Inside this issue:
BC At-A-Glance 2
Health Room News 3
PTO & Community Giving 4 -
9
Classroom Clips &
Pumpkin Run
10 -
13
BC monthly Calendar 14
BVSD 15 -
19
Bear Creek Elementary
2500 Table Mesa Drive
Boulder, CO 80305
Kent Cruger, Principal
October 25, 2013
Bear Tracks
From the Principal This is usually the time of year when I feel the need to send out a reminder about various rules/policies/fundraising drives etc. so that we continue to function like a well-oiled community. However, I am finding no need for such reminders, so instead I will simply thank you for all your continued efforts as parents. For example: Thank you for your generous support of Bear Creek. I have never seen a year where parents have stepped up so eagerly, and our fundraising goal has never been reached so quickly. Thank you! Wow! Thank you for continuing your efforts at car free commuting. Even on the few days it has been cold or drizzly I continue to see many students and families riding bikes and walking to school. Keep it up! Thank you for safe driving in the parking lot. I appreciate seeing how cautious parents have been when driving in our lot and not seeing cell phones in use. As winter conditions arise, please be even more cautious and give yourself plenty of extra space to stop. Thank you for getting your students to school and on time. Our percentage of students who have been tardy is way down this year as is our percentage of students who have been absent, particularly our new kindergarten students. A few years ago I learned rather alarming data about the impact of early attendance issues on future success for students. When students who dropped out of high school were traced back to their elementary years, researchers often found these students had significant attendance issues in elementary school. Some of these students came from schools like Bear Creek and were not who you might imagine to be typically "at-risk" for later problems. I thank parents for doing an exceptional job of modeling the importance of attendance. If parents model that frequent vacations during the school year or taking Fridays off to make for long weekends is acceptable, students are more likely to take the same position when they start deciding for themselves the importance of regular attendance. Thank you for you positive engagement with staff. As we conclude the first round of parent-teacher conferences I have heard from many teachers about the positive and supportive and thankful comments parents have shared with the teachers about all the hard work they are doing with students. Thank you for monitoring and supervising your children’s behavior before and after
school. Students have been truly incredible this year in terms of their peaceful solutions
to conflict and their attention to following school rules.
~Kent Cruger
BEAR CREEK CALENDAR
AT - A - GLANCE
Thursday, October 31
9:00 Halloween Parade & Parties
Thursday, November 7
Super Science Night 6:00-8:00
Monday, November 11
NO SCHOOL - Veterans' Day
Monday, November 18 - Wednesday, November 20
CalWood Rescheduled Date
Thursday, November 21
Excalibur @ 1:00
Friday, November 22
Report Cards Go Home
Monday, November 25 - Friday, November 29
Thanksgiving Break
Thursday, December 5
Open House @ 9:30 a.m.
Wednesday, December 11th
Spotlights Concert @ 8:50 a.m. & 6:30 p.m.
Friday, December 13
Geography Bowl 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 17
Open House @ 1:00 p.m.
Wednesday, December 18 & Thursday, December 19
5th Grade Program 11:00—12:20 p.m.
BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES
Lifelong Learning, which is part of BVSD's Community
Schools Program runs many wonderful activities for students in
schools across the district. If you go to their web-page
http://www.bvsd.org/lll/Pages/default.aspx you can find great kid
classes, many of which will happen right at our school!
Please check the Community Board and table in our front
hallway where other activities that are not sponsored by the
school or Lifelong Learning can be posted. Oftentimes these
activities happen at Bear Creek, as groups can rent some of
our spaces after school.
Halloween Parade Note:
We request all parents who want to view the parade and take
photos to please go to the gym on Thursday morning, not the
classrooms. The parade will begin with Kindergarten at 8:45AM.
Most classroom parties will follow.
To stay safe this Halloween:
-Walk with friends or a family member
-Make your rounds at twilight
-If out after dark, stay on well-lighted
streets
-Don’t eat candy that is not properly packaged
Also, please note Bear Creek’s Policy regarding Toy Weapons:
Toy Weapons may not be brought to school. This includes but is
not limited to water pistols, rubber knives, swords, guns, darts,
war and self-defense toys, etc. Students are not allowed to have
toy weapons as part of their costume.
Open Enrollment Open Houses
BVSD open enrollment begins Monday,
December 2, 2013 and closes on Friday,
January 17, 2014. Bear Creek will be having
three Open House Tours; December 5 and
January 16 @ 9:30 AM and December 17 @
1:00 PM. All tours will last about 45 minutes
with a Question & Answer time to follow. To register please call
the office @ 720.561.3500.
