Welcome Back to School!  It was wonderful seeing all of you at the “Back-To-School barbeque”.  This gave families and staff members an opportunity to meet and talk to each other.   I hope you and your family enjoyed the get together.  Our focus and theme this school year is “This Is Our Year” in making Philips the best school in Denver Public Schools.   This year we are developing an intervention block focusing on students’ needs according to the information we gather from the assessments teachers are administering to students. These assessments will allow teachers to place students appropriately into reading groups and intervention groups.   Teachers will be sharing this information with you during Parent/teachers conferences throughout the year.

 

BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHTS

“Back to School Night” will look different this year.  We want to create small settings to be able to individually explain to you what we need to accomplish this year for Philips and your student to accomplish this goal of being the best school in DPS.  In order to accomplish this more personal setting, three Back-to-school nights will be held:

• Kindergarten and First Grade back-to-school night will be held on September 15^th from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
• Second and Third Grade will be held on September 16^th, from 6:30-7:30 p.m.
• Fourth and Fifth grade will be held on September 17 from 6:30-7:30 p.m.

 

For families that have more than one child attending Philips you do not need to attend all three nights, just choose the  night that fits your schedule, packets will be available from the other grades to inform you of what is going on in their classrooms.

 

NEW STAFF

We would like you to join us in welcoming the following new staff members to the Philips School:

 

Belinda LaFluer (Autism)                              

Nicole Pepin (Second Grade)

Shawanda Buggs (Third Grade)                                

Judi Revis (Art)

Lynn Richards (Literacy Intervention Teacher)         

Debra Ash (Speech Teacher)

Robin Palay (speech Teacher)                                   

Robin Johnson (Autism Para)

Stephanie Tills (Autism Para)                         

Tamara Richardson (Autism Para)

Aimee Law (Autism Para)                              

Connie Klepper (Reading/Writing Para)

Katelyn Lerner (Autism Para)

 

FREE TUTORING

Your child may be eligible for FREE TUTORING in reading and math after school, based on their free and reduced lunch application status.  Tutoring will be available at Philips Elementary school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. with snacks provided.  It is important that you fill out the “Free Tutoring Program” application (attached) if you are interested in these services for your students.  Chancellor Supplemental Educational Services will be providing the tutoring.  Please make sure that if your child is accepted to the program, you and your child must be committed to this program for the entire duration of the program, which is twenty five sessions, twice a week. The program starts at the end of September or the first week of October.  Specific dates will be communicated later.  Please schedule extracurricular activities around this commitment.  If you do not want to use Chancellor as your child’s tutoring service, come in to the school to gather information on other options. 

 

POSITIVE BEHAVIOR SUPPORT CONTINUES

This year we will continue as a Positive Behavior System School (PBS) with our adopted policies which focus on the positive behavior of students. You can help by reinforcing the standards of good behavior and actions that we will be emphasizing each day.  You may hear your students say that they received “Gotchas” today, where they will be able to participate in drawings to reinforce their positive behavior and actions.   This is also an opportunity for you to reinforce and verbally praise your student for their good behavior.

 

Students are being held accountable for their behavior, actions and choices by using what we call the “Stop Light” system, where all students begin the day on “Green”, if two warnings are issued, the students moves to “Yellow”, if the student is on “Yellow” and continues to choose to misbehave, they will be moved to “Orange” which means the student will do a refocus form in-classroom which helps them to slow down and think about the offending behavior.  When a student is on “orange”, and if he/she improves his/her behavior, they have an opportunity to make a U-Turn and go back up the stop light.  If the negative student behavior persists, they will move to “Red” which means they will write a refocus form in another classroom and the form will be sent home to be signed and returned to the classroom teacher and possibly a phone call will be made by the classroom teacher.   When students show exceptionally good behaviors (Super Stars) throughout the week, they will be recognized by their classroom teacher, and will have lunch and a special treat with principal once a month.

 

STUDENT SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS

For the safety and security of our students, please do not have your child arrive prior to breakfast time at 8:20 a.m. because we are unable to provide adult supervision prior to that time.  Also, it is important that you pick up your child at 3:45 and not before to maintain the integrity of the instructional school day.  Teachers and students need the time from 8:55-3:45 each day.   All students with the exception of ECE will be dismissed from the east playground door onto the playground as long as weather permits.  (Students will only be dismissed from 21^st street doors when there is too much snow on the playground blacktop.) ECE students may be picked up at the lunchroom playground doors. 

 

Just a few reminders regarding school operations:

            Office hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  Monday-Friday

            ECE through Fifth grade student day is from 8:55-3:45

            Breakfast is served from 8:20-8:55

 

FUNDRAISER 2009

Our annual fundraiser with the Believe Company will kick-off on September 14, 2009 and all orders and payments must be returned to the school by Monday, October 5, 2009.  Orders without payments will not be submitted.  Funds raised will help supplement field trips and student activities throughout the school year.

 

ENROLLMENT

In January of each year, the district begins the process of budgeting and enrollment projections for the following school year for each DPS school.  Last January, Philips was projected to have 167 Kindergarten to fifth grade students; however, at this time we only have 144 students.  September 10, 2009 is the district’s “fall adjustment” period in which schools will either receive more funding because they have more students than were projected, or schools will have to pay back the district because they have not met their projections.  At this time, Philips enrollment is low and we are not meeting our projected numbers, thus we may end up losing funding.   We are hoping our enrollment will increase before September 10^th so we do not have to reduce a classroom teacher.

 

Another funding issue is Student Count Day which occurs every year on October 1^st.  ALL students must be present in order for the DPS District to receive State funding!  This is a critical attendance day, so please keep this in mind as you schedule your days, since your children need to be on time and present for the full day in order to be counted, and therefore, funded.

 

2009 COLLABORATIVE SCHOOL COMMITTEE ELECTIONS

Philips needs three parents to serve on the Collaborative School Committee (CSC).   This committee provides direction, supports the school’s mission and vision, and gives input on how to improve student achievement.  CSC will meet once a month, time and date to be determine by the members.  If you would like to be involved in CSC, please nominate yourself to serve on the committee on Nomination ballots.  When nominees are in, we will send out a voting ballot to all Philips’ parents to vote for their top 3 choices for committee members. 

 

Before I close, please remember to mark these dates in your calendars:

 

September:

• Monday, 7^th                Labor Day – NO SCHOOL
• Thursday, 10^th                        Famous Dave’s – Philips School Spirit Night – 5-9 p.m. – proceeds benefit Philips
• Monday 14^th               Art Reach – K thru 5^th Grade eligible (first 20 placed) – African Drum & Dance
                                      Believe Fundraiser Kick-Off Assembly (1:30 – Lunchroom)
                                      NET RESULTS – 4^th and 5^th Grade After School Tennis, Mon & Weds, 4:00-5:15                                                 (meet in Gym)

Grade 5 to Balarat

• Tuesday, 15^th              Kinder and First Grade – BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT 6:30-7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday, 16^th         Second and Third Grade – BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT 6:30-7:30 p.m.
• Thursday, 17^th                        Fourth and Fifth Grade – BACK-TO-SCHOOL NIGHT 6:30-7:30 p.m.