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7th Annual Skinner Fall Festival - Saturday, October 8 from 10 am - 2 pm

Food - Games – Activities - Silent Auction – Fun for the whole family!
 
Family-friendly, Community Event
Open to the Public!
All proceeds benefit Skinner student field trips, athletics, and activities
 
Need a flu shot?  Walgreens is sponsoring free flu shots during the festival
 

Picture Day - October 7th

Picture day is soon!  Students will be taking order forms home Monday,10/3. Students should come to school in Skinner Dress Code, but may change tops before their class appointment time. Please visit the main office for additional order forms.
 

Conferences - Oct 11 & 20, 4-8 pm

Conferences take place in the upcoming weeks. It is an expectation that all students attend conferences with a family member to discuss their own academic progress and set goals for the remainder of the school year.  At conferences, families will experience a student led conference AND have a designated meeting time with some of the grade level teachers.

Learning Family Mentors are assisting with getting your appointment time scheduled for one of these evenings.
 

Skinner Athletics - Late Fall

As we enter October, we are our in our Late Fall season, hosting co-ed Flag Football and Girls Volleyball. Sports coming up:

• Boys Basketball (winter)
• Girls Basketball (winter)
• Co-ed Floor Hockey (early spring)
• Girls Soccer (spring)
• Boys Baseball (spring)

• You must be a 6th, 7th or 8th grade student.
• You must be academically eligible for the whole season.
• You must pay a participation fee when your equipment is issued ($25/sport).
• You must have all of the following forms completed and signed by parents:
  • Physical
  • Parent Permission/Emergency
  • Code of conduct
  • Financial Responsibility

Eligibility is based on classwork and homework completion and is determined week to week. If students are missing classwork and/or homework, they are required to complete it in order to participate in athletic games (eligibility does not affect ability to practice with the team). In addition, if a student receives a behavior referral, they will be deemed ineligible for the following week’s game, and may face termination for a spot on the team.

Questions: Please contact Jessica Piwko, Athletic Director @ Jessica_Piwko@dpsk12.org

The season starts soon!  Get your physical up to date in order to participate! Free sports physicals are available at the Denver Health School Based Health Center at Lake Middle School. Call (720) 424-0281 for more information or to make an appointment.

Volunteer Trainings - 10/12 at 7 am or 10/25 at 5:15 pm
Are you interested in volunteering this school year at Skinner?  Did you miss the training in September?  No worries!  Come to the Library on 10/12 at 7:00am before you head into work, or come 10/25 before the PTO meeting for a short volunteer training and to complete any necessary forms.  
 

PTO/ELA-PAC - Tuesday, 10/25 at 6 pm

Join us October 25th at 6pm in the Skinner Library for to learn about how PTO has supported Skinner over the last year and then enjoy our speaker series on ‘just in time’ topics.  Our guest speaker will be our very own Brian Dino, Skinner parent and Common Sense Education Ambassador assisting Skinner Families with being as up to date as possible about all the do’s and don’ts with internet safety for your family.

6th Grade Families

If your student has not already had the Tdap immunization, please make sure to schedule an appointment.  Should you need financial assistance in getting this done, you can contact the School Based Health Center at Lake. The address is 1820 Lowell and their phone number is 720-424-0281.  This clinic is available to ALL DPS students free of charge, so don’t be afraid to utilize this great resource!  Please leave updated immunizations in the office.  

Neighborhood Center at Skinner 

One of the best ways to ensure academic success for your child is to ensure they get extra academic support when needed and get involved in after-school activities. To register your student for tutoring or other extra-curricular activities, please call the Neighborhood Center at Skinner Middle School at 720-424-1435, or stop by between the hours of 10am to 6pm. 

MONDAY: Aced It! Tutoring (3:00-5:00); NC Productions; BEST Robotics; Color Guard (3:30-5:00); After Hours (5:00 - 6:00)
TUESDAY: Aced It! Tutoring (3:00-5:00); STEM Scouts; Printing; Rec Sports (3:30-5:00); After Hours (5:00 - 6:00)
WEDNESDAY: Aced It! Tutoring (3:00-5:00); Silk Screening; Cooking; Rec Sports (3:30-5:00); After Hours (5:00 - 6:00)
THURSDAY: Aced It! Tutoring (3:00-5:00); Yarn Art; Color Guard; Science Magic (3:30-5:00); After Hours (5:00 - 6:00)
FRIDAY:  Aced It! Tutoring; Community Connects (3:00-5:00);  Rec Zone (3:30-5:00)

The Neighborhood Center@ Skinner is proud to announce its 6th Annual Lock-In Event. Our students will have the opportunity to spend the night at school and participate in many activities that we have planned. This years Lock-In will be Halloween themed.Students will be allowed to wear costumes as long as they are appropriate. Masks and weapons are NOT allowed. Students will have to be eligible in order to attend. We will be sending letters home with students as they become eligible. If you have any questions please contact us at 720-424-1435 or 720-424-1472.

