Principal's News

 

Principal: Julie Garcia

Greetings Parents! As we head into March I am hopeful we have fewer inside recess days, we are missing the outdoors! It is amazing what a little fresh air and sunshine will do for a child’s spirit!

 

Thursday, March 19​th​ has been designated as a Day of Action at the State Capitol. Information from Colorado Education Association (CEA) indicates this is a day for teachers to bring attention to funding issues at the state level. Based on this information, Weld Re 8 has cancelled school on Thursday, March 19​th​ and added Monday, April 27​th​ as an attendance day.

 

The cancellation of school on March 19​th​ does require that we change our conference schedule. Conferences will take place on March 17​th​ and 18​th​ from 4:00-8:00 pm. This is a great opportunity to discuss your child’s strengths and areas we can work on together to support him or her. Preschool-5​th grade, you can schedule a time by visiting https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080D45AFAD2BA4FF2-homyak1 Once again, middle school conferences will be scheduled with the homeroom teacher. Students will do a 15-minute rotation in each class. You can schedule your one-hour block at https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080D45AFAD2BA4FF2-homyak2

 

The state assessment (CMAS) window is April 6-24. These mandated state assessments give us information about individual student growth and achievement; and the data also holds the school accountable and ensures we are meeting the needs of students. Students in grades 3-8 will be taking PARCC Language Arts and Math. Students in 5​th​ and 8​th​ grade will be taking Science. Please let me know if you have any questions, or you can visit http://www.cde.state.co.us/assessment for more information.

 

We are beginning to plan for next year, please complete the ​Intent to Return​ google form and let us know if your child will be attending next year. Open Enrollment for next school year is underway as well. If you know someone who is interested in attending Homyak, please have them go to our website​ for registration information. In addition, we are enrolling for preschool and kindergarten! We have noticed an increase in tardiness. Please remember, if your child is late you must sign him/her in in the office. In addition, if your child is late we will be happy to walk them to class but we are asking parents to not interrupt class. Teachers begin instruction right after the bell and it can be disruptive when parents come into the room. 

 

If you are looking for an excuse not to cook, Chick-fil-a Night has been rescheduled for Tuesday, April  14​th​. Please join us between 4-8:00 pm, don’t forget to let them know you are with Homyak.   

Unit Theme: Transportation   

 

Reading:​ ​This month, we will focus on concepts of book handling, vocabulary,  comprehension, letter sounds, print awareness, high frequency words, and emergent  reading. 

 

Math:​ ​We will practice counting forward and backward, 1:1 correspondence,  measurement, number order, and shapes 

 

Science:​ We will learn about weather, earth, and water. 

 

Social Studies: ​We will learn about traveling, ways to travel, and places to travel to.  Writing:​ ​We will learn about concepts of emergent writing, forming letters, and will continue  to practice first and last names. 

 

Social-Emotional Development:​ ​Students will learn about self control and how to calm  our bodies when we are feeling crazy. Also, how to make good choices.    We are so excited for another great month! Just as a note, we had some families dropping  off pretty early in the morning last month. You are welcome to drop off your kiddos in the  Pre-K room between 7:25AM and 7:30AM. Thank you! 

Kindergarteners just wrapped up our Presidents unit, and now we are learning about  American Symbols. We are being rockstar readers, using digraphs and blends we are  working on to sound out words. We celebrated Read Across America day with fun Dr. Seuss  themed activities, and the spring weather has us yearning to start some fun science units  with plants and animals!  
First Grade: Lindsey Cleland and Carrie McMahan First grade has been working very hard! We have been practicing finding doubles and  near-doubles in math, as well as sums to 10. In reading, we have been finding those  tricky diphthongs in words (oi, oy, ew, oo), and really working on our fluency as we read  out loud. We completed our arctic animal research projects, and are just wrapping up  our science unit on the solar system. We also celebrated the 120th day of school! 

In second grade, we have started reading about immigration and immigrants' journey to  America through Ellis Island. We have also started double digit addition and subtraction  while mastering our basic math facts. We will be writing persuasive pieces about whether  we prefer snowy days or sunny days. Finally, we are exploring the life cycles of plants, which  will lead us into our unit about the different seasons.

