The LPS Special Services Advisory Committee is currently taking nominations for the 8th annual Curo Awards. Curo is the Latin word which means "to care for or to pay attention to" and is a fitting word to use to honor individuals who have excelled at making a difference in the lives of children with disabilities. This award recognizes dedication, passion, and inspiration. Any LPS community member, staff member or student is eligible to receive the award based on a nomination describing how, through their exceptional devotion to a student with a disability, that student's life is better! Awards will be given and recipients and all nominees will be honored at a reception on April 28 at the Littleton Town Hall Arts Center. Click here to submit a nomination. The nomination window closes February 29.
The LPS Long Range Planning Committee (LRPC) has been meeting since the fall of 2018 to study school boundaries to better balance enrollment, provide boundaries for the new elementary schools to be built for the Ames neighborhood and the combined Highland and Franklin neighborhoods, and to address the growing transportation challenges resulting from increased traffic in the south metro area -- all if an effort to improve boundaries to best serve students and provide them with the best educational experience possible. During more than 20 hours of meetings, the LRPC has considered 14 different elementary school boundary scenarios, six different middle school boundary scenarios, and four different high school boundary scenarios. As part of this process, the LRPC: Looked for logic and efficiency as new boundaries were considered Strived to keep neighborhoods together, recognizing that waterways and other obstacles make transportation more difficult Found boundary solutions for the new neighborhood school on the Ames campus Found boundary solutions for the new neighborhood school on the current Franklin campus Strived to avoid wherever possible having to cross major north/south arterial roads, busing students past one school to attend another, and creating a smaller-than-optimal schools Considered current feeder patterns (elementary to middle to high) Considered school size and capacity, with and without out-of-district students Considered socio-economic balance Looked toward the future: what building replacements are happening with the current bond, and what buildings might be replaced in future bonds? How will boundaries be impacted? Four stakeholder open houses are scheduled in January and February 2020, where attendees can drop in any time during a two-hour open house to learn about each scenario, ask questions of LRPC members, give feedback and take an exit survey, which provides another opportunity for feedback: Tuesday, January 28, 2020 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Goddard Middle School Monday, February 3, 2020 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Powell Middle School Wednesday, February 12, 2020 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Newton Middle School Thursday, February 20, 2020 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.at Euclid Middle School All four open houses will provide attendees with the same opportunities to interact with members of the Long Range Planning Committee, learn about the boundary options, ask questions, and provide feedback. Choose a date, time, and location that works best for you! What’s next? The LRPC will provide an update to the Board of Education later this spring. The Board is tentatively scheduled to make decisions about the boundaries by the fall of 2020, and approved new boundaries would likely take effect in the fall of 2021. Additional information about the Districtwide Boundary Study is available on the LPS district website at Boundary Study.
The Littleton Public Schools Board of Education is hosting four community conversation events regarding culture and climate; diversity; safety and security; and mental health. Those in attendance will have an opportunity to learn what LPS currently does in these areas, ask questions of the Board, engage in dialogue, and ultimately provide feedback to the Board. Parents, employees, community members, and middle and high school students are invited to attend. Community conversations are scheduled as follows: Tuesday, January 21, 2020 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Bemis Library 6014 S. Datura St. Littleton, CO 80120 Wednesday, January 22, 2020 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Columbine Valley Town Hall 2 Middlefield Rd. Columbine Valley, CO 80123 Tuesday, February 18, 2020 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Koelbel Library 5955 S. Holly St. Centennial, CO 80121 Wednesday, February 26, 2020 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Koelbel Library 5955 S. Holly St. Centennial, CO 80121 Community conversations are one of the many ways in which the Board solicits feedback on these topics. Other ways include surveys of parents, staff, students, and community members; roundtable events with parent groups; student focus groups; and student workshops. Dr. Anna Mueller, a sociologist from the University of Indiana, is gathering feedback as she conducts environmental research in our community. She will spend the next year in Littleton and Centennial examining how social environments facilitate mental health and help-seeking among youth.
Online applications (aplicación en español) for Early Access for Gifted Students to Kindergarten or First grade for the 2020-21 school year are now being accepted. The deadline for applications is April 1st, 2020. No applications will be accepted after that date. Students applying for Kindergarten or First grade who meet the October 1st birthday cutoff need not apply for Early Access.
Due to the weather forecast, the Hopkins/Twain Fun Run, scheduled for Friday, October 11, 2019, has been canceled. We have rescheduled this fun community event for the spring, on Friday, April 24, 2020.
As a reminder, Hopkins operates a "soft start" in the morning. Click here for our drop off policy. Our school-day is 8:00am-2:43pm. Students will be able to enter the building beginning at 7:45am and go directly to their classrooms. All students need to be in their classrooms by 8:00am. There will not be any supervision on the playground before school and students will not be allowed on the playground before school. Staff will be at the front door, the lower playground door, and the upper playground door to let students in the building beginning at 7:45am. Our late start Wednesdays will begin at 9:00am with students allowed to enter the building at 8:45am. Please see the attached flyer for more information and contact me if you have any questions or concerns. It is important that your child is picked up when the bell rings at 2:43pm. We do not have supervision after 2:43pm for our students not actively enrolled in the High Hoppers program. If you need child care before or after school, please contact our SACC manager, Carissa Starbuck for information on High Hoppers before and after school care. This is a wonderful program and the students who attend are very well taken care of and enjoy their time at High Hoppers!
Have you ever wondered if your student is too sick to come to school? Have you questioned if they are well enough to return? Please take a look at this reference provided by our LPS Nurse Consultants from Children's Hospital for How Sick Is Too Sick.
The main form of communication you will receive from Hopkins is a weekly electronic newsletter. This will contain important dates and information you will want to know. Please make sure you complete your yearly online check-in in your Infinite Campus Parent Portal to be sure all of your information is up to date. To receive electronic communication from Hopkins, pay close attention to the communication checkboxes. Our Hopkins website is another great place to find the latest dates and information.