Health Room Update
~ Lice ~
Head lice (Pediculosis) have been identified in some students in some classes in our school. Below are facts on this
condition from a recent summary article based on worldwide information and literature review from the American
Academy of Pediatrics (August 2010), our local health department, as well as the
Center for Disease Control in Atlanta.
Head lice are common and ever present, especially in the 3-12 year-old population.
Prevalence in Australia is 13% and in the UK 2%. US and local data are not available.
Resistance has developed more recently secondary to our use of DDT in the past.
Head lice are not a health hazard, do not spread disease and do not indicate poor hygiene.
There is concern with over diagnosis and overtreatment when not diagnosed properly. This has led to resistance
and potential harm concerns of pediculicide use in children when overused for a benign condition.
A louse survives less than a day away from the scalp and eggs can’t hatch when away from the temperature near
the scalp. Eggs further than 1 cm from the scalp in our climate are not viable. They cannot jump or fly.
It is likely impossible to avoid all cases, especially in the younger grades, but teach children not to share combs,
brushes, hats, scarves.
Diagnosis should be done by those experienced in lice. Treatment is best in consultation with a health care pro-
vider to treat when needed and to not over treat.
Known treatments: (Use of any of the following needs to be done with consultation from public health information,
your health care provider and product information and precautions).
* Pediculicides such as Permethrin 1% (some resistance, and likely needs a repeat treatment in 7-10 days); pyre-
thrins from chrysanthemums (some resistance and retreat at day 9); malathion (prescription only); benzyl alcohol
(prescription only); Lindane (prescription only)
* Natural products such as anise, ylang ylang, alcohol and coconut oil were found effective by one investigator,
but since they are not FDA controlled, no further info is available.
* Occlusive agents such as petroleum jelly, mayonnaise, tub margarine, olive oil and other natural oils as well as
Cetaphil have not been tested scientifically.
* LouseBuster is an expensive machine needing a trained person to use, but has shown some effectiveness. Reg-
ular hot air blow dryers may blow lice and create more infestations, so are not a substitute for the LouseBuster.
Gasoline, kerosene or animal products should never be used
* anual removal of nits may help after other treatment with no evidence yet that products work which claim to
loosen the glue attaching the nit to the hair shaft.
Recommendations: (also see links below or contact your local health department.)
* Anyone in the household of someone found to have a live ice infestation should be checked and treated if
there are live lice or nits within 1 cm of the scalp or if they share a bed. Clean hair items and pillowcases.
* Mass school screenings are not proven to help with incidence over time, nor are they cost effective.
* Most likely to help is for parents/guardians to check their own children regularly and discuss treatment with
their health care provider.
PTO PULSE
TLC Donations We have received a few questions about our Tools For Learning Challenge fundraiser as to whether we are still accepting donations. The answer is YES! While we have already met our goal for the year, we are still accepting donations. The money raised over the goal amount will be used for capital improvements. For example, we bought new swamp coolers in August for the classrooms using surplus money from last year. Thank you also to the parents who asked their employers to match their donations. We are always grateful to receive those checks as well! King Soopers Neighborhood Rewards Cards The King Soopers Program is a free and easy way to support Bear Creek! Using this program, you can buy gas and groceries and earn 5% back for your children.
1. Get a King Soopers Rewards card from the Bear Creek front office or the PTO. The cards are preloaded with $2.50 to $5. Cards with a zero balance will deactivate if they haven’t been used in 90 days. If your card is deactivated, you must get a new card from Bear Creek.
2. Go to King Soopers. 3. Load $, up to $500, onto your card at customer service or the cashier using your Visa, AmEx, cash, etc. prior
to grocery scanning. You will still earn your credit card rewards. 4. Pay for your groceries with the King Soopers Reward card. It works like a gift card - fast and easy! 5. Bear Creek gets $ for your children!!! 5% of every dollar you spend with your King Soopers Rewards card
goes to Bear Creek Elementary. 6. Repeat the same thing at any King Soopers affiliated store... City Market, Kroger, King Soopers and Kroger
gas stations and the Loaf ‘n’ Jug. Use it to buy groceries, gasoline, pay for prescriptions at the pharmacy or buy your cup of coffee at the King Soopers Starbucks!
