Sandburg

Elementary

School

Attention Incoming Kindergarten Parents! Please join us for a virtual meet and greet with our principal, Karen Tarbell, to learn more about the 2021-2022 kindergarten program at Sandburg Elementary. Visit this flyer for details. We hope to see there!

Order your Sandburg Spirit Wear now! Visit www.spiritgeardirect.com/shop to view available items. The order deadline is Friday, September 25, 2020. Thank you!

Our first Out & About for 2020 will be at Parry's Pizza at SouthGlenn on Tuesday, September 15. Mention Sandburg Elementary School when ordering your lunch or dinner and 20% of the profits will come back to our school! The offer is good for dine-in, takeout, and delivery! The second Out & About will be at Chick-fil-A at SouthGlenn on Tuesday, September 29 from 5:00 - 7:00 pm. Again, mention Sandburg Elementary and 15% of the profits will return to our school! Thank you for your support!!

Individual picture day will be Tuesday, September 1, 2020. This year, ordering will take place online. Please see this flyer which includes links to payment information. If you are not able to pay online there are instructions on how to contact the photographer to set up an alternative payment arrangement. Parents now have the option to have pictures shipped directly to their home. All photos will be on the classic gray background.   Welcome back to Sandburg!        

Please join LPS Superintendent Brian Ewert for a virtual update on the state of LPS. Topics will include: Budget concerns and the debt-free schools mill levy override How the school year is going New school boundaries Ongoing bond projects Mr. Ewert is taking his community roadshow virtual. Each school community will be invited to hear him present and ask him questions. While parts of the conversations may be geared toward the schools for that particular time, anyone can watch any of the presentations and ask questions. Access the links below to watch the live feeds and submit questions. Recordings with Closed Captioning in both English and Spanish will be available a few days following the live event. To access Closed Captioning, start the video, click on the CC box at the bottom right and then select either English or Spanish. Learn More: Budget Matter$ Goddard Middle School 9/14/2020, 5:00 p.m. WATCH    email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Highland/Franklin elementary schools Village North/Village Highland Preschools 9/14/2020, 6:30 p.m. WATCH  email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us TOPS/Options/Voyager/ NOVA/Transition Services 9/16/2020, 5:00 p.m. WATCH  email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Powell Middle School 9//16/2020, 6:30 p.m. WATCH  email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Newton Middle School 9/21/2020, 5:00 p.m. WATCH LIVE email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Hopkins/Twain 9/21/2020, 6:30 p.m. WATCH LIVE email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Littleton Prep/Academy 9/22/2020, 5:00 p.m. WATCH LIVE email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Centennial/Wilder 9/22/2020, 6:30 p.m. WATCH LIVE email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Euclid 9/23/2020, 5:00 p.m. WATCH LIVE email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Littleton High 9/23/2020, 6:30 p.m. WATCH LIVE email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Field/Sandburg 9/28/2020, 6:30 p.m. WATCH LIVE email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Arapahoe High 9/29/2020, 5:00 p.m. WATCH LIVE email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us East/Moody 9/29/2020, 6:30 p.m. WATCH LIVE email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Peabody/Lenski 9/30/2020, 5:00 p.m. WATCH LIVE email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Runyon 10/1/2020, 5:00 p.m. WATCH LIVE email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us Heritage High 10/1/2020, 6:30 p.m. WATCH LIVE email questions to: Questions@lps.k12.co.us

Reminder: Wednesday, August 26, 2020 is a PLC Late Start Day. All schools will begin one hour later, and all school buses will run one hour later. PLC Late Starts are every Wednesday throughout the school year for all learning models, excluding preschools.

