Ricks Center for Gifted Children

Thoughtful Thursday! 🌞

🌟 Magical Monday! As we continue to celebrate graduation, please enjoy these fun photos of three students (Gianna, Arianna, and Lexie) who began the Ricks journey in preschool and stayed the course all the way to eighth grade! How awesome is that! ❤️ 🏫

Throwback Thursday!

Every fall, students "ring the bell" to mark the beginning of the school year. To mark the END of the Ricks journey, eighth graders "ring the bell" after the graduation ceremony. This year, some family members jumped in to join the fun! 🏫 🔔 ❤️

A beautiful mess at Ricks! 🏫

The halls and classrooms are lonely but ready for a little TLC. Enjoy the "before" pictures...we can't wait to share the "after" pictures and welcome everybody back to school! A big shout out to all of those brave souls helping us get organized! ❤️

🌞 “Oh, popsicle…you’re perfectly prepped, fantastically frozen, and freshly fruity. Without you, I would never survive the summer’s scorching heat.” Excerpt from “Ode to Popsicles” by Miriam (Grade 3)

From poetry cafes to publishing parties to special art projects and award ceremonies (“paper plate awards”), it was a PERFECT last day of school! Happy SUMMER and enjoy the popsicles! 🏖 🍭

Graduation day! 💐

Congratulations to the Class of 2024! A special shout out to our award winners including Jayden C. (Ricks Center Chancellor's Scholarship), Arianna A. and Evan S. (Ricks Center Role Model Awards), and Lauren B. and Derek H. (Outstanding Scholars). Go...move mountains! 🏔

🎉 First grade—here they come!!!

Kindergarten “crossed the bridge” marking the end of their early childhood journey and the beginning of the next chapter. We are so PROUD of them! An extra special thank you to their teachers: Ms. Jenny, Ms. Lauren, and Ms. Zofia! 🥳

🥳 Congrats Liam, Lola, and Ash!! You'll move mountains!!

The grass is always greener on the KICKBALL field!

Fun was had by all at the Ricks community kickball tournament in Wash Park this weekend! We can't wait to do it again soon! Special thanks to Ethan for organizing and to all of the families who played ball! 😁 🥳

💐 Congrats Lexie, Alex, and Jayden! You're off to Great Places!

✈️ Roger that!

Preschool took off to DIA for an adventure! After navigating security, they rode the shuttle, escalators, and moving walkways to the United gates where they were welcomed onto a Boeing 777 between flights. What a treat! They enjoyed lunch on the airplane before taking turns visiting the cockpit and acting as First Officer alongside the Captain! A big thank you to United Airlines, TSA, Ms. Mary, Ms. Elizabeth, and the fearless chaperones!❤️

💐Congrats Arianna, Kaz, and Axel! Best wishes for your next chapter!

🎉 Congrats Hamzah, Lauren, and Tristan! Oh the places you will go!

Parents, friends, and fellow students celebrated first and second grade passion projects at the Lower Primary Passion Fair! All who attended learned something new and rejoiced in the accomplishments of these hard working students. Ah, the joy of discovery! 💡 📚 💜

🥳 Congrats Olivia, Leonid, Davie!! Way to go!

💐 A celebrated tradition in third grade!

Students recited thoughtful odes to their families with confidence, humor, and even a little drama at the "Poetry Cafe and Metaphor Awards.” We are so proud of the Third Grade French Fry Finches! Special thanks to Ms. Audrey for creating an eagerly-anticipated tradition and to the supportive and fun audience that made this a memorable event. Bravo! 🎉

Congrats Derek, Gianna, and Evan! Adventure awaits you! 🎉

Did you know that GARDENING nourishes the brain, body, and soul? 🪴🌱☀️

Kindergarten classes teamed up to plant the Ricks “summer garden” including tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, peppers, lettuces, flowers and more. May their seedling and sprouts THRIVE for everyone to enjoy! Special thanks to Ms. Lauren, Ms. Jenny, Ms. Zofia, and Zella’s mom.

Shine like a STAR! 🌟

Ricks students rocked the house at the annual TALENT SHOW! Dancing, singing, improv, monologues, hockey tricks, and more! Eighth graders finished the show with a special rendition of the Macarena, and the audience danced along. Special thanks to Mr. Greg, Ms. Torey, and Ms. Sara for organizing a fun event! Our students are full of surprises!!! 🎹 🎤

CHICKS in the house! 🐥 🐣 🐤

Some very special visitors stopped by to meet the Pre-K Puppies. Students took turns gently holding these small, furry babies and loved every minute of it! Special thanks to the Leahy family for sharing this memorable “eggs-perience” with our students. 💛🧡

Bearded Reedling? Potoo? Nature is full of interesting surprises! 🦅

Lauren B. shared her passion for BIRDS and bird watching during her Passion Pursuit Presentation today. Tracing the origins of her long-standing interest, she enlightened the middle school audience with cool pics of some of her favorite feathered friends. Special thanks to Jason Bardales, President of the Shannon B. Jones Passion Pursuit Foundation (SBJPPF), who presented Lauren’s special award and honored Sophie A. with a grant to pursue her passion for figure drawing next year. Way to go! 🎉

Armed with field guides and binoculars, third graders set off on a bird-watching walk at Barr Lake with their educator, Payson. Not only did they see a wide variety of birds, but they also learned about different beak adaptations using various tools (representing different types of beaks) as they played “fill the belly.” So refreshing to take the learning outdoors on a beautiful day!! 🌞🔭 🦅

Time for a walking field trip!

The First Grade Mysterious Megalodons enjoyed a DU campus walk on a beautiful Colorado day! They read on the green and played with their Preschool Rainbow Dinosaur reading buddies. What a day!!! Thank you to Nahla for taking the pictures! 📚 🌳 🌞

Take a NATURE escape! 🦬 🌱

Kindergarten visited Rocky Mountain Arsenal in northeast Denver where they explored native plant/animal species and saw a baby bison! They loved stepping into nature and seeing the native wildlife that call the Refuge home.

Why is CHOCOLATE so good? 🍫

At the Passion Project Fair, the halls were abuzz with any number of creative/curious passions that ran the gamut from chocolate to poisonous plants to Taylor Swift to eyeballs to Japanese cuisine to origami and beyond! To prepare, these diligent third and fourth graders started with an ESSENTIAL QUESTION and then researched, gathered, analyzed data, wrote informational paragraphs, and created visuals for the final presentations. Way to go! 💡📚

Sounds a bit like an adventure! 🧳

Middle schoolers are on the move—Atlanta, Puerto Rico, and downtown Denver during the annual "Week Without Walls" (WWOW). We are so excited to get daily updates from the amazing chaperones. After all, learning begins at the edge!

Butterfly science! 🦋

Pre-K discovered the "magic" of metamorphosis! After learning about the butterfly life cycle, they enjoyed a front row seat as they witnessed/journaled the transition from caterpillar to butterfly in their classroom, culminating in the exciting “release day” event on campus. BON VOYAGE Izzy, Cheese, Tank, Catty, Violet, Rosie, Slimy, Darth Vader, and Princess Leia! 🦋❤️