7. Pick up a card to give to a neighbor or relative. The card can be used all over the country, at any King Soopers affiliated store. The more people participating in the program, the quicker the dollars add up!
PTO Meetings Bear Creek PTO meetings are open to all Bear Creek Elementary School parents. We meet at school on the first Tuesday of every month, from 1:30 pm to 3 pm. The next scheduled meeting is: Tuesday, November 5, 2013.
THANK YOU parents for providing food for
Parent/Teacher Conferences and for Teacher Appreciation Snacks:
Kathy Croasdale Erin Vanzura Marin Clark Allison Baker Leslie Glebe Lori Fuller Mindy Munger Meghan Chamberlin Ragan Cahill Jane Brooks Amy Desautels-Stein
Donna Axel Deepa Puthenvedu Janine Fitzpatrick Lenora Reynolds Jayne Brooks Camila Weise Rebecca McLean Celine Dauverd Cheryl Matsumura Sally Oettinger Jen Fowler
New desks at Bear Creek purchased
with Carnival proceeds. Thank you!!!!
The Great Pumpkin Contest
Pumpkins may be dropped off Monday, the 28th before school in the library.
Pumpkins should be no bigger than a basketball.
Pumpkins are decorated only NOT CARVED.
Judging will take place on Wednesday by student council and a small prize is possible.
Pumpkins will need to go home on Thursday.
Dear Schools,
Once again Share-a-Gift will be distributing toys to children in need over the holiday season. Need may be
even greater this year due to the flood. Our holiday toy collection will begin December 2, the Monday after
Thanksgiving break, and will continue until Wednesday, December 18. We are notifying schools now so they
can get this on their school calendars. I will contact you later this month with a note for your November school
newsletter. Thanks for again helping support this worthwhile cause.
Cathy Conery
Share-a-Gift
SHARESHARESHARE———AAA---TOYTOYTOY DRIVEDRIVEDRIVE
ONE DAY ONLY Bring all your extra candy to the Bear Creek office on Friday,
November 1st. Help Mr. Soole get more play equipment!!!
It’s time again for donating those too-small, somewhat-worn, but still-warm
coats to the annual Share-A-Coat program. Other items such as hats, gloves, sweaters, mittens,
snow-boots, etc. will also be accepted for donation.
Each year the Boulder Valley Rotary Club, with cleaning services donated by Art
Cleaners in Boulder, collects coats from many of our local schools, cleans them and
distributes them to families and children who are in need of them.
A box has been provided at our school, so please send coats you are no longer using to
school with your student. Both children and adult size coats are needed!
The Boulder Valley Rotary Volunteers will pick up the coats from our school and deliver
them to the cleaners. Coats will be picked up from your school on 11/7, 11/21 and 12/5.
The last pick-up is scheduled for December 5.
A cash donation will be made by the Rotary Club to a local charity that provides
assistance to people in need in the name of the schools that collect the most coats.
Let’s see what we can do for the less fortunate children in our community, and perhaps
even win top honors! Thanks for your support!
For more information, please call Bob Harberg at (303) 941-1664.
The NutcrackerThe NutcrackerThe Nutcracker
Congratulations to Bear Creek students and alumni who successfully auditioned for the Boulder Ballet's
2013 production of The Nutcracker!
The following students from our school were selected to perform in the Thanksgiving weekend shows:
Eva Fuller - Mouse
Katherine Cordrescu – Soldier & Mary Mary Cast
Savanna Howell – Angel & Miss Muffet Cast
Gabe Brenza - Party Boy & Jack & Jill Cast
Anna Kauffman - Snow Frost & Mirliton Corps
You can see them perform along with the Boulder Ballet professional dancers, to live music by Boulder
Philharmonic, at Macky Auditorium, November 29-December 1st.
This year Bear Creek families have the opportunity to support the Bear Creek PTO when you purchase
tickets for this festive event. Bear Creek PTO will receive 20% of all tickets sales when purchased
through this promotion. Below you will find a flyer detailing the event along with the purchasing form.
Please return this form to the office by the November 1st deadline. Thank you for supporting the
arts and Bear Creek!
SShhaarree--AA--CCooaatt
A big thank you to Mr. Soole and his volunteers for a fabulous Pumpkin Run!
