Stukey News: September/October 2026

Principal Update

A huge thank you to each of you for helping us kick off a great school year!! At Stukey our staff is committed to prepare each scholar for college and career. The staff is ready to go and we will continue our work this year by following our motto of “Every Scholar, Every Day” as well as carrying out our Stukey Mission: At Stukey Elementary, we work with our community to create a caring environment that empowers scholars to persevere and succeed in life.

Our Stukey Fundraiser started on September 4th. We are also open to other ideas to fundraise as well within PTO.

Our Stukey scholars have been busy learning routines and procedures through the first months and have been highly engaged in learning with their new teachers! All scholars have been assessed using the new district assessment called mClass DIBELS 8. We are very eager to meet with families during conferences in October to help strengthen the home/school connection and build a partnership between teachers and parents. Be sure to check your child's classroom website page in October for links to sign up for Fall Conferences held on October 7th and 8th from 3:00-7:00.

I’d like to take a moment to highlight areas regarding school safety, communication and important updates at Stukey. Please read the following notes and let us know if you have any questions.

Morning Arrival and Supervision:

Our first bell rings at 7:40, and the tardy bell rings at 7:50. Breakfast will be served for all scholars. There is no supervision on campus prior to 7:40 am. Instruction will begin promptly at 7:50, so it is important that our scholars arrive at school on time and ready to learn. Staff will be positioned on our campus to provide supervision in the mornings between 7:40 and 7:50.

Afternoon Dismissal:

Dismissal is at 2:35. There is staff supervision at 2:35-2:45. After 2:45, scholars will be escorted to the front office to wait for pickup. All children must go home first before using the playground. Students returning will need to wait until 2:45 until all students are accounted for.

Update on District Wellness Policy: In support of the District’s Policy on School Wellness, we strive to help our students make healthy lifestyle choices. Simple steps can help children continue making healthier choices as adults. In addition to healthier lunch choices and increased physical activity during our school day, we have implemented a “Non-food birthday treats” policy here in Adams 12. Classroom teachers should have shared their non-food birthday celebration information with parents. If the classroom is having a planned holiday party and you would like to bring a treat, it must be a healthy treat. Please see some examples below:

*Veggie Sticks, goldfish, crackers, cheese sticks, fruit kabobs, granola, individually wrapped apple bags.

We appreciate your support in this matter as this is District Policy.

Free and Reduced Benefits: 

• School Meal Benefits website
• Online Application
• Please note: Families can reapply at any time during the school year if their income decreases or household size increases. This is especially important as family circumstances evolve.

PTO Dates:

We would love to see more involvement in our PTO this year! We meet from 5:30-6:30 . Here are the dates: October 1st, December 3rd, March 4th

School Performance Framework:

Stukey received an Improvement rating on our 2026 SPF. We have seen a decline from Performance to Improvement. It is so crucial to check in with your students on their reading, writing and math. All students should be reading 20 minutes a night. If you need any guidance on activities to work on at home, please do not hesitate to reach out to your teachers for suggestions and ideas.

Thank you for sending us your amazing children! We want you to feel confident about sending your child to Stukey, and encourage you to visit, volunteer, or give us a call or email any time. Please feel free to email me with any questions, concerns, celebrations or compliments at deborah.m.voelker@adams12.org or call 720-972-5423. We look forward to partnering with you to provide the best school experience for your child!

Warm Regards,

Deborah Voelker, Principal

Reports from our teachers:

Kindergarten

Math: We started the year recognizing numbers and quantities in our world. We will add to this by counting, comparing, and writing numbers to show “how many.”

Literacy: Students have been learning about what plants and animals need to survive. In Unit 2, students will read fiction texts, and we will focus on character traits.

Writing: In Unit 1, students are writing informational pieces about what plants and animals need to survive. In Unit 2, students will be writing narrative pieces about characters from stories we will read.

Science: Students will learn about scientists and how they use their senses to make observations of the world around them.

Social Studies: Social studies will be our next unit after science!

