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Welcome to the 26-27 School Year!
Welcome to the 26-27 School Year!
A Little About Me
My name is Hope Crawley and I am so excited to start another year with two of my favorite things: kids and teaching. This is my twenty-eighth year in education and my twenty-sixth year teaching full time. I have taught grades: second, third, fourth, and sixth. I have a Master's degree in education and a Bachelor's degree in psychology and elementary education. I am also a wife, mother, and community member. My family and I are all Colorado natives. We love to hike, bird watch, explore new places, and enjoy lots of different kinds of music. My husband works in the automotive industry and our daughter is grown and works as an editor. We are so proud of her!
Pictured is our dog, Ripley. He is an aussie/husky . He is very smart, but also full of a lot of energy and keeps us on the move!
It is going to be a great year! I can't wait to learn more about all of you, and work together in the year ahead.
Important Dates:
October 5-9 - Parent Teacher Conferences
October 12-16 - Fall Break
October 30 - Halloween Parade And Class Parties
Translations are available in Weekly Updates.
Family Fun Ideas To Explore and Learn About Colorado
Dear Families,
In 4th grade we study Colorado throughout the year. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful place with so many engaging opportunities.
Every month I post on my website and send an email of some fun places or events that might enrich your child's knowledge of our state. I have linked the websites to some of these places if you would like more information. This year we have a few special events to celebrate our state's 150th birthday. I truly hope you are able to take advantage of the beautiful state we are so privileged to live in.
Happy trails,
Hope 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.
September
September is finally here 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 will come home in this week's Thursday folders. 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!
If you misplace the free pass you can get another one at: Every Kid Outdoors.
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 18th through the beginning of November. 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 7th-16th. I love the parade today, the duck race on Sunday and the free orchestra concert at Hudson Gardens! Check out the website for all of the fun events!
Highlands Ranch Colorado Celebration: On Aug 22 7-8:30 PM at Civic Green Park there is a free concert and drone show celebrating our state's 150th birthday.
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 with a variety of animals, flowers and beautiful displays.
Contact Me:
Email: hlcrawley@dcsdk12.org
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