Dear parents and families,

We are so excited to have you join us for the 22-23 school year!  We hope you had a good summer and were able to relax, play, and have fun!  Our teachers are eager to meet you and begin a great school year! As we launch into a new school year, there is some important information and reminders we’d like to share.

We have many exciting changes coming up! We will be implementing new curriculums for mathematics, as well as continuing our 1-to-1 Chromebook program for 4th and 5th grade students.  Additionally, Ellicott Elementary received a large grant from the Colorado Department of Education in January 2021 to help improve our reading instruction and achievement for students. All of this and more awaits us in the coming weeks!

We look forward to meeting you throughout the year! If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to stop by the main office or schedule a meeting.

In partnership,

Attendance Matters!

We’d like to remind you of how important regular attendance is.  When students miss school, they miss out on learning. After they return, they have to work hard to catch up. And since most subject matter builds on previous lessons, it doesn’t take long for students to fall behind.  As a result, students who frequently miss school have lower levels of achievement throughout their school careers. Research shows that, by sixth grade, students who miss an average of just one day a week are more likely to drop out of high school.  Beginning in August, please help your child get into the habit of arriving at school, on time, every day!

Kiss N’ Go Morning Drop Off

As a friendly reminder, parents are highly encouraged to use the Kiss & Go area in the front corridor of the school. Allowing students to walk to class by themselves builds independence and confidence, and helps us to honor teachers’ morning plan time. In case you need to speak with your child’s teacher, please call ahead and make an appointment. Teachers will be available at their earliest convenience.

For those unique occasions when it may be necessary to walk a student to the classroom, such as bringing in birthday treats or to calm an upset child, parents will be allowed to accompany their son/daughter to the classroom door following the 7:50 bell. Please note that all visitors must sign in at the main office with a photo ID, and clearly display a visitor pass for the duration of his/her time in the building.

Early Literacy Grant

Ellicott Elementary was awarded over $400,000 through the Colorado Department of Education to focus on going deeper with reading instruction and improving reading achievement over the next three years. This grant will allow us to:

• Purchase new reading intervention curriculum materials
• Update our existing reading core curriculum to the 2020 version, in compliance with state laws
• Provide an additional instructional coach for 3½ years focused specifically on reading and writing instruction
• Participate in research-based training for general education, intervention, and special education teachers
• Receive monthly coaching and consultation through Sterling Literacy Consulting, an organization currently working with several other rural school districts throughout Colorado

New Math Curriculums

Ellicott Elementary teachers are excited to announce the adoption of two new math curriculums for the 21-22 school year!  Kindergarten, 1st & 2nd grades will be using Dimensions Math in our primary classrooms.  Dimensions offers a very “kid-friendly,” hands-on approach to learning. It emphasizes the concrete to pictorial to abstract approach, hitting on multimodal learning for kinesthetic and visual learners. Parent letters are included with each unit to help families support their child’s learning in the home.

Likewise, 3rd, 4th & 5th grades will be rolling out the Eureka Math curriculum. Eureka Math includes daily fluency exercises with math facts and whiteboard practice. Conceptual development is taught alongside the standard algorithm so students learn not only what they are doing in math, but also why. This rigorous curriculum addresses content across many strands, including fractions, whole numbers, measurement, and geometry. Daily homework includes a parent explanation and examples for each problem.

4th and 5th Grade 1-to-1 Chromebooks

The first day of school is just around the corner! We are excited to continue offering 1-to-1 Chromebook devices for our 4th and 5th graders.  Students will have access to high-quality educational experiences through the use of GoogleClassroom and educational programs such as Edmentum and Lexia reading. Technology is an integral part of our instructional routines.

Devices will be issued to students during the school day the first week of attendance. We will begin the school year with technology and internet safety, gradually increasing the time students are allowed to bring Chromebooks home for purposeful, meaningful projects and assignments. 

Please contact the elementary school at (719) 683-2700 if you have any questions.