Cottonwood Creek Elementary

08/29/2026

🧡 This Week at Cottonwood Creek! 🦛

So much learning, connection, and student ownership happening across our campus this week!

🐾 We were excited to have Mr. Johnson from Watch D.O.G.S. on campus! He greeted students in the hallways and jumped right into hands-on learning alongside them. We love having our families and community involved in the work we do!

🔢 In Mrs. McCullough’s 2nd grade class, students used base-ten blocks to build numbers while identifying the tens and ones places—making math meaningful and concrete!

➕ In Mrs. Martell’s 3rd-grade class, a student presented his exemplar for adding three-digit numbers while classmates provided feedback and asked questions. THIS is what student-owned learning looks like! 👏

🎨 In Mrs. Gardner’s Art class, students learned academic vocabulary through partner work and movement—because learning can be active, engaging, and fun!

🎯 With our Instructional Support Coach, students received targeted instruction designed to build the skills they need to be successful with upcoming grade-level learning. Meeting students where they are while moving them toward where they need to be!

🍿 And in the front office… it was Popcorn Friday for our staff! Just a small token of appreciation for the BIG work they do for our students every single day.

Every classroom. Every hallway. Every interaction. We are working toward the same goal—growing and challenging ALL students!

🧡 One Team. One Direction. Every Interaction. Every Day. 🦛

08/25/2026

So many great examples of intentional learning and connection across CCES! 🧡🦛

📚 Learning together: Students practiced a fun little “We Do” while learning about author’s purpose! They worked together to sort key words and phrases that can help them determine why an author wrote a text. Simple, engaging, and a great way to give students a strategy they can carry into independent reading!

🎯 Meeting students where they are: In 5th grade and 4th grade, Mrs. Fernandez and Mrs Vita worked with a small group of students on the foundational skills they need in order to access and master the more rigorous 5th-grade standards. This is what targeted instruction looks like—knowing what students need and responding!

❤️ Every interaction matters: One of our counselors greeted students individually at the door as they entered her guidance lesson, making sure each child felt seen, welcomed, and valued before learning even began.

🧩 And our littlest Hippos in Pre-K, just like students across our campus, begin their mornings with non-academic tasks and routines that allow them to ease into the school day, connect with their classroom community, and get ready to learn.

These may seem like little moments, but they are the work.

Connect. Grow. Challenge ALL. That’s how we give it our ALL.
One Team. One Direction. Every Interaction. Every Day. 🧡

08/22/2026

08/15/2026

🚗🧡 FRONT PICK-UP FAMILIES — WE NEED YOUR HELP! 🧡🚗

This is for our PK – Ms. Quevedo, Kinder, 1st Grade & Sibling Pick-Up families.

You may have noticed our district team helping us at dismissal and asking cars to stay in ONE lane instead of merging. We know merging sounds like it should make things faster, kind of like Chick-fil-A. 😂

BUT… Chick-fil-A is recording your car make/model so they know exactly which order belongs to which car. We aren't quite delivering chicken nuggets over here… we're delivering your student. 😂🧡

Here’s how our system works:

🚙 We load 5 cars at a time.
📢 Those 5 students are called and lined up inside in the same order as the cars outside.
🟠 Each car pulls forward and stops at the next available cone. The cone matches the colored dot where your student is lined up.
🛑 Once you are at your cone, please DO NOT MOVE — even if your student is already in the car.
👍 Wait until the STOP sign goes down AND you see the thumbs-up from staff. That tells you that all 5 students are loaded and safe.
🚗🚗🚗🚗🚗 All 5 cars will then exit together, in order.
➡️ The next 5 cars will pull forward, beginning with the next available cone, and we repeat the process.

This is why merging or pulling out early actually slows us down. When cars change order, the student order we have carefully created inside no longer matches the cars and cones outside.

Think: 5 cars in → 5 students safely loaded → thumbs up → stop sign down → 5 cars out. 🙌

Nobody moves until ALL 5 are ready. That little bit of patience helps us move everyone much faster and keeps our students and staff safe. 🧡

Dismissal truly takes a team, and YOU are part of our team! 🦛

Our goal is to have our building cleared by 3:15 PM so our families AND our staff can get home and enjoy their evening after a very long day of learning.