First Grade

August has flown by and we are now in full swing with our 26/27 school year! Your scholars are doing great with our First-Grade rituals and routines. During the September and October months, our literacy focus will be on a nonfiction genre around how plants and animals grow and change. Our writing genre will consist of informative writing. We are so excited about using our shared reading texts from our life cycle genres to help us with these pieces. We will begin our mathematics work with addition and subtraction, including number stories. Our reading rotations will be up and running and your scholars will be working hard in reading at their instructional levels and independent levels during this time. Science will be centered on the structure and function of life. Social Emotional Learning will be held every Friday followed by our Second Step Curriculum.

We are so excited to be back in school and learning every day!

Ms. Stradley & Ms. Johnson

Second Grade

Second Grade is off to a great start to the year!! Here is what we are working on in class:

Reading: We are working in non-fiction text. Learning how to navigate the text and using text features to gather information. We are practicing asking questions while we read to deepen our understanding of the text. We will be sending home Book Bags in the next few weeks. Please keep an eye out on Apptegy for more information.

Writing: We are working on a shared Writing essay. We are gathering facts from a source text and a multimedia presentation. We will turn those facts into an informative essay! We are having so much fun learning about animal habitats.

Science: We are discovering how different animals adapt to their environment.

Math: We are rolling right along with exploring various strategies that we can apply to double digit addition and subtraction. We are also interpreting data on different types of graphs.

Third Grade

In Math, we will finish up with Unit 1-, and will begin Unit 2 about. Area and Multiplication In Reading, we will finish Unit 1, Animal Adaptations and begin Unit 2, a fiction unit titled ‘Ways Characters Shape Stories’. We will now use the writing units from our literacy curriculum, Benchmark Advance, so the writing units will align with the reading units. The first piece of writing we will work on is “Write to a Text-Based Prompt: Informative/Explanatory Essay”.

In Social Studies, we will continue learning about “Our Democratic Community.” Our scholarly habit for the month of September is Respect.

October- In Math, we will start Unit 3, Addition and Subtraction within 1,000. In Reading, we will continue to work on our second unit. In Writing, our second unit is writing an Opinion Essay. After finishing our Social Studies unit on “Our Democratic Community”, we will jump to our second Social Studies unit: “Regions of the World.” Our scholarly habit for the month of October is Safe.

Fourth Grade

Reading: Our essential question for our first unit of the year is "How do we respond to nature?". We are working on point of view, finding the main idea with supporting key details, and comparing and contrasting texts. We are also working on idioms, similes, and metaphors. The essential question for our next unit is "How do we reveal ourselves to others?", and in that unit we will be targeting describing characters in depth, making connections between stories, and understanding words that signal emotions and states of being.

Writing: For our first unit we are writing informative/explanatory essays about chipmunks! We are focusing on the structure of an informative/explanatory essay, and how to create cohesion and coherence in our writing.

Math: We started a new math curriculum this year, and we kicked off 4th grade with a unit about factors and multiples! The key vocabulary from our first unit was prime and composite numbers. In Unit 2 we are working on fractions, with a focus on comparing fractions and placing fractions on a numberline. We are also learning about fractions that are more than one whole. Our new curriculum uses lots of manipulative and hands on learning, and our scholars are loving it!

Science: Our first science unit focused on Mesa Verde! We learned about how to make inferences about changes in civilizations based on fossils and artifacts. Our scholars were very interested in this topic- ask them about what they learned!

Social Studies: We are starting our first social studies unit this week! In this unit we are studying native cultures within Colorado, and how they adapted to Colorado's geography.

What to do at home: Our weekly homework is to read every day for twenty minutes, and fill out a reading log. We check this homework throughout the week and collect it on Fridays. We will also be sending home multiplication fluency facts to be turned in with reading logs on Fridays. When in doubt- more reading, more fact fluency practice! Thank you for partnering with us by working on fluency in reading and math at home!

Fifth Grade

Math: We will start working with fractions in Unit 2. Scholars will use fractions to show remainders for division and multiplying fractions. Unit 3 continues with fractions, and we will be multiplying and dividing fractions.

Reading: In Unit 1 we will be diving into natural resources and how they help us as well as learning about why we value certain qualities in people. The focus of Unit 2 is on character traits and why do we value certain qualities in people?