  

Third Grade: Bobbi Baeza and Samantha Ciolino Third grade has been working on becoming fluent with our multiplication and division facts.  We have been playing games such as Salute, Number Top It, Multiplication Baseball, and  Spoons to practice our facts. The students also blasted into outer space. They learned  about the universe, galaxies, and our solar system through projects and research. The  students will be working on Native Americans next. 

Fourth grade has focused on literary theme and poetic structure in reading and writing.  Additionally, students finished reading the book, ​Robin Hood​, and are continuing the  Medieval Europe studies of ​King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table​. Students  enjoyed learning about the Native Americans of Colorado's history. The students were  excited to have a visitor to show artifacts, such as a real buffalo hide and pictures of that  time period. In math, students are learning long division and multiplication of whole  numbers with fractions. The fourth grade team looks forward to visiting with students and  families at March Conferences! 

 

We are so happy to have Ms. Hansen back! She is working in the mornings for now, but will  be expanding to full days again once she feels up to it.     Mr. Guay’s class is enjoying reading ​The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ​ , and they will be writing  an essay tracking Tom’s development through the beginning, middle, and end of this  classic tale of boyhood adventure. In social studies students are exploring western  expansion before the Civil War. Both classes just finished Unit 6 in Math and are moving on  to multiplication of mixed numbers, geometry and graphing. Thank you for your continued  support!   


MS Team: Sara Jakobsen, Lindsey Parks, Jason Pflaum Ben Whetsell

Middle School student-led conferences will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, March 17 -  18. The format will remain the same as the fall conferences: A Sign-up Genius link will be  sent out for you to sign up for a specific time. Parents and students should attend at the  time you reserved. Conferences begin in the student's homeroom for the first 20 minutes, as  students guide their parents through all of their self-evaluations for each core class. The  remaining 40 minutes will be open for you to visit with individual teachers. We look forward  to seeing all parents and students at conferences!    6th and 7th grade students have been given planners to finish out the school year. Every  day at the end of each class, students are given time to add their homework assignments  to the calendar, and teachers add their signature to ensure that the planner was  completed accurately. We appreciate your support as we continue to help our students be  successful in their learning! Please continue to monitor your student's progress using Infinite  Campus and encourage your students to monitor their own progress as well. 

Physical Education Happenings: Trent Feldt (Substitute for Mrs. Stead) Hello all! In Physical Education, the Elementary students have been improving upon their  jump rope skills and are starting to work up a sweat in the fitness unit that we have just  started. For the Middle School students, the new trimester has started with our pickleball unit,  which a lot of them had a fun time learning a new game. Since that unit we have started  volleyball, where the students can enjoy playing together as a team. For the afternoon PE  class, Mr. Pflaum and I are doing the walking/running club. The weather has been iffy so far,  but with the warmer weather coming we hope to get more days outside and enjoy the  outdoors! 

Learning Center Updates: Candace Uvalle Students in the Learning Center continue to increase their reading levels with confidence  and accuracy, as they learn to be critical thinkers about the text they read. In math,  students are moving past foundational skill learning towards grade level targets. We get out  of life what we put in, and these students are steadily growing, because of their hard work!  

Shelly Rajewich In the spirit of "Read Across America Day" which takes place in early March each year, I thought it would be a good time to review the importance of reading with your child every day. The purpose of "Read Across America Day", which also honors Dr. Seuss's birthday, is to motivate children to read, to celebrate the joy of reading to children of all ages, & to make children feel like valued members of our reading community. It has been proven again and again by researchers that reading storybooks to children is one of the most important activities for developing the knowledge required for eventual success in learning to read. Here are a few tips when reading to your child: 1. Set aside time each day in a quiet place. 2. Ask your child to choose the book. 3. Point to the pictures & discuss them. 4. Encourage your child to talk about the book & ask them questions. 5. Make reading fun & not a chore! As always, if I can be of assistance, please contact me at: srajewich@weld8.org "You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child." ~Dr. Seuss 

 

Music Happenings: Kara Spitler Job KINDERGARTEN & FIRST GRADE This month we will explore The Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saëns and how  Saint-Saëns uses music to portray characteristics of animals in each movement. We will  begin to identify character traits of animals and evaluate Saint-Saëns ability to portray those  traits in his music. We are also continuing to build a repertoire of action songs that combine  singing, expression, and storytelling.    