Library News
Thank you to all who attended our book fair and made it such a huge success. We earned
$3,880 in Scholastic credit (55% of sales). We will use these funds to expand and update the
library and classroom book collections. A special thank you goes out to all of the volunteers
who helped set-up, close up, and run the book fair: Jeanne Kaufman, Donna Axel, Debbie
Gangwish, Ragan Cahill, Patrice Stout, Courtney Williams, Nicole Rudman, Heather Burhop and
Jayne Brooks. Without your help the book fair would not have been possible. If you didn’t make
it to the book fair or are still in the market for great books, our next book fair will be at Barnes
and Noble on Sunday, December 1st. We are looking for performers for this event, so if your
child would like to sing, dance, play an instrument, juggle, etc. let Mrs. Brockway in the library
know.
NONDISCRIMINATION/EQUAL OPPORTUNITY
In accordance with Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, Colorado law and Board of Education Policy AC
(Nondiscrimination/Equal Opportunity), Boulder Valley School District does not discriminate on the basis of disability, race, creed, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, national origin, religion, ancestry, need for special education services, age, marital status, genetic information, or physical characteristics in admissions, access to, treatment, or employment in educational programs or activities which it operates. Complaint pro-cedures have been established for students, parents, employees and members of the public. The following person has been identified as the compli-ance officer for the district:
Superintendent
Boulder Valley School District6500 Arapahoe Rd.
Boulder, CO 80301
720.561.5114
Outside agencies
Complaints regarding violations of Title VI (race, national origin), Title IX (sex/gender), Section 504/ADA (disability), may be filed directly with the Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, 1244 N. Speer Blvd., Suite 310, Denver, CO 80204. Complaints regarding violations of Title VII (employment) and the ADEA (prohibiting age discrimination in employment) may be filed directly with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, 303 E. 17th Ave., Suite 510, Denver, CO 80202, or the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 1560 Broadway, Suite 1050, Denver, CO 80202.
In accordance with the BVSD policy on distribution/posting of non-curricular material-Bear Tracks will print
curricular items about our school. Many outside opportunities available, (i.e. Science Matters, second language
programs, parenting workshops, community sports, non-profit organizations, etc.) may be posted on the hall
bulletin board with prior approval of the Principal, but may not be included in Bear Tracks. Be sure to check
the Parent’s Board in the school for information regarding outside opportunities. All articles can be submitted
to Carolyn Walker at [email protected].
Additional information about Bear Creek can be found on the website at
http://www.bvsd.org/schools/bearcreek/ .
Submission Deadline Publication Date
November 6 November 8
November 20 November 22
December 11 December 13
November 2013
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
1 2
3 4 5 6 7
Super Science Night
6:00 - 8:00
8 9
10
11
NO SCHOOL
Veteran’s Day
12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21
Excalibur @ 1:00
22
Report
Cards
23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
5th Grade to CalWood
Thanksgiving Break
The Importance of Parent-Child Communication
The way that we communicate with our children, both verbally and nonverbally, has a
profound impact on their compliance with our requests, their sense of self, our mood and
theirs, and ultimately, the parent-child relationship. Too often, conflicts begin as a result
of a real or perceived slight in the way we communicate with each other. Being
thoughtful with the words we choose and our intentions in terms of what we want to
express, can help us to be more effective communicators.
Some basic strategies to improve our communication techniques with our children
include:
R-E-S-P-E-C-T: It is important to treat our children with the same level of
respect that we want them to show others.
Provide positive feedback: We need to remember to let our children know what
they’re doing right to reinforce those behaviors.
Teach and model making positive self-statements: Identify and challenge your
children’s negative inaccurate beliefs about themselves.
Encourage your child to share his/her opinions: Some of the most effective
discussions with our children are when they do most of the talking.
Be a good listener: Often our children are looking less for advice and more for
someone to really listen to them.
Foster pleasant discussions: Too often, what we talk to our children about is their
behavior, homework, and doing their chores. Try initiating fun, interesting, and
heartfelt conversations as well.
Be aware of nonverbal communication: Our facial expressions, eye-contact (or
lack of), the tone and volume of our voice, body language, etc., all influence the
messages our children receive.
Learn more about effective communication strategies and submit your questions and
opinions for the panelists live or online.
What: Improving Family Dynamics Through Better Parent-Child Communication
When: Monday, December 2, 7:00-8:00pm
Where: Boulder Valley School District Board Room (6500 Arapahoe, Boulder),
televised live on Channel 22, and streamed live at www/bvsd.org
Cost: Free
More info: www.BoulderPsychologicalServices.com
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