August 13, 2021

Dear Steele Families,

It is hard to believe that the new school year is here, but it is! We welcome the 2021-2022 school year with optimism and excitement. Steele is thrilled to have almost 500 students return back for in-person instruction. We hope that this summer was restful and rejuvenating for your family. Our staff is relaxed and refreshed and we can’t wait to see you all soon. We miss you, Stallions!

As you know, all students are beginning school on Monday, August 23rd. We are looking forward to a year that closely resembles normal. Although there are still some COVID safety guidelines we will be following, for the most part, school will look and feel like school. We will host an optional Q&A session via Zoom on Tuesday, August 17 starting at 5:00 pm to discuss the changes outlined below and allow time for questions.  

Here are some of the changes for this school year::

Arrival and Dismissal: 
  • Steele has a new arrival and dismissal schedule. Our first bell rings at 8:05. Students may start arriving at 7:50 each morning. 
  • The Kiss and Drop line will begin at 7:50. Please stay in your car. A Steele staff member will open the door and help your child safely out of the car each morning. 
  • Due to cohort restrictions, students must head right to their classroom when they arrive at school. This means that the playground is off-limits before and after school, similar to last year. 
  • Kindergarten teachers will meet students outside for the first week of school.
  • Families may walk students to the door this year but may not walk students to their classrooms.
  • All classes will dismiss students outside at 3:05
  • Do not drive through or park in the staff parking lot during arrival or dismissal.
  • For the first 3 days of school, kindergarten will be half day. Kindergarten students will be picked up at 11:35. There is no Discovery Link for kindergarten students on these days. 
Lunch: 
  • Students will be eating lunch in the cafeteria again this year. 
  • One class will eat outside each week, weather permitting, to increase social distancing in the cafeteria, 
  • Students will sit at assigned tables with their homeroom classes. 
  • Students must be masked any time they are not eating. 
Masks:
  • Masks must be worn by all adults and children when inside the building.
  • Masks are optional when outdoors.

Volunteer and Visitors:
  • We are excited to welcome volunteers back inside our building this year! All volunteers must have proof of vaccination and wear masks at all times. 
  • Volunteers must also complete the DPS Volunteer background check. You can find the form here.
  • In order to ensure we can complete contract tracing forms in the event of a COVID case, all volunteers must be scheduled and must sign in and out in the main office. 
  • Visitors may come to the main office only. All visitors must be masked at all times. 
Community Events:
  • As of right now, we are allowed to host community events in person if we are outside. 
  • No community events or gatherings may happen inside until further notice. 
Remote Learning: 
  • Steele will not provide a remote learning option this year. If you are interested in your child attending school remotely you can learn more about DPS’s online elementary school here.
Quarantines:
  • It is not mandatory that we quarantine an entire class if there is a COVID case reported in the classroom. We will treat each COVID case individually and will follow guidance from the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment to determine which individuals need to quarantine after an exposure.
Technology:
  • Please return any Steele-owned technology devices with your student on the first day of school. Students will have Chromebooks and iPads to use as needed in the classroom.
  • Most learning will be hands-on and in person.
Specials: 
  • Specials will return to normal this year! Our specials schedule will be on an A/B/C day rotation and every class will also have drama once a week.

Staffing Update:
This year we are welcoming many new staff members to the Steele community. You will have an opportunity to meet them in person at our Popsicle Social on August 18th, 

New to Steele:
Kasey McHugh-Kindergarten
Elizabeth Sweeney- Kindergarten
Claire West- 1st Grade
Gavin Ganab- 2nd Grade
Jenna Talamo-5th Grade
Shannon Durling -5th Grade
Molly Knutson- Art
Victor Tantao- FM (temporarily filling in)
Change in Role:
Krysten Byrne- 1st Grade 
Cortney Finkler- 3rd Grade
Robin Pigford- 3rd Grade
Natalie Shah- AP

Beginning of Year Information: 
Dates to Remember:
  • Please check out our Steele specific 21-22 calendar here. Dates highlighted in purple are non-student contact days specific to Steele.
  • Tuesday, August 17- Welcome Back Q&A- 5:00-6:00 Zoom Link
  • Wednesday, August 18- Popsicle Social- 5:00-6:00 Steele Blacktop
  • Thursday, September 2nd-Back-to-School Night- Held Virtually. More information to follow
  • Monday, September 6th- Labor Day- No School
  • CSC/PTA- The 2nd Tuesday of each month we will hold our CSC and PTA meetings. CSC starts at 5:00 and PTA starts at 6:00. These meetings will be held virtually until further notice. Links to the meetings and an agenda will be sent out in a Stallion Extra the day before the meeting. 

What’s the best way to get connected at Steele?

Log on to our Steele Website to stay current on all of our community events and needs
Subscribe to the Stallion Press, our weekly newsletter, on our website.
Join our Steele Facebook page for general school information.
Join our Steele Elementary Private Group on Facebook for engaging discussion, updates, requests, news, etc. Click "join" on the page and your request will be reviewed by the social media coordinator

We have the BEST PTA ever! We would not be able to do our best for our students and school without the dedication and investment of our PTA and parents. I encourage you to join our Parent Teacher Association! Our PTA continues to amaze us with their fundraising efforts which provide incredible support for our staff and students. The PTA helps to fund things such as:
  • Maintaining highly engaging specials programming (Art, PE, Music, and Drama)
  • Second Educator support
  • Financial support for technology upgrades, curriculum resources, and staff professional development
  • Funding for supplies, materials, and equipment for our Specials teachers 
  • Grant funding to grade-level teachers and individual classrooms who seek additional funding for special projects and classroom resources, 
  • And much, much more!

I hope you enjoy your last week of summer! The staff and I are eagerly waiting to welcome you to another wonderful school year and look forward to seeing families and students very soon!

Sincerely,

Marti Rosenberg, Principal
Natalie Shah, Assistant Principal