Parenting Partners

Elvia Lubin, Parent Liaison & Joe Waldon, School Social Worker are pleased to present this 7-week education program to help our parents navigate the journey of raising their children and increase their child’s social emotional well- being. It is ideal to attend every session as the information and discussions build on one another.  If you haven’t been able to attend yet, you are still welcome. All meetings are held in the library at Skinner Middle School.  Childcare and light snacks are provided.  Please Join us!

Our October 6th session will be focus on communication.
Our October 13 session will be focus on avoiding arguments and creating structure.
 
Sessions run 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Future Sessions:
Session #5: Thursday, November 3rd 6:00pm-8:00pm
Session #6: Thursday, November  10th 6:00pm-8:00pm          
Session # 7:  Thursday, November 17th 6:00pm-8:00 pm
Contact Elvia Lubin for more information and topic listings (720.424.1473) or elvia_lubin@dpsk12.org.

Box Tops for Education

Thank you for Supporting Skinner. Don’t Forget to save and submit your BoxTops to the main office
 
Jewels of Highlands Home Tour

THANK YOU Jewel Home Tour Committee as well as the Parent & Student Volunteers! We appreciate your dedication to our school!  It was another extremely successful event. Stay tuned for the total $$$ raised for Skinner.
 

Crossing Guards Needed

If you can support our safety efforts by volunteering from 7:10 – 7:40am or 2:40 – 3:10pm as a crossing guard, please contact Esmeralda Chavira at 720-424-140.  Thank you for considering!  THANK YOU to our current volunteers for helping to keep our students safe!
 

New and Improved Parent/Student Portal Mobile App

Stay up to date on the go! Download the DPS Portal mobile app to monitor your student(s) progress at your fingertips. New features include simplified user interface, language translations, and color coded grades/tests allowing you to easily understand your student's academic status.
Use the DPS Portal mobile app to:
Be instantly informed about your student's grades, assessments, and attendance as they are posted.
Minimize a language barrier between home and school. The App is available in multiple languages including Spanish and Vietnamese.
Encourage your student to download the DPS Portal mobile app to stay up to date on their own progress.
Use the app to assist you in having more meaningful conversations with your student and student's teachers by staying informed of your child's academic progress. 
 

8th Grade Families

SAVE THE DATE for the mandatory November 1 meeting. 8th Grade Scholars will be engaging in a one-on-one conference with administration in the upcoming weeks to conference about being on track for Continuation to High School.  Come learn more about these conferences, what we are doing to prepare our scholars to be college ready, and come hear from high schools.  The Skinner portion of the meeting will take place from 6:00 – 6:45 and then high schools will present for 5 minutes each until 7:15.  At 7:15 representatives from the high schools will be available at designated tables to answer questions for families until 8 pm.

DPS Middle & High School SchoolChoice Expo is November 15  Taking place from 6pm-8pm at Sports Authority Field, the Expo is a great opportunity to learn more about your high school options and speak with representatives from all of the Denver Public high schools. 
 

October is College & Career Readiness Month

 
Denver Public Schools (DPS) is working hard toward the Denver Plan 2020 goal of ensuring students are college and career ready.  Middle School is the perfect time to start to think about college and the possibilities of the future and Skinner supports this process in different ways.  

College logo Fridays expose our students to a variety of college names and logos much like the pennants that adorn our hallways.  Next, twice a month, students receive targeted lessons on skills and strategies to target planning for the future which includes steps to getting to college.  These lessons are different at each of the grade levels so there is a progression of applicability as a student progresses through the grades.  The College 4 YOU program provides weekly classes that targets researching colleges, walking through the college application process, financial aid, ACT and SAT prep, and actually visiting colleges and experiencing lessons from college faculty. 

Skinner Scholars are fortunate to have more exposure to planning for the future than many of us had when we were in middle school. 

Student Travel to Europe

START HERE - We look forward to welcoming you at our Adolesco Youth Exchange INFO MEETING (https://www.facebook.com/Adolesco.org/events):
-Sunday, October 9, 2016
-2:00pm to 4:00pm
-Sam Gary Library, Stapleton (2961 Roslyn St, Denver, CO 80238
-RSVP colorado@adolesco.org
- Applications due Oct. 23, 2016.
ADOLESCO YOUTH EXCHANGE is a flexible and affordable not-for-profit program of 3-week to 3-month short-term language immersion and cultural exchanges for children and teens (between 9 and 17) to learn French in France, German in Germany and Spanish in Spain - open to qualifying English-speaking students in Colorado and the US. 

Stay Connected

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