And we have to give a HUGE shout-out to our back-of-school 2nd–5th grade families and staff! 🎉 By Day 3, they had all students loaded by 3:15! WOW! 👏👏👏

So naturally… we now have a little friendly competition going. 😂🏁
Front vs. Back — who can beat the other’s dismissal time?!

Help the front team catch them:
🧡 Stay in ONE lane — no merging
🧡 Pull to the next available cone
🧡 Keep your car tag clearly displayed
🧡 Do not move once parked
🧡 Wait for the STOP sign to go down + thumbs up
🧡 All 5 cars exit in order together
🧡 Follow staff directions

⏰ IMPORTANT: If you arrive after 3:15 PM, please park in the front of the school and come into the office to sign your student out as a late pick-up.

Thank you for your patience, teamwork, and willingness to help us make dismissal safer, smoother, and faster every single day.

One Team. One Direction. Every Interaction. Every Day. 🧡🦛

08/14/2026

What a FIRST WEEK, Cottonwood Creek! 🧡🦛

Day 1 brought so much energy, excitement, smiles… and definitely a few nerves. And when dismissal came around, we were reminded of something every school knows well: the first few days take practice.

Getting hundreds of students home safely takes an entire team, especially while welcoming 13 new staff members who are learning our students, families, and systems right alongside us.

Day 1 dismissal took about 45 minutes.
Day 2? 25 minutes.
Our goal? 15 minutes. 👏

Progress already.

Was Day 1 perfect? Nope. It never is, no matter how much planning happens behind the scenes. But every student made it home safely, and that will always be our priority.

Inside the building, our teachers are busy doing the work that has to come first: building relationships, teaching routines, creating trust, and helping students feel connected. From there, we grow. Then we challenge.

At Cottonwood Creek, culture, alignment, and rigor will continue to guide everything we do.

Families, thank you for the grace, trust, patience, and positive energy you have brought into this school year. We feel it. 🧡

And remember, if something is on your mind, start with your child’s teacher. Communicate. Ask questions. Share concerns. Our teachers want what is best for your child, too, and when we stay on the same page, our kids win.

Now everybody go REST because there is truly nothing quite like first-week-of-school tired. 😴😂

Connect. Grow. Challenge ALL. That’s how we give it our ALL! 🦛🧡

What was your student's favorite moment this week? Comment below!

08/11/2026

Set up for success tomorrow! We will see all of our hippos tomorrow at 7am!🦛🏫

08/08/2026

🧡🦛 What a Meet the Teacher Night, CCES! 🦛🧡

The energy in our building last night was incredible! Seeing our families, students, and teachers connecting, collaborating, and beginning to build those important partnerships reminded us exactly what makes Cottonwood Creek special.

Thank you for showing up, asking questions, meeting your teachers, taking pictures, finding classrooms, and bringing such positive energy into our building. One Team. One Direction. starts with all of us working together. 🧡

And a little behind-the-scenes truth from your principal… 😅

Did you know that executing back-to-school student placements, transportation plans, arrival and dismissal procedures, class lists, staffing, schedules, and approximately 947 other tiny details is quite the operation? 😂

Our staff has worked incredibly hard, and we appreciate your patience as we work out the final kinks. Nothing is ever absolutely perfect on Day 1—and that’s okay. What matters is that we have strong systems, we communicate, we adjust when needed, and we stay consistent.

Consistency will win the game every time.

Before Day 1, we are asking every family to help us with TWO important things:

✅ 1. Complete your student’s Permanent Transportation Form.
This is extremely important so we know exactly how your child should go home every day.⬇️ Link in comments.⬇️

🚗 2. Pick up your car tag BEFORE Day 1 if you did not receive one at Meet the Teacher.

Please keep your car tag with you for any type of student pickup and be prepared to show your photo ID as well. These procedures help us keep dismissal safe and efficient for every student.

Car Tag Pick-Up – Front Office

📅 Monday, August 10: 10:30 AM–3:30 PM

📅 Tuesday, August 11: 8:30 AM–3:30 PM

🪪 Please bring your ID.

Thank you for trusting us with your children, partnering with our teachers, and giving our team the grace to make adjustments as we put all of our systems into action.

We are ready. We are excited. And we cannot wait to welcome our Hippos on Day 1! 🦛🧡

One Team. One Direction. Every Interaction. Every Day.

08/07/2026