January 30, 2020 Bear Facts Newsletter

Decision making is not always easy. You can't please everyone, but I have come to learn that if you listen, you use the information available, do not waiver from your values, and stand by your decision that the outcome is usually one that you can live with. Most people that know me, know that I am not on social media. It isn't because I am a dinosaur, but rather prefer face to face conversations and sometimes feel things said on social media wouldn't necessarily be said if the parties were visiting in person. On a pillar in the commons, you will find one of my favorite sayings:

Before you speak THINK! T - is it true? H - is it helpful? I - is it inspiring? N - is it necessary? K - is it kind?

I must admit that I joined Nextdoor several years ago and read a post over the weekend from a retired couple in the community with no children. They were commenting on how they attended a community collaboration meeting lead by our Superintendent, Dr. KC Somers. Of course, there were supporters of our district and non-supporters participating in the exchange on-line. Some of the comments made me smile, some made me think, and others saddened me. There are still six opportunities for you to attend one of these community events and hear from others so you can make your own informed decision as the district moves forward. PTO is another way to hear from others, have dialogue, and help us as we move forward in serving our students/community. We just learned that we have an additional board position opening for next year. Please consider attending a meeting and seeing what role you can play as we move forward into next year.

A Note from Principal Peggy Parsley

FEBRUARY 14—NO CLASSES FOR PK-6; Staff Workday

FEBRUARY 17—NO CLASSES; DISTRICT CLOSED

FEBRUARY 26—2-HOUR DELAY; Tardy Bell Rings at 10:55

TO VIEW BEAR CREEK’S COMPLETE CALENDAR, CLICK HERE Please check back often as the calendar is updated frequently.

BEAR CREEK CALENDAR LINK

Your adoption is tax-deductible and 100% of your donation goes directly to the classroom of your choice.

Thank you to all our wonderful sponsors who have adopted so far! TO ADOPT, please follow this link: Adopt a Class.

ADOPT D38 for 2019-2020 PTO ANNOUNCEMENTS AND EVENTS

A HUGE thank you to the Family Winter Festival Committee for all their hard work and dedication to making this event a success! Also, a BIG thank you to all of our AMAZING BCES families that donated goodies and volunteered! We couldn't have done it without all of your help! Join us for Bingo for Books on Thursday, February 6th for some FUN bingo and a chance to shop at the Book Fair with your kiddos. The PTO is pre-selling Papa John's pizza meals to make the night extra FUN! You can pre-order your pizza meals at the Bear Creek PTO online store: https://squareup.com/store/bear-creek-pto.

Upcoming PTO Events: Purchase your Spirit Wear!

February 3rd-7th: Book Fair; Volunteers needed! February 5th: Timeless Tiles February 6th: Bingo for Books

THANK YOU for supporting our Winter Festival! Special thanks to our amazing PTO members who spent endless hours creating such a fun and memorable evening. THANK YOU for supporting Bear Creek Elementary at our latest Give Back Night.

Because of your participation, we received a generous donation from Rosie’s Diner for $339! Our next Give Back Night will be at Qdoba on February 25.

IMPORTANT TESTING INFORMATION

Bear Creek’s CMAS ASSESSMENTS (Grades 3-6) begin in March. When planning upcoming events or appointments, please refer to the CMAS testing schedule, which is provided on page 2 of this news-letter. The CMAS schedule can also be viewed on the BCES Announcements webpage.

THE BOOK FAIR IS ALMOST HERE! Mark your calendars for Feb. 3rd-7th! The Book Fair will be open Monday through Thursday from 9am - 3:55pm and Friday from 9am - 1pm. It will not be open after school, except for Bingo for Books on February 6th from 5:30 - 7:30pm. Please visit the Book Fair website to view the schedule, learn about eWallet, and more: https://www.scholastic.com/bf/bearcreek

We still need volunteers. If you have a couple of hours to share with us, we would greatly appreciate it! To VOLUNTEER, visit SignUp Genius: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0d4ba8a829a6f85-book1) For questions please contact Steffi Eaddy: seaddy@lewispalmer.org

SEE YOU AT THE FAIR!

CLICK HERE for information about the LPSD Chess

Tournament to be held on February 22nd.

BCES ANNOUNCEMENTS

*****CMAS INFORMATION ON PAGE 2*****

The BCES ANNOUNCEMENTS PAGE is updated often.

Colorado Measure of Academic Success (CMAS) Testing Schedule

Bear Creek CMAS Assessments (Grades 3rd-6th) are right around the corner. We value the opportunity to take these assessments as

they provide a snapshot of our students’ progress with in our Colorado Academic Standards. The schedule is listed below; we

would appreciate if you could arrange for outside appointments to occur outside their testing dates.

Grade Level Test Format Test Date Testing Window

3rd CMAS Math Paper Test April 7, 8, 9 9:10-10:35

3rd CMAS Language Arts Paper Test April 13, 14, 15 9:10-11:05

4th CMAS Math Paper Test April 6, 7, 8 1:35-2:35

4th CMAS Language Arts Computer Test March 16, 17, 18 1:25-3:00

4th CMAS Social Studies Computer Test April 13, 14, 15 1:35-2:55

5th CMAS Math Computer Test April 6, 7, 8 10:20-11:40

5th CMAS Language Arts Computer Test March 16, 17, 18 10:20-12:05

5th CMAS Science Computer Test April 13, 14, 15 10:20-12:00

6th CMAS Math Computer Test April 6, 7, 8 12:45-2:05

6th CMAS Language Arts Computer Test March 16, 17, 18 12:40-2:40

Do you ever wonder what state test looks like for your child? If so, you can find more information about the tests and view the practice tests for CMAS (PARRC) using the following link: https://coassessments.com/test-prep/ Within the math test, students will have a mixture of basic computation problems and multi-step word problems. Here are two examples of questions from the PARRC (CMAS) practice test for 4th grade:

Henry cut a piece of yarn that was 11/6 feet long into two pieces. List two different pairs of fractions that could show the lengths, in feet, of the two pieces. Explain how you found your pairs of fractions. 5,314-4,983= Within the English Language Arts (ELA) test students will read several reading passages, some being fiction and some being non-fiction, and then answer questions about them. Depending on which unit the student is in, they might be asked to read two different pieces of writing and answer questions comparing them. Below is an example of a practice test question from the website above.

Today you will read a story about a girl whose family is from India and a poem that expresses how the speaker faces frightening experiences. After you finish the task, you will write an essay about a theme in the story and the poem. Read the story “Just Like Home” and the poem “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me.” For each reading passage the students read, they will be asked to answer different types of comprehension questions such as: What is the main idea of the story? What answer below provides evidence for your answer above? They will also be asked some grammar questions such as: What is the verb in the following sentence? Fill in the bubbles where the quotation marks go in the sentence.

In 3rd grade and 4th grade math, students will take the paper-based test and be required to hand write all answers. In 4th (ELA and S.S.), 5th, and 6th grade, students will take the online version of the test so all answers will be typed or submitted on a computer.