy holidays,

Mrs. Crawley

November

Hello Families,

I thought  this month I would share a few museums and historic parks you may want to explore with your child this month. 

Four Mile : This is a beautiful, small historic park located in Denver. Many people who have lived here for years miss this fun place. It is close to the Cherry Creek Mall and has a lot of amazing history to share!

Byers-Evans House: This historic home belonged to some prestigious families in our state's history. The women of these families were key in building our state's cultural arts and William Byers was the publisher of the Rocky Mountain News.

Molly Brown House: This is one of the homes of the indomitable Molly Brown. She was a famous Coloradan who was a philanthropist, survivor of the Titanic, and influential spokeswoman for many causes and rights of others. This is a great home to visit and learn about this fascinating woman in our state's history.

National Ballpark Museum: This is a fun, small place in the middle of downtown for the sports lover. Since the World Series is almost over, maybe some of you are like me and could handle a little more baseball. Check out this fun place and learn more about the sport.

History Colorado: Don't forget to use your family pass to check out more of our history museum. There are so many beautiful, educational exhibits here for kids to explore.

I tried to share with you a few of the lesser known museums that have wonderful historical information. Colorado is a rich state full of culture and history. I hope you and your family are able to take this year in 4th grade to enrich your knowledge and appreciation of our beautiful state.

Happy trails,

Mrs. Crawley

October

It is officially fall. A beautiful time to enjoy Colorado. Your child has created a brochure of places he/she would like to visit over Fall Break. Please ask your child about some of the places they wrote about in class.

I thought I would share with you some of the popular places the kids might want to explore as a family this month.

Georgetown Loop Railroad: This is a beautiful railroad loop, one of my personal favorites for sure! This is a wonderful way to see the fall colors and learn a bit about our state's history. It is not far from home and can easily be done in an afternoon. There are also extended learning opportunities with gold panning and more. Check out their website for upcoming adventures and holiday events too.

Colorado Wild Animal Sanctuary: This is a wild animal sanctuary that has elevated walkways to view rescued animals in natural habitats. This is a beautiful place to visit, especially if your child is an animal lover. The Keenesburg location is about an hour away, but past students have always shared that they loved it. One of these days I'll get there too!

Mesa Verde National Park: This is a wonderful National Park and an excellent opportunity to use your child's free National Park pass over Fall Break. We have been learning about the early people of Colorado and this fits in perfectly for an educational family adventure! If you are willing to conquer the drive to that corner of Colorado don't forget to check out the Sand Dunes, Four Corners and Colorado Gators while you are in that neck of the woods.

Corn Maze: If you didn't check this out in September it has a lot of great events to enjoy in October. It is great fun for  your child to problem-solve their way through this puzzle with you!

I hope you are able to enjoy time learning and exploring together as a family.

Enjoy,

Hope Crawley

September

Hello Families!

 September is finally on the horizon and we are hoping for some cooler weather. I thought I would share with you some possible places you might want to explore as a family.

Here are a few places you might want to try:

Rocky Mountain National Park: This is a beautiful National Park. Try out your new free park pass here. Your child's free pass becomes available in September and will come home next week. Note that for September - mid October  there is a timed entry into the park. This means that you have to sign up ahead of time to enter the park. Many people love to visit this park in September to see the autumn colors and elk. Sign up early and make sure to have your child try the Junior Ranger program. It's a lot of fun and educational too!

Littleton Historical Museum: This is a small free museum, close by, that features the local history of Littleton from the late 1800's -early 1900's. They have live animals and historical events throughout the year.

Chatfield Farms Botanical Gardens:  This is a beautiful garden with a historical farm that is also close by to Highlands Ranch. Throughout the year there are also wonderful events held here. Check out the link below about the corn maze.

Corn Maze: This is a large corn maze that begins September 19th through the month of October. September is a great time to explore the corn maze and enjoy having your child problem-solve their way through this puzzle with you!

I hope you are able to enjoy time learning together as a family and explore our beautiful state.

Enjoy,

Hope Crawley

August

Western Welcome Week : This is a historical celebration of Littleton, CO, just 5 minutes north of Highlands Ranch. It is a really fun week.  It begins August 8th-17th. I love panning for gold in the Platte which is on Saturday the 9th or Hawkquest at the Carson Nature Center on Wednesday night the 13th. Check out the website for all of the fun events!

Colorado Journey: This is a local mini golf place that highlights fun historical places and/or events in Colorado. It is a lot of fun and you can get a lot of good ideas for places to visit throughout Colorado.

Carson Nature Center: This is one of my all time FAVORITE places to go! Make sure to go into the visitor center to check out the cool animals and explore the river table. We will be reading about flood plains and the river table is a fun, interactive way to learn about flooding.

This natural area is along the South Platte River which is a major water source in our area. It is fun to bike, walk, fish, birdwatch, catch crawfish, frogs and minnows, and a ton of other outdoor activities. Their educational programs are fantastic. If I could take all the kids here to all of their nature programs I would. The night hikes are fun too (depending on how you feel about nighttime). In September and October they also have great events.

Four Mile Historic Park: This is a great historic park downtown. Right now they are having a new light exhibit called Bright Night's at Four Mile. It is a large display of Chinese lanterns in a variety of animals, flowers and beautiful displays.

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Contact Me:

• Email: hlcrawley@dcsdk12.org