Table of Contents   
 principal
Principal 

Halloween Festivities October 31
 
UPark's annual Halloween parade around the track starts around 9:15. I will have the honor of leading the classes through the school and out to the track! Families are welcome to come watch. The school band will be playing a festive set while the classes parade. If students are planning to wear costumes for the parade they must wear them to school with regular clothing underneath or with a change of clothes in the backpack. Costumes must be taken off before recess/lunch. Classroom celebrations will follow the parade. Specific information will be communicated by room parents or teachers.
 
Please follow these guidelines for parties/costumes:
  • No weapons at school.
  • Keep the scary stuff at a minimum for school celebrations (we have young students who will be watching also).
  • Adult visitors may not wear masks on school property.
  • Do not send Halloween candy to pass out.

Thank you,
 
Principal
Team UPark
720.424.3410


pta
PTA/Apple Campaign

By November 15th, the grade with the most number of donations, not dollars, will win a popcorn party! First grade is currently in the lead by a hair! Donate HERE today to support our school! Or you can drop off a check made out to UPark PTA in the main office. 
Don't forget about employer matching and stock transfers too!        

spotlight
Spotlight on UPark
4th Grade
 
Fourth graders are taking responsibility for their learning and informing others through writing. Students wrote about their fourth grade experiences, and some of those pieces are shared below.
 
One day, in science, we were experimenting with how the tectonic plates move. We did this by taking graham crackers, and putting them in frosting. The graham crackers were tectonic plates, the frosting was hot Magma. The real thing happens very slowly, sometimes it takes million of years. With the graham crackers sitting flat on top of the frosting, we moved them the ways that the tectonic plates move, Converging, Transform, and Diverging. Converging is where the tectonic plates (graham crackers) move into each other, overlapping, that also causes the magma (frosting) to ooze out. Diverging is where they pull apart, but very slowly. Transform is where they slide past each other, like grating cheese. In order to overlap in converging, you had to push the corners together. When we had gone through this process a few times, we ate the graham crackers and licked the frosting off our fingers. - Lilah P
 
In class, we have been reading The Witches by Roald Dahl, and I am telling you it will blow your mind! It is about this little boy and his grandma, who knows a lot about witches. The Grand High Witch is staying right below them in a hotel during vacation. The little boy went into the witches' secret meeting, and they CAUGHT him! He gets turned into a mouse. So far, it's really good. - DJ H
 
So far in social studies, we've been studying Colorado geography. First, we made natural and human geography maps with our four different regions. Then, we made powerpoint presentations about the geography. - Mack S
 
Fourth grade was "blown" away when getting ready to start our new reading/writing unit. We are learning about hurricanes and tornadoes and other natural disasters while finding text structure in nonfiction texts about weather. "It is really fun!" comments fourth grader Samara M. Learning about the five text structures: Description, Problem/Solution,Compare and Contrast, Cause and Effect and Sequence all while reading mind blowing facts about weather is bound to be a blast!- Juliet M
 
Do you LOVE to stretch your brain and solve math problems? That's what we do in class. In this unit of math, we have been learning about multiplication and learning to find area and perimeter. In the previous unit, we learned about measuring meters and kilometers and kilograms and grams and how to convert them. - Zain A and Brandon C

Coming next week: Intervention!

tasting
Wine Tasting Event to Support UPark
. ..It's Like Restaurant Night, But Just For the Adults

Pearl Wine Company is giving 100% of the ticket sale proceeds for their upcoming 4th Anniversary Wine Tasting event on Nov. 9th to neighborhood schools, including UPark. Attendees will have the opportunity to taste over 200 wines and receive event only discounts on orders. Tickets can be purchased from the UPark PTA for $45 (or $65 for a VIP ticket that gets you in an hour early at 5:30).  Purchase via cash or check made out to "UPark PTA," or online HERE (online transaction fee applies). Email [email protected] to purchase a ticket with cash or check, or talk to PTA President Angela Rathbun on the playground at pickup or drop off.
 
