Weekly news & updates
Thursday, March 5, 2020 | Newsletter Archive | View as Webpage
Update on COVID-19

We are working closely with the Douglas County School District (DCSD) in regards to providing information about the COVID-19 virus. We also closely follow all recommendations from the Colorado Department of Health with regard to student and staff safety.

We recommend all families familiarize themselves with the information provided by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to avoid confusion. Additionally, Tri-County Health has set up a webpage for residents of Douglas County with helpful information from a local level.

If you are finding it difficult to find hand sanitizer, click here to access a helpful tutorial on how to make your own hand sanitizer at home.

We will continue to share out any new information that we receive. If you'd like to help us reduce the risk of illnesses spreading, please consider donating hand sanitizer, clorox wipes and kleenex to the Middle and Elementary School front offices.
WHAT'S HAPPENING AT STEM
SCHOOL UPDATES AND REMINDERS
OFFICE, VOLUNTEER, DONATION AND GENERAL NEWS
Volunteer/Donation Opportunities
Check out all the opportunities to volunteer at/donate to STEM.
Volunteer of the Month
Susan Montgomery is our Volunteer of the Month for February with over 36 hours devoted to PTO activities. We are so grateful to you and the wonderful PTO, thank you Susan!
Reminders from the Health Room
With cold and flu season upon us, just a friendly reminder as to when you should have your child return to school when home ill.
  • After 24 hours of medication for the following conditions: Strep throat, Conjunctivitis, or any other conditions requiring antibiotics.  
  • Free from the following conditions for at least 24 hours: Fever without the benefit of fever reducing medications (Tylenol/Motrin). 
  • Free from the following conditions for at least 48 hours: Diarrhea and Vomiting (related to stomach virus such as norovirus) with a fever. 24 hours after last bout of diarrhea and/or vomiting if without a fever.

Don't forget to wash your hands!
Following these District Policies will help keep some of the illness out of the classrooms! Please contact Karen Lewis (STEM School Nurse) at Karen.lewis@stemk12.org , or call 303-683-7836 with any questions or concerns. Thank you in advance for helping us keep STEM a healthy place
Chaperones Needed!
CHAPERONES needed for the Middle School Student Government's Fire and Ice Dance on Saturday, March 7th. Volunteers needed from 5:30-8:30pm, please email Jenny.Johnson@stemk12.org if you can help!
Middle School Dance Donations
On March 7th, Middle School Student Government presents the next Middle School Dance - FIRE & ICE, and are seeking donations.  Click here to view sign up sheet.
Check Lost and Found Before Spring Break
Don't forget to check the lost and found areas for any items that you might be missing. Elementary lost and found is located in the Elementary School Lobby and Middle School lost and found is located outside of the Middle School Cafeteria.
Reminder About Visitors to STEM
All secondary visitors must enter through the Middle School entrance and all elementary visitors must enter through the Elementary entrance. The High School entrance is not an entrance for visitors at any time. 

The High School entrance will be open for students to enter the school from 7:30 - 7:50 a.m. each day, and for students to exit at the end of the day. No one, including students, will be allowed to enter or exit from the High School entrance at any other time during the school day. 

All visitors MUST present identification to have a visitor badge made. Thank you!
AP Testing Proctors Needed
We are testing May 4-15, and seeking parent volunteers as proctors. Here are the requirements to be a proctor:
  • be a responsible adult
  • may not have a child taking the exam they are proctoring
  • be reliable, have attention to detail, and understand the importance of ensuring a secure testing environment
If you are interested, please contact Liz Dougan at liz.dougan@stemk12.org .
Donate to STEM via Smile.Amazon.Com
Did you know that you can donate to STEM through smile.amazon.com? Just set STEM Academy as your organization and a percentage of each of your order will be donated each quarter to STEM. To date, we have received $1,796.87 in donations.
Elementary Health Room Needs
We are in need of a few clothing items. View sign up sheet here .
Reminder to Pay Your Fees
Enrollment and AP testing fees for the 2019-20 school year were assigned to all students in July of 2019. All enrollment fees were due by August 8 as indicated in the Parent Student Handbook on page 11 and here. AP testing and special class fees were added once students schedules were complete. 

Please take a moment to log into your My School Bucks Account and check to see that all fees have been paid. If you have any questions about fees, please contact Ashley Westfall at ashley.westfall@stemk12.org .

*All outstanding fees for seniors must be paid by April 1 if your student plans to walk in the graduation ceremony. 
SHARING OUR GOOD NEWS
Fourth Grade Math Students work on PBL
Fourth-grade math students are working on a math problem-based learning to change the parking lot near our playground to add more play space. They had to measure the area and determine the play structure that they wanted to include in that area. They had to make a technical design using Tinkercad and a scale model of the playground idea. Finally, students will present their ideas and budget to the board to convince them to pick their idea for a playground upgrade. 
CyberPatriots Celebrate Another Successful Season
Congratulations on another great CyberPatriot season! Students and coaches worked really hard and we had outstanding scores in Semifinals.Thank you to all students, parents, volunteers, staff, and our wonderful coaches. See you all next season.
Basketball Brings Home a Trophy!
Congratulations to our boys Varsity and Junior Varsity team who both brought home third-place trophies from the All City League Silver and Gold League. 
Gitanjali Rao finished Third Overall at Denver Regional Science Fair
Gitanjali Rao has qualified for the International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), held in Anaheim, Calif., in May 2020. ISEF is one of the leading science fair competition that attracts participants from all around the globe, who showcase their projects, inventions and innovations in science. 

Gitanjali's project titled "A Novel Approach to Early Directional Diagnosis of Prescription Opioid Addiction" was first in her category of "Biological Sciences" at the Denver Metro Regional Science Fair. Her project further qualified for ISEF and the state fair for being in the Top 3 in the "Best of Fair", that spanned across all science categories.

The project also received a honorable mention for most inventive project category award and she is invited to present her research at the annual Research and Creative Activities Symposium to compete with graduate and undergraduate student projects at CU Denver.
Basketball Brings Home a Trophy!
Last year Mrs. Thatcher's kindergarten class partnered with Mrs Simi Basu and then-eighth grader Gitanjali Rao to film a segment for Disney's Marvel's Hero Project. Gitanjali Rao is an award-winning young scientist who teaches lessons about kindness and science. Marvel chose her to make a real life comic book hero! Our school was chosen to be filmed as part of her Marvel Hero Project episode. The episode airs this Friday, March 6 on Disney+ and will feature our school, students and teachers. Tune in so see the episode. See the clip of the episode above.
ADDITIONAL UPDATES
MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORTS
Mental Health Supports Page
If you haven't checked it out, our Mental Health Supports page, has a number of helpful resources for students and parents.
DCSD Mental Health Support Page
Douglas County School District has a Mental Health Resources page with a variety of resources for students and families. Please take a moment to review all that they have listed.
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.
Dr. Cypers Anxiety Presentation for Parents on March 12
Dr. Cypers from Children's Hospital will present on helping students manage anxiety on Thursday, March 12 from 5:30-7 p.m. in the High School Cafeteria. All parents are welcome to attend
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.