Writing: Our scholars will be working on an explanatory essay, using text and media to explain how corn is produced in the U.S. Then we will move onto opinion writing where students will be recommending or not recommending to others about reading stories by Jason Reynolds.

Social Studies: Our first unit is a study of the major regions of the United States with a lens on Native American cultures. Then we will start to learn about personal financial literacy and how individuals use financial institutions to manage personal finances.

Science: We will not be working on Science at this time.

Specials

P.E: 

Students in 3-5th grade will be focusing on standards 1, 3, and 4 in PE for the following months. Standard 1 is working on movement competency which looks like special awareness in chasing and flee games. To follow with be throwing in large group games, and speed stacking which helps with crossing the midline of the body. Standard 3 is social and emotional which we are focusing on respect for teammates and inclusion of all teammates' differences in activities, sportsmanship-accepting the outcome, following all rules to a game, and communicating respectfully to teammates. Standard 4 is risk management and safety-using our bodies in a safe way while putting equipment aways and while engaged in activities. We are also demonstrating using equipment safely.

Students in Kinder-2nd are focusing on Standard 1 Movement competency and Standard 4 safety by demonstrating spatial awareness and safe bodies. They achieve this by playing different tag games. Look fors are keeping eyes up and forwards and stopping and changing directions before running into a friend. Kinder is also learning how to move with different locomotor movements such as; galloping, marching, sliding, hopping, jumping, skipping, and jogging.

Art:

Stukey Artists in 1st through 5th grade are currently working to establish new creative community norms and practice art room routines. They are also creating collaborative class portraits by creating individual mini self-portrait drawings.

Kindergarten Artists, while also practicing art room routines and establishing a creative community for the first time, are also focusing on various art based fine motor skills and activities that will help strengthen their fine motor control as they continue to learn and work in the art room as well as the classroom!

As we continue to establish our artistic community in the coming weeks, students in all grades will be creating projects that focus on the various elements and principles of art:

Elements of Art: line/shape/form/value/color/texture/space.

Principles of Art: balance/emphasis/movement/rhythm and pattern/unity and harmony/proportion and scale/variety

Music:

Lots of exciting things are happening in music!

4th and 5th grade are learning new songs and rhythm patterns and how to perform them in a round or canon. 3rd grade is learning about a new note called tika-tika and how to use it in a pattern with body percussion and instruments.2nd grade is learning about a new note called ta-a and that it is moving at a slower tempo than other notes. Kinder and 1st are learning how to keep a steady beat with different tempos and different instruments. Also, we have started our Stukey Singers choir back up with our first performance coming up on October 22!

Computer Science:

In Computer Science, students have been learning important technology skills and how to use technology safely and responsibly. As we begin to transition into Unit 2, students will explore how computers work and how technology can be used for different tasks. We’re excited to keep learning, creating, and problem-solving together!

English Language Development

Kindergarten ELD: The students are reading and listening to texts about the five senses, talking with classmates about how we use our senses and drawing and writing to share what they notice and learn

1st Grade ELD: In class, students are reading and listening to texts about land pollution. Discussing what they learn with classmates and writing sentences to explain how land pollution affects plants and animals.

2nd Grade ELD: Students are reading and listening to text about the importance of protecting our water supply. They are discussing key ideas and details with classmates, and writing to share what they learned using evidence from the text.

3rd Grade ELD: In class, we are learning about how to solve problems. Through read alouds and active listening, students have been able to discuss what ways we solve problems and how collaborating benefits us when solving a problem. They are writing to share what they learned using anchor charts and evidence from the text.

4th/5th Grade ELD: In class, we are learning about the benefits of collaboration. Through hands-on activities, readings, and specific jobs in each group, students have to work together and actively listen to their peers and teacher to collaborate. Students have been able to discuss how collaborating benefits us in the classroom, space, and the Olympics. They are writing to share what they learned using anchor charts and evidence from the text.

Social Emotional Specialist

The social emotional learning specialists have been supporting scholars and designing systems that help scholars develop emotional regulation and social skills. We are meeting with scholars to provide interventions and check-ins and also conducting lessons in classrooms. Lunch groups are another way we provide support and teaching.