 

UPPER ELEMENTARY   Fourth and fifth graders received their recorder karate tassel and their first bead this month.  They are working hard to apply music theory skills and recorder technique to their playing.  They will have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and earn beads to add to their  tassels. We are continuing to work on singing and vocal technique by building a repertoire  of songs from different genres. The students are even creating their own choreography and  movements to the songs!     BAND  This month the band is doing a study on popular music. We are learning about building  simple triads and chord progressions. We are also learning about arranging and  improvisation in our playing. The students have had a great time helping create our own  arrangement of ​Stand by Me, ​ by ​Ben E. King, Jerry Leiber, and Mike Stolle,r ​for the talent show!     MUSICAL   The middle school theater class will be working on a music theater production this trimester.  We are learning different roles and responsibilities of a theater troupe that include  performance opportunities on stage as well as behind the scenes work. These opportunities  include acting, singing, dancing, costuming, and stage management. We will be putting  together scenes and songs from the Wizard of Oz.
Art: Krystina Sanders Hello Homyak Families,   This month in art we are finishing a unit on a pair of artists (Kudu-lah) that create creative  critters inspired by the people of New York. I hope you all enjoy seeing these pop up on your  students Artsonia account. A big thank you to everyone who has ordered their students  artwork on a mug, shirt, etc. I don't run the site as a fundraiser but 20% goes back into the  art room. For that reason I was able to do a Fibers Middle school class and start a 5th grade  sewing unit. They hopefully will be done soon and I can't wait to show them to you! Again  yearbook orders are due April 1st which is only 28 days away. You can order online at  ybpay.lifetouch.com​ YEARBOOK ID CODE: 14043320. Extra order forms can be found in the  office or with me Mrs. Sanders. Checks can be made out to lifetouch, yearbooks are only  $16.       

SRO: Officer Gregg Lotspeich Happy Spring parents! With the birth of a new season comes new life: Flowers are sprouting,  trees are budding and the grass is beginning to green up.      The Dacono Police Department is excited and proud to announce the pending arrival of a  healthy and happy new Neighborhood Watch program for the Sweetgrass and Eagle  Meadows subdivisions. With the growth and expansion of both these subdivisions, it is vitally  important and great benefit that we have a program to interact with the community and  rely on community members for assistance in being our eyes and ears.  Sweetgrass accounts for one of the largest contingents of children here at Kenneth Homyak  PK8 and I have gotten to know quite a few of you parents here. The Neighborhood Watch  Program has been very successful in communities all across the nation and is YOUR  program, not the police departments. It has several benefits: Increased participation and  interaction of residents in neighborhood activities, getting to know your neighbors and  being able to foster positive partnerships, being an avenue for the dissemination of  information from the police department to other residents, the ability to meet with Police  Department Command Staff at quarterly Neighborhood Watch meetings and addressing  concerns, problems and positive remedies for issues affecting the neighborhood. 

 

If you are interested in becoming a member of Neighborhood Watch for these 2  communities, please contact me by one of the avenues listed below. If anyone is  interested in becoming a Block Captain, please indicate that when you submit your name.  Neighborhood Watch is YOUR program, not the police departments. It is NOT a vigilante  group. It is a program where residents keep ears and eyes open for suspicious activity and  then promptly reporting it to the police. Members of the police department will act as  facilitators and liaisons, but will not run the program.  

Remember that it takes a village! If you are interested or if you have any questions or want  additional information, please feel free to contact me at your earliest convenience. 
 
NJHS Historian: Eddie Ryley NJHS is currently in the beginning stages of planning for this year's Induction Ceremony.  The Induction Ceremony is where we officially welcome any new members to  NJHS/NEHS. It is also an opportunity to recognize those who have moved from NEHS to  NJHS during the year. The date has been set for Thursday, April 30th. More information  will be available later.  

PTSA: We are happy to update that Yankee candle apologized for the delays and did issue us a  5% profit increase of $339 for the inconvenience. We will not be meeting in March due to  Parent/Teacher conferences. Our next meeting will be April 16th at 2:45pm. Please keep an  eye out for upcoming volunteer opportunities for the Fun Run, as well as for Field Day.  

Mark Your Calendars
March 17th & 18th: Parent Teacher Conferences 4:00-8:00 p.m. 

March 17th & 18th: Book Fair in the library 4:00-8:00 p.m. 

March 19th:  No School for Students  March 20th -27th: Spring Break