Passage of a local mill levy is the only way to save what the community values most in LPS During its regularly scheduled meeting on August 13, 2020, the LPS Board of Education voted to move forward with plans to place a mill levy override on the November 2020 ballot. Throughout the summer, the Board studied various options available to fill the anticipated ongoing $12 million budget gap LPS will face caused by the COVID-19 economic downturn in Colorado and due to the State of Colorado’s chronic inability to adequately fund its public schools. Colorado has shortchanged LPS more than $156 million over the past decade, which has placed tremendous and increasing pressure on the district’s budget. No state solutions are in sight. If local solutions are not found, people and programs – the very parts of our schools that the LPS community values most – will face drastic cuts for the 2021–2022 school year.  The Board began exploring local solutions last January. After making $4.2 million in cuts for the 2020–2021 school year, and projected cuts of $12 million for 2021–2022 (and beyond) looming, the LPS Board recognized that these budget cuts will negatively impact the academic excellence this community value and expects of LPS: Continuing to attract and retain quality teachers Maintaining school counseling for mental health and suicide prevention Providing career, technology and skilled trades classes that provide students with real world job skills such as health care, skilled trades and computer science As presented to the Board of Education at their August 13, 2020 meeting, the local mill levy override would raise $12 million to fill the $12 million state funding gap for the 2021–2022 school and in the years ahead. The money would be used to keep the teachers, academic programs (including those in the skilled trades), mental health support and physical safety measures that are currently in place.  “These are extreme circumstances; COVID has placed an additional strain on many of our families and on our district’s budget. But with Colorado’s inability to adequately fund its public schools, we are facing truly catastrophic cuts. While this is a hard time to have to do this, we are a public school district. So we need to at least ask the public and let them decide,” said Board of Education President Jack Reutzel. “We have exhausted all other options. A local mill levy override would give us the chance to save the things our community values the most – the very people and programs that makes Littleton Public Schools so special, which in turn would allow us to keep providing our community with an outstanding education.”  Ballot Initiative and LPS Budget Info

Littleton Public Schools will begin the school year Monday, August 24, with in-person learning for PreK–5 and a hybrid/blended model for Grades 6–12. This plan – originally announced during the July 30 Board of Education meeting – was confirmed during the August 13 Board meeting after an impactful and in-depth discussion about the merits and concerns of starting in this model and another review of Arapahoe County COVID data, which shows that it is appropriate for students and staff to return to school, with overlapping extensive health and safety protocols in place. The plan for the start of the school year is as follows: Preschool–Grade 5: All students return to in-person learning with overlapping extensive health and safety protocols in place. Grades 6–12: Hybrid/blended model of both in-person and remote learning. Students will attend school in-person with their teachers two days a week, with overlapping extensive health and safety protocols in place, and engage in learning remotely from home the other three days. This model allows for greater physical distancing, as only half of the students will be at school at the same time. TOPS: A temporary, fully online program from K–12 and Transition Services will remain available for the 2020–2021 school year and will not be impacted by changing COVID data. TOPS will begin as scheduled on Monday, August 31, 2020. The TOPS registration deadline was Friday, August 7, 2020. The course catalog is now available on the TOPS web page.  This approach is aligned with current research and recommendations of pediatricians and other health experts regarding what is appropriate for preschool and elementary-age students and what is appropriate for middle and high school students. Decisions regarding which school model LPS will follow at the start of the year and in coming months are based on Arapahoe County’s COVID-19 data as reported by Tri-County Health and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE). View Process and Data Learn More: Restart Plans & Health and Safety Measures  “I want to again express my deep gratitude to all LPS employees for their tireless efforts to develop improved learning models for all of our students over the summer. We are ready to move between an in-person school model and a hybrid/blended learning model, as well as a robust online learning model should Arapahoe County COVID data suggest we need to do so for the safety of our students and staff,” said LPS Superintendent Brian Ewert. “We will do our very best every day to meet the individual needs of our students regardless of which model of learning we are in at any given time.” Students, staff, parents and community members must work together to make the start of the school year successful. We will follow the guidance of health officials and will implement the public health and safety measures in place at the time that are shown to limit spread of the virus, such as mask wearing, health screenings, frequent hand washing and maintaining physical distancing to the greatest extent possible. We all must have patience and must be dedicated to following the safety protocols at every school, every day. It will not be perfect, but please know we are committed to doing our best to keep everyone safe. Our chances to continue and maintain an in-person learning model increase with the successful implementation of safety precautions.  It’s also critical that we all continue to remain flexible and open to change. The circumstances around the pandemic and the return to school this fall seem to change daily.