Communication

Communicating with me: Your child's well-being is a top priority for me and our communication is key to ensuring that your child is safe, happy, and having a positive school experience. Please reach out at anytime! In general, the best way to communicate with me is via email at kschultz1@dcsdk12.org. Second grade life is busy and I don't always have a chance to check this during the school day, but I will do my best to respond within 24 hours. If you need to communicate on a more urgent or time sensitive matter, please call the school office at 303-387-7700 or send a note with your child. For example, if your child's plans for getting home differ from usual, please send a note. To ensure your child's safety, it is imperative that I know if your child is going home with a different adult/on a different bus.

I will use this blog and email blasts to communicate upcoming events and general classroom information. The additional tabs will be great resources for academic supports and homework ideas. Please be sure the email addresses listed in Infinite Campus are updated to ensure you are receiving all communication.

Completed classwork will generally be sent home in the daily folder. Some weeks, we have a lot of paper and pencil tasks to take home and share and other weeks we do not. Much of our classwork is done whole group, on white boards, through games, and other means that may not translate into tangible work to bring home.

We have two formal parent-teacher conference times during the year and formal progress reports are also sent home twice a year per the district schedule.

School Communication: School-wide communication is electronic via the Electronic Thursday Folder which will be sent to your email. In addition, Principal Jenny Brown will send out Friday updates on the Principal Blog. Both of these will provide you with important information and I encourage you to peruse them regularly.

Homework

Homework provides the opportunity to begin to learn responsibility and time management, as well as to practice learned skills. The recommended amount of time a second grader should spend on homework is 20-25 minutes daily. Each child is different, so use your judgement when deciding how much homework time is best for your child.

Reading: The most critical piece of homework in second grade is daily reading. This can be a combination of reading to your child, listening to your child read, and allowing your child to read independently. As your child becomes a stronger reader, the emphasis will shift to meaningful comprehension discussions and less about listening in and helping them with their word solving. See the literacy tab for guidance around how to support your child with reading.

Word Work: In second grade, more of our word work practice will shift to homework. We will still introduce the new pattern each week in their groups, and students will have brief, in-class practice opportunities. Nightly practice pages will be coming home to support their work with word patterns. We will have spelling tests each week to assess progress on the patterns that they are studying. This will also include a few weekly high frequency "no excuse" words that do not follow this pattern.

Math: Throughout the year, I will send home a variety of math practice options. I would recommend setting aside time at least once a week for a math activity. Depending upon your child's needs, this might look like Sunshine Math extension activities, practice with math facts, math review games, or other actives. Look for materials that might include game boards and cards, as well as links to online games and activities. Please create a place to keep these materials as they will be used in different ways throughout the year. See the math tab on the website for additional resources.

Water Bottles, Lunch & Snack

Water bottles: Please be sure your child has a labeled water bottle each day! The drinking fountains will not be available, so having a personal water bottle will be very important. It can be refilled in our classroom sink as needed.

Lunch: Our lunchtime this year will be at 11:00 and we will do a supervised hand washing prior. If your child is having school lunch during the year, it is helpful to have them memorize their lunch number. This is the same as their student number in Parent Portal. We will send these numbers home to practice during orientation day.

Snack: We will have a daily afternoon snack time. Please send snacks that are healthy and manageable to enjoy. (No Gogurt, please!). Help your child become more independent by setting a routine for packing a snack in their backpack each day. They get upset when they don’t have a snack, and we have a long day!

Arrival & Dismissal

Click here for a link to the arrival and dismissal map

Arrival Procedures:

Gold Rush has had tremendous success with our rolling start! If you are returning to Gold Rush, you are aware that all students enter the building between 8:20-8:30 AM and head directly to their classroom. This year grade levels will be assigned additional entrances that will be staffed at all times by GRE teachers.

As shown on the map above, students will enter the following doors:

• Kindergarten students and Mrs. Steinher's class will enter using their classroom’s exterior door.

• First and second grade students will enter using the main entrance.

• Third graders will enter using the northeast sidewalk doors.

• Fourth graders will enter through the kindergarten doors via the back playground.

• Fifth graders will enter the doors through the gym on the back playground.

• Ms. Jung and Mrs. Leuschner’s classes will also enter through the gym on the back playground.

The doors at all entrances will open right at 8:20 AM and students will enter. Your classroom teacher will show your child how to enter the building and proceed to his/her classroom during Meet Your Teacher (additional details below). Additional adults will be present to support and guide students during our first full week back to school.

It is imperative that students are not dropped off prior to 8:20 AM, unless they have a previously scheduled meeting/activity. In order to maintain social distancing, we ask that all students do not walk up to school or exit their car until 8:20 AM. As was the case in prior years, students are also not allowed to play on the playground before school.

If parents/relatives plan to walk their child up to his/her entrance, they must wear a mask and socially distance themselves from other families.

Dismissal Procedures:

In order to ensure that students and families are able to social distance, we will stagger dismissal times for primary and intermediate students. Please see the schedule below.

3:20 PM Grades K-2

Students in grades K-2

Students with siblings in grades K-2

Students in grades K-2 who ride the bus will meet in the library

BASE students check into the cafeteria

K-2 students and siblings can walk home

3:30 PM Grades 3-5

All other students in grades 3-5

Rolling Carloop will begin

Buses for students in grades K-5 will be loaded

Students in grades 3-5 will walk home

Students in all grade levels will exit the building using the same door that they use to enter at arrival. Teachers in the primary grades will walk their students out and wait at their identified location until all students have met their parent or older sibling. At 3:30 teachers will walk students to the field who are being picked up in the carloop.

Students in grades K-2 that are transitioning to BASE will proceed directly to the cafeteria at 3:20, and older siblings will be asked to meet their brother or sister in grades K-2 at their teachers’ identified meeting area. Please see the map above for teachers' specific locations.

Parents continue to have the choice to park and meet their child at their teacher's identified location or use our rolling car loop. Please note that the car loop for all students will not begin until 3:30. Similar to before school, all playgrounds will also be closed after school.

Appropriate Dress

Masks: Please be sure your child is wearing a mask as they enter the building. I would highly recommend that they also keep a spare mask in a ziplock baggie in their backpack.

Specials: When it is your child’s turn for P.E. they need to have tennis shoes in order to participate. Keep an eye on our rotating specials schedule to know which weeks they will have PE.

Weather: Children will be playing outside during the day throughout the school year, so please keep in mind our rapidly changing Colorado weather. Please help your child dress appropriately and come prepared for the weather each day.

Daily Folder & iPads

Folders: To help accommodate our hybrid schedule, your child will have a daily folder that goes back and forth between school and home. Please check this folder nightly for assignments and return each in-person school day.

iPads: All second graders will also be bringing their iPads back and forth for in-person and home learning days. Please ensure that students bring their fully-charged iPads in their protective folder each in-person day. It is important that they charge these at home as we do not have charging capabilities during the school day.

Review your device contract with your child and be very careful with handling of the device at home and in backpacks!