The latest news from STEM School Highlands Ranch

Weekly news & updates

Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019 | Newsletter Archive | View as Webpage

Upcoming Events

See what's happening this month .

STEM Town Hall Rescheduled to January 30

Rescheduling will allow everyone to complete the semester, get through the holidays and help us to gain the best feedback for our strategic plan.

STEM Winter Fine Arts Extravaganza Planned for December 16

The STEM School Highlands Ranch Winter Fine Arts Extravaganza is slated for Monday, Dec. 16 at STEM School Highlands Ranch. The event will start at 6 p.m. and will feature art, music and theater performances from students in grades K-12.

STEM PTO Cookies and Cocoa on December 19

STEM PTO will be hosting a Cookies and Cocoa event at the Starbucks on Park Central Dr., on December 19 from 2-5 p.m. Come celebrate the holiday season. Decorate cookies for $1. First responders and therapy dogs will be in attendance. Stop in anytime!

Lost and Found

Please have your students check the Lost and Found areas. Any items left after Thursday, Dec. 19, will be donated.

Week-long Immersion Opportunity for 9-12 grade students

An exciting opportunity is available for students in grades 9-12 to have a fully-immersive experience into the space industry as Lockheed Martin and the Space Foundation have teamed up to create the Jr. Space Entrepreneur Program. Sixty STEM students will have the opportunity to take part in a week-long program from January 13-17.

Securing our Financial Future

On Tuesday, Dec. 10, STEM School Highlands Ranch completed the purchase of the Elementary School, which had been on an escalating lease-purchase.The campus is approximately 10 acres and our two buildings are about 140,000 square feet. Our campus is now entirely owned by our school.

The steps leading up to this momentous closing on Tuesday began last year. First, we had to maximize our charter renewal to five years to give investors confidence and reduce the rate of the bond. Next, we applied to Moody’s to raise our financial rating to investment grade. This was achieved in October.

The financial partnership was competitively bid and Ziegler, the investment banking firm, was selected. Our bond was successfully purchased by several institutional buyers on Wall Street in November. Goldman Sachs was one of many investment houses that put in orders to purchase our entire bond that now has an investment grade.

The savings will be about $350,000 over the next few years and well over $5,000,000 over the life of the bond. The actual savings is being calculated and will be reported to our STEM community once we have that. This savings will be directed to faculty and staff salaries and our much-needed playground for grades 3-5.

Many dedicated, and countless hours, were put in this past year to finally close this financial chapter in our school’s acquisition of the entire campus. We thank our community for their support at each step.

Sincerely,

P.J. Eucker PhD

Executive Director

Holiday Care Packages for the Castillos

Help us and our STEMP PTO let the Castillo family know that we are thinking of them this holiday season. In addition to collecting holiday cards, a Holiday basket will be put together. Please consider donating a gift card, an ornament or a holiday treat.

You drop off cards and donations to either the Elementary or Middle School offices by Thursday, Dec. 19. This will allow the cards to be delivered to the Castillo's in time for the holidays.

VOLUNTEER/DONATION NEWS

Volunteer/Donation Opportunities

Check out all the opportunities to volunteer at/donate to STEM.

Alumni Gathering Snack Donations Needed

On Friday, Dec. 20 we are having an event for all STEM graduates, and are seeking snack donations. Please click here to view the sign up sheet.

Middle School Disco Dance

We are seeking snack donations for the middle school disco dance. Please click here to view the sign up sheet. We are also in need of chaperones. Those interested should email [email protected].

Spart Mart is looking for Parent Volunteers

Spart Mart is seeking parent volunteers to assist with the store during study halls and lunch times (as well as at the Book Fair this week). Click here to view the sign up sheet.

Winter Fine Arts Extravaganza

Are you in need of volunteer hours? We are in need of volunteers to make the Winter Fine Arts Extravaganza fantastic. If you are interested in donating food or volunteering, please sign up here. Thank you for your support and we are looking forward to seeing you there!

SCHOOL UPDATES AND REMINDERS

Elementary Updates

Elementary updates include good news of the work that our students are doing, important reminders for parents and students and upcoming event information.

Secondary Updates

Middle and High School updates include good news of the work that our students are doing, scholarship/internship opportunities and upcoming event information.

Enrichment Updates

Find out more about our Enrichment Programs, including how students can get involved and the latest news.

Athletic Updates

Find out more about our High School Athletics, including how to get involved and how they are doing.

STEM's Got Talent Auditions Coming Up on February 6

Come audition for our Eighth Annual Stem's Got Talent show on Thursday, Feb. 6 from 3-6 p.m. in Middle School Music Room (Room 149).

Additional Supports from All Health Network

The All Health Network has two opportunities for families and students to receive mental health supports. Click here to view the Parent Flier and click here to view the Student Flier, detailing the dates, times and locations of the support groups.

The Weekly Tour happens every Wednesday

Every Wednesday, prospective students and families, along with some of our community partners, take part in our Weekly Tour. Starting at 10 a.m., I, along with Dr. Karen Johnson and other administrators, welcome our visitors in the Middle School lobby to showcase our amazing school.

For the second week in a row, we had record breaking numbers of visitors taking part in this opportunity. Why is this important? Interest in our school continues to be strong, and Weekly Tours provide visitors with the chance to solidify their decision to enroll their students or become part of our STEM community.

Those interested in our Elementary School were guided by Dr. Johnson throughout the building to get a first-hand look into classrooms, the lunchroom and playground areas. Yesterday, our group was so large that we split our secondary group into middle and high school, with Dan Hoffman taking our visitors to see our High School programming and facilities.

Our visitors interacted with our students and asked teachers specific questions pertaining to academics, testing, standards and more.

Thank you,

Leanne Weyman, EdD

Director, STEM School Highlands Ranch

ADDITIONAL UPDATES

Read the latest from the Student Support Team

Walking the Beat with Deputy Gabe Uribe

Read the latest edition of the STEM PTO Newsletter

The Foundation for Douglas County Schools

The Foundation for Douglas County Schools is a 501(c)(3) non-profit which works with corporations and organizations to develop private resources to enrich education within Douglas County schools for the fulfillment of lifelong learning experiences of our students, citizens and community. Visit the website.

What to help raise money for STEM?

The Foundation for DCS has exciting upcoming community events for our STEM School Highlands Ranch Community. There are great discounted tickets to see the Nuggets (3 options!), National Western Stock Show events, the Mammoth (2 options!) and the Avalanche (2 options!). With every ticket purchase, we get a percentage of the proceeds. Thanks to your help and support, we are breaking ticket sale orders for all events so far this year!

Click to view the Flier of Upcoming Events