Thank you to our generous community members and staff for picking all the angels from our angel tree! Our office is soon to be brimming with presents that will be sure to brighten the Christmas of students in our district!
Please join us for the Conversation with the Superintendent - Community Town Hall, tonight starting at 5:30 PM. The public is welcome to attend and discuss and share thoughts and concerns .
Zoom Meeting Link: https://us04web.zoom.us/j/76671924538?pwd=VTRVNUMyd3lRd2dyTGV2bExwMDJIdz09
Meeting ID: 766 7192 4538
Passcode: WGR9aa
Congratulations to Dane DeVries for being selected as the Marine Corp League Student of the Month. This is an award that is given to a deserving senior and Dane has worked diligently through his years at Cotopaxi to earn this honor. Make sure you let him know how proud we
are of him. Dane received this award on Nov. 29th in his Civics class.
On October 27, the State of Colorado launched I Matter, a program that provides up to three free counseling sessions for any Colorado youth. Youth and their parents can visit the I Matter platform to take a confidential online survey about their mental health and schedule sessions with a licensed behavioral health clinician, primarily via telehealth. All Colorado youth ages 18 or younger—or 21 and younger if receiving special education services—are eligible to receive free services. Youth 12 and older can sign up for counseling sessions without a parent or guardian's consent.
COVID-19 Vaccines are now available for children 5-17. Please see this website for detailed information regarding the vaccines, frequently asked questions and availability in Colorado.
https://covid19.colorado.gov/kids-vaccines
Last quarter, the seniors worked diligently on college research and the college admissions process. Several took advantage of Colorado's free application days October 19-21. Seniors in English IV have also been focusing on writing personal essays in class. Among the types of essays they have written and are working on now are "This I Believe" and "Personal Statement" essays. These essays will be invaluable when students begin applying for scholarships in the near future.
Security Incident Update 11/5/21: The Fremont County Sheriff's Department has all information and have taken appropriate action. We appreciate their involvement and they will continue to be a valuable member of our Emergency Response Plan.
Sixth grade social studies students navigated the ancient Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza during a virtual field trip using Google Earth. Students researched the physical geography and analyzed how ancient Latin American civilizations adapted to their environment, using techniques such as a terracing, aqueducts, and floating gardens called chinampas.
This afternoon the school had it's first lockdown DRILL of the year. All staff and students did a great job following initial protocols and were given the opportunity to debrief. Feedback will be used to continue to improve our plans. If you get the chance, please talk to your student(s) about the drill today. If you have any questions please call the school.
Our 4th grade is full of mathematicians, they even have their favorite numbers! We are mid way through our algebra unit and students are having tons of fun! We decided to finish our lesson by creating posters. Each poster tells you a little about why the number is special to them, some quick facts about the number's factors and multiples. Plus, all of those numbers could give you a clue as to how to solve their multiplication or division story problems! Oh, and did I mention they are completing these even during virtual learning? How cool that we can keep up the learning from home!
First-graders have been working on personal narratives. This week they will be writing their first book on something they have done. Some of these topics include riding a horse, getting new pets, and going fishing. They will practice writing complete sentences and descriptive words, then drawing pictures that help the reader understand their writing. Once the students have finished, they will have the opportunity to share their book with the class and give each other feedback on how to improve their stories.
4th grade has just wrapped up our first language arts unit on personal narratives. The students and I have worked very hard to grasp the concept elements that are involved in reading and writing personal narratives. We are to begin Unit 2 which is all about informative text. We will focus on the Middle Ages for this unit and I believe the students will enjoy learning about knights during the Medieval Times. In this unit, students will gain a deeper understanding in report or informative writing.
Colorado Free Application Days - Oct. 19-21st
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Applicants who submit their admission applications to Colorado's colleges and universities during this three day period can do so for free. And remember, while the application must be submitted during this three-day period to be eligible for the fee waiver, applicants can begin working on their admission applications now! Just save your work online and submit the admission applications from Oct. 19 - 21. Go to the URL below for more information!
https://highered.colorado.gov/cofreeappdays
The third grade has been learning about plant growth and selection in science this week. This Thursday they did an activity to rate the sweetness and color of three different types of apples. They did this in order to see and taste the way that selection happens in fruits and vegetables.
To kick of the fall season and Halloween first graders read the wonderful story "Pumpkin Jack" by Will Hubbell. This story is about the life cycle of a pumpkin. We then started our own "Pumpkin Jack" experiment, where we hope to watch our pumpkin decompose and eventually sprout a new pumpkin plant, we can plant in the school garden. This process will take months so, stay tuned for updates on the life cycle of Jack.
4th grade has completed their CO Relief Maps! The students worked very hard and put a lot of creativity into their team maps. Here are the final results of CO Relief Maps! They came out so good!
Our 5th grade classroom has become a science lab! As we study ecosystems and food chains, we are diving into how organisms depend on one another in an energy cycle by building mold terrariums! Currently we have three variables and a control to test what causes mold to grow and what can stop the growth of mold. We've enjoyed hypothesizing and observing our terrariums daily. Check them out!
Counseling will look a bit different this year at Cotopaxi. Last year Solvista Health joined our team and will be here again as a resource for our students. Coming soon, the Cotopaxi School District has obtained contracted services to fulfill the district's counseling needs. We are very excited about this opportunity for our students and families.
4th grade is just starting our exploration into Colorado history. We are beginning our exploration with the physical features of our beautiful state. This week we are creating a relief map of Colorado's majestic mountain ranges. The students will create these maps using salt dough to replicate 3D models of the mountains. When the dough dries, we will paint our maps to represent the mountains, rivers and valleys of our great state.
First grade has been studying earth science. This includes the natural resources, why they are essential, and ways we can help to sustain them. We recently made bees from recycled items like paper scraps and toilet paper rolls to demonstrate how to help. We also used our hands to make the wings. The students enjoyed flying their bees all the way home to show their families.