Pearl Wine 4th Anniversary Wine Tasting
November 9, 2019 from 6:30-9 pm
JW Marriott Cherry Creek

*Please purchase your tickets from UPark to ensure we receive the full donation amount. Tickets purchased directly from Pearl Wine will divide the donation among multiple schools.

Pearl Wine has also secured a special $209 room rate at the JW Marriott (a $50 savings) if you parents / teachers want to make a night of it. Use booking code: Pearl Wine Anniversary.


multicultural
Multi-Cultural Night

Did you know that UPark has been hosting a Multi-Cultural Night for about 15 years?! Yup. That's right, we have been filling bellies with delicious foods and introducing our community to new art and stories for longer than any of our current fifth graders have even been alive! And guess what! It is that time of the year again... It is time to get out the old family recipes and experience some art and culture.  

Bring an appetizer or dessert you love from your heritage Thursday, November 14th from 5:30-7:00pm. We will gather in the gym to eat and listen to music and stories from all over the world. Please save the date! More information will be forthcoming. Email Anita Murano if you have any questions. 

attendance
Attendance Matters!

Your child's attendance can have a large impact on their learning. Missing just one day of instruction can cause students to miss out on learning important concepts in all subject areas, which can lead to falling behind peers and scoring lower on state assessments (Ginsburg, Jordan, & Chang, 2014). To help ensure your child has the best attendance possible, please review the list of things you can do to improve your child's attendance, as recommended by attendanceworks.org.
  • Set a regular bed time and morning routine. 
  • Lay out clothes and pack backpacks the night before.
  • Don't let your child stay home unless she is truly sick (a fever of 101 or higher). Keep in mind complaints of a stomach ache or headache can be a sign of anxiety and not a reason to stay home.
  • If your child seems anxious about going to school, talk to teachers, school counselors, or other parents for advice on how to make her feel comfortable and excited about learning.
  • Develop back-up plans for getting to school if something comes up. Call on a family member, a neighbor, or another parent.
  • Avoid medical appointments and extended trips when school is in session.
  • Keep a chart recording your child's attendance at home. At the end of the week, talk with your child about what you see.
weather
Inclement Weather Procedures-Indoor Mornings

With the potential for inclement weather coming, we wanted to make sure the community knows what our morning procedure is for indoor days. On indoor mornings:
  • Families will be notified via the UPark App.
  • Drop-off still begins at 8:40am. 
  • Students can go to the gym or to breakfast. 
  • Kiss and go will operate as normal.
  • Students enter through doors 1, 9, and 15. 
lostfound
Lost and Found Reminder

Lost and found items are donated at the end of each month.  Please make sure to check the lost and found regularly for misplaced coats, hats, boots, lunch boxes, water bottles, etc... Items can be found on the hanging rack and bins in the cafeteria hallway. Items can sometimes take a couple days to make their way down to the lost and found so check back often. Please visit the main office if you are unable to find a lost item. 

green
Green Team News and Volunteers Needed

We continue to work on sustainability in our cafeteria in conjunction with our Green Team! Please check out THIS video that our wonderful Green Team created with Ms. Cardenas and Ashleigh Ruehrdanz to help reinforce expectations in our cafeteria. We are always looking for extra hands and support in the cafeteria and it a great way to spend some extra time with your student. Please sign up to volunteer HERE. Please also stop in the office to fill out a volunteer background check!

NC

DISCOVERY LINK CAMP DAYS

Sign up for future Discovery Link camp days! Camp days are open to all students for certain DPS school holidays and breaks, but students must be registered in advance. Click HERE for available dates and for registration information.
calendar
University Park Elementary Calendar

Click on the calendar icon to the right, look below, or visit the  University Park Website to access calendar information!


























































*At the end of each month we will be donating all clothing in the lost and found and anything left in the halls.